Raspberries tribute act The Razzz returning to Music Box Supper Club
Apr. 16—Bill March says he was stunned by the news last month that his old friend Eric Carmen had died.
The guy was a brilliant, brilliant songwriter," says March, a longtime Northeast Ohio musician who resides in Lyndhurst. "He meant a lot to me in terms of the music he made. He meant a lot, probably, to the world at large."
March knew Carmen — known both for fronting Cleveland-based power-pop band Raspberries, which found success nationally in the 1970s, and the solo artist responsible for hits including "All By Myself" and "Hungry Eyes" — when March was a member of another notable Northeast Ohio rock act, Beau Coup, during the following decade. He says Carmen encouraged them to bring sibling co-lead vocalists Frank and Tommy Amato into the band.
"He helped us out a lot with advice and things like that," March says, "and played on stage a few times."
For the last few years, March and other veterans of the Northeast Ohio music community have spent time here and there and playing in a Raspberries tribute band, The Razzz, which is next set to perform on April 19 at the Music Box Supper Club on the West Bank of Cleveland's Flats.
"Let's face it: The intro to 'Go All the Way' — if that doesn't grab you by the lapels or your shirt collar and drag you in, I don't know what does," March says of the Raspberries' 1972 hit song's guitar-driven, hard-charging first few seconds.
Both bass player/vocalist March and drummer Ed Brown — another of those longtime Northeast Ohio musicians in The Razzz, who lives in Mentor — have spent time over the years sharing the stage with the man on that guitar, Wally Bryson, in acts such as The Wally Bryson Group.
"Bill is a longtime Raspberries fan and Eric Carmen fan, and I was not to the degree Bill was," Brown says in a recent joint phone interview with March. "But ... I had the pleasure of playing with Wally for, probably, 20 or 25 years since the late '80s.
"I knew the Raspberries, and I knew 'Go All the Way' and a couple of other songs, but I was more into the heavy-metal thing," admits Brown, whose time playing with Bryson includes the band Sittin' Ducks.
March and Brown played together in The Wally Bryson Group, with the latter suggesting to Bryson they bring the former into the fold when they were looking for a bassist.
That band wound down a few years ago when Bryson decided to step away from the stage after developing a condition called Dupuytren's contracture, which has affected his ability to play guitar, and The Razzz more or less picked up the mantle, fulfilling a Wally Bryson Group date at the Music Box upon the venue's request, Brown says.
"We thought, 'Well, I don't know. I guess we could try it,'" he recalls. "And it went over really well, so that then became The Razzz."
The band now also consists of Steve Jochum, of Parma, on lead vocals, guitar and keyboards; Chirs DeHaas, of Madison, on guitar, keyboards and vocals; and and guest George Sipl, of Middleburg Heights, on keyboards and vocals.
Siplhad been Eric Carmen's keyboard player and played on and mixed "Hungry Eyes," according to Brown.
The Razzz's repertoire goes beyond well-known Raspberries tunes such as "Go All the Way" — featured prominently in 2014 Marvel Studios hit "Guardians of the Galaxy" — "I Wanna Be With You," "Don't Want to Say Goodbye" and "Let's Pretend" to include songs from the British Invasion and more.
"We do the stuff they were influenced by," March says. "We try to do the stuff like Small Faces and The Left Banke and, of course, The Beatles, The Beach Boys. We're doing some of Eric's solo stuff."
He adds that he's always a little perplexed that Carmen seemingly is most often associated with "Hungry Eyes," the hit from the 1987 hit movie "Dirty Dancing."
"He didn't write that song, but he made it his own, obviously," March says. "So many great songs he did write — I think "All by Myself," that's the franchise.
"He (co-wrote Mike Reno and Ann Wilson's) 'Almost Paradise.' He wrote (solo hit) 'Make Me Lose Control.'"
Brown says the band really enjoys the material they get to play when they perform out a couple of times a year, with another gig tentatively slated for early August.
"We try to do it as close to the original way it was recorded the best way we can," he says. "It's never going to be 100 percent, but we do spend a lot of time learning the parts as best we can because we really want to do it justice."
It sounds as if it's appreciated.
"There's definitely a core Raspberries fanatic that will come to see us," March says. "We definitely give them more than just the hits.
"We do a pretty good slice of their stuff."
Brown says he was surprised to discover the music isn't just for those looking for nostalgia, at least if his grandkids are any indication.
"They're in high school, and they'd never heard me play because I don't play out that often. I always wanted them to come out, but I had no idea whether they would appreciate the music because, you know, they're teenagers.
"And they really do love the music," he continues. "I think any age group would enjoy it. We certainly have a core of people that come out that love the Raspberries and grew up with them, but I haven't found anybody — and I don't think they're telling me this to make us feel good — that have come out that didn't enjoy the music."
We've now come to the obligatory question, at least from a Northeast Ohio perspective: Do the Raspberries get the credit they deserve?
"I think they do now," March says, noting acclaim that has grown for the 1974 album "Starting Over." "Back when they were together, they got little to none — to the point where (it) made them break up.
"They are not looked upon as, if not the originators, one of the originators of the power-pop genre."
The Razzz
Where: Music Box Supper Club, 1148 Main Ave., Cleveland.
When: 8 p.m. April 19.
Tickets: $18 in advance, $25 day of show.
Info: MusicBoxCle.com or 216-242-1250.