Did you feel the same way about Linda Ronstadt?
What if "(They Long to Be) Close to You" Doesn't Hit?
- Thread starter Vinylalbumcovers
- Start date
Did you feel the same way about Linda Ronstadt?
Randy M
Well-Known Member
I love all of their albums, but somehow other parts of my life took precedence over them after Now & Then. College, my girlfriends, parties, etc are my only excuse.
Randy M
Well-Known Member
To be kind, Linda Ronstadt was not my cup of tea ever. You could replace Carly Simon in my comment with David Bowie. Beginning with the horrid Let's Dance album. Best song after the '70's was his one-off with Maria Schneider, Sue (Or In A Season Of Crime.) I said before on the forum that I would have loved Richard working with Bowie. In hindsight, Bowie should have bowed out with Heathen.
Randy M
Well-Known Member
Regarding my thought of Richard and Bowie: Bowie had an interest in jazz. Maria Schneider had the music education & jazz background to pull something great out of Bowie. I think it's been mentioned that Richard was interested in jazz and some of us thought Karen could have gone in that direction if.... I could be wrong.
Fair enough. I asked because your criticism of Carly from Torch onward could also apply to Linda (flirtation with New Wave, then to the Standards albums with Nelson Riddle, on to Canciones De Mi Padre, collaborations with Emmylou Harris and Dolly Parton , back to straightforward pop, etc.).
I mean, honestly---the times were changing. Artists of that era had to change to stay relevant and, certainly in Linda's case and I'd argue also in Carly's, had earned the ability to pursue their interests as artists.
And clearly, that's your opinion. Let's Dance was a top five album (his first top five---for that matter, his first top ten, in seven years), Platinum (his first in ten years), and spawned three hit singles.
Randy M
Well-Known Member
Carly's Come Upstairs was an attempt at new wave except "Jesse" a woman who doesn't want anyone to know about her sneaking around with a bad boy, so we bring in a chorus of children singing la, la's (Sing?), Spoiled Girl, more new wave, mindless club singles "Why" "Kissing With Confidence" "My New Boyfriend". But there are some nice singles after 1979 and her 1989 Academy Award.
My distaste for anything in the '80's is obvious except for Made In America. Also Jackson Browne despite his "Disco Apocalypse." (I like that one, possibly recorded during the 1979 sessions).
Let's Dance was the first Bowie album after he waited out his contract. Bowie forums dislike it despite the chart numbers. We agree that it could be whittled down to a nice EP if you take 4 minutes off the title track. Same with the repetitive Modern Love. Cat People? This was a ham-fisted re-make from the soundtrack version - almost unrecognizable. "Shake It"? Side 1 is all the hits plus a neglected 4th track.
My tinnitus is acting up just thinking about the '80's.
Personally I liked side 2 of Now and Then more than side 1. Side 1 has "Sing," which probably wore itself out faster than any other big C's single (except "Please Mr. Postman" which I never liked) for me; and the high point of it is "This Masquerade," which I love. "Jambalaya" is pretty forgettable, "Heather" is a pretty pointless instrumental. "I Can't Make Music" is a nice album cut, but it's no "Road Ode," you know? So there's two keepers out of five.
Side 2 of course has the amazing "Yesterday Once More" which is always in my top 5 favorite Carpenters tunes. The oldies medley is a mixed bag, sure, but I like more of it than I don't like. I even like the Tony Peluso bits. "One Fine Day" is my favorite song of the medley; that tune alone is worth the price of admission. And I love the reprise of YOM for the finale. Again, it's unique, adventurous, unusual. Strange soundscapes on a Carpenters record, who expected that? They could have stretched that finale out to three minutes in concert and given Richard a little piano showcase there.
One of the many, MANY things the Carpenters camp could do is, they could make that oldies medley available as a download without the DJ segments. Add that to the long list of other things they could offer on a comprehensive website.
The comment above about Richard's vocals, while not as fine as Karen's, adding variety and spice to the albums is spot on. The first five albums seem like "group" records; after that, the group basically becomes "Karen Carpenter (featuring Richard Carpenter)." To be fair, there were probably voices within the A&M camp that encouraged this.
newvillefan
I Know My First Name Is Stephen
Speaking of sexy and weird, how about this? Later covered by Agnetha Faltskog on her debut English language album ‘Wrap Your Arms Around Me’ in 1983. I actually like this version better!
Mark-T
Well-Known Member
I’m in hearty agreement but with one exception. I find « Our Day Will Come » is the most compelling oldies cut. It showcases everything I love about both Karen AND Richard as artists. 50:years in and I still can’t get enough of it.
JohnFB
She was born to belong to the lines of a song...
Agree - but it should have been recorded as a full-blown, stand-alone song, with verse repeats & an extended piano solo by Richard in the middle section...
Mark-T
Well-Known Member
I think its Harry that created something just like that.
Nope. I did a longer version of "Johnny Angel".
Randy M
Well-Known Member
I have all of them ready to go as stand alone songs in a Zip file - Winrar. I gave Da Doo Ron Ron an intro. I finished my oldies CD yesterday.
STEVE@ENGLAND
Member
Well said, newvillefan ...
I would gladly sacrifice the albums A Kind of Hush and Made in America (I, sometimes,
pretend they don't even exist) ... although I have a soft spot for Passage and Christmas
Portrait.
It's a pity Karen didn't pursue a fully-fledged solo career after the release of Christmas
Portrait - as by the time of recording Made in America, Richard had lost, I feel, his knack
of 'finding'/co-writing great songs. Don't get me wrong, most of the songs on Made
in America are good ... but, that's the problem. They were merely good - not great.
