The lead singer/songwriter for one of the greatest bands of the early '70s, the Raspberries, Eric Carmen went solo in 1975, after what seems to have been a particularly painful break-up within the band. Having penned - and sung - power pop classics such as "Go All the Way", "I Wanna Be With You", and "Overnight Sensation (Hit Record)" for his former band, it was abundantly clear that the Cleveland native was no slouch in the singing-songwriting department.
And so, with former Raspberries producer Jimmy Ienner and Clive Davis' newly established Arista Records in his corner, Eric Carmen confidently went out on his own. And, to make a long story short, his debut self-titled solo album issued in late 1975 is a triumph - a minor pop classic in fact. The lead-off single, power ballad "All By Myself", quickly hit no. 2 on the U.S. Billboard singles chart, eventually becoming Carmen's best known composition to date yielding covers by both Celine Dion and Frank Sinatra - to name but two.
Other songs off the album include "That's Rock 'N Roll" (a U.S. Top 10 for Shaun Cassidy in 1977. The Runaways also included it in their early stage show but regrettfully never recorded it), "No Hard Feelings" (about the Raspberries' break-up), and another power ballad - and a Top 20 U.S. hit - "Never Gonna Fall in Love Again".
Nothing against Barry Manilow, but as accomplished as the "Eric Carmen" album on the whole was, it unfortunately veered too much towards BM territory at times, which sort of colors many folks' (perhaps unaware of his power pop past) perception of Carmen to this day.
But to be fair, the Raspberries' repertoire also always had its fair share of blatant balladry. A case in point: "Starting Over", the title track and a highlight from their fourth and last long player in 1974. Also, the Bay City Rollers, with the aid and, undoubtingly, under the influence of Raspberries/Carmen producer Jimmy Ienner, took a competent stab at one of the 'berries best melodic moments, "Let's Pretend" ("If 'Don't Worry Baby' and 'Mr. Tambourine Man' had a baby" - Eric Carmen, 2013), which appeared on their 1976 album "Dedication".
"Boats Against the Current", the difficult second album, was issued in the summer of 1977. The title track, duly covered by both Frankie Valli and Olivia Newton-John, was yet another piano-based ballad. The Beach Boys-influenced single "She Did it" went Top 20 in the U.S. while the excellent "Marathon Man" unjustly flopped. With the album an overall disappointment, both artistically and commercially, Carmen could though find some solace in the fact that Shaun Cassidy hit the Top 10 with another one of his compositions, "Hey Deanie", which was also included on the next Eric Carmen album "Change of Heart" in 1978. The title track went Top 20 as a single but the album as such flopped miserably. And thus ended Eric Carmen's association with Arista - for the time being.
Although managing a minor hit here and there over the next few years (1980's naughty "Tonight You're Mine" was, well, interesting) Eric Carmen was no longer a viable option, or so it seemed. That is, until a certain blockbuster movie called "Dirty Dancing" became the surprise hit of 1987. And Eric Carmen just happened to have a song, "Hungry Eyes", on the otherwise - almost - oldies dominated soundtrack album (one of the other new songs included was "I've Had the Time of My Life" by Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes). And with that, Eric Carmen was back up where he belonged again - in the Top 10...
1988's "Make Me Lose Control" was an even bigger hit, peaking at no. 3 Stateside - his highest chart placing since "All By Myself"...
"The Best of Eric Carmen" compilation was issued on Arista. It did especially well on Compact Disc - the new format all the kids were raving about. Albums were soooooo out!
And so, apparently, was our Eric. Instead of following this success up properly he seems to have slipped into a semi-retirement from recording, although touring with Ringo Starr's All Starr Band in the new millennium, and with the temporarily reformed Raspberries a few years later kept him somewhat active in the live arena as time went on.
In 2014 his first new recording for over a decade appeared on a new "Essential Eric Carmen" double CD issued by Arista/Sony Legacy; the Brian Wilson-esque "Brand New Year", where he was aptly enough backed by some of his hero's much lauded backing band: Jeffrey Foskett, Darian Sahanaja and Nick Walusko. The latter two being also members of power popsters Wondermints. Let us just hope it is indeed the beginning of something brand new for Eric Carmen...
