Carpenters connection in new HBO series "Vinyl"

[Joeyesterday]

I don't know much about this, but there is a new series on HBO called Vinyl about the record industry in the 70's. It starts tonight with the second episode titled "Yesterday Once More". One reviewer mentions ... "Karen Carpenter appears to the character Devon in her car and singing Yesterday Once More in fact, it’s an emotional highlight of episode two." Sounds interesting. Anyone else know anything about the series?

 

[theninjarabbit]

I don't know anything about this series -- in fact this is the first I'm hearing of it, and I don't think we have HBO -- but for some reason I got a smile reading that "Karen" is in it. She, and the Carpenters, seem to finally be getting the recognition, the praise they deserve. They were a very important act in the seventies and it's nice to see they haven't been forgotten entirely. I don't think the critics can stand in their way for much longer.

 

[Toolman]

I'd heard of the series but hadn't paid much attention until now. Apparently it's actually Aimee Mann covering "Yesterday Once More," although they do have an actress playing Karen who appears in a station wagon before one of the lead female characters (somehow figuring into that character's driving away from a diner and leaving her kids behind...) It's set in 1973 and features a number of actors portraying musicians of the time. Unfortunately, I don't get HBO.

 

[Chris Mills]

Sky Atlantic in the UK will be showing Vinyl (S1 ep2 Yesterday Once More) on Mon 22 Feb @ 21:00

 

[Chris Mills]

Just went on HBO website which states episode 2 is titled 'Yesterday Once Again' and not 'Yesterday Once More' as quoted from the Sky TV listings. It would be really cool if the title was YOM, but I think Sky have probably got it wrong.

 

[KJKennedy]

Looking forward to seeing the clip of 'Karen' riding in the car, hoping they were able to find a good double.

 

[Nicko]

I watched the 1st episode on Monday directed by Martin Scorcese and Mick Jagger is also involved. It revolves around the Rock n roll in NYC in early 1970s, and record label called American century.
Portrayed in this are Robert Plant and Led Zeppelin and New York Dolls are in there too
There's lot of sex, drugs and rock n roll, I enjoyed it so far I d recommend it

 

[Nicko]

Btw it's a great soundtrack too even heard the British group 'Slade' and the hit " moma were all crazy now"

 

[Chris Mills]

Don't watch Vinyl if you're a Donny Osmond fan, during the two hour pilot show, he gets slated several times!

 

[KJKennedy]

You all might know that Aimee Mann does the cover of 'Yesterday Once More' that's used in the sequence in this episode, but the actress they hired to 'play Karen' riding in the car is Natalie Prass, an indie recording artist. Her own music isn't used but she's good - nothing like the C's, but well done modern indie pop kinda stuff. Worth checking out if you follow that kind of music.
I'm a new member, so I'm not sure how to upload a photo here, but you can search on google images to see what she looks like. She's pretty cute.

 

[Harry]

Natalie Prass

Harry

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

I don't get HBO so I won't be able to see this but they did pick someone who does sorta resemble her, her lines around her smile and her chin looked like Karen's. I can see how riding in a car with Karen's big sunglasses could work for this actress to pass as Karen.

 

[Toolman]

Regarding rights...does Richard control only the broadcast rights to the Carpenters' performance of "Yesterday Once More"? They've used Richard's composition, Richard's arrangement...just trying to wrap my head around why the line is drawn at using Karen's vocal, when they're even using her persona in the scene.

 

[Harry]

I think that Richard, after being treated so badly by the pop press, has a negative reaction to anything that he feels will cheapen whatever image Carpenters has. With no control over how a movie director will use their music, he'd just rather that they didn't. I'm still shocked that he allowed the usage of a video and song in that awful DARK SHADOWS movie, so perhaps after that experience, he's a bit gun-shy.

We know that he's not allowed Carpenters songs on any of the many cheap compilations that have been issued over the years.

