Rare Richard Single

tomswift2002

Well-Known Member
i just got in the mail today what could possible be the scarcest Richard Carpenter single.

The A-side is "Calling Your Name Again", while the B-Side is (and it's not "Time") "In Love Alone" with Dusty Springfield. The fine print says that it was made by Festival Records in Australia, with a sticker on the centre label saying it's a promo record for media or dj's.
 
You're right it is a rare single, there were alot of those in Japan !

these are the Richard Carpenter Solo singles I am aware of:

-Something In Your Eyes / Time

-Who Do You Love / When Time Was All We Had

-Time / Calling Your Name Again

-Karen's Theme / ?

-Medley (shortened) / ?

(Do you mean "In Love Alone" with Dionne Warwick? Dusty Springfield did "Something In Your Eyes")
 
i just got in the mail today what could possible be the scarcest Richard Carpenter single. The A-side is "Calling Your Name Again" by Festival Records in Australia, with a sticker on the centre label saying it's a promo record for media or dj's.
Congrats upon your purchase, Tom Swift. The radio station where I grew up used to spin that single daily. I heard it when I returned home during a holiday period from work, (country region of Australia). That's the only place I ever heard the song on radio. My memory tells me that I also heard 'I'm Still in Love With You', but maybe I'm wrong about that.
 
You're right it is a rare single, there were alot of those in Japan !

these are the Richard Carpenter Solo singles I am aware of:

-Something In Your Eyes / Time

-Who Do You Love / When Time Was All We Had

-Time / Calling Your Name Again

-Karen's Theme / ?

-Medley (shortened) / ?

(Do you mean "In Love Alone" with Dionne Warwick? Dusty Springfield did "Something In Your Eyes")
Yeah it's Dionne Warwick. But it's not a Japanese single, it Australian. I guess in Australia they didn't want to reuse "Time" so they went with "In Love Alone".
 
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Los Angeles Radio station KOST-FM played "Calling Your Name Again" for a few weeks when it was first released as a single.
 
I like the songs on the project, but would prefer someone else singing them except for Time and Who Do You Love. Richard sounds good in these but the songs plead for Karen to join him in the vocal stacks. Nonetheless, they are still fun for repetitive listening. Were either of these singles anywhere? I think the lack of popularity of the album is because people felt the tragic death of Karen even more with Richard singing alone. It just wasn’t meant to be that way. It’s always hard to deal with life on life’s terms and difficult to transcend. I think the way Richard has poured into others and promoted the legacy of Karen while being a hands on father shows his love for all of his family and it has proven to be that valiant effort to transcend. It also touches my heart the way his son promotes them as his primary influence. It is proof of family love, respect and honor.
 
I've had "Calling Your Name Again" in my head for the past few days. It's a lovely song and I can definitely feel Richard's pain in the song, especially as it talks about the memories.

On Thursday, the day after I got the single, our cat had to be put down, and like Richard was morning Karen's passing at the young age of 32 from anorexia, our cat was still young at only 7 and died from cancer.
 
I'm confused... why does the background sound so Carpentersque? Was this a song they started and then never finished and Richard finished it on his own? Or did he find some background singers that sound like Karen? I surprisingly like it, but I never did have a problem with Richard's voice...
 
I'm confused... why does the background sound so Carpentersque? Was this a song they started and then never finished and Richard finished it on his own? Or did he find some background singers that sound like Karen? I surprisingly like it, but I never did have a problem with Richard's voice...
I think because they were siblings and Karen had a deep and rich voice for a woman and Richard has quite a high and light voice for a man, they sound a bit similar at certain pitches, (although Richard never has that beauty of tone, IMHO). Richard seems also to be able to sing falsetto. (I wonder if he still can. My falsetto has completely disappeared as I've got older. Then again, I'm a bass). The background vocals on 'Calling Your Name Again' are all Richard.
 
Richard sounds good in these but the songs plead for Karen. I think the way Richard has poured into others and promoted the legacy of Karen while being a hands on father shows his love for all of his family and it has proven to be that valiant effort to transcend. It also touches my heart the way his son promotes them as his primary influence. It is proof of family love, respect and honor.
I agree. I think that Richard's devotion and emotional connection to his sister, let alone his professional commitment, was painfully clear in all the interviews he did around the release of 'Voice of the Heart', (and in any interviews when he's talked about Karen in the 35-odd years since). You can SEE and FEEL his trauma. It must be very hard for him to read criticism of himself as a brother and to read the conspiracy theory about Karen's solo album, etc. But let's not get into THAT again. Let's stick with 'Calling Your Name Again'.
 
Richard seems also to be able to sing falsetto. (I wonder if he still can. My falsetto has completely disappeared as I've got older. Then again, I'm a bass).

