TIME - Who Do You Love?*

Mark-T

Well-Known Member
carptime.jpg

Catalog number: SP 5117 (LP), CD 5117/DX 1687 (CD)

Track listing:

1. Say Yeah!
2. Who Do You Love?
3. Something In Your Eyes
4. When Time Was All We Had
5. Time
6. Calling Your Name Again
7. In Love Alone
8. Remind Me to Tell You
9. That's What I Believe
10. I'm Still Not Over You

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Today, I decided I was going to listen to Richard's TIME album while I worked. To tell you the truth, I didn't even have it loaded on my computer i-tunes. That should say a lot.

"Say Yeah" hasn't aged well, but I'm surprised how good "Who Do You Love?" holds up. I would think this would have been a bigger pop hit than "Something In Your Eyes" or would have at least suggested Richard wanted to be a pop artist vs. MOR. The song "Time" is great. So is "I'm Still Not Over You" but it has Karen written all over it.

Overall, it's still an OK album. Not great but OK.
I'd rather hear Karen's solo any day... :wink:
 
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oh it isint that bad a record.
ive enjoyed it over the years. i first got it on cd YEARS ago at a local shop,$6.00usd used mint cond, still have it,along with a few lp's a see thru dark vinal copy.
bought it wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy before mr youtube came around/
im still not over you.... oh yeah KAREN BIGGGGG TIME wow kc on that....i melt
 
I rarely if ever listen to Time, but 'Who Do You Love' is one of the few decent tracks on there. The harmonies on it are very nice and it's got a bit more life to it than much of the rest of the album. I'm not sure if it was 'pop' enough to have been a hit in 1987, but it probably had the best chance of all the tracks of getting airplay.

I seem to recall that it may have been a single (maybe only a promo?) in Japan though. I'm pretty certain I've seen a picture sleeve for it online.

Strangely enough, I actually dug out Time a couple of weeks ago for the first time in years and played it through. I'm still of the opinion that it's quite weak - Richard's vocals aren't strong enough to lead so many tracks and I find most of the songs too lightweight or MOR in style. Apart from 'Who Do You Love', only 'Something in Your Eyes' and 'Time' really stand out - the latter suggesting that Richard might have been able to carve out a career in film scoring. I actually don't mind 'Say Yeah' - it does sound dated now but at least it was trying to do something different.

What is strange for such a safe-sounding album is that Richard was actually ahead of the commercial game in terms of some of those who he was working with on it. His collaboration with Dusty Springfield preceded her commercial renaissance with the Pet Shop Boys on 'What Have I Done to Deserve This' by a few months and I notice from the liner notes that Richard Marx, who would go on to have huge success on the US pop charts a year or so later, was co-writer on a few tracks.
 
I did listen to "Time" all the way through, yesterday morning.
Reading the Liner Notes to the album, unless I am misinterpreting the June 1985-July 1987 timeline,
Richard did not get fully into its recording until mid-1986 (after A&M records studio refurbishing),
and even then, the album took a year for completion.
My impressions largely mirror what has already been observed.
The Lead Vocals by Richard just do not carry the weight of the album.
Paul Liem's drumming seems to overwhelm certain songs, at times.
The string arrangements are not as over-powering and lush, as earlier Carpenters' efforts.
How about that 'Whiplash" sound beginning "Who Do You Love?".
Scott Grimes, well. I'll leave that one go...
Thanks to Dusty Springfield for vocals on "Something in You Eyes".
I do like "I'm still not over you" and Tony Peluso's guitar playing on the album.
And, I wish I could 'like' more of this album.
Richard Carpenter is much much more talented than this album indicates.
God knows Richard tried. And, it must have been difficult.
So, there, I have played, in its entirety, this album three times in 20 years.
I gave it a shot.
 
I've often thought about getting this album, out of curiosity I looked on ebay. I just managed to get a cd copy for £7.99 - buy it now, which i did!
I think that was a bargain as it's been out of print for some time.
I'll look forward to hearing it properly and not on my lap top on you tube.
 
Well, just so you know, the album TIME does have its fans. I was always mostly happy to have new music from Richard, and the album plays much like a tribute to Karen.

And then there's Scott Grimes...

Harry
 
I really like the Scott Grimes album. Akiko's is good, too. So is Veronique, but I think the Grimes one is the most fun of all.
 
