Anyone read this?

TheaterJones | Q&A: Herb Alpert | AEG Live »
Herb Alpert Interview (Excerpts):
by Bruce Richardson
published Thursday, March 31, 2016
-----
"We weren't looking for the beat of the week, we were looking for artists with something unique and special to say,
and we picked those artists and we didn't give up on them. In today's world, if an artist doesn't sell off the bat,
they're gone, jettisoned, off the label. We didn't do that. That's the reason we were successful.
The Carpenters didn't happen off the bat, it took a while for them to mature,
and Cat Stevens...The Police. The Police did, with “Roxanne.”"
------
"The Internet has decimated the record industry. It's leveled it, man, completely.
I did that record Rise. My nephew wrote the tune and we produced it together.
We had a good first run, and got another run, a mashup with Hypnotize on a monster R&B record a few years back.
For, like, forty zillion spins, I think the check from Spotify was $18. It's unfair.
The record companies are in cahoots with them. It's an unfortunate situation for creative people."
 
I frequently find Carpenters references in crossword puzzles while attempting to keep my aging brain alert. References to "Popular 70's duo", "Singer of Close to You", and I too had the same daily puzzle with that clue. (They shop the same puzzles around to different city newspapers. Lazy, huh. Seems to be a dying art.)
 
Sing your way through the remainder of the school year
Aelsa Butler, IV Leader Culture Editor
Sing your way through the remainder of the school year »
April 7, 2016
-----
"Spring break is over, and there are just under six weeks of school left. These next weeks will fly by; soon we’ll be at finals and then graduation, and suddenly, our school year is gone. While the weeks may go by quickly, they will be long and probably difficult. Impending finals will drive us to all-nighters, chaotic early mornings, and frantic studying between classes. To keep us sane, we listen to music.
-----
"If you need a little encouragement to see the positive things in life, turn on a little
Karen Carpenter and share her relish in being on Top of the World.
We all need a moment to look down on creation and enter a happy place."
------
 
John Bettis.....
First Look at Josephine, Asolo Rep’s World Premiere Musical
First Look at "Josephine," Asolo Rep's World Premiere Musical | Sarasota Magazine »

"Grammy nominated singer-actress Cox (who starred as Aida on Broadway) plays Josephine in the new musical,
now in rehearsals and due to open in previews April 27. Joining her and Edwards at the Crosley were the rest of the cast,
including Kevin Earley as one of Josephine’s romantic interests and Mark Campbell as another—Prince Gustav VI of Sweden.
Also present were the show’s creators: director-choreographer Joey McKneely
(who also directed and choreographed West Side Story earlier this season for Asolo Rep),
librettists Ellen Weston and Mark Hampton, composer Stephen Dorff, lyricist John Bettis,
producer Ken Waissman, orchestrator-arranger Steve Orich, and music director Sinai Tabak,
who accompanied cast members on a couple of tunes from the show."

And more:
Deborah Cox previews world premiere musical 'Josephine' at Asolo Rep »
 
Today is Record Store Day:
Vinyl Sales Are Not Just a Hipster Thing Anymore »

"Not just a hipster thing, anymore."

"When Record Store Day started in 2008, it was conceived as a way to draw attention to independent record stores.
But a funny thing happened in the following years: Records – actual LP record albums – mounted a comeback in pop culture.
And as fans of vinyl celebrate the unofficial holiday today, the audience – and reach – of the medium has changed considerably."

"Vinyl, initially, saw a resurgence as hipsters in their 20s and early 30s sought a way to differentiate their music listening.
Albums were old school, filled with hisses and pops that digital music had erased.
But those flaws added a depth and warmth to the music that even people who once owned extensive album collection
s had forgotten after years of listening to digital music.
(Digital is technically cleaner, but the compression technology in MP3s tends to dull the highs and lows.)
Flash forward to 2015. Fueled by that unique sound quality and a nostalgia wave, sales of vinyl records were up 32% to $416 million,
their highest level since 1988, according to the RIAA. (CD sales, while much higher in total income, were down 17%.)"

"Put another way: Revenues from vinyl sales last year were higher than those of on-demand ad supported streaming services, s
uch as YouTube, Vevo and Spotify’s free service, which only accounted for $385 million, according to the RIAA.
(To be clear, though, paid subscription services and Internet radio services, like Pandora, greatly exceeded LP and EP sales.)"
 
Excerpts:
"Rainy Days and Mondays,

Friday, April 15, 2016 Richard Carpenter"

"(The following article was in the paper 10 years ago: I hope this story brings back some nostalgic memories for you.)"

" The feeling one gets on a rainy day has never been more appropriately expressed, that it was in the song of the same title,
by the Carpenters in their 1971 hit record.
I always felt rather close to that group.
I moved to California for a summer job in the spring of 1970 just as the group was beginning to make their splash,
on to the hit charts of pop radio. Remember, that's the thing we used to listen to all the time on AM radio.
My affinity with the Carpenters was rooted in more than just the last name.
The brother in the group, shared with me, the same first name, Richard.
He was just a little older than me, and his sister Karen, was barely a year younger.
So it was easy for me, to regard them as almost family, rather than just contemporaries.
As if those similarities were not strange enough, their dad had the same name as my father, Harold.
I never got to meet any of the members of the band, although they lived close to me, amongst the other 15 million Southern Californians!
The music of the Carpenters was by no means just my thing.
Their special soft rock, mixed within love ballads, was popular in every country.
In the decade of the '70s, no other group outsold the Carpenters in worldwide record sales.
In fact, during their career, which by the way still manages to attain new record sales each year, they have sold more than 100 million records. "
-----
"During that span, they garnered eight gold albums, five platinum albums, and 10 gold singles.
In their first year, they had four top five hits, twice the number of any other artist during that era. They were also second on the list of number two hits with five total. Only Elvis Presley had more number twos, with six.
The brother and sister act was about as popular as a group could be.
Anyone listening to a radio station heard their wonderful songs everyday.
These were not just good songs, but most of them were of a quality that still endures.
Later, when I list their hits titles, many of you readers will remember not only the songs, but also many of the lines from the songs.
They were so familiar, you didn't just know the words invariably you would sing along with the record.
That is the greatest form of flattery I think, when your songs become like anthems, to those who love your music.
People simply cannot hear them, without singing along."
------
Here is a list of some of their early hits. Most of you will remember them and smile when you recollect the times and places of first hearing them.
I was on a freeway in Long Beach, Calif., the first time I heard "They Long to Be"... Close to You."
The radio continued playing this number one hit, at least once every hour. They followed later that year with "Ticket To Ride," and "We've Only Just Begun."
They closed out 1970, with a special holiday album and single titled, "Merry Christmas Darling."
That last one is a standard on every Christmas album today, regardless of the artist.
They did not slow down during the next two years. A string of hits such as:
"For All We Know," "Rainy Days and Mondays," "Superstar," "Hurting Each Other," "It's Going to Take Some Time,"
"Goodbye to Love," "Sing," "Yesterday Once More," "Top of The World," "I Won't Last Another Day Without You,"
"Please Mr. Postman," and "I need You to Be in Love.
" How's that for a greatest hits list?
As I look back on this rainy day, I realize just how great these two siblings were.
Just the song tiles say so much to us. I keep trying to pick my favorite, but I just can't.
Each of them will forever be a part of me. They remain comfortable year after year, and seem to weather the changes in musical styles.
Yes, Karen left us too soon, but like all the great ones, she left us with a body of work that will last, long after we are gone.
Maybe because it's a rainy Tuesday evening, but for me "Rainy Days and Mondays," offers me a tinge of sadness,
but when I hear "Top of the World" I'm right back up. Sort of makes you want to download a Carpenter's greatest hits CD doesn't it?"

Source:
'Rainy Days and Mondays' »
 
More:
Lubinsky’s pledge shows may mine nostalgia, but the “content connects” »

Lubinsky’s pledge shows may mine nostalgia, but the “content connects”
By John Anderson | October 8, 2015

TJ Lubinsky is a big fish is a very particular pond.
As the creator, producer and host of the My Music specials that are virtually synonymous with public TV pledge drives,
he’s “among the most successful fundraising producers for PBS,” according to Joseph Campbell, the system’s v.p. for fundraising programming.
Lubinsky’s formula of repackaged pop, soul and nostalgia have touched the hearts — and checkbooks — of millions of viewers.
But, as Lubinsky himself admits, “I’m not out to make great shows; I’m out to make great fundraising shows.”
And for that distinction, he’s become something of an albatross that lays the golden egg.
Lubinsky’s pledge-drive specials — with their reliance on archival footage,
faded stars and infomercial-style breaks to push for donations and plug CDs – may seem alien to public broadcasting’s purported mission.
But it’s not for lack of love for PBS, which inspires in Lubinsky the enthusiasm of Sesame Street’s Elmo.
“There was nothing else I ever wanted to do but work in television,” the 43-year-old producer/presenter said in a recent interview.
“And only in public television, because I believed in what it did.” But he understands that there is some resistance to his shows both inside and outside PBS,
because they — and other pledge-drive specials — stray from the core programming and perhaps even the message of public broadcasting.
“Fundamentally, I believe these core shows should be the springboard for all that follows on air,” Lubinsky said.
“As someone who has been in station development for more than half my life, I can agree the selection of certain genres of pledge programs
could deflect from that core-programming culture.”
------
"Lubinsky is unabashed about the intent of his shows, which have featured performances of mature acts that reunited for a pledge show,
repackaged TV specials presenting iconic performers of the past or programs that profile an artist with archival clips of performances from their heyday.
Most of the music was long ago banished from the airwaves.
His latest project is a remastered version of the special The Carpenters: Close to You, which will air in December."
 
Sheila E. remembers working with Prince: 'He just wanted to play' »

"Q:tongue:rince famously worked closely with other women over the years.
Did he understand women in some unique way?"

A:Sheila E.
" Yes. Our tie was him watching me play with my dad’s band and my family.
He had never seen a girl play percussion before. He said, “Who else can we look at that plays?”
I said, “The only person I know that plays drums that I grew up listening to was Karen Carpenter.”
He was like, “Well, then you’re unique, so you need to do something because no one has ever seen this
.”
 
Sheila E., above, mentions Karen Carpenter (referencing Woman Drummers),
Now this:
"As each band member took the stage, I was floored when percussionist, Jess Bowen took her seat behind the drums.
I wanted to run around and shake the youth, yelling, “There’s a girl drummer! Do you see the girl drummer? There’s a girl drummer!”
Back in my day, female drummers were a rarity in a male-dominated band. In fact, aside from Karen Carpenter,
I can’t think of one band that wasn’t an all-girl group, such as the Go-Go’s or Vixen, with a female drummer.
Maybe the youth of the world are on to something, because Ms. Bowen turned in a performance that absolutely blew my mind."

More here:
The Summer Set | 04.21.16 – Playback:stl »
 
I wish Music Music Music was on DVD. It deserves to be treasured for as long as time exists. Maybe someday, the Pops PBS special and MMM can team for another PBS pledge drive!
 
VVN, Vintage Viny lNews, is reporting that Carpenters
Music,Music,Music
aired on this date--April 26,1980----
"1980 - The Carpenters' special Music Music Music aired on ABC".
Almanac: April 26, 2016 ~ VVN Music »

Too bad they did not do their homework.
A glance at Newspaper Archives reveals that date to be
May 16th.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Google News Archive Search »
Lakeland Ledger - Google News Archive Search »

From the official site:

"Our fifth ABC television special, "Music, Music, Music", was videotaped on March 7, 8, and 9 of 1980 and aired on May 16."

Carpenters •• Without A Song »

If they videotaped the special in early March, this means they must have been recording at least some of the selections in February 1980. Just weeks if not days after Karen's last solo sessions had been complete. The mind boggles :whoa:. One of the MMM tracks was recorded as late as March 2nd, Karen's 3oth birthday.
 
"New book names 1971 as rock's best year"
Never a Dull Moment: 1971-The Year That Rock Exploded by David Hepworth
is published in the US by Henry Holt.

Tuesday, 07 June 2016
"If there is a rock and roll hell, an inner circle is devoted for old fans who insist on telling you how the music was so much better back in the day.
You know the argument: musicians were more creative, the songs were better, etc.
David Hepworth, a veteran British music journalist in his mid-60s, has essentially written an entire book making this argument.
Specifically, he says 1971 was pretty much the most innovative, explosive and awesome year of the rock era. Yet
Never a Dull Moment isn't an overbearing trip to purgatory. It's fun, mostly."

"......he memorably writes about troubled artists like Karen Carpenter...."

Source:
New book names 1971 as rock's best year »
 
(Caveat: This article says this psychtherapist "worked with" Karen Carpenter, and, in the full article itself claims that
Paul Simon called her solo material "terrible"......I take these unsubstantiated claims with a grain of salt.....otherwise.....):

Why Show Biz Icons Self-Destruct »

Why Show Biz Icons Self-Destruct

by Glenn Berger,Psychotherapist in NYC,
Author of Never Say No to a Rock Star:

"In many artists I’ve worked with, I’ve witnessed a profound fragility that leads me to call them angels.
Karen Carpenter was one.
She suffered from Anorexia. Her body was fading away, but when she sang, the heavens opened.
She had been given wings - an incredible voice — in exchange for a deep vulnerability.
I believe angels like Ms. Carpenter have a little less of a psychic immune system than everyone else.
She didn’t quite fit in this world, and felt the pain a little more acutely than the rest."
-------
"I saw her collapse in despair when Paul Simon told her that her new material was “terrible,” and a “big mistake."
--------
"Despite her woundedness, or maybe because of it, she opened her heart all the way, and in so doing touched,
and brought solace to, the hurt, empty, angel residing in each of our secret hearts.
Many of our great works of art wouldn’t have been created if these artists didn’t suffer, and our world would be impoverished for it.
Their pain is our gain. Their madness heals us. And so, they deserve our gratitude for the sacrifices they make, and our compassion for the pain they endure.
Karen couldn’t overcome her illness and died at 32."
--------
"In honor of all the artists we have lost,
let’s be kinder to those who suffer, including yourself,
because you never know - you might be in the presence of an angel."
 
(Caveat: This article says this psychtherapist "worked with" Karen Carpenter, and, in the full article itself claims that
Paul Simon called her solo material "terrible"......I take these unsubstantiated claims with a grain of salt.....otherwise.....):

Why Show Biz Icons Self-Destruct »

Why Show Biz Icons Self-Destruct

by Glenn Berger,Psychotherapist in NYC,
Author of Never Say No to a Rock Star:

"In many artists I’ve worked with, I’ve witnessed a profound fragility that leads me to call them angels.
Karen Carpenter was one.
She suffered from Anorexia. Her body was fading away, but when she sang, the heavens opened.
She had been given wings - an incredible voice — in exchange for a deep vulnerability.
I believe angels like Ms. Carpenter have a little less of a psychic immune system than everyone else.
She didn’t quite fit in this world, and felt the pain a little more acutely than the rest."
-------
"I saw her collapse in despair when Paul Simon told her that her new material was “terrible,” and a “big mistake."
--------
"Despite her woundedness, or maybe because of it, she opened her heart all the way, and in so doing touched,
and brought solace to, the hurt, empty, angel residing in each of our secret hearts.
Many of our great works of art wouldn’t have been created if these artists didn’t suffer, and our world would be impoverished for it.
Their pain is our gain. Their madness heals us. And so, they deserve our gratitude for the sacrifices they make, and our compassion for the pain they endure.
Karen couldn’t overcome her illness and died at 32."
--------
"In honor of all the artists we have lost,
let’s be kinder to those who suffer, including yourself,
because you never know - you might be in the presence of an angel."
Glenn Berger used to work in the music industry. He worked with Phil Ramone as a recording engineer on Karen's solo album. Randy Schmidt does mention that Paul Simon did visit the recording studio and talk to Karen about recording "Still Crazy After All These Years" but does not mention the incident that Glenn Berger claims happened.
 
Source:
We're Denton Dammit! »

"Randy L. Schmidt
, a Denton teacher, author and Karen Carpenter expert,
went to New York City on Wednesday to do an interview with the Retro Report,
a production company that makes mini-documentaries posted on The New York Times website.
Schmidt’s interview was about Carpenter’s high-profile death from anorexia nervosa, and how her
tragic death made eating disorders less mysterious in the realm of public health and popular culture."
 
Source:
The Deseret News - Google News Archive Search »
Concert Review, October 1976 in Utah:
entitled
"Carpenters Need Polish"
"The show began with 'There's A Kind of Hush'...."
"...stage performance anticlimactic and undemanding..."
"....was mildly entertaining.'
"....with all the taped back-up they used, it was almost like listening to an album at home..."
"....they did a fair job at putting together a show that held the audience interest."
".... on 'Sing' ....audience response was sluggish..."
"...after their fifties frolic they did a brief history of their music career..."
"Richard did an excellent job playing the Warsaw Concerto..."
"Karen....showed the most enthusiasm demonstrating her drumming finesse..."
"The show ended with a Medley of some of their greatest hits...and a slide show of family pictures..."
 
Just ran across an article about the Carpenters on the website udiscovermusic.com dated June 27th. It says the United Kingdom agency BPI has give a new gold certification to the album "Singles 1969-1981 for sales of over 100,000 records. The article also gives details and UK certifications for other compilation albums.

# Singles 1969-1973: certified platinum Summer 1974 (UK); spent 113 consecutive weeks on British charts (#1 for 17 weeks); 7 x platinum in US

# Singles 1974-1978: certified silver 3 weeks after debut; 3 weeks at #2 on British charts

# Yesterday Once More (1984) certified platinum

# Only Yesterday-Their Greatest Hits: 4 x platinum

# Gold- Greatest Hits: 4 x platinum

# The Ultimate Collection: certified gold

# 40/40: certified gold

# Love Songs: certified gold

# The Carpenters Collection: certified silver

# Reflections: certified silver

# Readers Digest- The Best of the Carpenters: certified silver
 
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