It was the spring of 1976 and my college roommate and I were cruising around in his big old gas-guzzling Chevy listening to the 8-track at ear-bleeding volume. In the tape deck was I'm A Rocker by The Raspberries, arguably the greatest pop/rock band in history.
I loved The Raspberries and never understood why they didn't become huge stars. They certainly enjoyed some success - Go All the Way (their biggest hit), I Wanna Be With You, Let's Pretend, and Overnight Sensation (just about the perfect pop song) were all legitimate hits. Beyond these well-known songs, though, there were a lot of other truly great songs - Tonight, I Saw the Light, Don't Wanna Say Goodbye, Drivin' Around, Hard to Get Over a Heartbreak, Ecstasy, Party's Over, Starting Over, Play On, and All Through the Night are all classics, in my opinion.
As seen in the picture above, the band's tendency to wear matching outfits probably didn't help them any. In the 70's matching outfits were associated with the Bay City Rollers and other bands that had no credibility among rockers or serious music fans. But The Raspberries are a band whose music holds up incredibly well. Take a listen to Tonight and you'll hear production qualities and rocking music that beats most everything on the radio these days. Put on Overnight Sensation and marvel at the huge sound, terrific production, and truly great songwriting and musicianship. The song is so great that John Lennon offered the services of himself and Ringo Starr to do some independent promotion work for the band. Can you get any better seal of approval than that?
If you want to check out their music start with the Capitol Records Collector Series 2CD set. It's got all the hits and most of the album classics (although with so many great songs some, such as Play On and All Through the Night didn't make the cut). Also, you might want to pick up their 2007 reunion set Raspberries Live On Sunset Strip. A magnificently produced set, you can do yourself a favor and seek out the deluxe edition that contains a bonus DVD with the songs I Wanna Be With You, Tonight, Overnight Sensation, Ecstasy, and of course, Go All the Way. Really great stuff.
So here's to one of the greatest - and most underrated - bands of the 70s - The Raspberries. Do yourself a favor and pick up some of their music. I still keep it in heavy rotation, though it's now on my iPod rather than 8 track.
I loved The Raspberries and never understood why they didn't become huge stars. They certainly enjoyed some success - Go All the Way (their biggest hit), I Wanna Be With You, Let's Pretend, and Overnight Sensation (just about the perfect pop song) were all legitimate hits. Beyond these well-known songs, though, there were a lot of other truly great songs - Tonight, I Saw the Light, Don't Wanna Say Goodbye, Drivin' Around, Hard to Get Over a Heartbreak, Ecstasy, Party's Over, Starting Over, Play On, and All Through the Night are all classics, in my opinion.
As seen in the picture above, the band's tendency to wear matching outfits probably didn't help them any. In the 70's matching outfits were associated with the Bay City Rollers and other bands that had no credibility among rockers or serious music fans. But The Raspberries are a band whose music holds up incredibly well. Take a listen to Tonight and you'll hear production qualities and rocking music that beats most everything on the radio these days. Put on Overnight Sensation and marvel at the huge sound, terrific production, and truly great songwriting and musicianship. The song is so great that John Lennon offered the services of himself and Ringo Starr to do some independent promotion work for the band. Can you get any better seal of approval than that?
If you want to check out their music start with the Capitol Records Collector Series 2CD set. It's got all the hits and most of the album classics (although with so many great songs some, such as Play On and All Through the Night didn't make the cut). Also, you might want to pick up their 2007 reunion set Raspberries Live On Sunset Strip. A magnificently produced set, you can do yourself a favor and seek out the deluxe edition that contains a bonus DVD with the songs I Wanna Be With You, Tonight, Overnight Sensation, Ecstasy, and of course, Go All the Way. Really great stuff.
So here's to one of the greatest - and most underrated - bands of the 70s - The Raspberries. Do yourself a favor and pick up some of their music. I still keep it in heavy rotation, though it's now on my iPod rather than 8 track.
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