America 250 Rocktober Song #13: "I Wanna Be With You" by The Raspberries

The next stop on our cross-country aural journey takes us to Cleveland, Ohio, where The Raspberries formed in 1970.  Along with the likes of Badfinger, Big Star, and Todd Rundgren, The Raspberries were one of the bands that pioneered the power pop genre in the early '70s.

The band released four albums between 1972 and 1974, before breaking up in 1975.  During their run, they had four Top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including the 1972 #5 hit "Go All the Way," which some credit as being the first hit power pop song.

I decided to go with their second-biggest single, "I Wanna Be With You," which was released in late 1972.  It doesn't get any more power pop than this, with its combination of guitar-driven rock, harmonies, and a hooky sing-along chorus, wearing its Beatles influences on its sleeve.  The song reached #16 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #17 on the Canadian pop chart.  The video I'm including is the band's performance of the song on a May 1973 episode of Midnight Special, though it's actually just the recorded version with them lip syncing, as was the style at the time.

After the band broke up, lead singer Eric Carmen went on to have a very successful solo career, charting eight Top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including three Top 5 songs:  1975's "All By Myself" (#2), 1987's "Hungry Eyes" (#3), and 1988's "Make Me Lose Control" (#4).