Putting pop music back on the scene of the rock-infused ‘70s, the Raspberries took the evolving decade and brought back the British Invasion formula for bouncy melodies and pop-inspired bliss. The power pop group of the 1970s blasted the industry with hit singles like "I Wanna Be with You" and ‘Let's Pretend," selling millions of copies while redefining the pop/rock music of the decade.

Brewing in the suburbs of Mentor, Ohio, the Raspberries were conceived when singer/songwriter Eric Carmen and drummer Jim Bonfanti strayed from their popular Cleveland power pop bands Cyrus Erie and the Choir, banding together to start their own music group in 1970. Recruiting guitarist Wally Bruson and bassist John Aleksic (also former members of Choir) the quartet became known as the Raspberries. Donning matching suits and uniform haircuts, the Raspberries capitalized on a sound similar to that of the Beatles, going in the opposite direction of the popular rock craze of the time.

Recording a number of demos, the Raspberries were eventually acquired by Capitol Records, debuting their eponymous LP in 1972. The album came complete with a raspberry-scented scratch-and-sniff sticker on the cover, and the band's ingenuity with their marketing and their music led to two hit singles off the album, "Don't Want to Say Goodbye" and "Go All the Way." Immediately selling over a million copies and making the Top Five on the charts, the exuberant power pop group next released their follow-up album Fresh in 1972. The album was indeed fresh, solidifying the Raspberries as a mainstay in the music of the decade with hits "I Wanna Be with You" and "Let's Pretend." Eventually, turmoil between band members caused the early disbandment of the Raspberries, and although a reunion tour was in the works in 1999, it never actually happened, leaving the Raspberries a fruit of the past.