Thanks Chris! My musical mystery is solved. I like the out of sync approach. Do you know if it was Hal's or Richard's idea?
Honestly, that very well could have come from Karen. She loved syncopation, but then again Hal was a master at his craft.
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Thanks Chris! My musical mystery is solved. I like the out of sync approach. Do you know if it was Hal's or Richard's idea?
Say what you like about "Sing", but Karen's lead is absolutely chilling on it. She almost gives it a "bittersweet" feeling -- even though I love the message of the song and I get a smile on my face whenever I listen to it. Supposedly she sung with the children's choir too; I always thought I heard her voice in there!
"Druscilla Penny" is one of my new favorite album cuts. I never particularly cared for it at first, but it was one of those songs I never forgot about, either. Then I recently found it and have played the heck out of it since. I really like how Richard sings the line "you're family's probably given up on you ... long-haired rock n' rollers". What bothered me at first was not the unusual drum sounds, but the way it ended! I was convinced there was more.
The arrangement doesn't allow her to do much acrobatic, technical standout stuff with her vocal (expect the amazing "whole life looonnngg.." bit) but she innately invests a melancholy lingering below the sunshine.
Karen's the singer that never really had to use vocal acrobatics or technical stuff. Her voice draws you in on its own. Granted, she's certainly got prowess, but she never considered herself a singer first. It never felt like she was trying to be impressive with her voice by shooting into the stratosphere or holding very long notes (like perhaps a singer would do). She's my favorite because of this -- it's straightforward, no-frills, honest singing. It's Karen.
features a lovely vocal from Karen (although I don't hear the 'bittersweet' element in it that some people have commented on - unlike, say, 'For All We Know', there doesn't seem to be any obvious subtext in Karen's reading here).
My singing, to put it nicely, should never be subjected to any living creature....teasing Rudy, who's afraid to admit he was one of the original Jimmy Joyce Children's Choir singers..."La la la la la..."
It's in my top 60,000, I'll admit (although I could say I have 59,999 tracks on my music server at the moment ). That is what is interesting about this song--we did not have UHF capabilities on our TV at the time, so I did not see Sesame Street until later in my younger years, within a year or so of having outgrown it. Someone who hadn't known or watched Sesame Street probably would not get that same negative stigma I had towards it at the time.Let's put it this way, it's no where near my top 3 or even 5, but I would think it's fair to say a well crafted arrangement and nice showcase for their vocals.
I was more partial to a show called "Zoom" on PBS remember that one? Come on and zoom ba zoom ba zoom, I still hear that opening song lolBesides that, The Electric Company was a lot more "hip" as a kids show.
I was more partial to a show called "Zoom" on PBS remember that one? Come on and zoom ba zoom ba zoom, I still hear that opening song lol
Have you moved to London then?Oh I remember Zoom, especially being on the east coast! I should look it up on YouTube, haven't seen it in years. A friend of mine auditioned for it once but didn't make the cut.
I was more partial to a show called "Zoom" on PBS remember that one? Come on and zoom ba zoom ba zoom, I still hear that opening song lol
Have you moved to London then?
Innocent question. You said you remember an American TV series from the "east coast", yet your "location" setting is London. Since you are a new member, we like to get a hold on where people are from and your two pieces of information were somewhat conflicting. So are you, or are you not based in London as your location setting says?
Ah, OK. Most of us around here are more open about things like that, but if you need to protect your identity, I can understand that. Still, putting your correct country seems vague enough.
However, whatever its commercial potential, it was a highly unwise choice of single. Maybe Richard got spooked by the underperformance of some of the singles from A Song For You and felt it better to go with a catchy if lightweight safer bet. Yet all this would do was reinforce whatever negative stereotypes were circulating around their image at the time. Looking at the details of what was in the Top 10 alongside 'Sing', I'd say that 'This Masquerade' could have gone head to head with tracks like 'Neither One of Us' and 'Killing Me Softly', but 'Sing' alas had much more in common with 'Tie a Yellow Ribbon'.
That said, it's still way better than 'Druscilla Penny', which is probably the worst Carpenter/Bettis track released. It was a blot on the Tan Album and has been an instant skip for me for years. The lyrics, the vocal, the arrangement - just bad in every way. I don't know if it's worse than 'Goofus' but it would have to be in my Top 3 least favourite Carpenters' songs.