For a brief period after Wally Bryson left The Choir and before he, along with Michael McBride and Eric Carmen formed the Raspberries, there was Cyrus Erie, a band originally started by McBride in Cleveland, with his brother Bob and guitarist Tim Manning. Nothing was happening until Eric Carmen came along, and even then, the band only produced one forgotten single.
It took years, but I finally procured said single this week, without having to pay triple digits. Both the A and B side of this one-off were written by Eric Carmen, and it baffles me that neither created any buzz whatsoever in 1968. This is solid power pop years before there was such a term. "Get The Message" has a little more power in the pop than "Sparrow," but I really love the arrangement of "Sparrow."
7 comments:
So cool! So much fun!
Thanks Sal
there was a side deal to them in the 70's ''Cyrus Erie West'' a under 21 night club in North Ridgeville saw the Runaways there, Glass Harp, James Gang, Alex Harvey, Dragonwyck,Molkie Cole
Both this single, and the one that Eric Carmen's NEXT band The Quick issued, are kinda oddities, but 'Get The Message' especially echoes the relative sound of Raspberries to come......i always wondered what MIGHT have happened if, say "Sparrow" had taken off......
looking at the Billboard charts for 1968, Cyrus Erie's kind of pop was on the way out. The Rascals were in their "mature" phase, the White Album was released and Badfinger was still a couple years away. the highest charting power pop was Mony Mony, Judy in Disguise, Midnight Confessions and Cry Like a Baby, none of them in the top 10. the album was on its way to becoming the dominant format which, to be honest, was great for music. on the other hand, the Raspberries probably saved pop while failing themselves - I remember going "whoa" the first time I heard the opening chords to "Go All the Way."
Great songs! Great find! Enjoy and thanks for sharing,
I've always thought The Raspberries have gotten short changed in the rocking out category. How much more evidence do you need than Tonight on Side 3?
Love these tracks. Never heard them before. Although it's still hard to listen to Eric Carmen since he's become a Trumper.
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