There was a public outcry. Or at least a Facebook petition. But at long last, as of this past spring (2012), Shaun Cassidy's complete back catalogue is now available on the very nearly obsolete format that is a Compact Disc. Better late than never! My good old vinyl never looked - or sounded - so fine. Alas, the time for a reappraisal is ripe...
With his family tree as it is (Son of Shirley Jones and Jack Cassidy, half-brother of David), clearly Shaun was poised for some kind of stardom from the very beginning.
After having begun his career in local L.A. bands such as Longfellow in the early to mid '70s, industry veteran Mike Curb had the good sense to sign him as a solo act to his Curb Records on a licensing deal to Warner Brothers.
Long-time Curb-collaborator Michael Lloyd, then fresh off his work with the Osmonds, was assigned as a producer of the project and the ball was rolling...
Europe was used as a platform for launching the potential new star. Seemingly, as early as late 1975 debut single "Morning Girl", a fine cover of the Neon Philharmonic's quite unique sole 1969 hit, was a hit in the Netherlands.
The summer of '76 then saw the European release of 2nd single, a cover of Eric Carmen's excellent "That's Rock 'n' Roll". The debut album, also entitled "That's Rock 'n' Roll" was then also issued in Europe.
Around the same time Shaun's acting career also took off in America with his role as Joe Hardy on "The Hardy Boys" mysteries TV show. Thus, the time was deemed right for the release of his U.S. debut, the single "Da Doo Ron Ron", a cover of the Crystals Spector/Greenwich/Barry classic from 1963.
It swiftly secured the no. 1 slot on the Billboard Top 100 and a star was (briefly) born.
A self-titled album soon followed; but apart from the sleeve design and the title it was the very same LP as had been issued earlier in Europe.
Mostly made up of covers such as the aforementioned singles, it also contains Shaun's very own composition "Holiday", as well as a couple of Michael Lloyd originals. Goffin/King's "Take Good Care of My Baby" and "Be My Baby", another Spector/Greenwich/Barry classic, were also aired. But, best of all perhaps, is a cover of a relatively obscure Bobby Goldsboro tune (at least outside the U.S. of A.), "It's Too Late"....
Overall, the album has aged rather well. I hadn't listened to it in years and as much as I love the original of "Da Doo Ron Ron", I seemed to recall that Shaun's cover was rather dreadful in comparison. But it really isn't. It's just very 1977 sounding - nothing more, nothing less. It has a faint disco beat and it is very understandable why it became the big that it was. However, Shaun himself later said: ""Da Doo Ron Ron" I have a real hard time with, because I just love the Crystals' version of the record and I love Phil Spector's records. I think that mine sounds very bland in comparison." (from Barry Scott's "We Had Joy, We Had Fun", 1994 Faber and Faber)
Preceeded by perhaps Shaun's finest hour, another Eric Carmen-penned single "Hey Deanie", his second album, "Born Late" (1977) is also, in all probability, his best LP.
Not only were the originals getting a lot better (Album opener "Teen Dream", "It's Up to You" and the very excellent "Walk Away", in particular), but covers such as the Lovin' Spoonful's "Do You Believe in Magic" (a #31 single hit for Shaun), the Young Rascals' "A Girl Like You", and not to mention the White Plains' slightly more obscure "Carolina's Comin' Home" were a bit more inspired than the Spector/Goffin/King stuff from the first album.
Album number 3, "Under Wraps", appeared in 1978.
The self-penned opener "Hard Love", a rather decent "Hey Deanie" re-write, wasn't even issued as a single in the U.S. Instead, Warners opted for the more predictable - and bland - "Our Night" by the more established songwriting pair of Carole Bayer Sager & Bruce Roberts. It stalled at #80 on the Billboard Top 100 and became Shaun Cassidy's last charting single in his homeland. In Europe, though, "Hard Love" became the lead-off single.
