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Karen Carpenter Solo Sessions - Continued

Nice to read the playfulness that this thread brought up.
"Leadmister" would of loved to see this thread active again. It was was enjoyable, entertaining and a learning experience.
I like both Karen's and Richard's 80's solo album. They are time capsules, not necessarily appreciated when they came out, but looking back, they are both treasures of a sort in the Carpenters legacy!
 
John Adam said:
Nice to read the playfulness that this thread brought up.
"Leadmister" would of loved to see this thread active again. It was was enjoyable, entertaining and a learning experience.
I like both Karen's and Richard's 80's solo album. They are time capsules, not necessarily appreciated when they came out, but looking back, they are both treasures of a sort in the Carpenters legacy!
Click to expand...

Karen's is definitely of its time - that's for sure. Most records are. That's what makes them fun. They point to a time and a place(s) - both for the album itself and for us. I very much remember seeing the CD at Tower Records with no clue it was even out. Without even thinking, I picked it up and left with it and a couple of other R&B CDs. I remember the guy that checked me out questioned Karen's CD being there with the others. I said "a great singer is a great singer" and he went with it. She was every bit a great singer and this was a vital step in her artistic journey. I only wish it were one of many she'd have given us.

"Karen Carpenter" was a first step. She tried things with it in search of what would be "her sound." Most debut albums do this. Heck, Carpenters' debut did this too. We look differently upon "Offering/Ticket to Ride" because of what followed. It doesn't stand on its own; it stands as a harbinger of things to come. There are ideas on that album that they never tried again, really. It was a first step and a ragged one at that. A&M put it out and it flopped. Herb and Jerry let them make another one and the rest is history. Some have surmised that "Karen Carpenter" would have flopped too and maybe they're right...but we'll never really know. We'll also never know if A&M would have given her the latitude to try again at some point. If only she'd lived long enough...

Ed
 
Vinylalbumcovers said:
... Some have surmised that "Karen Carpenter" would have flopped too and maybe they're right...but we'll never really know. We'll also never know if A&M would have given her the latitude to try again at some point. If only she'd lived long enough...

Ed
Click to expand...
Yes, IF she had lived...

If she had, I would like to think that A&M would have been wise enough - and principled enough - to give her "carte blanche" in the future, the freedom to record pretty much whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted to...whether or not it "charted" or paid for itself.

We're talking about Karen Carpenter here, and there was an overwhelming desire and need to get her on vinyl as much as possible during her lifetime.

Yes, I know this is economically naive, and a feeling loaded with sentimentality, but still...that voice! It was critically important that it be preserved - in abundance.
 
JohnFB said:
Yes, IF she had lived...

If she had, I would like to think that A&M would have been wise enough - and principled enough - to give her "carte blanche" in the future, the freedom to record pretty much whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted to...whether or not it "charted" or paid for itself.

We're talking about Karen Carpenter here, and there was an overwhelming desire and need to get her on vinyl as much as possible during her lifetime.

Yes, I know this is economically naive, and a feeling loaded with sentimentality, but still...that voice! It was critically important that it be preserved - in abundance.
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Had she lived she wouldn’t need A&M. She could record and release everything digitally on her own website and not need to care about sales.
 
Matthew S said:
Had she lived she wouldn’t need A&M. She could record and release everything digitally on her own website and not need to care about sales.
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Sounds like a great idea - but that was 15 to 20 years into the future, wasn't it?

How would that have worked in practice - how much would the recording sessions have cost her, even with a basic rhythm section? And how about a studio, an orchestrator, engineer, web site design, sales management, etc?
 
JohnFB said:
Sounds like a great idea - but that was 15 to 20 years into the future, wasn't it?

How would that have worked in practice - how much would the recording sessions have cost her, even with a basic rhythm section? And how about a studio, an orchestrator, engineer, web site design, sales management, etc?
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Well, she paid $400k for her solo album in 80. I seriously doubt A&M would pay for anything that wouldn’t make money, that’s not how business (intentionally) works. I can’t imagine anyone saying “this won’t make a dime, and we’ll lose money, but since your voice is so amazing, we don’t mind.” But…..she could spend her own money on anything she wanted. Money maker or not. If she had deep pockets she could do whatever she wanted, but not expect a record company to do it out of the kindness of their heart.
 
