Public Broadcasting Exclusive: Carpenters The Complete Singles Release

You know, you have to wonder why Richard and A&M never let it be mentioned about how well the Carpenters did on the Adult Contemporary charts. I mean both Richard's "Something In Your Eyes" and Karen's "If I Had You" we're Top 20 A/C hits. Sure they weren't mainstream, but they did chart. You know there are some acts out there, like Alan Jackson, Jason Blaine, who have never or rarely hit the Hot 100 or 200, but the still hit high on the Country charts. You've got to wonder, if Karen had lived, would the Carpenters have still been getting hits in the 90's and 2000's, although not on the mainstream chart, but on the Adult Contemporary chart?

In the recent Tenessean interview, John Bettis mentioned that at a certain point in the early seventies, the Carpenters "had six number one hits". He could only have been referring to the A/C chart because we all know they didn't have six number ones on the Billboard chart.
 
In the recent Tenessean interview, John Bettis mentioned that at a certain point in the early seventies, the Carpenters "had six number one hits". He could only have been referring to the A/C chart because we all know they didn't have six number ones on the Billboard chart.
Maybe it was Record World or CashBox or a combined effort of both of them, and not necessarily Billboard, or perhaps Nashville charts?
 
Maybe it was Record World or CashBox or a combined effort of both of them, and not necessarily Billboard, or perhaps Nashville charts?

I think this is probably it. They say "it's not number one until it's number one in Billboard," but there was a time when there were several other national charts that all mattered. If I were an artist and hit number one in ANY of them, I would certainly count it.

They had three number ones in Billboard: "Close to You," "Top of the World" and "Please Mr. Postman." They also had two additional number ones in Cash Box: "We've Only Just Begun" and "Yesterday Once More" (which were also both Canadian #1s). So, that makes a total of five.

Radio & Records
and Record World also published charts. There could have been others as well. I don't know if they had any other singles go to number one in any of those publications, but it is entirely possible. "Rainy Days and Mondays," "Superstar" and "Hurting Each Other" were all Billboard #2s, so any of them could easily have hit #1 on another chart.

Interestingly, "Calling Occupants..." was a #1 in Ireland, so that would make 6 confirmed number ones globally (but that's not "early seventies" in reference to the Bettis quote).
 
Also, "hits" doesn't necessarily have to refer to singles. Close to You (the album) was # 1 in Canada. Now & Then was #1 in Japan. Horizon was #1 in both Japan and the UK. The Singles: 1969 - 1973 was #1 in both the US and the UK. Bettis could have been speaking more generally.
 
I would also add that, from what I've heard, "payola" was pretty common back then in determining who made the top portions of the charts. And given the Carps negative image in the rock world, I can imagine they ruled more often by actual sales although the charts might say otherwise.
 
I think that negative image was mostly perpetuated in the press. I think stores liked the Carpenters just fine, as any act that moves a lot of product would be, the same way how any movie that puts a lot of butts in the seats is "great" to somebody (like myself) in the theater business.
 
Strangely enough, I can't help but believe that the "image" took hold once the song
"Close To You"
attained a certain status in the public's mind.
The Lyric to the song--no matter how great that song is--
notches it down a tad (e.g., ....angels got together...sprinkled moon dust....).
So, once the Single and the Album of that name sold many millions, and, sold very quickly, the image
was cemented for all time.(And, this without even thinking about the sleeve photo of that album)
Carpenters' product sold well according to a friend who managed a "record store" (from 1975-1980's),
as this store had its bins bursting with Voice of the Heart-- with a large sticker affixed reading "top seller".
Those 1976-1978 Television Shows (not,however, Music,Music,Music) also did much image damage--in my estimation.
(Speaking of 1976, I do not believe the People Magazine Cover article, that year, did them any favors.)
 
