"Sing" (Single Review)

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ScottyB

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This one...I don't know...
To me, this is a good "children's song" and that's about all I can say good about it.
I know it was one of their biggest hits, but it doesn't sit well with me with all the rest.
My sister had the single, and I enjoyed its B-Side "Druscilla Penny" much more.
And, to this day, listening to it with its children's vocals...UGH!
I have to say,,,this is my "fingernails on the chalkboard" Carpenters song.
I very rarely include it on any personal compilation that I make.
And, to this day, I will never understand how this song was chosen as a single and there
was little consideration for "This Masquerade", which I am certain would have been a smash.
(And the "too long" never sat well with me)
 
And, to this day, I will never understand how this song was chosen as a single and there was little consideration for "This Masquerade", which I am certain would have been a smash.
(And the "too long" never sat well with me)

It always amazed me how Richard sneaked This Masquerade onto virtually all the hits compilations to the point where I'm sure many people listening today actually think it was a single, when the most it ever became was a B-side (in the US and UK anyway). It has that rare distinction of having become a Carpenters classic entirely in its own right, without ever having been pulled as a single.
 
I really like "Sing", but that's just me. It was one of the first songs I listened to as a fan. I think it takes guts to record what's considered a "children's song"--really, Joe Raposo wrote a great song, whether it was intended for children or not. Richard treated it incredibly well.

Karen seems so happy singing with those kids, and I think the reason the song did so well is that she brings it to a level nobody else could come close to. One of my favorite lines is when the duo overdubs "Sing, sing a song" after the kids' "sing for you and for me".

That said, I prefer the album/single mix over the remix, which does nothing for me.
 
This one...I don't know...
To me, this is a good "children's song" and that's about all I can say good about it.
I know it was one of their biggest hits, but it doesn't sit well with me with all the rest.
My sister had the single, and I enjoyed its B-Side "Druscilla Penny" much more.
And, to this day, listening to it with its children's vocals...UGH!
I have to say,,,this is my "fingernails on the chalkboard" Carpenters song.
I very rarely include it on any personal compilation that I make.
And, to this day, I will never understand how this song was chosen as a single and there
was little consideration for "This Masquerade", which I am certain would have been a smash.
(And the "too long" never sat well with me)
I also, am not a fan of this song and here I thought I was the only one! It is almost always a skip if I am anywhere near the controls...
 
I've never been a fan of "Sing" either. It was a sugary confection that only contributed to their mounting image problems. But hey, it sold well. And I agree with Toolman that it was sort of the counterpoint to that fuzz guitar (which I loved).
 
I've always liked it . Don't love it, but liked it. Whatever they were doing with their background vocals in '73, they worked beautifully. . . .and Sing's K and R BG's are stellar. This Masquerade is a far better piece to me, but would it have gone top 3 at almost 5 minutes and with that "lounge" feel. . .not so sure. Then again I wasn't around then.
 
I fall (perhaps) in the minority.
Up to this single release,
I felt It's Going To Take Some Time
had lost creative spark.
Now, with this song,
'Sing',
one sees creativity in the arrangement.
Karen's lead vocal is sumptuous, the drums, the flute, the children's choir---
everything fits. A seamless arrangement. (Again, I express my thanks to Richard for the arrangement.)
Is it lightweight ?
I'd say yes lyrically---but, only if one compares the song to previous Carpenters' offerings--the love-ballads.
It is a gutsy move to place your chances into releasing this song as a single.
Knowing full well that detractors to their music would cry foul and claim that it is too lightweight,
well--those same folks would have detracted from anything the duo put out at that time---they were simply too popular in 1973 !
Besides, VH-1 gave us a smart, short ,commercial with this Carpenters' song as background....very much adding credibility.
(At least, whatever credibility one gets from VH-1 ! )
 
Never been that keen on 'Sing' and I'm surprised that it was even considered as worth recording.

It sounds like a charity single / novelty song to me really.
 
I guess I liked it more when it first came out than I do now. It definitely has not aged well and doesn't fit with a collection of their other hits. I know how Richard was saying they were so busy touring around that time that he didn't have as much time as he would have liked for putting together that particular album; but it's surprising, given their "image problem," that he even wanted to record "Sing," let alone make it a single.

As for "This Masquerade," it's absolutely a great song but it's not "hit single" material. It doesn't have that big hook or memorable phrase that marks a hit single. Not saying it couldn't have become a hit, but just given the style of the song and the time it was released, the odds would have been against it. (Disclaimer: I was in the music business at that time so I bring some knowledge to the table here.)
 
