Not a one-hit wonder

Some artists never have even one Billboard Hot 100 Single in their careers. Eric Carmen has more than two dozen as a performer and as a songwriter for other artists.

"The Kid," as Eric was once called, is no "one-hit wonder." His songs have scored on all three of the major U. S. record charts (Billboard's Hot 100, Cashbox's Hot 100 and Record World's Top 40), sometimes charting higher on one chart than they did on the other charts.

To bring all this chart data together, I've done a lot of research of my own magazines and of chart publications in libraries. Not an easy task, when you have to use aging eyes to look for a name or song title in small print, and when sometimes a song is charting on one chart but not the others.

Still, it's been a fun task, so here's the results so fans and future researchers can have them available with ease.

Raspberries hit singles:

With Raspberries, Eric scored his first chart hit with "Don't Want To Say Goodbye" in 1972. The tune peaked at #86 in Billboard and at #90 in Cashbox. It sold 5,000 copies the week it was released, according to Capitol Records, pushing the single onto the charts in May of 1972.

Raspberries "Go All The Way" made the Top 5 on all three charts in 1972, peaking at #5 in Billboard, #4 in Cashbox and #3 in Record World. The tune sold more than 1.3 million copies and earned Eric and the band their first Gold Record Awards. In 1989, Spin magazine named "Go All The Way" to its list of the "100 Greatest Singles Of All Time," ranking it at #91. "Go All The Way" also appeared in Blender magazine's July 2006 issue as one of its "Greatest Songs Ever." The tune ranked at #33 in Billboard's Top 100 Singles of 1972 Year-End list (#39 in Cashbox's year-end best-sellers countdown). Raspberries-fan director Cameron Crowe used the tune in his film "Almost Famous."

"I Wanna Be With You," Raspberries third hit of 1972, remained on the charts into 1973, peaking at #16 in Billboard, but going Top 10 in both Cashbox (#10) and Record World (#7). While it didn't make the Billboard year-end list, it ranked at #100 among Cashbox magazine's 100 biggest selling singles of 1973.

"Let's Pretend" in 1973 hit the Top 40 in Billboard, peaking at #35, but went Top 20 in Cashbox (#18 for two weeks) and Record World (#14).

"Tonight" in 1973 peaked at #69 in Billboard, but went Top 40 in Cashbox, peaking at # 37 for two weeks.

"I'm A Rocker"in 1973 reached #94 in Billboard and #75 in Cashbox.

"Overnight Sensation (Hit Record)" reached #18 in Billboard, #24 in Cashbox and #26 in Record World in 1974. In 1989, the tune (a favorite of John Lennon of The Beatles) was named to Rolling Stone magazine's list of "The 100 Best Singles Of The Last 25 Years," ranking at $#90. In Dave Marsh's (Bruce Springsteen's biographer and Rolling Stone music critic) book, "The Heart Of Rock & Soul," Marsh ranked the tune at #890 among his personally chosen "1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made," and in Rolling Stone in 1974, he listed "Overnight Sensation (Hit Record" in his Top 40 Singles Of The Year list at #1. Though it didn't chart in England, it did make Britain's Sounds magazine Top 10 Singles Of The Year list. The album the single came from, "Starting Over," was named one of the seven Albums Of The Year for 1974 in Rolling Stone magazine's Year-End List (alongside albums by such acts as Bruce Springsteen and The Rolling Stones).

Eric Carmen solo hit singles:

You will hear that Eric never had a #1 Pop single, but only if the critic has only studied the Billboard charts. "All By Myself" was released in 1975 and peaked in 1976. In Billboard, it reached #2 for three weeks, but in both Cashbox and Record World it peaked at #1. It peaked at #6 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary (AC) chart as well. The single sold more than one million copies in the United States to earn Eric a Gold Record Award. In England, the tune became Eric's only British Top 40 hit, peaking at #12 on the BBC charts. Billboard's year-end countdown listed "All By Myself" at #40 among the year's 100 biggest hits (Cashbox ranked it at #41 for the year).

"Never Gonna Fall In Love Again" peaked at #11 on Billboard's Pop chart, but reached #9 in both Cashbox and Record World in 1976. (On Billboard's AC chart it reached #1.)

"Sunrise," Eric's third Top 40 hit of 1976 and his third hit from the Gold-selling Arista "Eric Carmen" album (which sold more than 500,000 copies, and includes the original Eric-penned version of "That's Rock 'n' Roll," later covered by Shaun Cassidy for a Top 10 single), peaked at #34 in Billboard, #38 (for two weeks) in Cashbox and #28 in Record World. The flipside of the white label DJ promo of "Sunrise" sent to radio stations by Arista was a live performance of the tune.

"She Did It" in 1977 peaked at #23 in Billboard and at #27 in Record World, but went Top 20 in Cashbox (#15).

"Boats Against The Current" peaked at #88 in Billboard in 1977 and at #92 in Cashbox in 1978. (It had fallen off the Billboard chart before appearing on the Cash Box chart for the first time on Jan. 14, 1978.)

