carpenters you DON'T like.

M

MARK KILLINER

Member
hi guys.

wow, there`s a question you don`t see very often! its odd how everyone talks about what they like about an artist and what tracks they like and even why, be it memories, what they were doing when that particular song was a hit etc, so I thought I`d flip this a bit and see what happens.
so what carpenters track DON`T you like???
that`s got you thinking :hmmm:

I`ll kick it off and it breaks my heart to actually admit this, because I love this girl and really respect her for having a go on her own, but mine are actually both karens solo tracks :sad:
STILL IN LOVE WITH YOU
LOVELINES

as I said, I really respect her solo attempt and barring these two tracks, think the album is fantastic, but these two just don`t do it for me at all. I thought `loveliness` was too disco, which is the opposite of what they are about, but `loveliness` seemed to cross a line, even her voice seemed different!

thoughts?
 
I haven't really gotten into Karen's solo album, but I'm planning on doing so whenever I have the time.

As for Carpenters' songs, out of the selection that I've listened to so far, I've never really been a fan of "Calling Occupants". Something about the song makes me want to skip it when it comes up on my playlist.:hide:

Hell, now that I'm saying this, future me will probably end up having the song on repeat for hours, and I'll come back here all like "How did I not like this song?!".
 
I've said before I think "Man Smart, Women Smarter" is the worst song in their entire released catalog and still think so. I think it would be one of the songs today that Richard would hold back in the vaults (ala "Thank You for the Music") had it not been released already. First, it's just not very good to begin with and even Karen's voice can't save it (and the fact that they had her duet the song with Suzanne Somers in the "Space Encounters" special as part of a schtick number speaks volumes of what they must have thought of it) and the wholly unoriginal arrangement (i.e. copied almost exactly from an earlier Robert Palmer version of the song the year before) does not reflect well on Richard. It would be easy to blame his sleeping pills issues (which RC himself blames for some of the choices on AKOH and Passage) on the song choice and non-original arrangement, but that's an easy way out, to my mind the rest of Passage sounds great, and Richard clearly worked his magic on many of the other tracks (such as "Bwana She No Home" or "All You Get From Love is a Love Song" which sounds very different than Steve Eaton's original).

I also find "The Wedding Song/Because We are In Love" treacly and too on-the-nose. Also the story of what was going on behind the scenes in the real wedding the song was written (as recounted in "Little Girl Blue") make it unlistenable to me. I know there are others who really like it though.

With the exception of "Love Makin Love to You" and "Something's Missing" (both of which should have made the final cut), I think the so-called "unreleased" songs from Karen's album aren't that good either. That means at least 8 tracks (an entire album's worth) of them. There's a reason they didn't make any final cut. It's hard for me to say but not even Karen's voice makes me want to hear much of it. I just find them either dull and boring, or really unmelodic or non-catchy. Don't get me wrong, I think the actual solo album should have been released (I think it has a handful of potential top 20 hits which would have made it worth it, lesser songs and all) yet, although I think Karen's experiences with Phil Ramone (and his wife Itchy) helped her personally since she became such good friends with them and she met a lot of talented people in NYC who appreciated her worth as an artist, many of the song choices made during the year she was recording (half a million dollars worth at that) are just...not great. Especially with a once in a generation voice like hers.

I think most of my complaints about the Carpenters music is not that some of the songs they recorded are horrible, but that they recorded so many merely so-so/mediocre songs ("Goofus") or been there done that arrangements ("Breakin' Up is Hard to Do") that seemed unworthy of their respective talents, especially post-Horizon.
 
Richard's voice blends well with Karen's in background vocals but I don't like it much in lead vocals, except on 1969 recordings, such as 'Get Together'. I do love 'Love is Surrender' though, where Karen and Richard share lead vocals. About the only Carpenters songs I don't particularly like have Richard singing lead. (Daddy's Home' from 'Live in Japan', for example). Oh, there is one song that Karen sings that I don't like much. That's 'Man Smart, Women Smarter'. And I do agree that Karen's solo album didn't bring out the best in her vocal sound, overall. She sounds good on 'If we Try' and in some sections of other songs, though. I think that 'I Do It For Your Love', 'Midnight' and 'Something's Missing' should have been on the album in place of a few of the others, because they suit her voice better and are good songs. (I also like Marcia Hines' version of 'Something's Missing' which was a big hit here in Australia around 1979).
 
I'd have to agree with Man Smart, Woman Smarter being one of those songs that I don't particularly like. Something about the arrangements and even Karen's vocals make it kinda hard for me to listen to the song fully.
 
natureaker said:
I haven't really gotten into Karen's solo album, but I'm planning on doing so whenever I have the time.

