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Eric Carmen


Cleveland, 1965 -

Cleveland's most famous (in terms of name recognition) rocker would have to be Eric Carmen. He was a classically trained musician (piano) and like so many of his generation formed a teen rock and roll band in the wake of the British Invasion. During his career he was in the Raspberries and Cyrus Erie, having started out in the Harlequins and the Sounds of Silence while attending Brush High School. In 1975 he struck out as a solo artist and had a run of about 5 years as a hitmaker, before becoming very sporadic in recording.

Since so much has been written about Eric (including "Marathon Man", a nationally published authorized biography) we are not going to try and present a complete history. We will include a few bits that are not covered much elsewhere.

In 1969, when Eric and Cyrus Erie were in discussions with record companies (Epic/CBS), he presented some demos. One of them made it to the management of a singer named Oliver (William Oliver Swofford). Oliver had a couple of big pop hits, "Good Morning Starshine" and "Jean". Oliver recorded one of Eric's demo songs, "Light The Way", but the record was not a success, although in one (or more) of the books covering Eric's career, it was claimed that Oliver was seen performing the song on a TV show (Merv Griffin?) and name checking Eric as the writer. 

Around this time (mid 1970, after the last gasp versions of Cyrus Erie and the Quick disbanded), Eric supposedly released a 45 on Epic. Many years ago, the late, legendary writer/preservationist Greg Shaw told the editor that someone he knew and trusted had the 45, but after nearly 40 years of searching, no copies have been found. The recordings were finished and are available on line in decent quality. 

After the Raspberries disbanded, he starting working with the Cleveland band Magic. They are the band on the first (and most successful) LP. The guitarist in Magic, Dan Hrdlicka, had been in Circus and wrote their famous local hit "Stop Wait and Listen". The second LP includes a couple members of Magic but it was mostly studio players. 

Since the late 1980s, Eric has only recorded a few songs, but he reunited with the Raspberries in 2004. He is an active member on his website www.ericcarmen.com

Discography (through 1980)
I'll Hold Out My Hand / It Won't Be The Same Without You - Epic 10669, 1970
All By Myself / Everything - Arista 0165, 1975
Never Gonna Fall In Love Again / No Hard Feelings - Arista 0184, 1976
Sunrise / My Girl - Arista 200, 1976
Sunrise (live at the Roxy) / same (stereo/mono) promo only (the regular release has the studio recording of  Sunrise)
LP- Eric Carmen, 1975
She Did It / Someday - Arista 0266 (PS), 1977
Boats Against The Current / Take It Or Leave It - Arista 0295, 1977
Marathon Man / I Think I Found Myself - Arista 0319, 1977
LP- Boats Against The Current, 1977
Change Of Heart / Hey Deanie - Arista 0354, 1978
Baby, I Need Your Lovin' / Heaven Can Wait - Arista 0384, 1978
LP- Change Of Heart, 1978
Haven't We Come A Long Way / End Of The World - Arista 0435, 1979
It Hurts Too Much / You Need Some Lovin' - Arista 0506, 1980
All For Love / Tonight You're Mine - Arista 0550, 1980
Foolin' Myself / Lost In The Shuffle - Arista 0567, 1980
LP - Tonight You're Mine - Arista