Can anyone, on this forum, honestly say, that anything (apart from, maybe, I Believe
You) from the Made in America sessions is on par with (off the top of my head):
... We've only just Begun, For all we Know, A Song for You, Goodbye to Love, Road
Ode, Only Yesterday, Solitaire ...?
Geographer
Well-Known Member
I actually quite like Made in America and, funny enough, I think I Believe You is one of the worst songs on the album. But I'd say Touch Me When We're Dancing, When It's Gone, and Strength of A Woman are all "great." I even like Back In My Life Again a great deal!
JohnFB
She was born to belong to the lines of a song...
I posted an extended version of OUR DAY WILL COME that I found on YT - its in the JOHNNY ANGEL thread (along with Harry's excellent extended version of JOHNNY ANGEL).
newvillefan
I Know My First Name Is Stephen
She tried, but was prevented from doing so by A&M as a result of their refusal to release it. I often wish she’d called their bluff and told them she’d take the album elsewhere. It has been done - Freddie Mercury was under contract to EMI with Queen but defected to CBS for his solo album ‘Mr Bad Guy’ (and got a considerably higher advance than Queen ever did as a result). It would have at least covered her $400,000 loss if she had released it on another label. Loyalty to Herb, Richard and Jerry meant she paid a high price.
Last edited:
STEVE@ENGLAND
Member
Yes, I heard that it cost Karen $ 400,000+ (of her own money) to fund the solo album ...
And, no, I don't believe a single word about it NOT having any "hits" on it (Seriously???)
This rejection would have dented anyone's confidence (Would Karen have attempted
recording a second solo album - given the rejection of the 'first'? I doubt it.)
As for Mercury's Mr. Bad Guy album ... I've never liked the album nor his 'singing' on it
(or, should I say, over-singing.)
I think I read somewhere that he started to smoke more in order to develop a more
'throaty' voice!
I like Queen's early albums, though.
The one with the closest parallels in timing and position is Peter Cetera buying out his contract with Columbia after they refused to release his first solo album "Peter Cetera" (utimately releasing on Warner Bros in 1981). Supposedly, Columbia was worried a successful solo Cetera would lead to the end of Chicago. The first solo effort wasn't successful, but his second solo led to #1 gargantuan hit "Glory of Love." That he had a second chance at a solo (we can throw Richard in the mix here, too) despite the first tanking, is an example of how unfairly Karen was treated with regard to her first solo effort and held to a higher standard that it had to have a "hit" on it in order to be released. No consideration for a second solo album for her. A shame that Peter and Karen didn't get together and compare notes on their solo album issues at the time they recorded Making Love in the Afternoon.
STEVE@ENGLAND
Member
I like Touch me When We're Dancing & When it's Gone ... but the three songs I've got a
problem with are:
Strength of a Woman Sounds too much like Karen/Richard were copying the Bee
Gees;
Back in my Life Again The melody's fine - but the attempt to sound 'modern' is desperate.
And don't get me started on Karen's weak vocals - which is
something I thought I'd never say. On this song, she makes
even George Harrison's vocals (on While my Guitar gently
Weeps) sound strong;
Beechwood 4-5789 An atrocious choice of song/video: the final 'nail in the coffin' for
(the) Carpenters recording career. There could be no coming
back from this.
Strangely enough, I'm warming to Because We are in Love (The Wedding Song). The
song-title puts me off, though. Far too sappy!!! Should have simply been called
The Wedding Song.
JohnFB
She was born to belong to the lines of a song...
In reading back over this thread I'm impressed - but not surprised - at the number and nature of the "derailments" from the original topic of discussion (a couple of them by me) - it's fascinating how a tread can "evolve" - but, did we ever come to a definite answer to the question posed by vinylalbumcovers - what was it again - oh, yea, what if "Close to You" hadn't hit?
My vague recollection is that the general consensus was that there was no way in hell that CTY was not going to be a big hit. But if by some nasty act of the gods of music it tanked then WOJB was waiting in the wings, and there was definitely no way in hell a song that good wouldn't be a big hit...
Was this, in fact, the general consensus? Inquiring minds (and vinylalbumcovers) want to know.
My vague recollection is that the general consensus was that there was no way in hell that CTY was not going to be a big hit. But if by some nasty act of the gods of music it tanked then WOJB was waiting in the wings, and there was definitely no way in hell a song that good wouldn't be a big hit...
Was this, in fact, the general consensus? Inquiring minds (and vinylalbumcovers) want to know.
I think that's fair. A&M was never gonna say "Nope, two strikes you're out" with WOJB already recorded and ready to go, especially since CTY was Herb's idea. WOJB would have been their first hit, possibly pulling CTY back up the chart with it.
STEVE@ENGLAND
Member
I'm probably guilty, too, of derailing things a bit (It's a fair cop, guv!)
What if Close to You (and We've only Just Begun) flopped?
Would A & M have given Karen/Richard another chance?
I'd like to think so, but even Herb Alpert has admitted that their music wasn't something he had a
particularly strong affinity for. So, I think their recording career would have ended - if sales of the
Close to You album were poor (No doubt, Herb would then have had people 'bending his ear', yet
again, about 'releasing' Karen/Richard from their contract(s) ... and, perhaps, he'd have listened to
them.)
But saying that ... Imagine going down in history as the person that 'fired' Karen Carpenter ...
... Just recall the story of the poor record executive that turned down the Beatles (Doh!!!)
David A
Well-Known Member
Unless you have me blocked
I made this exact same point earlier in this thread - there was no way CTY AND WOJB would have bombed, that's literally inconceivable. And as @kprather also repeated, it would almost certainly have caused CTY to get another look (and bump in sales and playlist time on radio).Whining 'cause my post wasn't read - KIDDING
Similar discussions