As for Carpenters' songs, out of the selection that I've listened to so far, I've never really been a fan of "Calling Occupants". Something about the song makes me want to skip it when it comes up on my playlist.:hide:

Hell, now that I'm saying this, future me will probably end up having the song on repeat for hours, and I'll come back here all like "How did I not like this song?!".
Click to expand...

Calling Occupants was a huge hit here in Australia when I was in my early teens, (Top 5 in most states), so I'm very fond of it. I used to walk around under a night sky on our farm, trying to telepathically communicate with aliens!! :) At night when the radio signals were turned up, if you turned the dial, the song would be on every second radio station. They even showed the film clip on tv. It's a shame that the single edit isn't readily available on CD or iTunes or wherever, because everyone has to endure the 7-minute version and that is a bit repetitious. Btw, although Calling Occupants reached the Top 5 in different states of Australia, it only peaked at Number 10 or 11 nationally, because it peaked in different states at different times. I know it was also Top 10 in the UK, so in some countries it was one of The Carpenters' biggest hits. :).
 
Brian said:
Calling Occupants was a huge hit here in Australia when I was in my early teens, (Top 5 in most states), so I'm very fond of it. I used to walk around under a night sky on our farm, trying to telepathically communicate with aliens!! :) At night when the radio signals were turned up, if you turned the dial, the song would be on every second radio station. They even showed the film clip on tv. It's a shame that the single edit isn't readily available on CD or iTunes or wherever, because everyone has to endure the 7-minute version and that is a bit repetitious. Btw, although Calling Occupants reached the Top 5 in different states of Australia, it only peaked at Number 10 or 11 nationally, because it peaked in different states at different times. I know it was also Top 10 in the UK, so in some countries it was one of The Carpenters' biggest hits. :).
Click to expand...

Brian the edit version is available on the Japanese Singles Box Set and just recently here in the US & Canada PBS released the Complete Singles collection. But in Australia, I don't know if this compilation was reissued on CD, but the 1983 Australian LP/Cassette The Very Best Of The Carpenters (The Very Best of the Carpenters - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ») is the only other place that I know of where the single edit appears. And the since it was released in 1983, it might've also been reissued on CD.

But back on topic, I would have to nominate Richard's second solo album, Pianist-Arranger-Composer-Conductor from 1997 as the worst album. No vocals on All Those Years Ago and Karen's Theme is really uninspired.
 
Brian said:
Calling Occupants was a huge hit here in Australia when I was in my early teens, (Top 5 in most states), so I'm very fond of it. I used to walk around under a night sky on our farm, trying to telepathically communicate with aliens!! :) At night when the radio signals were turned up, if you turned the dial, the song would be on every second radio station. They even showed the film clip on tv. It's a shame that the single edit isn't readily available on CD or iTunes or wherever, because everyone has to endure the 7-minute version and that is a bit repetitious. Btw, although Calling Occupants reached the Top 5 in different states of Australia, it only peaked at Number 10 or 11 nationally, because it peaked in different states at different times. I know it was also Top 10 in the UK, so in some countries it was one of The Carpenters' biggest hits. :).
Click to expand...
Hi
Calling occupants peaked at no 13 in Australia.No 9 in uk.No 18 in canada.no 1 in Ireland
 
There aren't many for me apart from the following:

Man Smart, Woman Smarter
Crescent Moon
Sing
Jambalaya (On The Bayou)
Goofus
Prime Time Love
 
adam said:
Hi
Calling occupants peaked at no 13 in Australia.No 9 in uk.No 18 in canada.no 1 in Ireland
Click to expand...

Calling Occupants peaked at Number 10 in Australia on the Kent Music Report chart. But you're right. It peaked at 13 on the other chart, (ARIA?). I think the two charts are a bit like Billboard and Cashbox in the USA, except they're not associated with magazines. Calling Occupants was on the Kent Top 40 for three months. Thanks for your info, Adam. Whatever the details, it was obviously a popular record in some countries. Wow! Number One in Ireland!
 
tomswift2002 said:
Brian the edit version is available on the Japanese Singles Box Set and just recently here in the US & Canada PBS released the Complete Singles collection. But in Australia, I don't know if this compilation was reissued on CD, but the 1983 Australian LP/Cassette The Very Best Of The Carpenters (The Very Best of the Carpenters - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ») is the only other place that I know of where the single edit appears. And the since it was released in 1983, it might've also been reissued on CD.

But back on topic, I would have to nominate Richard's second solo album, Pianist-Arranger-Composer-Conductor from 1997 as the worst album. No vocals on All Those Years Ago and Karen's Theme is really uninspired.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that, Tomswift. CDs were starting to come into circulation in Australia around 1985 / 86. The Very Best of the Carpenters was released in 1982 and has never appeared on CD. Incidentally, this album hit Number One nationally at the beginning of 1983, around the week before Karen's death, which was a bit uncanny.

