Re-Eric Carmen/Karl Wallinger

From: Eric Greenspan

I sent Amy Carmen your article and here was her response.  

Thanks for sharing … to brighten the mood here's a great EC memory:  
Eric and I were in the car maybe 10-14 days ago when Casey Kasem's  American Top 40 was replaying the October 1972 broadcast" & Overnight Sensation"  came in on the top 40 chart at # 26 . 
 
Eric was so pissed that Casey cut the end of the song off .  But the great memory I have of him is watching him air drum -the drum fills! 
 
Bob's right I only heard Overnight Sensation one other time on the radio and I think it was Little Steven's Underground Garage
 
Love, 
Amy

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Let the truth be told, Kevin Sutter broke World Party. It was a labor of love… I've never worked with a person with such strong conviction to this artist. 
From the onset we at Chrysalis Records realized that Karl Wallinger was a brilliant talent.
KROQ was not easy to convince to play the record as some people might think. It was not your typical Rick Carrol choice.. It took a lot of convincing, massaging and dinners..it eventually went on the radio. Jed the Fish was championing this record from day one.
Rock radio was not easy to garner… in the era of "more Zep you f*ckers"...World Party was no walk in the park. Program Directors said no… no and more no… 
Sutter persevered and "Ship of Fools" became a radio hit….
What a mega hit!
The greatness of World Party was in their live performance…
Your jaw would drop…. 
Jeff Laufer

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I can't tell you how saddened I am about Karl Wallinger's passing.

Not only because his songs were the soundtrack of my twenties, but because he recently became a friend.

When my latest album 'Satisfied Mind' came out this past July, Karl was cheering me on, with Facebook messages and texts saying how much he loved the music. 

"Good to see you getting good recognition," he wrote me.

I was floored. Here was one of the greatest songwriters affirming that I had something to say too.

In fact, it was only a few weeks ago when he texted me that he and his wife were digging the vinyl version of the album.

It felt like winning the lottery.

That nod of acceptance affected me deeply. We even talked about writing a song together.

Sadly, that wasn't to be. But I wanted to write to say that Karl's generosity and kindness were as strong as the songs he left us with.

And trust me, they've been on repeat over here.

Thanks for remembering him.

Jon Regen

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It is a sad revelation that we are rapidly losing our idols who are just a few years older than we are. Eric's death makes the second personal loss for me in the past week and the fourth in the past few months .

I was a fan of Raspberries from the first time I heard "Go All the Way" and I got their Starting Over album when it came out and thought it should have been a hit on FM Radio.

So in 2007 when I heard that ( the) Raspberries had reunited and were going to play the House Of Blues in LA,  I contacted them and recorded the show in hopes of getting a live album released . There was no deal, no label it just seemed like a worthwhile thing to do. (I did that a lot in those days)

I worked with Eric long distance on the mixes after the band did some overdubs in Cleveland , and we eventually made a deal with Ryco to release a deluxe CD and DVD with both the 2007 live show and other recordings going back to the 70's.

When they came back to play the HOB later that year I had them come to my studio where we recorded two tracks which turned out to be the last recordings by the band. 

Time marches on with the same eventual outcome for everyone including our idols. As the song says "I'll Never Get Out Of This World Alive"

Mark Linett

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Hi Bob, 
Seatrain!  Love you mentioned them!  Many, sadly,  never heard Seatrain/Marblehead Messenger!  Shanda!  Barry Goldberg turned me on to them when I was working with Albert Grossman!  The office was casual, and artists often would just hang...this office,  oy, I got stories, but I digress...
Thank you Bob for sharing Eric Carmen, an early Arista signing...
Respectfully, 
Rose Gross-Marino 

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Bob:  I am so sad that there will never be another Raspberries reunion.  
I bought the single Go All the Way in sixth grade and their second album (with 'I Wanna Be With You') through the Record Club of America.  Remember ordering records through the mail and waiting eagerly for weeks for them to show up?  I did, finally, see the Raspberries during the same reunion tour you did and they were great!!!

I always thought 'Go All The Way' was one of the greatest guitar songs EVER.  Maybe the first true 'power pop' song. 

Safe travels Eric Carmen, you (and the band) deserved more than you got.

Marty Hecker
Denver, CO   

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It was sad to hear of Eric's passing.. I feel that his hit "Hungry Eyes" was one of the sexiest songs I remember hearing from that era.. It was one of those songs you hear on the radio and you just have to stop what you're doing and listen.. I found it to be a powerful statement.   

