Eric Carmen is the king of power pop, and today’s classic song of the day is him applying all his power pop prowess to an uptempo ballad. The song is “Never Gonna Fall in Love Again” and, when it was released in April of 1976, it went all the way to #11 on the Billboard Hot 100, #9 on the Cash Box Top 100, and #1 on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart.
Mr. Carmen based the melody of “Never Gonna Fall in Love Again” on the third movement of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2. It’s more lushly romantic than Mr. Carmen’s previous works, but still has that power pop sheen for which he’s famous. It’s a gorgeous piece of music.
Eric Carmen was a Cleveland native who started taking violin lessons when he was six years old and piano lessons when he was eleven. Obviously inspired by the Beatles, he began playing and singing in various rock bands when he was in high school. He joined a band called Cyrus Erie, which released several unsuccessful singles for Epic Records, and, when that band disbanded, formed the Raspberries with friends Wally Bryson, Jim Bonfanti, and Dave Smalley. Carmen was the lead singer and wrote all their songs, including the hits “Go All the Way,” “I Wanna Be with You,” and “Overnight Sensation (Hit Record),” all very much in the power pop vein. When the Raspberries broke up in 1975, Carmen embarked on a successful solo career, with its such as “All By Myself,” “That’s Rock ‘n’ Roll,” “Hungry Eyes,” “Make Me Lose Control,” and “Never Gonna Fall in Love Again.” He continued performing and recording all his life and passed away in 2024, aged 74.
And here’s your daily bonus video of the day, Eric Carmen performing “Never Gonna Fall in Love Again” live on the July 23, 1976, episodes of The Midnight Special. It’s one of his best.