Or….she could have given A&M another $100k in 1980 and said thank you, good bye, and taken it elsewhere and possibly had it released. After all, Casablanca put out Captain & Tennille’s album not much later. Maybe Neil Bogart would have been happy to release it. If it failed, well, that’s another story with bridges burned at A&M.
 
These are fake and this person has been making money off the Carpenters name and music for a while. I think there are places you can get a vinyl made for whatever music you want and re sell it to make money. They are using Karen’s solo project to make money. Unfortunately people will fall for this and buy it.This must be breaking some type of copyright protections.
 
As I recall, this unscrupulous individual had these things pressed up in Canada, then attempted to add them to Discogs but were thwarted there as not official. Looks like they're trying to make their fortune by using eBay and preying on the unsuspecting Karen-worshippers who will pay anything.
 
I think this person also had a u tube channel and sang Carpenter songs and has some kind of musical background. They finished some of the unreleased solo tracks adding their own instrumentation (keyboards) to tracks like Jimmy Mack etc.
 
One of my Carpenters holy grail searches, the LP segments from the Your Navy Presents Sam Riddle interviews are unlikely if not impossible to find. Sometime back I saw one of these bootlegs and it was $10 and I was comfortable with that amount of skin in the game.

The one that came in the mail was from the same label as this one ^^ listed on ebay. It was not a very good bootleg at all. And that was fine for $10. I guess I just needed to know. Later I saw another one from a different vendor and it was in a slightly higher price range but only a few dollars more, maybe $15 so I tried again and that one was a perfect vinyl rip/needle drop and it sounds amazing on my CD system.

Once in a while if there are no other options and a repress seems unlikely, bootlegs of rare recordings can be awesome if the source is properly pressed.
 
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Their newest bootleg is called “Mook Songs”. They were asking $34.95 plus about $11.00 for shipping.
It sold out quickly, but I’m sure they will make more. They ship from Las Vegas and Minnesota. Say made in Canada. They were selling bootleg vinyl for Your Navy Presents 2 years ago. I thought it was the real thing and purchased one. After I found out it was a bootleg I backed out, and refused to pay for it. I was then banned from any more purchases from them. lol. He told me they took them to a Record Store Day event, and sold out quickly. I’m pretty sure they read the Forum as guests to see what we talk about. Then make more bootlegs. They are selling a complete set of Magic Lamp singles from the bootleg album for about $564.00
on EBay right now. It was almost $100 more a week ago. All 5 have fake Magic Lamp labels on the 45’s. They also sell boots from other artists. Mainly Carpenters, and Leslie Gore though.
 
GDBY2LV said:
Their newest bootleg is called “Mook Songs”. They were asking $34.95 plus about $11.00 for shipping.
It sold out quickly, but I’m sure they will make more. They ship from Las Vegas and Minnesota. Say made in Canada. They were selling bootleg vinyl for Your Navy Presents 2 years ago. I thought it was the real thing and purchased one. After I found out it was a bootleg I backed out, and refused to pay for it. I was then banned from any more purchases from them. lol. He told me they took them to a Record Store Day event, and sold out quickly. I’m pretty sure they read the Forum as guests to see what we talk about. Then make more bootlegs. They are selling a complete set of Magic Lamp singles from the bootleg album for about $564.00
on EBay right now. It was almost $100 more a week ago. All 5 have fake Magic Lamp labels on the 45’s. They also sell boots from other artists. Mainly Carpenters, and Leslie Gore though.
Click to expand...
Exactly. That's the YNP I was referring to that was not a very good playback. Fortunately I only dropped $10. This was quite a while ago, though.
 
And I’m almost 100% sure the “Mook Songs” CDs are AI versions of Carpenters vocals. They are all songs that were on that list I posted months ago, that were not released, or finished. Not good enough in Richard’s mind to be released.
 
Rick-An Ordinary Fool said:
I actually remember hearing Make Believe It’s Your First Time on the radio. 📻 It always came with that feeling that I’d never hear her on the radio again.
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That’s great that it got a bit of airplay - It’s a strong ballad and while certainly not 80’s hit material, it no doubt would have touched a lot of people…especially since she had just died and no one was expecting to hear anything new from her, as you mentioned.