I played 'Sing' to death when it was released in 1973. I was about to turn 11 years old, and was also about to see Carpenters in concert. So, this tune reminds me of the anticipation of that great event. I used to bring the 45 to school and another friend would bring 'Crocodile Rock', and we'd fight for the record player. Our teacher liked Carpenters and LOVED The Fifth Dimension, and she was cool enough to allow us to play records before school started each day. Karen and Richard performed the song at the show I attended in April, 1973, with a local Kansas City 4th grade choir. I was quite envious of them, as I was also in the 4th grade at the time. I still remember Karen asking a kid in the choir, 'What's your name?' and he nervously said, 'Mike'. She was laughing and really enjoying the moment.

I rarely (if ever) include 'Sing' on compilations. I agree it's too lightweight for today's listeners, but it is definitely a well made record. It's also easy to forget that 'Sing' was nominated for a Grammy in 1974, which says a lot for its success at the time.
 
I'm quite content remaining in the minority viewpoint on this song,
however:
I would urge everyone to realize/appreciate the brilliance of this song's arrangement.
The use of musical instrumentation (drums, strings, brass, harp), the arrangement,
remains ingenious to my ears. (Not to mention that is Karen on drums !).
Not sure how we are to define 'lightweight' (children's choir ?),
but, this is an instance where taking a chance 'paid off'.
The:
(1) Spanish (Canta single)
and
(2) Japanese (in concert)
incarnations certainly were endearing to those respective cultures.
A song 'simple' enough for Karen to learn in those respective languages, yet, complex enough in its arrangement to sparkle.
(1) Sing....Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group or Vocal....Nominated
(2) Sing....Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocals ...Nominated

Now, if only we could get the horrible Druscilla Penny off of the Flip side of the single.
That choice of flip side is truly wasteful.
 
"Candy Man" (released April '72, Sammy Davis Jr., gold single) and "Playground in My Mind" (released July '72, Clint Holmes, Billboard #2) both had that children singalong component as well. Maybe it wasn't that much of a risk commercially.
 
The short list in April 1973
Charts:
1 The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia (Vicki Lawrence)
2 Neither One Of Us (Wants To Be The First To Say Goodbye) (Gladys Knight & The Pips)
3 Killing Me Softly With His Song (Roberta Flack)
4 Ain't No Woman (Like The One I've Got) (Four Tops)
5 Break Up To Make Up (The Stylistics)
6 Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round The Ole Oak Tree (Dawn featuring Tony Orlando)
7 Sing Carpenters
8
Danny's Song( Anne Murray
9 Also Spach Zarathursta (2001) (Deodato)
10 The Cisco Kid (War)
 
Seeing those Billboard lists always brings back so many memories. Thanks.
I don't often listen to "Sing" but don't hate it. When I do listen, I'm always taken by how extremely precise that children's choir is. The lyrics go, "Don't worry that it's not good enough for anyone else to hear" and yet the kids sound like the Stepford Children's Chorus. Mind you, I recognize that I'm being totally ridiculous, but maybe a little less precision would've warmed the song up a bit. Never saw it performed in concert -- how did it sound then?
 
Seeing those Billboard lists always brings back so many memories. Thanks.
I don't often listen to "Sing" but don't hate it. When I do listen, I'm always taken by how extremely precise that children's choir is. The lyrics go, "Don't worry that it's not good enough for anyone else to hear" and yet the kids sound like the Stepford Children's Chorus. Mind you, I recognize that I'm being totally ridiculous, but maybe a little less precision would've warmed the song up a bit. Never saw it performed in concert -- how did it sound then?

In concert, when it came time for "Sing" they nearly always used a local children's chorus that they'd march on stage to do the song and then march off. Obviously it was of varying quality given the state of local talent at any given point. That said, one of the curious things is that there have to be thousands of kids who got to do that, and yet I've only ever read the account of one person online who claimed the privilege.

The recorded version used a professional children's chorus - Jimmy Joyce, I believe - so I can understand the precision. Also, with Richard producing, did we expect anything else. "Sing" is a harmless little song, but, one thing I've learned is that ANY recording by ANYONE that has a children's chorus is usually looked down upon. At the time that "Sing" was popular as a hit single, it was played often on radio, and I can understand people getting tired of it, placing it in a negative light.

This is one recording of Carpenters where I absolutely prefer the remix. That one low-note piano addition of Richard's is sheer magic - and it's just one note!

Look at that list above of the top songs. The 70's were the strangest decade - and as a person who lived through it, I suppose I should join in some sort of a group apology for it!