Randy Dawson

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Well said Bob, 
I remember one of my buddies like thirty years ago saying his Mom loved the Raspberries, "go all the way" I didn't get it but now I do 
Another 67 year old guy remembering 
Gerry Lauderdale
Boston MA

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Hey Bob
Eric Carmen's passing really hit a nerve (as does the theme of your article). 
We were label mates of sorts: he (and The Raspberries) and my band were both groomed at the same Jimmy Ienner-run production company long, long ago 
(although he/they were a few years ahead of me/us). 
I was always a big fan, and I always thought he was underrated as a songwriter and a recording artist - 
and I agree "Boats Against The Current" was a musical masterpiece of sorts.

Wallace Collins

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I can't say I was a big Eric Carmen fan, but Karl Wallinger led one of my favorite, "Kiss of Death" bands, World Party. They seem to come out of nowhere, I know he was in the Waterboys, but in America that was out of nowhere. He played all his own instruments like Emmett Rhoads, wrote great tunes and everything sounded great. I never got to see him live but I've got four really good records from him and that's hard to do.
RIP Karl.

Gary Jackson

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Watching these artists slip away is painful. Right now, we still have Paul & Ringo, Mick & Keith and that is a good thing, but so many have moved over the musical rainbow bridge in the past few years, it is a sad thing to absorb. I appreciate what you wrote here about YOUR personal memories. I have my Eric Carmen 45rpm of "Never Gonna Fall In Love Again" that showed just how immense his talent was in the mid-1970's after Raspberries.

It is Karl Wallinger's passing that hit me so hard. His undying love for all things Beatles permeated his music and he was out in the open about those influences. He was fantastic and will be missed.

Marc Platt

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There were no better songs for high school love then Go All The Way and I Wanna Be With You. And Karl Wallinger's World Party's GoodBye Jumbo is a non skip masterpiece. Both Eric Carmen and Karl Wallinger were superstars in their own right.

jeffsackstennis

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Seatrain!

Caught them live in my hometown (Princeton). 

For the record (pun intended) they were also on Capitol, and I think the label did a good job with the texture of the album cover. 

Thanks for the very fond walk down memory lane. 

Scott Kauffman

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The reason The Silencers got to open for U2 at Cardiff Arms Park, on the Joshua Tree tour, Karl Wallinger was sick that day.

I saw World Party play live in London a few months earlier and was blown away. An amazing writer and performer.
The World Party albums were for me a sanctuary when things got a little tough, always an uplifting melancholic cuddle.

Thanks for writing about Karl.

Martin Stuart Hanlin

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SEATRAIN— fabulous, almost too-hip, reference

Fred Ansis

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"If you're afraid of being injured, you're afraid of living"
That is so perfect in all the factors of life. An extraordinary songwriter, arranger, and vocalist. Eric Carmen has left us with a treasure load of greatness.
I of course will live forever!
Thank you once again Bob for hitting that nail on the head..

Michael Des Barres

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I felt bad when I heard Eric died. Not sure why, I didn't know him. Other artists, other people die and I chalk it up to Nobody gets out alive stuff. But I loved the Raspberries. I owned an indie record store in the 70s "Something Else Records" named after the Eddie Cochran hit, when I was in my 20 s. I'm a Rocker was on heavy rotation in the store. I was working for BMG when Dirty Dancing came out. Not only did it help pay the rent, but loved the soundtrack, and Hungry Eyes. And I'm a sucker for lush ballads which he made cool. Later I found the Live Raspberries album at a used record shop and loved it. He made an impact on me, that few have. May he RIP. 

Bob Morelli

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My uncle was a classmate of Eric Carmen's at Brush High School in Lyndhurst. 

Back in the 60's my uncle's band The Cellmates played the same circuit as Eric's band The Sounds of Silence. 

They would all get together and jam at the Brush High School reunions:

https://www.buckeyebeat.com/cellmates.html

Vince Welsh

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I turned my daughter onto 'the choir' last year "baby it's cold outside" and whenever she comes to visit me in London Ontario from her home just outside of Ottawa chilling at some point, she'll put that song on the Bluetooth player at least once during her long weekend visits.
She gets it she knows who Eric Carmen is and how he hooked up with the choir to form the Raspberries (did I spell it right? And I get it's more complicated than I've just spelled out), I'm glad I was able to share that with her last night that EC had died - because the kid gets it 25yrs old. 

And also last night , before I was made aware, I listened to my two favourite live albums of all time: Deep Purple Made in  Japan -,the second LP I ever bought,  and  Emerson, Lake & Palmer "welcome back my friends to the show that never ends' with new Apple earbuds,,, kind of neat that you mentioned Keith Emerson. Great article you wrote - I love Eric Carmen: may he rest in peace. You? stay safe stay sane.