The rest of the record consisted of the by now true and tested formula of covers and originals alike. Of the former, "It's Like Heaven", a Brian Wilson/Diane Rovell/Rushtyn Pamphlin composition originally made for American Spring in the early '70s, was a stand-out, while the aforementioned "Hard Love" and "Taxi Dancer" were in strong evidence of the latter.
But overall, this record was a drop in quality and clearly aimed at a "maturing" audience - ALWAYS a risky proposition in the world of '70s Teenpop. After all, this was years before George Michael and Robbie Williams...
"Room Service" (1979) offered more of the same, albeit more focused and thought-out.
It's somewhat surprising how much control Shaun seems to have obtained by this time in his short career. He has a hand in five out of the nine tracks here. Rather unusual for teen idols of that time.
The "mature" theme here persists, but the material overall is better than on the previous record. Nonetheless, an "obvious" single is hard to spot. Therefore, once more, different cuts were initially chosen for single releases in the U.S. ("You're Usin' Me") and Europe (the Bee Gees-like "Are You Afraid of Me"). Strange, though, that the perhaps strongest cut here, "Break for the Street", wasn't one of them...
Usually, when an artist's career is in a dire straits, there are two ways out: either the "Greatest Hits" solution or the ever-classic throw-them-to the-lions "Live" album answer. In Shaun's case, the latter was chosen as his next release.
"Shaun Cassidy Live! That's Rock 'n' Roll" came out in late 1979 and pretty much disappeared without a trace...
A bit of an odd mixture of Shaun's biggest hits ("Hey Deanie", "That's Rock 'n' Roll" and "Da Doo Ron Ron") and Rock & Roll/oldies standards alike ("Bad Boy", "Slow Down", "Rip it Up" - none of which had been previously recorded by Shaun), it comes off as a rather unconvincing and uninteresting effort from someone who (perhaps) clearly couldn't care less anymore...
Rather recently I accidentally obtained a German white label test pressing copy of this album. It came with a proposed first tracklisting which I have scanned here below...
Unfortunately, though, the record itself was the same as it ever was...to paraphrase Talking Heads.
OK, for better or for worse, but we could've gotten a completely different record here. Somewhere, someplace it must still exist. Mike Curb, are you reading this?
"Wasp" (1980) was Shaun Cassidy's last long player and the first one without Michael Lloyd at the helm. Instead, Shaun opted for a far more "edgy" collaborator that was Todd Rundgren. Well, just take a one look at that cover art and you can tell there's something very different afoot. Utopia, perhaps?
For starters, the covers here sound sublimely exotic in comparison to Shaun's earlier efforts. David Bowie, Talking Heads, The Who and Ian Hunter are among the main culprits.
In recent years this record has started to enjoy a little something called "cult following". Well, that in itself is just as fragile as this album. It's a pretty "interesting" effort, and very courageous at that. But a further collaboration between those two - Cassidy and Rundgren - possibly would've been even more daring...
But that, clearly, wasn't to be. After "Wasp" Shaun seems to have focused his energies more on acting rather than singing. With one small exception.
In 1989 he teamed up with the Dutch Bolland brothers (Falco, Suzi Quatro, Samantha Fox, the authors of Status Quo's "In the Army Now" hit) and came out with the forgettable Europop single "Memory Girl" ...
Since then, Shaun has mostly focused his attention on TV-production, writing and, to a lesser degree, acting.
In 1993, though, he teamed up with big brother David in the musical "Blood Brothers" and they took Broadway by storm. And recorded the Broadway cast CD in the process. The year before, (Mike) Curb Records had issued the Shaun Cassidy "Greatest Hits" CD.
Now, nearly 20 years later, it's been followed up with the aforementioned belated Shaun Cassidy catalogue on CD reissue program.
As I said before - and this is where we came in - better late than never....
SHAUN CASSIDY album discography:
"That's Rock 'n' Roll" (WB 56 342) (Germany, 1977)
"Shaun Cassidy" (BS 3067) (U.S. 1977) (The same as above) (CD, Curb Records, 2012)