Yes, I was aware of the Japanese singles set and the complete singles set. Thanks for that info. :) Too expensive or difficult to get here, unfortunately, (although I was in Japan last year). :) :)

Back on topic, I really like Richard's piano versions of Carpenters songs, more so in his televised performances from around the time of the release of 'Voice of the Heart' than on his solo album. His televised live performances were a lot more elaborate and impressive than his recorded versions. I'm a big fan of his piano playing, but not necessarily of his singing. :) So some songs where he takes lead are amongst my least favourite Carpenters songs.
 
.
tomswift2002 said:
Brian the edit version is available on the Japanese Singles Box Set and just recently here in the US & Canada PBS released the Complete Singles collection. But in Australia, I don't know if this compilation was reissued on CD, but the 1983 Australian LP/Cassette The Very Best Of The Carpenters (The Very Best of the Carpenters - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ») is the only other place that I know of where the single edit appears.
Click to expand...

The single edit of "Calling Occupants Of Interplanetary Craft" also appeared on a Hong Kong-issued LP called CARPENTERS CLASSICS (A&M SP 20049).
Carp_Classics_LP_Front.jpg
Carp_Classics_LP_Rear.jpg

Harry
 
just had a read of replies so far and it`s very interesting. one thing is clear, even as hardened carpenters fans, we can all still disagree with each other as to what was good and bad, or should I say, not as good, because let`s face it, no carpenters tracks were actually bad! :shake:

JBEE, I sort of feel I SHOULD agree with you on this one, but I can`t. as a song and as the rest of their music goes, it maybe wasn't one of their greatest ideas, but I can`t help but like it because it shows a side of their humour and perhaps that sometimes, they don`t take it all too seriously. I have a feeling Karen would have been an absolute joy to be around and she had a fantastic sense of humour, I think you just get a sense of it with this song, so as is said over here in the U.K, for that reason, I can`t put it in `room 101` :D

SHALOM, hang your head in shame sir :doh:
I am shocked actually, with this one and just proves my point above. I thought `I can dream can`t i` was one of the most beautiful pieces of music i`ve ever heard and in fact, i still listen to it most nights, so that's a surprise. however, we all have differing tastes and i fully respect your opinion :crazy::laugh:

interesting reading the others as well. calling occupants i thought wasn't bad at all, but like most songs then, what i think lets this down a lot, is the video!
crescent moon i also like and really highlights karens range.
interesting points and views though, thanks guys, love it.
 
I remembered this topic, but still had to search for it to comment. I am answering emails, listening to Karen Carpenter's solo album and the one song I rarely listen to or even like, is Still in Love with You. But, for some reason, I heard a harmony in the background I had not remembered and it made me stop and listen to the rest of the song and I can say that the vocal treatment for this song is very good and enjoyable for listening pleasure. I had to repeat it to hear it again, and all I can say is that the departure from the norm is possibly what turned my taste in this song at first listen, but now, I like it! It reminds me of All I Can Do, which also took a little while to digest. There are some other nuggets in this topic that I don't remember reading, and since this board is quite lately, I think Ill go back and read more after this post.
I love this album, and always will. I put a song or two of it in any listening group of Carpenters songs. I am happy Richard finally released it!
 
I went back and re-read this and remembered why I quit reading it. Someone's dislikes and another's favorites, so I try to look at the favored ones I don't listen to always, but looking at them through another's eyes. Sometimes, its my own, years later, that find the flip. I love Cresent Noon, but I think you have to have late 60's blood in your heart to grasp it. It is a great choral song and Janis Siegel also does a great rendition of it as Karen does, but a look from a different time and place, and I Can Dream Can't I is one of my absolute favorites and a great piece of art in itself that Karen releases as she effortlessly sings as she breathes into the atmosphere. The others mentioned have their place and I like all of the ones mentioned.

Craig
 
I was just listening to Karen's solo album, and yeah, "Make Believe It's Your First Time" is the weakest track on the album, and even the Carpenters re-record is very weak. Not to mention "Because We Are In Love" from the same era that I also skip a lot.
 
One Love, Man Smart, Argentina, Two Lives, Prime Time Love, Make Believe (not solo version).
 
Although I can find something to like in just about everything they recorded, those I'm least fond of include: Because We Are In Love, Look to Your Dreams, Those Good Old Dreams, Druscilla Penny, Saturday. Not to say they aren't well done examples of their genres. Outside of the Christmas albums and Occupants, the heavily orchestrated Peter Knight/chorale stuff didn't do a whole lot for me then or now.
 
I like all the above mentioned. Even though Saturday and Drucilla Penny could be on my list, Karen's background vocals rescue them. Plus, they create the mood intended. The other songs are just different examples of vocal leads where I can drink Karen's voice.

Craig
 
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