The Raspberries

My first album was Todd Rundgren's Something/Anything. My second was Elton John, Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player. My third was The Raspberries, some greatest hits record that I can't find anymore, neither in my collection (no big surprise...it was a while ago) nor on the internet, which is odd.

In any event, what a great album it was. It had all the hits - Let's Pretend, Go All the Way, Overnight Sensation, I Wanna Be with You - and had a huge impact on my budding pre-teen insanity. At a time when I was naturally thinking about breaking away from my family, this music fueled images of being an adult, doing what I wanted, experiencing life on the road (no, I didn't yet know about Kerouac,) in short, a fantasy world of rock and roll where anything could happen. I don't really think I ever got beyond that stage, in many ways.

I recently rediscovered the Raspberries, and hearing those songs brings back a flood of strange feelings, almost tossing me right back into that place in 1974, my great era of pop music and AM radio and pre-pubescent desire. I feel a twinge of the soul-searching that only a 13 year old can experience. Hearing these songs makes me think of my bedroom, which I painted royal blue to contrast the white shag rug and white-painted furniture. It reminds me of falling asleep listening to Crocodile Rock, Will it Go Round in Circles, Lean on Me, and Mandy, on my little clock radio. It gives me a feeling of hope and despair, one because all of life is ahead of me, the other cause I have no idea what it's all about.

Here's to Eric and the boys, who by the way, are touring again. But that's fodder for another blog.


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