Sidenote - I’ve long scratched my head about the meaning of the lyrics. First time for what? Attempting to have a private, serious conversation (discussing marriage, etc.) or doing something a little more - ahem - intimate? I suppose “We’ve tried our hand at love before” could also be referring to previous relationships.

Either way, MBIYFT no doubt has more adult-themed lyrics than most everything else Karen sang before - which I believe was a trend she wanted to have with her solo album?
 
Jack A. said:
That’s great that it got a bit of airplay - It’s a strong ballad and while certainly not 80’s hit material, it no doubt would have touched a lot of people…especially since she had just died and no one was expecting to hear anything new from her, as you mentioned.

Sidenote - I’ve long scratched my head about the meaning of the lyrics. First time for what? Attempting to have a private, serious conversation (discussing marriage, etc.) or doing something a little more - ahem - intimate? I suppose “We’ve tried our hand at love before” could also be referring to previous relationships.

Either way, MBIYFT no doubt has more adult-themed lyrics than most everything else Karen sang before - which I believe was a trend she wanted to have with her solo album?
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It seems to me like Karen's version of Madonna's Like A Virgin. There's a quote from Richard in this article I ran across a while ago. "Phil's idea of maturity was to have her singing explicit lyrics," Richard complained to the Carpenters' biographer Ray Coleman. There's a good quote from Phil Ramone too.

The "more adult" lyrics seem to be at least partially behind the regection. Still seems tame to me and I still really like the songs...Olivia Newton John's Physical was out there and one of the biggest singles of the decade.

www.telegraph.co.uk

Karen Carpenter and the mystery of the missing album

On February 4, 1983, Karen Carpenter, the American singer who with her brother formed the successful Carpenters duo, died aged 32 from heart failure as a result of complications arising from anorexia nervosa.
www.telegraph.co.uk www.telegraph.co.uk
 
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Bartog739 said:
It seems to me like Karen's version of Madonna's Like A Virgin. There's a quote from Richard in this article I ran across a while ago. "Phil's idea of maturity was to have her singing explicit lyrics," Richard complained to the Carpenters' biographer Ray Coleman. There's a good quote from Phil Ramone too.

The "more adult" lyrics seem to be at least partially behind the regection. Still seems tame to me and I still really like the songs...Olivia Newton John's Physical was out there and one of the biggest singles of the decade.

www.telegraph.co.uk

Karen Carpenter and the mystery of the missing album

On February 4, 1983, Karen Carpenter, the American singer who with her brother formed the successful Carpenters duo, died aged 32 from heart failure as a result of complications arising from anorexia nervosa.
www.telegraph.co.uk www.telegraph.co.uk
Click to expand...
Yes but Olivia’s Physical did not come out until late 81. Karen’s material was in 79/80 so at that time I guess it was considered more suggestive. Even Olivia has recounted many times that she was very nervous about the Physical single and wanted it pulled but it was too late. She incorporated exercise into the song which was a brilliant idea to take the edge off those lyrics.
 
Rick-An Ordinary Fool said:
Yes but Olivia’s Physical did not come out until late 81. Karen’s material was in 79/80 so at that time I guess it was considered more suggestive. Even Olivia has recounted many times that she was very nervous about the Physical single and wanted it pulled but it was too late. She incorporated exercise into the song which was a brilliant idea to take the edge off those lyrics.
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Yes, I remember reading about that and doing that for the video. It just seems like Karen was being awfully restricted from exploring, and music like this seemed to be on it's way, so to speak, to the marketplace.
 
Rick-An Ordinary Fool said:
Well, there is no mention it is an original. Vintage and high gloss stock, the price and that there is 1 photo at an odd angle and that it looks like a photocopy are alerts to me.
Click to expand...

Looks like the same person is operating under different accounts on eBay. This is one I found some months ago. Same profile pic, same star symbols on the description, and always stated as the last one available. There aren't this many copies of the original KC promo poster left in circulation. Isn't there any way to report this seller to eBay for defrauding customers? Because I would gladly do it.

2023 Item

a40e20a5-eb3c-41c5-8c0f-b179dcfe7c09.jpeg

2024 Item

IMG_5933.jpeg
 
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Yes. The … next to the basket symbol at the top of the page. Tap the dots and you can report them. Ralphiesrecords is one of their names. “Afterpiece” is another bootleg they are selling.
 
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