LYNDHURST, Ohio -- Mayor Patrick Ward is enthusiastically looking ahead to Aug. 3 -- the date when the city will pay tribute to songwriter and musician Eric Carmen.
Carmen spent his early years in Lyndhurst before going on to fame, first as a member of Cleveland rock band The Raspberries, then as a solo artist, then as a writer of hits for other artists and movie soundtracks.
“Everything’s coming up Raspberries in August,” said Ward, who has been working hard to create a fitting tribute to Carmen, who died March 11 at age 74.
The event will kick off at 6 p.m. at Lyndhurst Park, 1341 Parkview Drive, behind Lyndhurst City Hall.
Taking the stage that night to put on a free concert will be Raspberries tribute band The Razzz.
The Raspberries have been recognized worldwide as perhaps the first “power pop” band. They scored on Capitol Records with such urgent, melodic hits as 1972′s “Go All the Way” and “I Wanna Be With You,” 1973′s “Let’s Pretend” and “Tonight,” and, from 1974, “Overnight Sensation” -- all penned by Carmen.
Among the Raspberries’ fans were John Lennon and Bruce Springsteen.
Carmen’s solo career kicked off in 1975 with what has become one of the most well-known songs of all time -- “All By Myself.”
That was followed by “Never Gonna Fall in Love Again.”
His recording of “Hungry Eyes.” from the movie “Dirty Dancing,” went to No. 4 on the Billboard chart in 1987, while 1988 brought “Make Me Lose Control,” a No. 3 hit.
“Make Me Lose Control” was written with lyricist Dean Pitchford, who wrote the movie “Footloose.” From “Footloose” came another hit that Carmen and Pitchford wrote, “Almost Paradise,” as sung by Heart’s Ann Wilson and Loverboy’s Mike Reno.
There were others smashes, too, like teen heartthrob Shaun Cassidy’s 1977 renditions of Carmen’s “That’s Rock ‘N’ Roll” and “Hey Deanie.”
“When you look through his body of work as an individual songwriter and artist, and what the Raspberries accomplished, there’s quite a lot there,” Ward said.
“A couple of residents came to me and said, ‘Hey, do you think we could do a tribute concert, because Eric Carmen grew up here in Lyndhurst?’”
“I said, ’OK,’” Ward said of the tribute concert idea. “I thought this would be really, really great in honor of his life, legacy and the fact he grew up in Lyndhurst.
“I know we’re not doing it out of a sense of ownership, but out of a sense of pride that he was a resident of Lyndhurst, grew up in Lyndhurst (on Emmet Road), was a graduate of Brush (High School).
“You know, a lot of what he experienced as a student at Brush and John Carroll (University) kind of made its way into his music.
“Certainly having a foundation of training at the Cleveland Institute of Music, having an aunt who was an accomplished violinist and had a 40-plus-year career with the Cleveland Orchestra, and who recognized when he was very young that he had talent helped him greatly. She helped inspire that and nurtured it.
“So we decided to do this concert, and the word started getting around and I was in the office one night and I got a call from (Carmen’s widow), Amy (Murphy),” Ward recalled.
“We started talking about what we were doing, and she was very appreciative.”
Ward told Murphy that Lyndhurst, with the Eric Carmen tribute concert, was also trying to raise money for a music scholarship in Carmen’s name.
“(Murphy) started talking about how his foundation in music started very young, at the Cleveland Institute of Music,” Ward said.
“Our conversation then kind of exploded and kind of flipped the switch on opportunities for our younger South Euclid-Lyndhurst (Schools) students who are getting into music and are identified as having talent, and how they might benefit from additional training from the Cleveland Institute of Music.
“Once we started talking about it, it was electric. She was excited about it, I was excited, the team (putting together the tribute) is excited. We’ve had a lot of interest from some of our businesses.”
As a result of that conversation, the Eric Carmen Tribute Night includes sponsorship opportunities, with proceeds benefiting music scholarships for SE-L City Schools students.
Those sponsorships include the $1,000 “Go All the Way” contribution, the “Overnight Sensation (for $500), “Ecstasy” ($250) and the “Tonight” ($100).
To become a sponsor, make out a check to “City of Lyndhurst” and drop it off or mail it to Lyndhurst City Hall, 5301 Mayfield Road, Lyndhurst, OH 44124.
Speaking about the city paying tribute to Carmen, Murphy said, “Some of my husband’s fondest memories were created during his childhood in Lyndhurst and while attending Brush High School.
“It was during these days, while living in this city, that Eric decided he wanted to become a rock star.”
As it turns out, Lyndhurst won’t be the only place where Carmen and his talents will be commemorated. The city of Cleveland will also be paying tribute to Carmen within days of Lyndhurst’s celebration.
That’s a synergy that greatly pleases Ward.
Cleveland Ward 16 Councilman Brian Kazy last year instituted, with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, an annual “Music Keynote to the City” tribute.
On Aug. 8, five days after the Lyndhurst tribute concert, the Rock Hall will host a special event that will include a resolution from Cleveland City Council and a proclamation from the city, both to be accepted by Murphy.
Aug. 11, which would have been Carmen’s 75th birthday, will also be proclaimed “Eric Carmen Day” in Cleveland.
Ward is hoping that someday soon, the Raspberries will also get an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
He said Raspberries drummer Jim Bonfanti will be a guest at the Lyndhurst concert by The Razzz.
“The excitement is building,” Ward said of the anticipation leading to Aug. 3. And, Ward definitely intends to make sure a proper rocking tribute is held for Carmen.
“The stage will be on the side of the gazebo so the whole park can see it, then we’re going to have a tent over the stage, and full sound,” Ward said.
”The sound engineers have one instruction -- I want to blow the doors off the park.”
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