Karen's Solo album

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Back In the 80's, remember, we didn't have "full on remixes". We had extended mixes that were remixes. Usually incorporated instrumental sections with some parts added or subtracted to create the extended version. Sometimes additional vocals were added. They did pretty good in the 80's not changing the entire song structure, which is common today. I like Chris' mix. Anything that Keeps Karen singing is great!
 
aaflyer98 said:
Back In the 80's, remember, we didn't have "full on remixes". We had extended mixes that were remixes. Usually incorporated instrumental sections with some parts added or subtracted to create the extended version. Sometimes additional vocals were added. They did pretty good in the 80's not changing the entire song structure, which is common today. I like Chris' mix. Anything that Keeps Karen singing is great!

Oh absolutely. I remember them well. I have tons of them. The remix as we know it now isn't a remix at all; it's a re-production and a totally different song. However, even in those cases, it was done more imaginatively because the remixers jacked up the beat a bit by legitimately remixing the track. Even without access to the multi-track, that could still be done to a certain extent here. I just wish he would have gone to the trouble rather than doing a very rudimentary extension job.

Ed
 
This, however, isn't it.
That's for sure. Having lived through the Disco Era (and was a DJ throughout) I can say this song would have been a definite floor-clearer. It's not a bad song, it's just not dancefloor-worthy.

Listen to Donna Summer's extended version of Hot Stuff/Bad Girls. That's how it's done.
 
Totally!!!! Bad girls was SUCH an important album to me in my childhood, besides the outstanding content there was something that FASCINATED me as a kid about the prostitutes and police men pictures within its gatefold, I have always been mesmerized, in my early years, by the adult world, and prostitutes and cops were the most adult stuff I recall spotting in an album cover back then! Well, THAT and L.A.X.' This end up album cover, do you remember that one, Mr. Blakesley?? With the nude blond lady?? Everytime I picked up that record for a listening, I felt like I was holding a porn magazine!!

Anyway, it's odd that Bad girls have not been extendedly remixed, only Hot stuff, right, that's how they released them on Bad girls CD deluxe edition, Hot stuff extended plus Bad girls standard album version. Nonetheless, the remixing they did for Hot stuff wasn't particularly impressive, they have added a sax solo which, in my opinion, doesn't quite suit the song.
 
Donna Summer and her production team in the 70's & 80's knew exactly what they were doing and did it right. Donna's current album, Crayons, was completely remixed in the new way (reproductions with only the vocals intact) doesn't impress me as much. But Donna's talent continues to amaze me, even on her newer material. Too bad Donna & Karen never did duet.
 
goodjeans said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAH-uCI6kQg
ThaFunkyFakeTation wrote:
However, even in those cases, it was done more imaginatively because the remixers jacked up the beat a bit by legitimately remixing the track.
Something like what they did to Scott Grimes in the link above? I did hear that there was a true remix done of "My Body Keeps Changing My Mind" back in the day.

Probably. I haven't heard the Scott Grimes album but it certainly seems like Louis Vega was known for remixes that would have turned out the way this one did. I'm curious as to what the original Grimes track sounded like though.

Ed
 
I know this guy and someone has told him Newton-John did backing vocals for Karen in Don't try to win me back again... and he sent the song to some Newton-John fans and a couple of them said they believed it could be her singing with Karen on that track... I think they are so totally wrong.
 
Richard_Sloat wrote:
told him Newton-John did backing vocals for Karen in Don't try to win me back again...
It may be the power of suggestion but I can hear Olivia in the background. Also, the track is so basic that it isn't a stretch to think that they were both in the studio...why spend so much time on the background if the rest of the track was so unfinished?
 
I think it IS the power of suggestion... Newton-John has commented on Karen's solo album a few times and she has never mentioned collaborating in it, why wouldn't she?

I believe Karen and Phil may have just used this track for some experimentation on vocal arrangement, only to hear what it would sound like, you know, tuning in things to see what they would keep and what they would lay aside.