Andrew Parr

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"I don't need anybody else to agree with me." (Bob Lefsetz)
Well, Bob...
Allow me to do so.
"Boats Against the Current" is exceptional.
It's simple.
It soars.
And with every bad review it got...
It got better and better with every listen. 

Marty Bender 

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Also two days ago— March 10

T. M. Stevens

Bassist supreme…. Amazing vocalist…. One of those cats who is on A MILLION albums, is on the radio every day on hits.. but not a household name outside certain musician circles

Albums and shows with Cissy Houston ….and was there for Whitney Houston's beginning, and played live w her. Lots of sessions on Narada Michael Walden productions… 

 … played bass & sang backups on the biggest charting and airplay James Brown hit … Living in America, co-written by Dan Hartman & Charlie Midnight.  

Dan as you well know had massive hits instant Replay, I can Dream About You, and T.M. recorded and  toured for years in Dan's projects & bands. 

 He had the usual dizzying resume of the journeyman bassist…..from Miles Davis and John McLaughlin to Tina Turner, Steve Vai, Cyndi Lauper, Joe Cocker, Nona Hendryx, Little Steven, Stacy Lattisaw …was in the Pretenders for attending Get Close album, with Bernie Worrell, whose band he was also in….. Billy Joel , River Of Dreams album…… it's endless. 

Any Electric bass player knows him from countless magazine ads since the 80s for strings, bass guitars and pedals…. unmistakable with his multicolor, African themed outfits and crazy dreadlocks

A brilliant Zelig of the funk-rock bass world, and a dear friend, has fallen. A fireball of energy and meticulous session musician with a distinct sound.  He will be majorly missed. As you say…. This is talkin' bout our generation starting to die. 

André Cholmondeley

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We as music obsessives will realize we didn't pay enough attention to Eric Carmen while he was here.  
I'll miss him not just for the ballads but for the razor sharp power pop.  Hell, he may have invented that particular subgenre.  
We didn't pay enough attention to Karl Wallinger either.  
Or Wayne Kramer.  
Spot on as always Bob, none of us are guaranteed tomorrow.  
As a grizzled Minnesota poet once said, "if you're not busy being born, your busy dying"

John Tierney

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My close friend and band partner from days gone by, Phil Sullivan, recommended I subscribe to your daily thoughts a few months back.  I am so glad he did.  I greatly enjoy reading your in sights … however, this one on Eric Carmen hit home with me like no other before.  

Eric was brilliant and I loved his songs … "All by Myself"  "Hungry Eyes" and The Raspberries "Go All The Way" and "I Saw the Light" are some of the "tunes of my life."  He captured our inner thoughts with his lyrics and sang them as if there would not be a tomorrow… quite the passion.

I agree with you, the internet has killed the music artist and the (important) messages we need to hear from them; now maybe more than ever.  On the other hand, you have er keep the fire burning  … when you get off the next ski lift, make a run like there will never be another one, because maybe (at our age) ...

As Christopher Cross sings "Ride Like The Wind."

My best, 
Gene Ellison

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Most excellent of you to mention the passing of Karl Wallinger. He was an excellent songwriter and all-around musician who beyond that initial "hit" phase, continued to make some really fine, well crafted albums.

I once called him the poor man's Warren Zevon but meant it as a compliment of the highest order. He will be missed.

- J. Pothier/Fairfield CT

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I got to see the Raspberries during the reunion in NYC on the second night. They were fantastic.

I am a fan of ALL of their music as well as Eric's solo stuff. You're right, they should've been bigger. "Let's pretend"could have gotten them bonafides as a serious act. 

I was told the night before a cavalcade of famous people who they influenced came to see them. I know Bruce mentioned them, Paul Stanley, Bon Jovi and Cheap Trick have mentioned them too. It's kinda like that Velvet underground quote that said something like the album itself didn't do so well but it spawned 1000 bands.

He will be missed

Sincerely,
Robert Garcia

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My favorite Eric Carmen record (he's the remixer!)

Steve Popovich released this on his Cleveland International label.

Jim Charne

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYHnBYZwP94

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Damn, Bob. That was a bummer of a post. Sometimes I really hate it when you push so hard on the truth. Re: Eric Carmen - I loved his BATC album too. Those songs have been inside me since the day it was released in 1977 - the same day I turned 21 and bought that record in Austin. But now for Eric, there's no more beating on against the current. Dear God, that's so so sad. :(

Roy Nelson Duffle

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"Peace comes after the laughter. I started to cry. And now I find I'm blind." 

