Carpenters - hit single versions

[TallPaulInKy]

When i talk of single versions I mean the one issued on the US 45 rpm single (the hit version). I know through back discussions on this board, the original hit version (45 rpm single) of Calling Occupants has never been issued on LP or CD. Are there others?
Has anyone compiled a source list for the original hit versions of the Carpenters songs?
I was looking through the archives and searching and find tidbits like this where the song "Can't Smile Without You" was being discussed and it mentioned the lyric was different between the album version and the hit version which sang, ".I can't laugh and I can't sleep I don't even talk to people I meet... "
So that makes it pretty easy to tell the difference. I have a few Carpenters singles (on disk) but after the discussions I am wondering if I need to buy old singles off ebay?
It's a shame there isn't even a partial Carpenters discography here since there are so many other good ones.

 

[Mike Blakesley]

Yes, it's been "eventually!" for a lo-o-o-o-ng time!

 

[Harry]

It's also a daunting task, considering that most fans would want the most in-depth discorgraphy possible, including all variations of albums worldwide, and all variations of singles worldwide. I don't know if any one person could possible collect all of those, let alone know enough about them to compile a thorough discography of Carpenters. Some groups are just that way (Beatles, ABBA, Carpenters), with many scattered releases throughout the years in many different countries.

Our goal, at one time was to at least provide an album discography that was searchable.

Carpenters single versions (off the top of my head) that never appeared on CD:

Ticket To Ride - single was mono with slightly different mix
Your Wonderful Parade - b-side to above, in mono, with altered opening
I Kept On Loving You - b-side to Close To You with clean open on the 45
Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town - 45 mix is different from anything on CD
Calling Occupants - short version, mentioned above
Please Mr. Postman - 45 mix, more compressed sounding

The "Can't Smile Without You" single version appeared a couple of times on CD, one being on the Canadian/UK SINGLES 1974-1978.

Harry

 

[newvillefan]

The other one that comes to mind Harry is the single of (Want You) Back In My Life Again, which has a clean ending on the 45. It's included on the Ultimate Collection 3CD and just stops dead at the end, which I think is a sloppy oversight.

Stephen

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

If I can add on to Stephen too:

The 45 single of "Look to Your Dreams" also has a shortened ending I don't think has appeared on CD. Correct me if I'm wrong.

As a side note I sent an email a few months ago asking Richard if he ever thought of putting out a collection in the near future of the mono mixes on CD. What a collection that would be. I never got a response, I think it was around the time that Becky left so I guess my email found it's way to the round file.

 

[Harry]

As a side note I sent an email a few months ago asking Richard if he ever thought of putting out a collection in the near future of the mono mixes on CD. What a collection that would be. I never got a response, I think it was around the time that Becky left so I guess my email found it's way to the round file.

Side note to Chris - you'll appreciate this. I'm still in one of my ABBA phases and recently gathered and dubbed to CD all of the mono promo singles I had. I didn't hear anything as revealing as I did with the Carpenters monos, but they did sound a bit different. Those ABBA recordings are so dense anyway, and reducing them to mono makes them that much denser.

Harry

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

I may be a step ahead of you , while back while collecting the Carpenters mono's I ended up gathering quite a few Abba's also and made my own little CD. I think I have about 7 or 10 of them in mono. Incorporated them along with some other 45 Promos and long version/short versions of some 45's of Abba. They are fun. I do prefer my Carpenters much much more though.

 

[Harry]

I may be a step ahead of you , while back while collecting the Carpenters mono's I ended up gathering quite a few Abba's also and made my own little CD. I think I have about 7 or 10 of them in mono. Incorporated them along with some other 45 Promos and long version/short versions of some 45's of Abba. They are fun. I do prefer my Carpenters much much more though.

Cool. It's something I'd planned to do a long time ago and never got around to doing it. I suspect a lot of ABBA fans are quite a bit ahead of me, as I'm still discovering some of their stuff really for the first time. I've heard it all at least once, but some songs don't hit you the first time through - and when you're exploring eight albums and bonus material all at once, it takes a bit of time to sink in.

For example, just a week or so ago it hit me how Agnetha sounds a little Karen-like on "My Love, My Life". And I really like the once-forgotten track called "Dream World." I think there are a few ABBA single versions that haven't yet made it to CD as well, and the parallels between ABBA and Carpenters are sometimes striking.

Harry

 

[Mike Blakesley]

My favorite ABBA song is "S.O.S." and "Waterloo" runs a close second. But, I don't like their voices nearly as well as Karen C.'s voice. Maybe it's the dense production Harry mentioned...I think I like a more open sound, which a lot of the great Carpenters records have.

 

[newvillefan]

Without wishing to go off topic, there are sometimes differences in the single B-sides compared to their later releases on CD. For example, the B-side of One Of Us, 'Should I Laugh Or Cry' has Benny's count in on it. This was only just released recently for the first time on the huge box set that Universal put out.