EDIT: Or maybe not??? I'm listening to it right now and... COULD that be????? Now I'm DROWNED in DOUBT!

EDIT 2: No... it is Karen only... it is clearly her doing the backing at 3:44m thus it's just her all throughout the recording.
 
So, Karen has told Ramone in their last phone conversation that she had been "recently" listening to the album, according to Mr. Schmidt's book. I had read she has been listening to it on the very day she called Ramone but that may be inaccurate. Anyway, these details don't make a real difference for what I was having in my mind, the thing is... I don't know about these technical music reproduction stuff... what kind of tape is it that Karen would have in her possession containing her solo material? That would be a kind of tape she could have been listening at home, right, so it's nothing that would require a recording studio technology to listen to. I wonder whether they were standard K7 tapes or something as basic. I think A&M didn't actually press any vynil copy of the album, so Karen wouldn't have any with her. Or could she have an advanced or promo copy, something avaliable only for the artist, the producer and the people from the studio? Perhaps with the cover art and all?? No, I guess not...

I wonder whether they were the very same tapes she and Ramone had played for Alpert, Richard and Moss? So it was a vynil copy she had in her possession or it was K7 tape or tapes.
 
I wonder which outtakes Karen would've considered finishing aside from the couple already in the can? Seems to me that one might consider her ultimate feelings regarding music releases. I wonder what her take would be here had RC gone first?

Hmmm,

Jeff
 
In 1982 and 83, the predominant form of copied, recorded music was the cassette. It's more than likely that she had someone copy the album as she envisioned it onto a simple home cassette, probably BASF Chrome, since that's what A&M used at the time.

Though it's possible she'd gotten a vinyl test pressing, it's more likely a cassette.

Harry
 
djn said:
I wonder which outtakes Karen would've considered finishing aside from the couple already in the can? Seems to me that one might consider her ultimate feelings regarding music releases. I wonder what her take would be here had RC gone first?

Well, as you said it yourself, aside from Something missing and Love making love to you, which sound as they were completed, I think Karen would not have released any of the outtakes without having rerecorded them. The one I would definitely have voted for putting out is Don't try to win me back again, they have made a killer arrangement for the demo with that impressive instrumental break cutting the song in half and I think it would be Karen's biggest hit on the nightclubs. The only song in the Carpenters catalogue that people would actually DANCE to is Please Mr. postman (at least in Brazil) and I think Lovelines would fit OK in a dance playlist but her take on Don't try... was definitely built for the dancefloor! It's HOT!!
 
Does anyone remember way back when the unreleased solo session tracks were first leaked on the net? I just remember that I was part of Ran's old Carpenters forum and that is where I rememeber hearing about them first but I don't remember what year it was does anyone? I was just curious about what year the fans first heard about these. I still wonder if it was some A&M exec or someone from Phil's side that would have leaked them. I still remember all the excitement and how the news spread quickly about them.

I remember the fear too that we were listening to something that well, the public really was not suppose to be hearing, yet here they were out there by someone that had to be close to the recordings. Anyone remember more details from way back then?
 
I can approximate it to 2001 - maybe 2002 - somewhere in that time frame. I have some other "files" from around that time with 2001 dates.

Harry
 
I was always amazed at the quality. As collectors, we've all swapped unreleased recordings for years. But, the quality was usually poor. You put up with the bad quality because the track was so unique. But the solo material sounded so good, it must have been released from someone very close to the project.
 
Harry mentioned above that it's possible Karen had a cassette of her solo album. She must of had it in some format to play it at home, it makes me wonder if she also had all the unfinished tracks with her finished ones in the same format that she could listen to. I agree that the the quality is great there just obviously not finished.

Then it leads me to wonder if she had all the tracks including the unfinished ones could that cassette have been lost or got in someone else's hands thus getting leaked.
 
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