In late 1972, I was twelve years old, scheduled to turn thirteen shortly after the calendar year expired and 1973 took its place in January. I was in eighth grade, and I had a best friend:
My radio.
Was the radio my only friend? Sometimes I thought so. It was a cherished friend for sure, a warm companion that introduced me to cherished mutual friends, from Smokey Robinson and the Miracles to Badfinger. A DJ on Syracuse's WOLF-AM got my undivided attention when he cued up a Badfinger track and said: These guys sound like the Beatles!
In November of '72, he used the exact same description to hook me, teenage heart and bruised but immortal soul, on another group: The Raspberries. The record was "I Wanna Be With You."
The percussive intro rolled with DEFCON 1 precision. The guitars rang and churned, layered and booming in a way some benevolent God must have genetically engineered specifically for AM radio. Bass and drum propelled, and vocals kicked in, innocent and lustful in not-quite 50-50 measure, longing for love everlasting and a jump in the sack right the fuck now. If we were older, we wouldn't have to be worried tonight.
Love. Desire. Harmony. Oomph. Power pop. Tonight. I would be a fan for all of my life.
"I Wanna Be With You" was the group's second smash single; the equally direct, equally irresistible, equally horny "Go All The Way" had hit the airwaves the preceding summer. I missed it at the time, but WOLF started playing it again in the wake of "I Wanna Be With You." A bit later, as the summer of '73 crashed into the September disaster known as high school, WOLF delivered one more urgent Raspberries plea for passion, "Tonight."
"Tonight" was the last Raspberries record I remember hearing on the radio. They had a national hit with "Overnight Sensation (Hit Record)" in 1974, and if it got airplay in Syracuse (as it must have) it escaped my notice. The group disbanded. Eric Carmen began a solo career. As his hits "All By Myself" and "Never Gonna Fall In Love Again" played on WOLF, I listened, knowing it was the guy from the Raspberries.
I received Raspberries' Best as a Christmas gift. I purchased "I'm A Rocker" as an overstock closeout 45. I obsessed over these records.
1977. Punk came. My embrace of punk still left me plenty of room to continue my Raspberries devotion. In 1978, I saw a new band of Raspberries fans, a band that called themselves the Flashcubes. Hell, the 'Cubes even covered "Tonight" and "I Wanna Be With You" in their live sets.
And that "power pop" thing I mentioned above? I learned its truth at 18. The Flashcubes. Bomp! magazine. RASPBERRIES!! Pop with power. Sign me up, man.
The impact of radio--this twelve-year-old's best friend ever--cannot be overstated. The same can be said for the Raspberries, this group whom a DJ told me--like Badfinger before them--sounded like the Beatles; a group that embodied a sound that would dominate my life, a sound I couldn't have defined in eighth grade, but which--as I got older--proved I didn't have to be worried tonight.
Someday’s a long time. As we bid farewell to Eric Carmen, we comfort ourselves in the inspiration of that sound, the evergreen exuberance of those songs, that ongoing certainty that tonight can herald tomorrow.
Tonight's the night. It goes all the way, and it's where I wanna be. Tonight. Thank you, Eric.
This is what rock 'n' roll radio sounded like on another Sunday night in Syracuse this week.
This show is available as a podcast.
This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl airs Sunday nights from 9 to Midnight Eastrn, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, streaming at SPARK stream, and on the Radio Garden app as WESTCOTT RADIO. Recent shows are archived at Westcott Radio
You can read all about this show's long and weird history here: Boppin' The Whole Friggin' Planet (The History Of THIS IS ROCK 'N' ROLL RADIO).
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