48 Years Ago, Carpenters at Chevron Hotel, Sydney Australia

[Carpe diem]

About a week late, but in recognition of this fantastic concert filmed in magnificent black & white. Have you ever seen Richard more animated?! The duo was riding the crest, the world was their oyster. And one added acknowledgement of the kind of people (Richard & Karen) we were dealing with here, bringing their mentor, Frank Pooler, on the road with them and giving him special recognition. Some of Karen's best live vocals were at this concert. Enjoy!

 

[Another Son]

It's great that you thought to recognise the anniversary of Carpenters' trip to Australia and their TV broadcast, Carpe Diem. Fantastic that you've celebrated this televised concert. I believe it was filmed in Melbourne, though, not Sydney. It was broadcast on Channel 7 there.

As you know, the concert was originally aired in 1972. A short snippet from the concert, (of the song, 'Close to You'), was also shown on Channel 7's national televised celebration of the channel's 50th anniversary, in 2006.

Here's a little more information about Carpenters' 1972 tour of Australia.

They were in Australia for a little over three weeks, in May, 1972.

They flew exclusively Ansett, (a now defunct Australian airline).

Newsletter #16, August 1972, from Carpenters' Fan Club, gave details of the Australian tour. Some incidents recounted include:-


Gift-laden fans greeted them at Sydney airport.

Karen and Richard spent time sight-seeing.

They visited Koala Bear Farm, (as they called it in the newsletter), where Karen fell in love with these threatened, eucalyptus-leaf-munching marsupials.


Karen brought home a three-foot-tall stuffed koala, which she called Sir Bear of Sydney.

A friend took Karen and Richard yachting in Bay of Sydney. (I actually don't think there's such a place. They might have meant Sydney Harbour).

There was plenty of time for shopping in Sydney.


Someone posing as Karen called TV stations, giving misinformation about show tapings. The 'Today' show was scheduled to be taped at their hotel suite but the imposter told the TV station that K & R had decided to come to the station instead and sent a taxi to pick them up.

Karen and Richard mentioned that there was no FM radio, no colour TV and that roads were bad.

When they first arrived and went through customs inspections, one of the consoles in the group's equipment baggage was destroyed when officers searched for drugs.

The tour was completely sold out.

Other related snippets:-

'Great Hits of The Carpenters' was released to coincide with the tour. It entered the charts about a week into the tour, on 15th of May. It eventually peaked at Number 3 on the Kent Music Report and stayed on the charts for 40 weeks. The tracks on this album were Close to You, Help, For All We Know, Baby It's You, I'll Never Fall in Love Again, Superstar, Rainy Days and Mondays, Ticket to Ride, Mr. Guder, Eve, Bacharach - David Medley and We've Only Just Begun.

'Great Hits of The Carpenters' became the sixteenth-biggest album on the Australian charts for the year of 1972.

'Hurting Each Other' entered the Australian Top 100 about three weeks into the tour, eventually reaching Number 4 on the national charts and staying on the Top 100 for 27 weeks.

Before the tour, Carpenters had five charting singles - Close to You, (Number 1 with 31 weeks on the national charts), We've Only Just Begun, (No. 6), For All We Know, (No. 10), Rainy Days & Mondays, (No 35) and Superstar, (No. 35).

'Close to You' was the second most successful single on the Australian charts for the year of 1970.

Local, Colleen Hewett, beat Carpenters to the airwaves by five months with her version of 'Superstar' and had the slightly bigger hit with the song.

Close to You, Ticket To Ride and Carpenters, as albums, had all peaked between Number 15 and 20 on the national albums charts. The next two albums after the tour peaked in the Top 10 - 'A Song For You' at Number 6 and 'Now and Then' at Number 3.

Three EPs were released in Australia - 'Close to You', (including Close to You, All I Can Do, Ticket To Ride and Don't Be Afraid), 'We've Only Just Begun', (We've Only Just Begun, Turn Away, All of My Life, Eve) and 'For All We Know', (For All We Know, Baby It's You, Rainy Days and Mondays, Bless the Beasts and The Children).