I like the album quite a bit, although I don’t listen to it all that much (but when I do, I very much enjoy it and only cringe during the Scott Grimes song, but mostly because that should have been me on that vocal...*grin). I recently rediscovered the album on iTunes, I bought it (again), and I was surprised by how consistent the music was for that mid-80’s time period. I love "Say Yeah!” and think it could have been featured on any Kenny Loggins album of that period, and the arrangements on the album, writ large, were inventive and energetic. Richard was clearly listening to the radio, and I believe he did a remarkable job delivering a contemporary, mid-80’s pop album. When I bought the vinyl shortly after the album’s release, my gut told me it would sink without a trace, but I held out hope for success and what that might mean for future Carpenter-related releases. Sigh...best laid plans...best laid plans. Per others' observations, Richard has himself admitted his voice is more suited for background and ensemble work. I still hold out hope for a future solo release from RC - don’t laugh, it could happen (David Crosby’s recent album, “Croz,” holds up remarkably well alongside his other work, and he’s into his 70’s!).

Can I just say I miss Richard Carpenter?
 
Added picture and album tracklist since it's been more than a decade that TIME had its own thread.

Harry
 
Looks like you added the album title, too...

Thank you, I kept thinking of the song by Bo Diddley! :laugh:



-- Dave
 
I'm not bit##in should TIME:2015 hit the market I'd be the first snickersoodle in line. Particularly with HIS vocals and/or vocal arrangements. The inherent Carpenter(S) sound within any peep, squeek or squak gets me off everytime. I'd even buy another PIANIST, ARRANGER WHATEVER WHATEVER sequel thang. With Richards brood ripe now I'd be curios in a group harmony snippet. Ahhhh the MINDI CARPENTER solos didn't gift me on a C's level. I can clearly hear Karen on the heavenly community blow horn with a resounding " I loves ya Min, but OH NO YOU DIDN'T"!!!

Jeff...juz sayin
 
Is it "Chicago" that does "baby please don't go.. " sounds like RC. Is that Peter Cetera? I think that sound really worked in the 80's. Two best RC tracks are I'm Still Not Over You and Calling Your Name Again
 
This is one area where I feel like A&M put forth some decent effort in promoting "Time". The video is really good!
 
Sorry, no.

"Who Do You Love" is a disaster. The bouncing back and forth between high falsetto and bass is laughable, and all in all, the vocals sound like Richard is in the middle of a mid-life crisis. This song doesn't hold a candle to ANY of Richard's other vocals on the album.
 
Welcome to the Boards! You'll fit in great- and you'll find we share many diverse opinions on all topics. :wink:
 
Tell ya what? I was a little put off upon release that Something In Your Eyes was an RC credit only. I don't recall what transpired other than there was a little banter about Dusty's noted absence. I have often wondered if industry wide Richard and reported studio tyranny coupled with the DS omission was chart death. I don't know. Dusty is back for what now is her swan song. It wasn't RC feat DS or DS feat RC it was RC. I can almost see Agnes picketing the A&M lot demanding that once and for all Richard is the star of the act.

Jeff
 
Tell ya what? I was a little put off upon release that Something In Your Eyes was an RC credit only. I don't recall what transpired other than there was a little banter about Dusty's noted absence. I have often wondered if industry wide Richard and reported studio tyranny coupled with the DS omission was chart death. I don't know. Dusty is back for what now is her swan song. It wasn't RC feat DS or DS feat RC it was RC. I can almost see Agnes picketing the A&M lot demanding that once and for all Richard is the star of the act.

Here's a thread I posted about this topic two years ago, which produced some great replied on this very subject :)

http://www.amcorner.com/forum/threads/dustys-something-in-your-eyes.11887/#post-107452

Biggest revelation for me?

"The single, taken from Richard Carpenter’s album Time, wasn’t released until the duet with the Pet Shop Boys was in the charts".

That, coupled with zero promotion, ensured it died a death. Shame, because it's an amazing song and deserved a much better fate.
 
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Who Do You Love? Apparently not Richard Carpenter, judging by some of the comments here and elsewhere at this A&M Corner. (And yes, by the way, message received: this site includes all A&M artists, not only Karen and Richard Carpenter...)---I am intentionally being lighthearted and self-deprecating with my response... :)

Even I describe Richard's vocals as with "decidedly mixed results." I don't think Time is as horrible as some claim. I think there are some gems among the tracks. It's easy to second-guess many career decisions made by Richard, particularly after the most prolific, successful years of the Carpenters. With Time, as with 1977's Passage, maybe Richard was trying to appeal to a variety of potential record-buyers: (1) include ballads that sound Carpenters-esque; (2) include something up-tempo and unexpected ("Say Yeah"); (3) include something that might fit in with typical mid-1980s fare; (4) include some guest vocalists---something has got to stick... Maybe that was the thinking. Even though this album wasn't successful or critically acclaimed, Richard took a stab at it. Maybe just as Karen was proud of her solo album, Richard was proud of his first solo venture.
 
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