I've lost my falsetto as I've gotten older too. I guess it does happen. Elton John can't hit the high notes in songs like Rocket Man any more either. And I won't even get started on Mariah Carey :laugh:
 
I've lost my falsetto as I've gotten older too. I guess it does happen. Elton John can't hit the high notes in songs like Rocket Man any more either. And I won't even get started on Mariah Carey :laugh:
It's a shame. Terrible how everything wears out, including your vocal chords. I saw America live last year, (or it might have been the year before). Dewey Bunnell, who usually sang the more upbeat songs, like 'Horse With No Name' and 'Sand Man', could still hold a tune, and with energy, but poor old Gerry Beckley, who often sang the ballads, like 'I Need You' and 'Daisy Jane', had hardly any voice left. Thank goodness one of them could still sing.
 
It's a shame. Terrible how everything wears out, including your vocal chords. I saw America live last year, (or it might have been the year before). Dewey Bunnell, who usually sang the more upbeat songs, like 'Horse With No Name' and 'Sand Man', could still hold a tune, and with energy, but poor old Gerry Beckley, who often sang the ballads, like 'I Need You' and 'Daisy Jane', had hardly any voice left. Thank goodness one of them could still sing.

Have you heard Dionne Warwick in the last few years? Her singing voice is completely shot to pieces, at best I think she's got around one octave range left.

 
Have you heard Dionne Warwick in the last few years? Her singing voice is completely shot to pieces, at best I think she's got around one octave range left.

She didn't drop this low enough. This is a range-y tune to sing. It was written for her younger voice. The lady is 76 years-old (75 at the time of that vid) so I think we can give her a break. She likely has more on the bottom but this song doesn't service it.

To whit, this is far better:



Ed
 
It's a shame. Terrible how everything wears out, including your vocal chords. I saw America live last year, (or it might have been the year before).
It also worst for people who smoke. About 10 years ago when Disney was releasing the "Treasures" line of DVD's, they released the first week of the Mickey Mouse Club, and in the bonuses it was mentioned how when they were putting the discs together, they had come across information stating that Walt Disney had done the voice of Mickey on the intro's for the Mickey Mouse Club (before it was assumed that Jimmy MacDonald, who was doing Mickey's voice in the theatrical shorts of the time, had done the intro's), and Leonard Maltin commented on how you could hear just how dried out Walt's vocal cords were from smoking for years, and how he could just barely get the Mickey sound, and when you compare Walt's recordings for the MMC to say Steamboat Willie or an earlier Mickey short, you can definitely hear how Walt was able to get a higher pitch in the 1920's and 30's than in the 50's.
 
This is very interesting and not surprising. Thank you, tomswift2002 from one Disney fan on these boards.
 
Someone was discussing Richard's 'Who Do You Love' as a single somewhere on the forum but I can't find the thread. Seeing as this particular thread already has an Auzzie connection, here's another one. 'Who Do you Love' was co-written by Australian recording artist, Mark Holden. It appeared on his 1983 self-titled album and was also released as a single that year.

In Australia in the mid- to late-70s, Mark Holden had a string of hits, including 'I Wanna Make You My Lady', 'Never Gonna Fall in Love Again', 'Last Romance', 'Reach Out For the One Who Loves You ', 'First Thing In The Morning' and 'Hey, My Love'. He later acted in soapies and B-grade movies and was more recently a judge on Australian Idol. He has also been a producer for some successful Australian acts in the last 20 years.

He was considered a bit of a joke as a recording artist, actor and judge. This was probably because his music and image was aimed almost solely at teenage girls and he came across as sleazy and gooby - shirt off, carnation, constant smile. His music was also light-weight and romantic, which didn't help. He went for a change of direction in the early 80s with a slightly harder sound.

Having said all that, I actually prefer his version of 'Who Do you Love' to Richard's. It's a bit grittier, not as produced.... and I do not like Richard's falsetto vocals in the chorus on his version. Apart from that, Richard's version is a fairly close copy of Mark Holden's.
 
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Someone was discussing Richard's 'Who Do You Love' as a single somewhere on the forum but I can't find the thread. Seeing as this particular thread already has an Auzzie connection, here's another one. 'Who Do you Love' was co-written by Australian recording artist, Mark Holden. It appeared on his 1983 self-titled album and was also released as a single that year.

In Australia in the mid- to late-70s, Mark Holden had a string of hits, including 'I Wanna Make You My Lady', 'Never Gonna Fall in Love Again', 'Last Romance', 'Reach Out For the One Who Loves You ', 'First Thing In The Morning' and 'Hey, My Love'. He later acted in soapies and B-grade movies and was more recently a judge on Australian Idol. He has also been a producer for some successful Australian acts in the last 20 years.

He was considered a bit of a joke as a recording artist, actor and judge. This was probably because his music and image was aimed almost solely at teenage girls and he came across as sleazy and gooby - shirt off, carnation, constant smile. His music was also light-weight and romantic, which didn't help. He went for a change of direction in the early 80s with a slightly harder sound.