"Change Of Heart" in 1978 went Top 20 on all three charts, peaking at #19 in both Billboard and Cashbox, and at #20 in Record World.

"Baby, I Need Your Lovin'" in 1979 (Eric's first cover tune as a single) reached #62 in Billboard, #60 in Cashbox and #63 in Record World.

"It Hurts Too Much" was the "highest debut of the week" in Billboard's July 12, 1980, issue, hitting the chart at #75, where it peaked and stayed for two weeks. It peaked at #83 for two weeks in Cashbox and at #71 in Record World.

"I Wanna Hear It From Your Lips" (released as both a 45 rpm and as a longer running 12-inch Maxi-Single) moved Eric to Geffen Records in 1985. The tune reached #35 in Billboard and #37 (for two weeks) in Cashbox. (Record World ceased publication in 1982.) On Billboard's AC chart, the single hit #10.

"I'm Through With Love" in 1985 rose to #87 in Billboard while peaking at #79 (for two weeks) in Cashbox. On Billboard's AC chart, it hit #16.

"Hungry Eyes," released on RCA in 1987, peaked in 1988 at #4 in Billboard and #3 (for two weeks) in Cashbox. On Billboard's AC chart, the song rose to #2. The song is from the multi-platinum (some 11 milion copies sold) soundtrack to the film "Dirty Dancing." The tune is ranked at #25 among the 100 biggest singles of 1988 in Billboard's year-end issue (one of two Eric Carmen singles on that list in 1988, the other being "Make Me Lose Control"). In Cashbox's year-end 1988 issue, "Hungry Eyes" is ranked at #30 (and "Make Me Lose Control" also gives Eric a second single in their year-end Top 50 singles of the year list, too).

"Make Me Lose Control," which brought Eric back to Arista Records, rose to #3 in Billboard and #4 in Cashbox. It was #1 for three straight weeks on Billboard's AC chart weeks beginning July 16, 1988, while Eric toured as part of "Dirty Dancing - Live In Concert" in support of the #1 soundtrack album from the film "Dirty Dancing." The song ranked at #38 in Billboard's year-end issue (which also ranked Eric at #7 among the biggest Pop Singles Artists of 1988). In Cashbox, the song is ranked at #43 among the year's biggest singles.

"Reason To Try" (with Mark Hudson of The Hudson Brothers on backing vocals) peaked at #87 in Billboard in 1988, while not charting in Cashbox. The single is from the Gold-selling "One Moment In Time" 1988 Olympics soundtrack album.

Odds and ends:

A number of acts have covered Eric's tunes over the years, including Diana Ross, Patti LaBelle, Teddy Pendergrass, Oliver, Frankie Valli, The Lettermen, Frank Sinatra, Sheryl Crow, Motley Crue, Guns 'n' Roses (Axl Rose likes to perform Eric's "Everything" on tour), The Bay City Rollers, Olivia Newton-John, John Travolta, Donna Fargo, Hank William, Jr., Jewel, Il Divo, Yvonne Elliman, Sha Na Na, and many others.

Shaun Cassidy scored two million-sellers with a couple of Eric-penned gems in the mid-'70s. Cassidy's cover of "That's Rock 'n' Roll" (from the platinum-selling "Shaun Cassidy" album) spent 23 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #3 in 1977. The same year, Cassidy followed with his remake of Eric's "Hey Deanie" (from the platinum-selling "Born Late" LP), which spent four months in the Hot 100, reaching #7.

Eric Carmen produced two hits singles for The Euclid Beach band: "There's No Surf In Cleveland" (which reached #82 in Record World in 1978) and "I Need You" (written by Eric, which peaked at #81 in Billboard in 1979).

Mike Reno of Loverboy and Ann Wilson of Heart scored a #7 Billboard hit with "Almost Paradise" from the multi-platinum soundtrack from the movie "Footloose," a song written by Eric Carmen and Dean Pitchford in 1984 (both Grammy-nominated as songwriters for the film's soundtrack; Carmen and Pitchford also wrote Eric's Top 40 singles "I Wanna Hear It From Your Lips" and "Make Me Lose Control").

Eric's solo single "The Rock Stops Here" (written with brother Fred Carmen) on Cool Records in 1986 to promote Cleveland as a potential site for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum rose to #4 on WMMS-FM in Cleveland.

"As Long As We Got Each Other" on RCA was a duet with Louise Mandrell that didn't make the Pop charts, but did rise to #51 on the Billboard Country charts in 1987. Louise Mandrell also scored two Top 40 country singles penned by Eric with "Maybe My Baby" (which went Top 10 on the country chart) and "I Wanna Hear It From Your Lips."

Peter Cetera (former lead singer of Chicago) and Crystal Bernard (from NBC-TV's "Wings" series) hit #86 on Billboard's Hot 100 in 1995 with the Eric Carmen-Dean Pitchford tune "(I Wanna Take) Forever Tonight."

Celine Dion covered Eric's "All By Myself" in 1996 for her multi-platinum "Falling Into You" album and in 1997 she released it as a single. The single rose to #4 on the Billboard Pop chart and to #1 (for three weeks) on the Billboard AC chart.