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Had Goofus ended up a hit again, We'd be talking how RC was a genius. Go figure
I remember those days, The Carpenters and waning popularity, throughout the 1970's.
I say this: their commercial popularity ended long before the decision to release Goofus.
I remember Please Mr.Postman being on the radio EVERYWHERE.
Then, I heard Only Yesterday sporadically (but, often) on the radio.
Never heard Solitaire at all on the radio (during 1975), A Kind Of Hush even less,
and, I Need To Be In Love exactly ONCE on radio (in 1976).
The real division began with Solitaire and snowballed with I Need To Be In Love.
So, whatever was happening had absolutely NOTHING to do with releasing Goofus as a single.
It might not have helped, but at that point in time, its release did not matter !
Just my two cents.
After some thought on this issue--the decision to release Goofus as a Single, I have concluded that no one (A&M or Carpenters) seriously thought Goofus was going to be a "hit.".
So, Goofus, at #54 would have been lucky to sell in the tens-of-thousands.
Uncool, or not, I never gave that issue ('coolness') much thought.
But, it is a BRILLIANT rendition (vocals, harmony, arrangement, diversity) by the duo (imho).
Perhaps after an image damaging song like "Sing" becomes a huge hit they thought that something else lightweight can pass. I love Sing and it's a much better song but it was a hit despite making them look juvenile. But in 1973 they could have released many things and it would have been popular. Pop music being as fickle as it is was vastly different three years later.
Pop music being as fickle as it is was vastly different three years later.
"Goofus" was on the HUSH album. They needed a single, so it got released as a "throw it up against the wall and see what sticks" kind of thing.
So whose to say they weren't desperate?
I wonder how "Sing" would have turned out had their NOT been a children's choir on the track? It would have been cool if they had recorded 2 versions one with the children's choir and one with a more "top 40" type sound (meaning no choir and less Sesame Street feel to it)
I don't know how you do what Richard did without them. I mean...do you hear how the "La la la"'s play off of Richard and Karen killing it while Karen is singing "last your whole life long"? A big part of that blend is the kids. They're all the top voices. Richard just used them in the stack. That's what makes Richard so maddening. He can take bad ideas and still make highly listenable moments within them.
I HATE him for that...LOL!!
Ed
Karen's vocal is chilling. Her voice on its own was a singular instrument of unmatched warmth and melancholy, and that combination of feeling is realized profoundly yet again on Sing.
I think by this point they probably were desperate for chart success but why wasn’t anyone advising them of the poor decision to release this as a single and then to put themselves through the rigmarole of mostly poor quality TV specials in the ensuing years? Was it Jerry Weintraub’s fault? Was it A&M’s for allowing them to be taken down that road? Or was it just their own? I’m not judging them, I’m just curious with the benefit of hindsight. I’d love to have a discussion with Richard about this whole period of their career and hear his thoughts.
This wasn't a creative triumph/commerical bomb type of album, it was more of a 'sleepwalking over the cliff' affair. .