I might have been about 11 when I first heard this. It was the saddest song I'd ever heard and kind of scary. But I kept listening.

He wrote good hooks.

Best,
Velina Brown 

Stories: :"What Comes After": https://shorturl.at/jnrt0

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Please don't forget Eric Carmen's wonderful 1975 "All by Myself" - (albeit courtesy of Rachmaninov) (almost 50 years old!)

ELLIS S RICH OBE HON DMus CEO
Supreme Songs Limited

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For my money the best World Party song is All Come True. Can listen to that groove over and over.

John Hughes

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I grew up in Youngstown Ohio. I saw Hard Days Night there. I would drive with my buddies to Cleveland to see The Raspberries play. Eric Carmen burned it down doing The Beatles version of Twist And Shout. 
The James Gang played Thursday nights in Youngstown at this weird club called The Freakout.
Joe Walsh and Phil Keagy killed it playing Jeff's Boogie there.
Bob Seger played there as well. Ramblin Gamblin Man at Maximum volume.
Eric Carmen and The Raspberries finally played there but only once. 
I've lived in Nashville for the past forty years, writing songs. Lots of songs.
Country music has been very, very good to me.
But long ago and far away, I lived in Rock n Roll heaven. Where Eric is now.
 
Bob DiPiero
Nashville 

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Karl Wallinger was born less than 2 weeks before me in 57, gives one pause. I was aware of World Party but never got into them. But I love The Waterboys and saw them a few years ago here in Halifax. Not sure if Wallinger was with them I just know it was an amazing show in a small venue. 
Makes one ponder when we see our musical heroes fall by the wayside, Bowie was a tough one as was Cohen. 
But for me Dylan will be the biggest. I've been a Dylan addict for a long time and this world will be a much sadder place without Bob. The fact he could pen Murder Most Fowl in his waning years is stunning.
Your right Bob, we oldsters don't have much time left, so we may, as much as possible enjoy it.  

Doug Gillis

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Boy, are you right, Bob.  I was living my best life when I found out I have terminal cancer on 12-26-23. Since then, friends who I thought were my best friends have faded away claiming they can't handle what's happening to me and don't know what to say.  People I barely know on facebook offer me places to stay in Maryland when I go for a huge operation at Johns Hopkins in May. 
 
My world has turned upside down.  I had two music cruises planned, and decided I needed to not go and sell my room.  StarVista (Flower Power cruise) said I couldn't sell the room to a person I found to buy it because I missed the deadline by ONE DAY.  They would have made an extra $500 just by changing the name on the reservation.  They said, "No, you can turn it in and we'll resell it."  "What do I get?"  "Nothing."  It seems like each day a new insult happens.

We are all old cars heading for the junk heap.  But when you have zero symptoms and a doctor looks you in the eye and says, "You have 9 to 18 months to live," it is shocking to your mind, heart and soul.

Katie Bradford
Portland, OR

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So I'm sitting in a waiting room at Gare du Nord station where I've spent the day in a studio in Paris working with a young 20 yr old singer on one of my songs for a movie ….….I had a few big hits as an artist in the Seventies ….produced 'Boogie Nights' and most of the Heatwave hits…. and carried on writing and producing through the 80's to now when I'm in my early Seventies….I'm reading you post and watching all my contemporaries fading away …….why am I still doing this ???

Barry Blue

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You speak the truth in your assement . At 70 we sold everything. I sold all my instruments except a few and my music computer. We then moved to Portugal because life is about experiences and that's what we want at this point. I want to remember everything that happened to me in 50 + years in the music world. We are experiencing new adventures here in Europe and we realize we are not going to be here forever but living here gives us a shot at extending the adventure. 

People need to step back and then take the next step if you want the most out of this life
Greetings from Lisbon

Peace,Jason Miles

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Very well put, I just turned 79 and have wonderful memories having worked for Mercury, Capitol, ABC/Dunhill, MCA and Capricorn. All during what I consider the cream of the crop days of music. Radio was king in making the hits ! I still believe in the music and I feel it in my heart and soul, long live music!

Barry Pollack

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Great letter! I'm turning 80 next month, healthy, active , still working but I know it's only a matter of time. 

Jan Burden

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My apologies for the golf analogy.  As you may know, I LOVE golf.  Millions of golfers dream of shooting a score of 72 when they're age is 72.  In fact, it's called "shooting your age".  I want to shoot 95 when I'm 95!!  That will require me remaining to be younger than my years.  That is also my motivation. If you're going to go, go all the way.  Dream on, right?  
 
Warm Regards,
Garland

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Sha La La  Let's Live for Today

Warren Entner


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