 

[GaryAlan]

Well, I've not seen the Dark Shadows Movie, though I have seen the Carpenters segment of the movie.
My nieces and nephews immediately endeared themselves to the Carpenters due to that segment---it did strike a chord.
Getty Images has a photo of Richard Carpenter at the Premiere Showing of the Movie.
The Producers reportedly paid 500,000 dollars for the use of Carpenter's Top Of The World segment,
and, Richard Carpenter stated that it helped pay for the refurbished Westlake School Auditorium.
"The gift that keeps on giving" were his words regarding how the money was put to good use.
Thus, the Movie may have been awful, however the pay-off for use of Carpenters video/song in the movie
reaped rewards.
Sadly, it was choices made during the actual Carpenters' career which soiled their image in the mind
of the public, not ---for the most part---
due to anything (or, much of anything) which has come afterward.
Let's face it, the 1989 TV Movie was no piece of art, either ! Yet, it contained Carpenters songs galore,
and huge sales increases as a result of an awful movie ! But, again, it got stellar ratings and fairly good reviews !
(Then again, we know how Richard Carpenter's thoughts changed on that Movie choice, too.)
I say, let the Music do the "talking".....keep those "image" considerations in the background.(IMHO)
The "Vinyl" TV show had quite a number of news outlets picking up on the "Yesterday Once More", in a positive way.
'Vinyl' Continues to Climb the Charts (TV RECAP) - Glide Magazine »

So, one can never tell.
Richard Carpenter does have a fine line to walk, unfortunately.

 

[newvillefan]

Let's face it, the 1989 TV Movie was no piece of art, either ! Yet, it contained Carpenters songs galore,
and huge sales increases as a result of an awful movie ! But, again, it got stellar ratings and fairly good reviews !
(Then again, we know how Richard Carpenter's thoughts changed on that Movie choice, too.)

I know us die-hards (and Richard) know that the TV movie wasn't entirely true to their lives but everyone I know, family and friends, who have seen it absolutely loved it.

To be honest I'm not actually sure what he so intensely dislikes about it to summarise it by saying "the road to hell is paved with good intentions". Was it the endless script rewrites? Or the 'glossing over' of some of the facts (when actually it portrayed his mother is a better light than she apparently really was)? Or was it those awful wigs?

 

[GaryAlan]

For the record, though: I did not like the CBS TV Movie.
Loved the songs, loved the attention it was giving Carpenters' music.
The scene with the Made In America Posters plastered on the walls, during a scene from the 1970's,
(predating the existence of the album and poster !) bothered me greatly at viewing !
And, as is well-known, This Masquerade--while it 'worked' for the scene, is in no sense
autobiographical. (The Haynes Movie used the same song for the same scene !).
(Sherwin Bash was represented in the movie, was Weintraub? I don't recall.)
The "Now"...Karen in the recording studio scene...marketing ploy to sell records ?
Oh, I could continue with the anti-temporal scenes,but---I won't.
When Richard Carpenter used air-quotes in an interview to say "That's Hollywood",
well, that said everything.
And, to his credit, the Renfro Clinic spot at the end and tie-in for seeking help....that I liked !
By the way, this week is Eating Disorders Awareness Week.

 

[JBee]

Short piece on Natalie Prass's turn as Karen on Vinyl (with photos): Natalie Prass played Karen Carpenter on last night's episode of Vinyl »

As far as "The Karen Carpenter Story" goes. Is it a great work of art? No. Is historically accurate? Meh. Do the wigs Cynthia Gibb wears have any resemblance to Karen's various hairstyles? No. Did it make an impact despite this? YES.

I knew all this already the first time I watched it in its entirety (several years ago) but growing up all I knew of Karen Carpenter was that she sang Christmas music and she died of anorexia (and not in that order). The TV movie really introduced me to KC and the Carpenters music. It was a gateway which I used to discover more. I'm sure if there is ever a movie made of "Little Girl Blue" (though I doubt it would really work without Richard's authorizing of KC's actual voice) or if Richard ever let or co-wrote a Broadway version of the Carpenters' story (ala Jersey Boys) with the original tunes and arrangements, we would see another renaissance in interest in the Carpenters.

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

I have always like Cynthia Gibb as an actress so although she didn't really look much like Karen, I did enjoy what Cynthia brought to the movie. The original music, location, clothing and Richard's participation with even a cameo in the background all make for pluses in my book. The story may be more Hollywood than factual but I don't dislike it because of that. My hopes were that it brought more awareness to this devastating illness to current day.