In an interview in December, 1970, with Australian music paper, 'Go-Set', Richard had said that he and Karen wanted to visit Australia, partly because they had relatives in Sydney.

In 1970, 'Go-Set' had printed a large colour poster of Carpenters, from the 'Offering' era.

An interview, filmed during Carpenters' tour of Australia, can be seen, in part, on Youtube.

While in Australia, Karen and Richard also recorded at least one radio station interview. One of these was re-played at the time of Karen's death.

The television show, 'Hit Scene', had screened film clips of songs such as 'Close to You' and 'Love is Surrender', as well as televising reviews of Carpenters' albums, in the years before the tour.

Karen met Olivia Newton-John somewhere around 1971, at Annabel's, a private club with starlit dance floor, in London. As many know, the two were good friends.

A planned 1977 tour of Australia was cancelled sometime into organisation. Venues were booked, advertising was out and tickets may even have been on sale.

 

[Sabar]

The Bacharach-David Medley from this concert is may favorite video/film of Karen. It really showcases her talent.

 

[tomswift2002]

Richard’s speech about Karen being his sister and not his wife is also pretty funny.

 

[Sabar]

Richard’s speech about Karen being his sister and not his wife is also pretty funny.

Oh, YUCK!

 

[Carpe diem]

The Bacharach-David Medley from this concert is may favorite video/film of Karen. It really showcases her talent.

That medley was outstanding! Make It Easy On Yourself and Any Day Now sends shivers down my spine...

Didn't you get the impression from this concert that they were completely enjoying what they were doing, before the music biz eventually wore them down? Especially Richard; he is funny, charming, and seems completely relaxed. What the hell happened?!!

 

[Sabar]

That medley was outstanding! Make It Easy On Yourself and Any Day Now sends shivers down my spine...

Didn't you get the impression from this concert that they were completely enjoying what they were doing, before the music biz eventually wore them down? Especially Richard; he is funny, charming, and seems completely relaxed. What the hell happened?!!

Yes, this is when it was still exciting. But like you said, the business (touring, really) wore them down. As Richard put it in one of the documentaries, there came a point when the "The bloom was off the rose." What's especially sad is that it was unnecessary. All parties concerned could have made good money under a deal where the Carpenters put out a record every two years, and they toured a lot less. But hindsight is 20/20.

 

[newvillefan]

Didn't you get the impression from this concert that they were completely enjoying what they were doing, before the music biz eventually wore them down? Especially Richard; he is funny, charming, and seems completely relaxed. What the hell happened?!!

It’s sad to see how he went from this to a more tense, serious and wooden persona by the time fo their performance at the New London Theatre. He did become much more serious as he got older but the stresses of his multi-faceted role within the unit must also have taken their toll.

 

[John Adam]

About a week late, but in recognition of this fantastic concert filmed in magnificent black & white. Have you ever seen Richard more animated?! The duo was riding the crest, the world was their oyster. And one added acknowledgement of the kind of people (Richard & Karen) we were dealing with here, bringing their mentor, Frank Pooler, on the road with them and giving him special recognition. Some of Karen's best live vocals were at this concert. Enjoy!

This performance captures them both relaxed and not just going through the motions (1976.)
The band, Richard and Karen vocally are spot on that night!

I always thought the Carpenters are much more enjoyable to listen to than watch. But I have to say it's fun watching Karen play the drums while singing. It's the perfect way to showcase both her talents in a live setting.

 

[Carpe diem]

This performance captures them both relaxed and not just going through the motions (1976.)
The band, Richard and Karen vocally are spot on that night!

I always thought the Carpenters are much more enjoyable to listen to than watch. But I have to say it's fun watching Karen play the drums while singing. It's the perfect way to showcase both her talents in a live setting.

I agree John, nice observation! I'm sure everyone has seen this, but what an amazing show of drum skills and singing from 20 yr old Karen on this special edition of the Ed Sullivan Show at Walter Reed Medical Center. A performance put on for wounded/traumatized Vietnam war vets. Her skills are absolutely amazing. And Richard does a nice little keyboard solo during the Bacharach Medley (Thanks to Revolver TV for this):