Remembering 2024’s Music Losses: Eric Carmen

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Winter storm watch?! What’s so bad about this is that I can’t escape because I have a doctor’s appointment next Friday. (And watch, it’ll get rescheduled because of the weather. ) Oh, well, I’ll take it as it comes. You learn that when you get older. You also have to say goodbye to a lot of talented musicians you listened to when you were younger. We remember them and celebrate their music this month. Here’s the next person on the alphabetical list. Eric Carmen I almost used “Hungry Eyes” from Dirty Dancing, but I decided to go with the first song I heard from Eric Carmen: the Raspberries’ “Go All the Way.” I definitely wasn’t going to use “All By Myself,” which put such a bad taste in my mouth about him that it was hard to recover. (I had that with 10cc and “I’m Not in Love,” too.) Carmen was the lead singer for the Raspberries, a band that would border on that precarious fence between power pop and bubblegum. Their biggest hit was “Go All the Way,” but they also had a hit with “I Wanna Be With You.” Their last top 40 song was “Overnight Sensation (Hit Record),” then they folded. Carmen went solo, scoring a #2 hit with “All By Myself” in late 1975. That was his biggest hit, despite the popularity of “Hungry Eyes” in the 80s from Dirty Dancing. (He also co-wrote “Almost Paradise” from Footloose.) Later in his career, Carmen became a member of Ringo Starr’s All-Starr Band. He described that as a major thrill. Carmen died in his sleep at his Cleveland-area residence on March 10, 2024. His career wasn’t Hall of Fame quality, but he is fondly remembered for both his Raspberries and solo hits. Eric Carmen Born Eric Howard Carmen August 11, 1949, Cleveland, Ohio Died March 10, 2024, Lyndhurst, Ohio (unknown cause) (age 74) “Go All the Way” by Carmen’s first success, the Raspberries: