• Our Album of the Week features will return next week.

Carpenters Appreciation

Status
Not open for further replies.
S

scottb

Well-Known Member
I just posted the thead below on the Hoffman music forum. Please let me know what you think.

Ok so I was just in my car listening to Carpenters 'Now'. One of my favorite Carpenters tracks and one of Karen's best vocal leads. I played it about 5 times. Now I got into Carpenters when I was around 8 years old way before I discovered rock. My favorite band of all time is YES. I'm a YES nut but right behind them is Carpenters. I have all the remastered Classic CD's and just about every single comp from all over the world.
I have friends that just don't 'get' Carpenters. They think that there just recorded some syrupy ballads and that's it and they don't understand Richards genius at all and think he was just the 'piano player''. Do any of you have friends that just think Carpenters are just uncool to like? It's very frustrating as I can't fathom anyone that appreciates great melodies, vocals and awesome arrangements not appreciating how great Carpenters are and they still sounding so fresh today.
Please post your thought!
Scott B
 
In answer to your post, Scott,
No one among my friends possesses an appreciation of Carpenters music.
I have encountered this lack of Carpenters' appreciation throughout my entire life (well, since 1973).
(Even had one quick date: this "person" noticed a poster of the duo on my wall, then, stated "I hate the Carpenters".
That date ended one second after that statement !)
Granted, my immediate family will pay lip-service, but only to appease me. I know they aren't sincere.
But, to each his own.
I will never understand the naysayers.
Gave up trying!
 
GaryAlan said:
In answer to your post, Scott,
No one among my friends possesses an appreciation of Carpenters music.
I have encountered this lack of Carpenters' appreciation throughout my entire life (well, since 1973).
(Even had one quick date: this "person" noticed a poster of the duo on my wall, then, stated "I hate the Carpenters".
That date ended one second after that statement !)
Granted, my immediate family will pay lip-service, but only to appease me. I know they aren't sincere.
But, to each his own.
I will never understand the naysayers.
Gave up trying!
Click to expand...

Yep I think my wife could go the rest of her life without hearing them but would never say that to me! I know I have so many musician friends as I play keyboards and that's what got me into Carpenters at such an early age and my friends can't understand how I like them. My musical tastes are all over the map and my prog rock friends laugh at my love of the Carpenters. Oh well it's their loss:)

Scott B
 
Good thread! I have a few people I know who do love Carpenters, and there are a bunch who don't. My mother recently said they sound like happy hour lounge music(disparagingly, of course), and I was playing a mix of their most upbeat songs.

Yet, as I said, I know a few like us, who are moved to tears at Karen's voice. Probably not enough to join this forum, but still, they hear the power.

Oh yeah, I have a musician coworker who watched an early 'Superstar' video, and he was moved by her voice and demeanor. Maybe still not a fan, but he got it.

It's curious to me because I like all kinds of music from
Ornette Coleman to X to Pavarotti to Diamanda Galás to Bing Crosby to Rush to Karen and Rich to the Sex Pistols and Julian Bream. They all move me in their own powerful ways.
 
Have run into and known a few people in the past who were not into the Carpenters at all, but most were at least complimentary when it came to Karen's voice and the overall musical talent of the duo. Surprisingly, I know a couple of hard rock/metal guys that have admitted they are huge Carpenter fans and prefer to keep it on the lowdown! With over 120 million units sold worldwide, someone other than the members on this site have the Carpenters' music stashed somewhere.
 
Portlander said:
Have run into and known a few people in the past who were not into the Carpenters at all, but most were at least complimentary when it came to Karen's voice and the overall musical talent of the duo. Surprisingly, I know a couple of hard rock/metal guys that have admitted they are huge Carpenter fans and prefer to keep it on the lowdown! With over 120 million units sold worldwide, someone other than the members on this site have the Carpenters' music stashed somewhere.
Click to expand...

That's classic ""someone other than the members on this site have the Carpenters music stashed somewhere". That gave me a great laugh because it is so true.

Scott B
 
Back in the days when there were Record/Cd stores, the employees always got 'a laugh' out of my purchases,
as I was always grabbing a Carpenters release and proudly proclaiming my adoration for the duo.
I did not hide anything, as I made sure that my purchase was highly visible to those patrons around me.
Got to the point where I made sure to 'front' the duos offerings in the shelving bin, and really rearranging the "C"-artist section.
Carpenters up front. I miss that!
 
GaryAlan, I still "front" the Carpenter CD's today whenever I am in a music/entertainment store. Am pleased and relieved that my girlfriend admires Karen & Richard along with my ex wife, kind of a deal breaker!
 
I was a Carpenters fanatic starting in elementary school in the 70's. The theme to our 8th grade dance/banquet was "Yesterday Once More", suggested by yours truly....so I had several friends then who shared the Carpenters love, but hey....they were always on the radio, hit after hit, so not too uncool for kids our age. In high school, the friends began gravitating towards Kiss, the now classic-rock bands of the 70's, heavy metal and disco....not much love for the Carpenters any longer, except when you could bring albums to dances and everyone wanted a song for a slow dance. I was still a known Carpenters fan, and they were most appreciative of hearing I Just Fall in Love Again as I had taken the newly-released Passage album. The entire dance floor was full, dancing to an actual Carpenters tune in high school....that was a nice memory. In college, new friends and co-workers were commenting on Touch Me When We're Dancing....some saying they always liked the Carpenters but never wanted anyone to know, and surprisingly, others claimed they'd never heard of them before.

Carpenters music then seemed to disappear from the airwaves after that point until Karen's death, and then new co-workers and friends were talking, buying The Singles and Voice of the Heart. My wife of over thirty years and my two children understand my passion for their music, but don't share it....they have their own favorites, and that's fine. However, Carpenters Christmas music is front-and-center during the season, they expect it, and I even catch them singing along occasionally. I think some other "old-timers" here would agree....being a Carpenters fan over the decades has often been a lonely existence in terms of having an outlet or avenue to share your passion for their music, that's why I enjoy this forum. It's wonderful to continually hear from new fans just discovering their music.

BTW, I too, for years and to this day, still front Carpenters music everytime I'm in a Barnes & Noble, Best Buy, or a used record store. Some habits will never die!
 
playing off the topic title...in dollars and cents anyway...how much have CarpenterS and/or A&M been appreciated over 45 plus years in concerts and sales? Karen's quoted "money's in the basement" it breaks my heart that she didn't have the opportunity to revel. In these 30 odd years since passing she's acquired untold riches. Thought: Duo? Yes! But, but, no basement, no money. HMMM just me thinking out loud

Jeff
 
I seem to be in the minority in a few areas in life, and that's okay with me. My appreciation (love) for the Carpenters' music is surely one of those areas. One of my passions is to make CD compilations, based on genre, term, year, decade, or other theme. I play them for myself---I've virtually given up listening to music on the radio---and I give them to family and friends. I almost always find a way to include a Carpenters' song. In my own small way, I am playing a role as promoter/ambassador for the C's music... :)

Over the decades, I have had friends who shared my enthusiasm, and that is a wonderful thing. Granted, they weren't the zealots that I am, but it is so satisfying to find someone (friend or whatever) who shares your musical tastes. It is further satisfying that we have found that here at this great forum!
 
In the past, and I use the term loosely, whenever there was an event (say: wedding, family reunion, Christmas party..), I would try to
sneak in some Carpenters' song or reference, in any conversation whatsoever.
Whether talking about other musical artists, or any news of the day, somehow-someway, I would get the duo mentioned in the course of
my utterances. Eventually, it wore on everyone's nerves.
Weddings...We've Only Just Begun, Close To You...
Christmas...Merry Christmas Darling...
Outer Space....Calling Occupants...
Bad luck in love?....All You Get From Love...
No love at all?....Goodbye to Love...
Siblings, in general,.... Carpenters...
Drummers...Karen...
Great Smiles...Karen and Richard...
Three degrees of separation between many other entertainers and a Carpenters' story.
Well, We all get the picture !
So, it is rather easy to put references to Carpenters in any conversation at all, just a bit harder to do it subtly!
 
Funny stuff, GaryAlan! Yeah, I've been known to get on "everyone's nerves," too, with similar scenarios (and, of course, in many, many other ways). :)
 
Sounds like we ALL do the same things when it comes to our Carpenters history. I was already DJ'ing parties in college when Karen passed. I remember telling my DJ partner (and fraternity brother) that no party would be worked without a Carpenters song played from that day forward. He wasn't very happy, but that was the new rule. And never once did I play a Carpenters slow tune without a crowd on the dance floor. Karen always got them out there. I DJ'd roughly 25 yaers (weddings, private parties, corporate stuff), and Carpenters always got a 'nod' . Still play occasional parties today.

I also remember doing a wedding shortly after 'Lovelines' was released. I was playing the first half of the album as background durnig their sit-down dinner. A young guy came up and asked me what I was playing. He said he and his wife were sitting there enjoying the hell out of it. Told him it was Carpenters, and he siad, 'Wow!' We're buying this!'
 
Will wear one of my retro Carpenters T shirts on occasion and am pleased when I get approached and asked where I got the shirt along with comments on how much the Carpenters are appreciated. Mostly middle aged ladies and sometimes males who are musically involved such as choir and or school music directors. Actually wore one to a Carpenter Tribute concert last year and if I were not with my girlfriend I would have had my pick of phone numbers (digits) from adoring female Carpenter fans!

Final comment, in all of my years I have never met a true follower of Karen & Richard that was rude, disrespectful, unfriendly or mean spirited. Some of the nicest people on the planet are Carpenter fans, and that in my opinion says a lot about the influence of their timeless music and is a wonderful legacy to leave behind that goes far beyond all of the gold and platinum records and Grammy awards they achieved.
 
My youngest sis had Heather played during seating at wedding. Never a huge fan with exception. Recent bad day she texted Tomorrow may be even brighter than today' and I'm all what??? You were listening!

Jeff
 
It's funny how we feel the ageing. The so-called experts spout off about the new forty, the new fifty, but everyday life is still everyday. Still never the same as the past.

We can never compare! Yet here we are on a site looking back to a figure who can never compare. Can no longer try, and her brother doesn't even try. Well, he did, but . . .

How much of the past can we really recapture? How much should we try?
 
I've encountered quite a few people who were surprised that I liked them, and I've also encountered people who have never heard of them. I'm not quite sure how liking them generates such a negative response. Actually, about 3 months ago I stopped by a thrift store that was going out of business, and I saw a stack of about ten 45s. I looked through the stack and at the very bottom was Heather/Top of the World. As I was about to purchase it, the man at the counter kind of gave me a look and said "Do you actually want this"? All I was thinking about was how rude that statement was, but I kept that to myself and just said "Yes, I actually do want this." About a month after this, my neighborhood was actually having an event specifically for purchasing records, which was fantastic for me because I could finally purchase some LPs. As I was looking through the boxes, it kind of became a question of "Well, which category would Carpenters be placed in?" So I asked one man if he would happen to have any Carpenters LPs, and he said "I'm not sure who that is." Another man I asked told me "Check in the bargain box." Finally, the last man I asked said "I'm not sure why you're asking for that, but I have a bunch in the back of my car, I'll go and get them for you." I ended up purchasing 5 Carpenters LPs, [Carpenters, A Song For You, Now & Then, The Singles: 1969 - 1973, and Made in America] They were $3 each (Which I thought was definitely under-priced, but I wasn't going to complain about that.) Now, back to the actual topic of discussion.. a lot of people overlook them for reasons that I'll probably never understand, but I also know there's a lot of people around the world who still love and adore them as well.
 
Excellent sentiments.
It is, unfortunately, true that as time goes on, and our lives march forward from the past..from the 1970s...we should
find ourselves reminiscing. And, I am sure we all enjoy listening to Carpenters' music as much as we ever did.
I, for one,will always remember sitting at the phonograph and devouring the sounds of Horizon, then each subsequent
musical offering, and then backwards again to their debut album. At the time, we were younger, more carefree, perhaps even happier.
We probably did not stop to think (then) how much the music meant to us, to our lives. Then, the tragedy, and the horrible
realization that That Voice was forever silenced. Many of us grew up quickly on that day. Perhaps ,then, the words to all of those songs
acquired new-found meaning and became more meaningful, in ways which as youngsters we were unable to appreciate.
Not only do we enjoy the music, but we celebrate the two lives who gave us that music.
I sometimes find myself wandering back to that day in 1976, me sitting at the speakers, marveling at that voice, and I wonder:
Should I have written a letter to Karen telling her personally how much the music meant to me. Could it have made a difference?
Sadly, there are no answers to that question. Life is what it is.
But, I will always cherish those memories, and I will always feel that spine-chilling effect when I listen, again, to Horizon.
Whether a kid of 14 in 1976, or an older gentleman at 51, it makes no difference: that voice, that life , still affects my soul.
And, 20 years hence, God-willing, I can guarantee That Voice will still send chills down my spine.
And so now, as in 1983, paraphrasing Rev. Charles Neal:
"Once below Time, becomes the tapestry of time.."
"Beauty is God's handwriting, a wayside sacrament,the world has indeed welcomed such beauty in the life of Karen Carpenter"
"..Karen's life has become a beautiful song to the world.."
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar discussions

Simon KC1950
Carpenters - Change the record (Lyric)!
2 3 4
Replies
88
Views
2K
JohnFB
JohnFB
Jack A.
"I Need To Be In Love" Backing Vocals
Replies
7
Views
258
Vinylalbumcovers
Vinylalbumcovers
Jack A.
Carpenters Karaoke
Replies
1
Views
159
Carl
Carl
W
Of all of the Carpenters' songs with Karen as lead vocalist, what's unique about their cover of "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do"?
Replies
8
Views
370
kprather
K
05_LF
First time poster, long time lurker
Replies
5
Views
380
Mark-T
Mark-T
Back
Top Bottom