Eric Carmen

“When I got the call to do a song for the sound track for this little movie that I was told was called 'Dancing Dirty,' I wasnt that wild about the idea. Probably no one would ever see it. What good would it do? But I said: 'What the heck... I've got nothing better to do.'”

“I feel the magic between you and I”

“When I was 12 years old and first decided I wanted to be a songwriter, the people that I always looked up to were Rodgers and Hammerstein, Leonard Bernstein, and people like that.”

“There was nothing wrong with having teen-age fans, but we were hoping to appeal to a much broader audience than the 13-to 17-year-olds.”

“Well, when the Raspberries ended in early 1975 suddenly I didn't have to write to anybody's strengths or weaknesses. I was completely wide open and I thought wow, I can write anything I want now. I can use session musicians. I can find another band that sings like the Beach Boys, I can do all kinds of things.”

“I hated prog rock; to me, it was the ultimate expression of a bloated sense of self-importance and mindless self-indulgence.”

“As a writer, I've always been the sum total of my influences, and those are all over the spectrum: Rachmaninov, the Who, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, Lesley Gore, Burt Bacharach and Leonard Bernstein, the Rolling Stones and the Small Faces.”

“It was not hip for people to like us, because their little sister liked us.”

“If you actually go back and listen to my first album, there are some things on there that are kind of rock 'n' roll.”

“Half the people tell me, 'I love 'Go All the Way,' but why do you have to write all those schlocky ballads.' And half say, 'I love 'All By Myself,' but why do you waste your time with this rock 'n' roll stuff?' I'd like to think that I could do both.”

“As a writer, I'm always looking for what I call the universal, something everyone has felt and they can identify with. That's the reason for the success of 'All By Myself.' Who in the world hasn't felt that way in some point?”

“I love this business. Here today, gone, gone tomorrow. I was real gone for a while.”

“I've never done any vocal warm ups, ever. As a matter of fact, I learned to sing playing three sets a night in smoky clubs.”