Anyone read this?

US Billboard lists 25 female-based songs in the Top 100 for the year. That's 25%, including the biggest of the year for Streisand.

This counts a few male/female duos, but does not include acts like The Stylistics, which radio counted as a female sound due to the falsetto vocals.
That was a bizarre point of view from radio. The Stylistics were very definitely male, last time I looked.

A coincidence - I was just listening to two Stylistics songs over and over when I read your post - ‘Stone In Love With You’ and ‘Stop, Look, Listen’ - but Johnny Mathis’ versions.

I remember that when I was ten, some of my very favourite artists were Carpenters, The Stylistics, The Sweet, Diana Ross, BJ Thomas, Maureen McGovern, The Temptations, The Bee Gees and Debbie Byrne. (That was before The Bee Gees’ awful falsettos came into play).

I was definitely an easy-listening kind of ten-year-old.
 
To this day, I wish that the long version of Santa was better known (or played) amongst the public at Christmastime,
as I consider it to be one of my all-time favorite recordings.
Total agreement here. I like that one better than "Merry Christmas Darling"
 
Since THE GRADUATE was filmed in August of 1967, and casting would have taken place months before that, I find it hard to believe that Karen was ever considered for the role of Elaine in the film. She would have been 17 years old and attempting to play a college student girlfriend to Dustin Hoffman's 30 year old portrayal of a college graduate. Katherine Ross, who was 10 years older than Karen, got the role.

Nevertheless, there is a vague similarity:

KarenGraduate.jpg
 
Since THE GRADUATE was filmed in August of 1967, and casting would have taken place months before that, I find it hard to believe that Karen was ever considered for the role of Elaine in the film. She would have been 17 years old and attempting to play a college student girlfriend to Dustin Hoffman's 30 year old portrayal of a college graduate. Katherine Ross, who was 10 years older than Karen, got the role.

Nevertheless, there is a vague similarity:

KarenGraduate.jpg
That's Anne Bancroft. Elaine was Katherine Ross. And I think the writer's factoid is definitely wrong. But I liked the rest of the tribute.
 
Since THE GRADUATE was filmed in August of 1967, and casting would have taken place months before that, I find it hard to believe that Karen was ever considered for the role of Elaine in the film. She would have been 17 years old and attempting to play a college student girlfriend to Dustin Hoffman's 30 year old portrayal of a college graduate. Katherine Ross, who was 10 years older than Karen, got the role.

Nevertheless, there is a vague similarity:

KarenGraduate.jpg
I hadn’t heard that Karen had anything to do with The Graduate - I only heard that she tried out for ‘True Grit’, with John Wayne.

With respect, I don’t see much similarity between the photo of Anne Bancroft or Katherine Ross and Karen - just the head-band. 😁
 
You may be correct. I have never come across this "fact" in anything that I've read about Karen and it surely would have been mentioned in some of the Carpenters/Karen biographies!
No doubt this is a mistake. Perhaps the writer is confused with the more truthful anecdote of John Wayne trying to get Karen in the role of "Mattie" in "True Grit" after being charmed by Karen's spunk and cuteness at "Your All American College Show" (which he was judging along with William Shatner and Zsa Zsa Gabor, what a panel that was!), The timing of the Graduate thing is all wrong; anyway if it were true many of us would know about it. Obviously, Karen didn't get the True Grit role, which was fortunate for all concerned. It would have ruined the "time line."
 
A post on my Australian Broadcasting Corporation news app this morning illustrates perfectly that infliction which curses so many and that had such an impact upon the image of Carpenters - the need to promote how cool we are by mentioning only the hippest of music artists as our favourites.

I've copied the news feed below, editing some paragraphs out. The writer is talking about home-recorded cassette tapes, (personal mixes), rather than commercially-pressed cassettes.

"A few years ago, I was moving house. Cleaning up, getting rid of the junk, (so I thought), I came upon a drawer full of cassettes.

That's right! The very audio cassettes that Lou Ottens - who passed away last week - helped to pioneer, back in the early '60s. It was a real treasure trove; Cream, Van Morrison and, of course, the Rolling Stones.

I thought, 'What to do with them?' Or, to (nearly) quote The Clash, "Should they stay, or should they go?"

....Picture this. I am in my first year out of school. We're heading down the coast and, as we make the turn into Bendalong, my mate, Geoff, pulls out his cassette player, with an entire album of The Grateful Dead. It doesn't end there, either. After a surf, he plays us a Jefferson Airplane album. Could it get any better than this?

For this combination of choice and mobility, we owe a great debt of thanks to Ottens.

....The thing is that, sometimes, you got more than you bargained for, by putting very different artists together. Sometimes it worked. Suddenly, Simon and Garfunkel got to meet The Byrds, or Love teamed up with The Velvet Underground.