Strangely enough, I can't help but believe that the "image" took hold once the song
"Close To You"
attained a certain status in the public's mind.
The Lyric to the song--no matter how great that song is--
notches it down a tad (e.g., ....angels got together...sprinkled moon dust....).
So, once the Single and the Album of that name sold many millions, and, sold very quickly, the image
was cemented for all time.(And, this without even thinking about the sleeve photo of that album)
Carpenters' product sold well according to a friend who managed a "record store" (from 1975-1980's),
as this store had its bins bursting with Voice of the Heart-- with a large sticker affixed reading "top seller".
Those 1976-1978 Television Shows (not,however, Music,Music,Music) also did much image damage--in my estimation.
(Speaking of 1976, I do not believe the People Magazine Cover article, that year, did them any favors.)

Gary,

I also managed a record store in that time frame and Carpenters always sold well. As a matter of fact, customers would return later and purchase the cassette or 8-Track as well. I do agree the specials except the Christmas specials and Music...did do some damage.
I would also like to add the Singles 1969-1973 was always a top seller, no matter what.
 
The specials, all of them, had great musical numbers. The first with John Denver and the last with Ella are my favorites with the Christmas specials next. I wish all the musical numbers were all on DVD so I could watch them in pure quality!
 
And I see that, according to Wikipedia, in Japan the 1974 Best Of Collection "Golden Prize Volume 2" hit #1 over there, and it was released in April of 74, so that could count for "early seventies".

But Wikipedia also lists "Close To You, "We've Only Just Begun", "For All We Know" "Rainy Days & Monday's", "Superstar" and "Hurting Each Other" all hitting Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart's #1 spot between 1970 & 1972. Going further, "Sing", "Yesterday Once More" (song), "I Won't Last A Day Without You", "Please Mr. Postman", "Only Yesterday", "Solitaire", "There's A Kind Of Hush", "I Need To Be In Love", and "Touch Me When We're Dancing" all hit #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart. And those listings correspond to the liner notes for The Complete Singles box set.

I think this is probably it. They say "it's not number one until it's number one in Billboard," but there was a time when there were several other national charts that all mattered. If I were an artist and hit number one in ANY of them, I would certainly count it.

They had three number ones in Billboard: "Close to You," "Top of the World" and "Please Mr. Postman." They also had two additional number ones in Cash Box: "We've Only Just Begun" and "Yesterday Once More" (which were also both Canadian #1s). So, that makes a total of five.

Radio & Records
and Record World also published charts. There could have been others as well. I don't know if they had any other singles go to number one in any of those publications, but it is entirely possible. "Rainy Days and Mondays," "Superstar" and "Hurting Each Other" were all Billboard #2s, so any of them could easily have hit #1 on another chart.

Interestingly, "Calling Occupants..." was a #1 in Ireland, so that would make 6 confirmed number ones globally (but that's not "early seventies" in reference to the Bettis quote).
 
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I don't know. I just saw on E-Bay that Carpenters - The Complete Singles just sold for $77.51 and that the new version of the DVD Close To You - Remembering The Carpenters is currently holding steady with a $14.99 bid.
I was just wondering: Wouldn't it be in the best interest to get these titles publicly available once the PBS promotion has concluded.
For a fact, I know several people who would love to own these treasures, but they simply can't afford to dish out the money being requested by PBS.
I understand the cause, and I graciously donated, but I'M NOT EVERYONE, and I feel these titles should be made available to everyone: affordably.
 
Strangely enough, I can't help but believe that the "image" took hold once the song
"Close To You"
attained a certain status in the public's mind.
The Lyric to the song--no matter how great that song is--
notches it down a tad (e.g., ....angels got together...sprinkled moon dust....).
So, once the Single and the Album of that name sold many millions, and, sold very quickly, the image
was cemented for all time.(And, this without even thinking about the sleeve photo of that album)
Carpenters' product sold well according to a friend who managed a "record store" (from 1975-1980's),
as this store had its bins bursting with Voice of the Heart-- with a large sticker affixed reading "top seller".
Those 1976-1978 Television Shows (not,however, Music,Music,Music) also did much image damage--in my estimation.
(Speaking of 1976, I do not believe the People Magazine Cover article, that year, did them any favors.)
It is telling, a bit, that Richard has admitted to resisting this song. Herb had to insist, as it were. Yet, it became a huge success. It must have muddled ideas of what would and could be a hit in Richard's mind. He has admitted since then to a bit of a blind spot when it comes to hits (liner notes in A Song For You). If only they'd not been so fixated on potential hits. They had many, by any measure, but most of my faves are album cuts, demos, and b -sides plus the odd live track. Oh well, no accounting for my taste. I'm an odd duck as the saying goes. Oy, and Merry Christmas Darling in May. Still so beautiful. Timeless, seasonless.
 
