"Touch Me When We're Dancing" - a successful transition to an 80s Carpenters sound?

The fact that a video was shot for 'Beechwood' in 1981 suggests that it was always planned to be a single (conversely, no video was made for 'Back in My Life Agsin', despite it being the follow-up single to 'Touch Me', although outside the US, it was released as a single in fewer territories than 'Beechwood' would be).

Whether that initial decision was made by Richard, Richard and Karen or A&M is hard to say. However, it still seems an odd decision to release it in the spiring of 1982, when its parent album had been dead in the water for a few months already.

Coming back to the discussion topic, the release of 'Beechwood' does rather suggest that whatever attempts had been made by 'Touch Me' to update their sound were of pretty limited scope, as they ended up releasing singles that were ersatz copies of singles they'd released years before.
You also have to remember that MTV only launched in August of 1981, so A&M may have only authorized certain singles to have videos. From "Passage" we have a video for Love Song but none for Sweet Smile, unless they used the segment from "Space Encounters" or another special.
 
I think 'Sweet Sweet Smile' did in fact get a video, although it's soft focus-tastic:

It's true that there wasn't a big outlet and thus much of an audience for videos back in the early 1980s. They were probably partly made for the international market to help promote the single - for instance, the video for 'Callnig Occupants' was played on Top of the Pops in the UK when the single was climbing the charts there.

That said, shooting a video for 'Beechwood' in mid-1981 shows a clear intention for its release as a single at least somewhere in the world and most likely in the US at a later date, so someone had obviously earmarked it for release pretty much around the time of the album's release.
 
^^Yes, not to mention that the three MIA Videos were "taped" on the same day.
(Commentary by Richard Carpenter--40th DVD).
Seems most likely that Beechwood was earmarked all along to be released as a Single
somewhere in the World. The decision to release Beechwood specifically on Karen's Birthday
may have been Richard's decision; but they both may have decided it to be a single all along.

Of course, that begs the question--Why no video for Want You Back In My Life Again ?
 
Richard was a big believer of what worked in the past...Beechwood was an attempt at another Please Mr Postman but it never "panned out". The video was not cute and enchanting like with Postman, instead showed an emaciated and frail Karen, unfortunately...that train had long past left the station.
Yes, I agree. 'Beechwood' was a very obvious attempt to recapture the success, (and sales), of 'Please Mr. Postman'. The arrangements of the two songs are similar in so many ways. However, 'Beechwood' was recorded seven or so years later than 'Postman' but hardly moved on, as well as being a throw-back to the 60s. It also didn't have the vitality, charm or appeal of 'Postman'. I think that radio and the public saw through the obvious attempt to clone 'Postman' and avoided 'Beechwood' like the plague. 'Touch Me When We're Dancing' was more original, even though it was a re-make, although it was a little sterile, robotic and over-produced and had Karen sounding feeble and listless and very 'thin' in the higher register of the choruses. Not surprising, considering her state of health. Fans embraced the come-back, up to a point, because at last a new record was available, but, on the whole, the 45s were disappointing. The only singles from the album that had a hint of the warmth of songs of the past were 'Those Good Old Dreams', (which, itself, was a semi-clone of 'Top Of the World'), and 'I Believe You', two and a half years before. Some of the album tracks were quite a bit better. Some were top-notch. Maybe the types of songs being released as singles at that stage weren't the kind that Karen excelled at or that showcased her voice.
 
I think 'Sweet Sweet Smile' did in fact get a video, although it's soft focus-tastic:

It's true that there wasn't a big outlet and thus much of an audience for videos back in the early 1980s. They were probably partly made for the international market to help promote the single - for instance, the video for 'Callnig Occupants' was played on Top of the Pops in the UK when the single was climbing the charts there.

That said, shooting a video for 'Beechwood' in mid-1981 shows a clear intention for its release as a single at least somewhere in the world and most likely in the US at a later date, so someone had obviously earmarked it for release pretty much around the time of the album's release.


Thanks for posting - I had never seen this particular video before. I do like it better than the "Space Encounters" version. General observation: Interesting to see that Karen appears to be wearing the exact same outfit that she wore during their June 1978 Tonight Show/John Davidson appearance. It is amazing how Karen transformed from an awkward, self-conscious, amateur; who did not want to leave her drum kit (example: We've Only Just Begun video) into quite a polished performer who appears to be completely poised and comfortable whether in front of a TV camera or live audience. AND at this point she is still a pleasure to look at:)!
 
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