tomswift2002
Well-Known Member
Over the past week, I guess with the New Year, I’ve been listening to the Universal compilation album “20th Century Masters The Millenium Collection: The Best of 1980”. I’ve got the rest of 80’s CD’s in this set (they go by year, so 81, 82, 83, etc.) and the present the Top 11 to 14 hits of each year, or what Universal was able to license in 2010 when the CD’s were issued.
But with “1980”, it struck me how, 40 years ago, if the solo “Karen Carpenter” had been released, it might’ve had a good chance on the charts in the year 1980. It probably would’ve run it’s chart life by January 1981, but during 1980, I think it could’ve still been a hit record.
1980 opened with the Rupert Holmes’ “Escape (The Pina Colada Song) which was also the last #1 US hit in 1979, but then you had other disco hits hit the top of the charts in 1980, like Donna Summer’s “On The Radio” and Diana Ross’ “Upside Down”. (It’s funny, in the liner notes of the 1980 CD it mentions that the Iran/Iraq war began in 1980—and here we are 40 years later with Iran in a similar situation.) You also had Kool & The Gang’s “Ladies Night”, Lipps, Inc.’s “Funkytown”, as well as romantic ballads like Styx’s “Babe” and the Captain & Tennille’s “Do That To Me One More Time”.
As I was listening to the “1980” CD, it got me thinking about how Karen’s tracks like “Lovelines” and “My Body Keeps Changing My Mind” probably would’ve had a good chance at climbing the charts in 1980. I know that people say that Disco died in 1979, however, (and this is from someone who wouldn’t even be born until the middle of the 80’s decade) when you look at the charts for the year 1980, you find a wide variety of music styles. One of the last charting singles in December 1980 was Blondie’s “Rapture” which combined disco and rap!
So overall would Karen’s solo album and singles have had a chance of hitting the charts in the year 1980? We’ll never know because it was never issued then, however I think it might’ve had a very good chance. The album seems to exude that flux of music styles that were dominating to Pop Charts in 1980. “If I Had You” and “Make Believe It’s Your First Time” (which I still think to be a weak song, but with it being in the vein of “Do It To Me One More Time”) might’ve been chart hits, even if only minor ones.
40 years later and “Karen Carpenter” is such a lost potential album, and yet had it been released in 1980, or even a single like “My Body Keeps Changing My Mind” it might be remembered differently.
But with “1980”, it struck me how, 40 years ago, if the solo “Karen Carpenter” had been released, it might’ve had a good chance on the charts in the year 1980. It probably would’ve run it’s chart life by January 1981, but during 1980, I think it could’ve still been a hit record.
1980 opened with the Rupert Holmes’ “Escape (The Pina Colada Song) which was also the last #1 US hit in 1979, but then you had other disco hits hit the top of the charts in 1980, like Donna Summer’s “On The Radio” and Diana Ross’ “Upside Down”. (It’s funny, in the liner notes of the 1980 CD it mentions that the Iran/Iraq war began in 1980—and here we are 40 years later with Iran in a similar situation.) You also had Kool & The Gang’s “Ladies Night”, Lipps, Inc.’s “Funkytown”, as well as romantic ballads like Styx’s “Babe” and the Captain & Tennille’s “Do That To Me One More Time”.
As I was listening to the “1980” CD, it got me thinking about how Karen’s tracks like “Lovelines” and “My Body Keeps Changing My Mind” probably would’ve had a good chance at climbing the charts in 1980. I know that people say that Disco died in 1979, however, (and this is from someone who wouldn’t even be born until the middle of the 80’s decade) when you look at the charts for the year 1980, you find a wide variety of music styles. One of the last charting singles in December 1980 was Blondie’s “Rapture” which combined disco and rap!
So overall would Karen’s solo album and singles have had a chance of hitting the charts in the year 1980? We’ll never know because it was never issued then, however I think it might’ve had a very good chance. The album seems to exude that flux of music styles that were dominating to Pop Charts in 1980. “If I Had You” and “Make Believe It’s Your First Time” (which I still think to be a weak song, but with it being in the vein of “Do It To Me One More Time”) might’ve been chart hits, even if only minor ones.
40 years later and “Karen Carpenter” is such a lost potential album, and yet had it been released in 1980, or even a single like “My Body Keeps Changing My Mind” it might be remembered differently.