Formation
The group had its roots in two of Cleveland's most successful local bands in the late 1960s, The Choir and Cyrus Erie. The Choir, originally called The Mods and composed of Dann Klawon, Wally Bryson, Dave Burke, Dave Smalley and Jim Bonfanti, had a more extensive repertoire of original songs, notably "It's Cold Outside", which parlayed its massive local success (#1 in Cleveland) into a nationally-charting single (peaking at No. 68 for Roulette Records). The Choir then went through a series of lineup changes, with Smalley and Bonfanti remaining in the various versions, until 1968, when Dave Smalley was drafted and sent to Vietnam, and The Choir disbanded, although it reformed behind Bonfanti and ultimately survived until 1970.
Although The Choir had the hit and a string of singles, Cyrus Erie, founded by brothers Michael McBride and Bob McBride, became the better-drawing local act shortly after Eric Carmen joined in 1967. Carmen persuaded Bryson, who had recently left The Choir, to join. In live shows, Cyrus Erie mainly covered other artists' songs, but signed to Epic Records and recorded two Carmen/Bryson originals ("Get the Message" b/w "Sparrow") as a single. Following this, Bryson quit to return to The Choir, which led to Cyrus Erie disbanding. Carmen and Dann Klawon then formed a new act called The Quick, and recorded a single of two Carmen/Klawon originals for Epic, without much success.
The group's style arose from a variety of rock and roll groups that the members loved, especially The Who. Carmen later said:
"Pete Townshend coined the phrase to define what the Who did. For some reason, it didn't stick to the Who, but it did stick to these groups that came out in the `70s that played kind of melodic songs with crunchy guitars and some wild drumming. It just kind of stuck to us like glue, and that was OK with us because the Who were among our highest role models. We absolutely loved the Who."Read more about this topic: Raspberries (band)
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