Eric Carmen: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

Line 37:

===Solo career===

His first two solo singles were chart hits in 1976. Both were built around themes by [[Sergei Rachmaninoff]]. The first of these singles, "[[All By Myself]]" – heavily based, to put it mildly, on Rachmaninoff's [[Piano Concerto No. 2 (Rachmaninoff)|Piano Concerto No. 2]] – hit number 2 in the United States, and number 12 in the United Kingdom where it was his only charting hit. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a [[music recording sales certification|gold disc]] by the [[R.I.A.A.]] in April 1976.<ref name="The Book of Golden Discs">{{cite book| first= Joseph | last= Murrells| year= 1978| title= The Book of Golden Discs| edition= 2nd| publisher= Barrie and Jenkins Ltd| location= London| page= 355| isbn= 0-214-20512-6}}</ref> The follow-up single, "[[Never Gonna Fall in Love Again]]" – based on the main theme of the slow movement of Rachmaninoff's [[Symphony No. 2 (Rachmaninoff)|Symphony No. 2]] – reached number 11 on the [[Billboard Hot 100]], and hit number one on the [[Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks|US Adult Contemporary Chart]], as well as number one on the [[Cash Box]] chart. Two years after its 1975 release, this [[Eric Carmen (1975 album)|self-titled album]] was certified Gold in 1977 for sales of more than 500,000 copies. "[[That's Rock and Roll]]" was also a number 3 hit single for singer [[Shaun Cassidy]].

Carmen's second album, "[[Boats Against the Current (album)|Boats Against the Current]]" came out in the summer of 1977 and received strong reviews. It featured such noted backup players as [[Burton Cummings]], [[Andrew Gold]], [[Bruce Johnston]] and [[Nigel Olsson]]. The album spent 13 weeks in the Billboard Album chart, peaking number 45. It also produced the Top 20 single "[[She Did It]]," but the title track only managed to scrape the bottom of the chart. The title track was later covered by [[Olivia Newton-John]] on her album [[Totally Hot]]. A third single taken from the album, "Marathon Man," became his first solo single not to hit the [[Billboard Hot 100]] chart. However, [[Shaun Cassidy]] again made the Top 10 in 1978 with Carmen's "[[Hey Deanie]]." For several weeks in the fall of 1977, Carmen had three compositions charting concurrently on the [[Billboard Hot 100]], Cassidy's two big hits and Carmen's own "[[She Did It]]."