Eric Carmen, 59, was sentenced by a Bedford (Ohio) Municipal Court Judge on Wednesday (April 15, 2009) to 180 days in jail stemming from a DUI arrest last fall. Carmen had pleaded no contest to drunken driving and failing to control his car. The judge did suspend the majority of the sentence and has ordered the singer to report to jail on April 25th to begin a one month sentence. He will also serve a year on probation, be subjected to random drug and alcohol testing, must enroll in an alcohol-education program and pay almost $1,500 in fines and court fees. Here is a link to a TMZ.com video of when Carmen was arrested for this violation if you are interested in watching something like that.

Carmen is probably better known for his time as the lead singer of The Raspberries and then for his 1975 solo debut "All By Myself," but he re-surfaced in the 80s as well. He wrote the song "Almost Paradise" which was sung by Mike Reno & Ann Wilson for the 1984 film Footloose. This song ranks on both my popular Best Songs from 80s Movies list and my Best Duets of the 80s list.

Then in 1987, he had a hit with the song "Hungry Eyes" from the soundtrack to Dirty Dancing and then the single "Make Me Lose Control" which made it to #4 and #3 respectively on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. "Make Me Lose Control" did not appear on a studio album, but would later be included on some greatest hits compilations. It is a catchy song, although admittedly a bit on the cheesy side. I particularly really like the ending when they sing a portion a cappella in five part harmony. That part of the song has always made the rest of the song worth listening to. So I am going to make this week's Flashback Video "Make Me Lose Control" by Eric Carmen...

Boy, he had some great "80s hair" in that video! Hope Carmen learned his lesson and never attempts to drive a car after drinking again. With that I will end another issue of Kickin' it Old School. Thanks as always for reading. If you are interested in reading any of my other 80s related issues, please click there for a summary of those. If you want to see the past issues of Flashback Videos, just type that into the Google Search Box at the top of the right hand column and it should give you a list of all of them. You can also always click on the Archives in the upper left hand column or use that Google Search Box to find any past issues or topics you may have missed. If you are a fan of Kickin' it, PLEASE CLICK ON THE FACEBOOK LOGO in the upper right hand column. This will take you to the new Fan Page where I ask you to then click on "Become a Fan". Even if you are not a Facebook member yet, please consider joining and registering as a fan at that page. Let other 80s fans know about it as well! Peace and much love.