Having said all that, I actually prefer his version of 'Who Do you Love' to Richard's. It's a bit grittier, not as produced.... and I do not like Richard's falsetto vocals in the chorus on his version. Apart from that, Richard's version is a fairly close copy of Mark Holden's.
I like the overdubbed vocal harmony. In fact, in my head I add another layer. It just needs Karen as in Turn Away from Ticket To Ride album.
 
I like the overdubbed vocal harmony. In fact, in my head I add another layer. It just needs Karen as in Turn Away from Ticket To Ride album.
I like some of the blending of Karen and Richard's voices on the 'Ticket to Ride' album, where Richard sings lead. I like Karen on 'Your Wonderful Parade'. And 'Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing'. And 'Get Together'.
 
Someone was discussing Richard's 'Who Do You Love' as a single somewhere on the forum but I can't find the thread. Seeing as this particular thread already has an Auzzie connection, here's another one. 'Who Do you Love' was co-written by Australian recording artist, Mark Holden. It appeared on his 1983 self-titled album and was also released as a single that year.

In Australia in the mid- to late-70s, Mark Holden had a string of hits, including 'I Wanna Make You My Lady', 'Never Gonna Fall in Love Again', 'Last Romance', 'Reach Out For the One Who Loves You ', 'First Thing In The Morning' and 'Hey, My Love'. He later acted in soapies and B-grade movies and was more recently a judge on Australian Idol. He has also been a producer for some successful Australian acts in the last 20 years.

He was considered a bit of a joke as a recording artist, actor and judge. This was probably because his music and image was aimed almost solely at teenage girls and he came across as sleazy and gooby - shirt off, carnation, constant smile. His music was also light-weight and romantic, which didn't help. He went for a change of direction in the early 80s with a slightly harder sound.

Having said all that, I actually prefer his version of 'Who Do you Love' to Richard's. It's a bit grittier, not as produced.... and I do not like Richard's falsetto vocals in the chorus on his version. Apart from that, Richard's version is a fairly close copy of Mark Holden's.
Were any of Mark Holden's albums released outside of Australia? This is the first I've heard of him. Thanks to YouTube, here's his original recording from 1983!
 
Were any of Mark Holden's albums released outside of Australia? This is the first I've heard of him. Thanks to YouTube, here's his original recording from 1983!

Mark Holden apparently had a couple of hits in one or two countries in Europe, as well as his six charting singles in Australia. I don't know if any of his records were released elsewhere.

A number of Australian artists from this era had successes in parts of Asia, particularly Japan, (e.g. Stylus), but whether Mark Holden did or not, I'm not sure. If so, I've never heard of it.

A handful of Mark Holden's contemporaries, like him, had a certain level of success in Europe. E.g. Marcia Hines, (another Carpenters connection, 'Something's Missing In My Life', 'Many Rivers to Cross', 'Your Love Still Brings Me To My Knees'), John Paul Young, ('Standing In The Rain', 'Love Is In The Air', 'Yesterday's Hero).

A search on the Internet indicates that Mark Holden also wrote or co-wrote songs for, or had songs covered by, Belinda Carlisle, The Temptations, Kathy Sledge of Sister Sledge, The Manhattans, Meat Loaf, Bob Welch, Gladys Knight and Joey Lawrence as well as Richard but I don't know how accurate this information is. The only thing that I know for sure in regard to his songwriting is that Richard covered 'Who Do You Love', (as we can see in the clip, above).

Richard's cover really is very close to the original. I think he was wise to take the bridge out, though. (The bit about the girl being strange).

Mark Holden lived in the USA for a while from the early 80s but moved back to Australia later on.

Locally, material like 'Who Do You Love' was sort of tainted by his earlier recordings and image, for which he was not regarded with much credibility.
 
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I don't think that I ever noticed before that the song 'Who Do You Love' is actually quite suggestive. Mark Holden's promo film-clip makes this clear, in conjunction with the words.

Maybe it's a bit crude to spell it out, (I apologise in advance), but there's, "If I'm hard to handle, here's my angle', the woman slowly licking her lips, the well-worn visual phallic symbol of the champagne bottle exploding, the pearl necklace, and the line, "Some girls do it right every night and never ask for more, but not you", (so there's a bit of rampant stuff going on). Next, there's, "It takes two to tango, and I ought to know". (Obviously the male character in the song is sleeping around, like the female character is). Hence, which one of all your partners do you love?

It all sounds a bit racey for the image we have of Richard Carpenter, although you don't really notice most of the suggestiveness in his version. It's largely the film clip of Mark Holden's original version that makes it more obvious and highlights the double-entendre in the lyrics - and as he was the co-writer, you get a better sense of the intentions behind those lyrics.

Maybe Richard's interpretation of the song's meaning was different. However, it seems to be on a similar level to Karen's 'Love Making Love to You'.
 
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