JBee
Active Member
The "Goofus" vs "Beechwood" (which is the worst single) thread got me thinking. I think we can all (mostly) agree that releasing "Goofus" as the 3rd single from the AKOH LP was a mistake (though they might have thought a novelty record might have been a break-through hit), but listening to that album again in its entirety I've also been wondering if another song had been picked aside from "I Need to Be in Love" as the 2nd song would it have done better than #25. I think INTBIL was the start of the decline (though one would argue that the prime single, "A Kind of Hush", never hitting the top 10 was a better clue).
I have also heard it said here that one of the problems with the song was that it was not a "radio" song and that the unneeded OK chorale kills it, making it the MORest of MOR. I don't disagree. INTBIL is one of my favorite Carpenter songs - it has some of the most memorable ever lyrics from John Bettis, and one of Karen's most heartfelt performances, but it does sound over-produced by RC. Just keeping the song bare-bones might have turned it into an acknowledged torch song classic. But I'm not sure its a great single (especially being released in May on the cusp on Summer, since, just like the also disappointing chart-wise "Solitaire", there's nothing "spring/summery" about it).
Yet...listening to the entire AKOH album again, I'm not sure if there's another song on the album that would have done better than #25 on the charts (even the excellent "You" is a bit slow). The only one I can think of is "I Can't Smile Without You" which was a huge hit for Manilow just a few years later. So perhaps, that could have been the one (although all in all, I think the overall album itself is flawed and lacking, particularly with the decision to name the album and bet the farm on a humdrum remake of a song that is not better than the Herman Hermit's original), but I'm interested in anyone else thinks it might have been a mistake for INTBIL to be the second single (if it had been the third we would be spared the "Goofus" headscratcher) and that another song on the album might have done better on the charts?
I have also heard it said here that one of the problems with the song was that it was not a "radio" song and that the unneeded OK chorale kills it, making it the MORest of MOR. I don't disagree. INTBIL is one of my favorite Carpenter songs - it has some of the most memorable ever lyrics from John Bettis, and one of Karen's most heartfelt performances, but it does sound over-produced by RC. Just keeping the song bare-bones might have turned it into an acknowledged torch song classic. But I'm not sure its a great single (especially being released in May on the cusp on Summer, since, just like the also disappointing chart-wise "Solitaire", there's nothing "spring/summery" about it).
Yet...listening to the entire AKOH album again, I'm not sure if there's another song on the album that would have done better than #25 on the charts (even the excellent "You" is a bit slow). The only one I can think of is "I Can't Smile Without You" which was a huge hit for Manilow just a few years later. So perhaps, that could have been the one (although all in all, I think the overall album itself is flawed and lacking, particularly with the decision to name the album and bet the farm on a humdrum remake of a song that is not better than the Herman Hermit's original), but I'm interested in anyone else thinks it might have been a mistake for INTBIL to be the second single (if it had been the third we would be spared the "Goofus" headscratcher) and that another song on the album might have done better on the charts?