Hungry Eyes – Eric Carmen | Top 40 Chart Performance, Story and Song Meaning
Chart Performance: Pop (#4) & Adult Contemporary (#2); 1988
Story Behind The Song By Ed Osborne
Eric Carmen was only two years old when he began wowing his parents with impressions of Tony Bennett and Johnny Ray. At three (!) his folks enrolled him in the Cleveland Institute Of Music.
There he underwent classical training off-and-on until his mid teens when the onslaught of Beatlemania – specifically an album of Fab Four songs played by the Hollyridge Strings – inspired Eric to join a band himself.
By the dawn of the 1970’s Eric was fronting the Raspberries, writing and recording classic power-pop singles, such as Go All The Way (#5; 1972).
Going solo, he continued his hit streak starting with All By Myself (#2; 1976), as well as penning bubblegum hits for Shaun Cassidy (That’s Rock ‘N’ Roll and Hey Deanie) and a romantic ballad for Mike Reno and Ann Wilson (Almost Paradise). Ironically, Eric didn’t write one of his biggest hits, Hungry Eyes.
That one was already slated for the Dirty Dancing soundtrack when Eric’s former Raspberries’ producer asked him to record it.
This content and all Song Meaning articles were created and written by Top 40 Contributing Editor Ed Osborne. © 2024 Ed Osborne. All Rights Reserved. In addition to these song meaning articles, Ed has written our “Year in Music 1960s-1990s” articles.
Produced by:
- Eric Carmen
Lyrics Written by:
- John DeNicola
- Franke Previte
Ed Osborne
Hi. I got my first record at age two and never looked back, spending a decades-long career in radio and the music business. Even after years of reading about and listening to all types of music, I am still fascinated by it. Apart from that, I’m endlessly intrigued by art, nature, and the inner lives of people (and dogs).