Harry
 
Seeing that list above I can't help but think Karen could have nailed the song "Killing Me Softly With His Song"

I wonder if she ever sang along to that one on the radio.
 
The short list in April 1973
Charts:
1 The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia (Vicki Lawrence)
2 Neither One Of Us (Wants To Be The First To Say Goodbye) (Gladys Knight & The Pips)
3 Killing Me Softly With His Song (Roberta Flack)
4 Ain't No Woman (Like The One I've Got) (Four Tops)
5 Break Up To Make Up (The Stylistics)
6 Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round The Ole Oak Tree (Dawn featuring Tony Orlando)
7 Sing Carpenters
8
Danny's Song( Anne Murray
9 Also Spach Zarathursta (2001) (Deodato)
10 The Cisco Kid (War)
These days this would constitute a personal playlist of sorts. But this makes perfect sense. However i enjoy the numerous instrumental versions that were done over the years. I think Richard Clayderman's version of "Sing" is probably the best of them all.( at least to me because i heard it on the radio more often back in the day.)
 
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As an aside to the list of Billboard songs,
in the interview with Karen and Richard,
interviewer Wink Martindale,
Richard does lament the fact that the duo did not record
"Killing Me Softly With His Song".
 
Have you all heard the real, original version of "Killing Me Softly With His Song" by Lori Lieberman?



The story goes that Ms. Lieberman had seen Don McLean in concert and was moved by the way his music touched her. She relayed the story to Norman Gimbel and Charles Fox who then wrote the song, "Killing Me Softly With His Song" for Ms. Lieberman and produced her eponymous Capitol album. The song got a little bit of airplay, not tons, but had enough power to make it to an airline stereo tape. Roberta Flack happened to hear the song on one of those airline flights and immediately contacted Fox and Gimbel in an effort to record the song for herself.

Roberta Flack's version shot to the top of the charts, leaving Lori Lieberman in the dust.

Fuller story here: "Killing Me Softly With His Song" - Roberta Flack »

Harry
 
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Got the original "Sing" (from "Sesame Street 2" album on Warner Bros. from 1971) which starts side 2!! Got that from EBay for $ 70.00 from the manager who works at Records & Tapes Galore in Saginaw, Michigan. Matt Clark Sanford, MI
 
There were a lot of great songs out there that ended up being done by others - like "Killing Me Softly" which would have been perfect for KC's voice and I think RC's arrangement would have made it suitably different from the Roberta Flack version - the Carpenters SHOULD have recorded. Which makes some of the choices for Hush, Passage and even Made in America (when Richard had over a year and his health back to look over demos) inexplicable.

But I don't think "Sing" is one of them. It was a top 10 hit and became a Carpenters concert staple. And its a fun song. Everytime I've seen video of Karen singing it onstage with kids she seems to love it. Yes, it fed into their issue of being wholesome and squeaky clean (doing a Sesame Street song!) but Richard's arrangements on it are great. And the Carpenters were never going to be "cool" in the eyes of the mainstream or musical press, or disk jockeys, of the 70s, even if they hadn't recorded "Sing".

The C's seem to have been obsessed in the 70s with trying to get rid of their "image", which in turn constantly led them to being asked about it (in almost every interview even into the 80s), but they should have just thrown up their arms, said they didn't care and recorded what they wanted. R&K loved oldies, they loved doing songs like "Sing" (and "Goofus" and "Beechwood" etc), they loved Les Paul and overdubbing and Richard loved those strings and oboes. Embrace it. I consider "Sing" (originally sung by muppets) as much a Carpenters song as "Superstar" (a song about a groupie). To put both in the top 10 just showed their strength.
 
Have you all heard the real, original version of "Killing Me Softly With His Song" by Lori Lieberman?



The story goes that Ms. Lieberman had seen Don McLean in concert and was moved by the way his music touched her. She relayed the story to Norman Gimbel and Charles Fox who then wrote the song, "Killing Me Softly With His Song" for Ms. Lieberman and produced her eponymous Capitol album. The song got a little bit of airplay, not tons, but had enough power to make it to an airline stereo tape. Roberta Flack happened to hear the song on one of those airline flights and immediately contacted Fox and Gimbel in an effort to record the song for herself.

Roberta Flack's version shot to the top of the charts, leaving Lori Lieberman in the dust.

Fuller story here: "Killing Me Softly With His Song" - Roberta Flack »

Harry

I Just listened to this now "Wow". Is all i can say. Except Ms Lieberman's Should Have Been A Hit equally as well as Roberta Flack. I do Like Liberman's Voice it reminds me me a little bit of Judy Collins. Its beautiful in its own right.
 
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