The monthly plan is what I chose. It's hard for me to put my hands on the funds required upfront, but monthly is easier.
 
It is telling, a bit, that Richard has admitted to resisting this song. Herb had to insist, as it were. Yet, it became a huge success. It must have muddled ideas of what would and could be a hit in Richard's mind.
I remember that about Richard resisting that song. He made it sound like they hated it and the first couple of goes at it they tanked it on purpose.
 
"Tanked it on purpose?" I never heard that explanation before.

There are a couple of stories about how they decided to record "CTY" but there was at least one article "back in the day" which said that the song was on a list of Bacharach tunes that Richard was going to arrange in a medley they were going to perform live. (Not the medley from the "tan" album, a different medley.) The song didn't fit into the medley but they recorded it later.

The more simpler, more recent tale is that Herb recorded "CTY" himself as a possible follow-up to "This Guy's In Love With You,' got bad feedback from his engineer on the result, shelved it, then gave it to Richard and "the rest is history."

So the actual real truth probably has roots in both of those stories.

this store had its bins bursting with Voice of the Heart-- with a large sticker affixed reading "top seller".

Well.... stickers such as that were usually applied at the store. Sometimes they were used to cover up an "out-of-date" price tag. They were also used to promote an item the store was trying to "push." The statement that the store's bins were bursting with that title suggests it WASN'T a top seller, which was certainly the case in this neck of the woods.
 
That's the impression I got. Maybe I put it too bluntly. He didn't say those words. I just got the feeling they weren't crazy about it, so didn't put much effort into the first tries. But Herb Alpert kept asking them to try again.

Like you said, there are a lot of stories out there and people remember things differently as time goes by.
 
Well I think the "Herb asking them to try again" part of it stems from the fact that Herb didn't like Karen's drumming on the song, and asked them to bring in Hal Blaine. So I think Herb had a feeling the song was good, it just needed the "right" kind of recording.

I've always wished they would release some of the original (with Karen drumming) recordings of that song -- would be interesting to hear what Herb heard and compare. But, listening to her drumming on other songs, it's probably fairly easy to guess what those tapes sounded like.
 
getting impatient with delivery time. hope it's worth the wait or it will sell with YESTERDAY ONCE MORE the British release, the sacd, and on.
 
This is really cheeky of me, but is anyone prepared to let me have a copy of the discs? I'm trying to get a copy, but being in the UK it's so hard to get one.
PLease PM me if it's possible. ( I will of course cover costs and more ..... )
I have the UK edition of Yesterday Once More from 1984 and will be happy to copy that.......
 
Just to let you know WPBS is re-airing the special right now. WPBS can be seen Eastern Ontario on Cogeco, and I'm pretty sure Rogers in Ottawa carries it along with Bell and Shaw on satellite.

So even if you don't live in those areas, you can get the set in Canada through WPBS, and when I got mine it was at par, so I would assume it would be the same now.
 
^^I'll be curious to see how much this set goes to the highest bidder with 3 more days left...so I'm assuming this sale is legal? since this set can only be purchased through PBS by donation for funds to go to support PBS. The seller must have purchased it from PBS and is reselling? I assume PBS would have already received it's donation from the first person who bought this (still sealed).
 
With WPBS, they are on the ad part, and the banner at the bottom of the screen says that this broadcast is part of their "Summer Sizzler Membership Drive", and, yes Christmas Portrait Special Edition is included in the offer. And WPBS has as part of their on screen banner "Canadian Funds At Par".
 
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