 

[tomswift2002]

Regarding rights...does Richard control only the broadcast rights to the Carpenters' performance of "Yesterday Once More"? They've used Richard's composition, Richard's arrangement...just trying to wrap my head around why the line is drawn at using Karen's vocal, when they're even using her persona in the scene.

I haven't seen the episode, but there are a ton of different rights that TV producers have to secure for the use of a certain song in a TV Show or movie. First there's the mechanical and synchronization rights to the song which allow for a song to be recorded and then synced to a video. These rights are usually controlled by ASCAP or BMI, or a combination of them, and in some cases the rights might be partially owned by a foreign agency, if not then the publisher directly. Plus, unless the producers have an agreement with the artists where the producer owns the Master recording of the song, then they need to acquire a seperate Master License from the company that owns the Master recording (in the Carpenters case, Universal Music). In some cases the mechanical and synchronization rights are cheap, but then the Master rights are priced so high to the point where it's better to create a sound-alike that's owned by the producers, or another musical group that agrees to what the producers offer for a Master license for their recording. Or has been seen with the TV-On-DVD movement, sometimes an artist will have allowed their song to be used for broadcast-only, but either due to high prices or the artist not wanting the song released, the track will be replaced by a recording by a different artist or a totally different song. Maybe Richard would agree to the broadcast, but not to home video/Internet rights, since I would assume the producers of Vinyl would be wanting to release the series on DVD/Blu-Ray or iTunes later, so it would make sense for them to go after the broadcast, home video and digital Master rights all in one package, but if the artist or label didn't want to playball on one or two rights, then...

 

[motownboy]

I am halfway through the first episode and I had to stop... The writing is so corny and trite. I had a moment similar to one when I first saw the movie "Mommie Dearest" and started to laugh out loud because what was supposed to be dramatic and intense came out campy and humorous. That happened in the scene where all the A&R people are going through their demos and Bobby Cannavale's character says (paraphrased) " out on the street we're not known as "American Century Records"... They're calling us "American Cemetery Records." The lines were delivered by Cannavale like a punch line in a sitcom.

Now that I know that Karen is portrayed in episode two, I will continue to watch. However, what I have seen so far is, to me, corny and trite and gratuitous, just like the O. J. Simpson mini-series on Showtime. Maybe the writing and acting will improve as the episodes go on.

 

[KJKennedy]

I am halfway through the first episode and I had to stop... The writing is so corny and trite. I had a moment similar to one when I first saw the movie "Mommie Dearest" and started to laugh out loud because what was supposed to be dramatic and intense came out campy and humorous. That happened in the scene where all the A&R people are going through their demos and Bobby Cannavale's character says (paraphrased) " out on the street we're not known as "American Century Records"... They're calling us "American Cemetery Records." The lines were delivered by Cannavale like a punch line in a sitcom.

Now that I know that Karen is portrayed in episode two, I will continue to watch. However, what I have seen so far is, to me, corny and trite and gratuitous, just like the O. J. Simpson mini-series on Showtime. Maybe the writing and acting will improve as the episodes go on.

Sounds like we have similar tolerances for self parody Mr. Motownboy! For all of us who don't have HBO please check in and let us know how the scene with KC played out - I usually expect the worst, but Natalie Prass is pretty cool in her own way, so I'm hoping for the best!

 

[Actorman]

(Sherwin Bash was represented in the movie, was Weintraub? I don't recall.)

Weintraub is not referred to by name, but his hiring is alluded to in the scene where Richard tells Karen (in the hospital) that Sherwin was no longer their manager and Karen gets upset because she wasn't consulted on the decision. "I'm half of this team, Richard!"

 

[Chris Mills]

Out of all the great songs the Carpenters recorded and promoted with a video, Yesterday Once More was the one that got away. Vinyl came up with a great idea of Karen being driven around singing to YOM. This would have been a very clever format for a video back in 1973 when YOM was released...........Richard driving Karen in the same car that appeared on the cover of Now & Then..........would have been perfect.

Enjoyed the way Vinyl incorporated YOM into the story, nicely done.

 

[Chris Mills]

A photo from Vinyl of Natalie Prass as Karen Carpenter singing Yesterday Once More while being driven in a car.