Sometimes, it didn't work. I can remember going up the coast and listening to a mixed tape, back in 1977. For some reason, I had interspersed rock music with Charlie Parker. The impact on everyone in the car was like they'd been hit by a hammer. Every time Parker's horn set to work, there was a palpable sense of sadness that invaded the car. Its impact was so profound that Charlie was banned for the rest of the trip.

By the way, that drawer of cassettes that I found, just before moving... What happened to them? Well, I have to admit, they got turfed. Sad, really, but such was our premium on the space in the place that we were moving to. I still think about them. And, I have to admit, I did keep one:- Disraeli Gears, by Cream". End of article.

What, no Carpenters? No Ella Fitzgerald? No Anne Murray? No Nat King Cole? No Captain and Tennille? No Mel Torme?

It's interesting how we promote an image of ourselves through advertising the styles of music that we play. This writer did it, very strongly - Cream, Van Morrison, Rolling Stones, The Clash, The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, The Byrds, Love, The Velvet Underground - and Simon and Garfunkel and Charlie Parker.

I know that he was conveying a sense of the energy of a car full of teenage surfies through the type of music that they were listening to - but his article still illustrates what I am explaining.

I do it. We all do it. We use the type of music that we tell others that we listen to as a badge - an indication of the types of people we are.
No we do not "all do it." Many folks simply don't give a [damn] what others might think of their musical preferences. Why should we? If someone doesn't approve my fondness of the Carpenters or Johnny Mathis, for instance, they can just take a fly.
 
No we do not "all do it." Many folks simply don't give a [damn] what others might think of their musical preferences. Why should we? If someone doesn't approve my fondness of the Carpenters or Johnny Mathis, for instance, they can just take a fly.
It's a sense of belonging. Through sharing our interest in Carpenters, we get the satisfaction of forming a community with others with similar interests.

People who subscribe to a particular image through their choice of music are also sometimes looking to belong and be part of a community.

It's not a bad thing - but can have negative impacts, in some cases.

I'm not saying that being part of the A&M community has negative impacts, or that people like Carpenters, for instance, just to belong. I'm just commenting, generally.

We like the music for the music's sake, as others do.

Written on the run, so this may not express what I mean clearly.
 
When you get past a certain age, you learn that it just doesn't matter what others think of your preferences. We're all the same, yet different. The STAR TREK "Vulcan" phrase is "Infinite diversity in infinite combinations."
 
When you get past a certain age, you learn that it just doesn't matter what others think of your preferences. We're all the same, yet different.

I’m well past the same point now but when I was a teenager in the late 80s, I used to downplay the fact I liked acts such as ABBA and Carpenters, because it made you an easy target for school bullies. Even in the late 80s - in fact especially in the late 80s - it was looked upon as weird to have those tastes in music and I was sidelined at school for not being part of the “in” crowd. I was happy to see the back of those people when I left school for university and I never saw or spoke to them again. Of the few I kept in touch with from my school days, they’ve all become great friends, even if we don’t see each other that often, and they’ve always been the first ones to message me over the years to say things like “have you heard this new singer called “Harriet, she sounds just like Karen”, or “I heard a Carpenters song on the radio yesterday and thought of you”. I guess you filter the crap from the gold as you get older and the genuinely nice people stay with you. That’s been my experience anyway, and I feel all the richer and better for it.
 
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Entrepreneur and singer Claire dela Fuente convicted of tax evasion
"Singer Claire dela Fuente, dubbed by some as the Philippines’ version of Karen Carpenter, was convicted for seven counts of tax evasion,
the media reported yesterday. "
Source:
Entrepreneur and singer Claire dela Fuente convicted of tax evasion | Coconuts Manila
Singer Claire dela Fuente gets 7 years for tax evasion
Claire dela Fuente passed away two days ago at 62 from cardiac arrest, shortly after being diagnosed with COVID-19.

She recorded "Something in Your Eyes" with Richard Carpenter.
 
Claire dela Fuente passed away two days ago at 62 from cardiac arrest, shortly after being diagnosed with COVID-19.

She recorded "Something in Your Eyes" with Richard Carpenter.
No offense to dusty's 87 performance but having just listened to Claire's version I now can actually understand several more lyrics, though any similarity to Karen had long gone by the time she sang this.

That said, I think Richard merely appeared in a couple of shots since I cant imagine he was responsible for the hallmark synth arrangement.

62 is no age to go.

Neil
 
I also just realized I was singing “I Just Fall in Love Again” to it and it matched up perfectly.
 
No offense to dusty's 87 performance but having just listened to Claire's version I now can actually understand several more lyrics, though any similarity to Karen had long gone by the time she sang this.

That said, I think Richard merely appeared in a couple of shots since I cant imagine he was responsible for the hallmark synth arrangement.

62 is no age to go.

Neil
Richard would’ve had something more to do than just show up in the video, as he apparently worked on her 2008 album “Something In Your Eyes”, which the only copy I can find online is priced at nearly $1,000 USD on Amazon US (and I don’t see any digital releases, even though it was apparently released internationally).

But Clara’s performance, I found sounded like she was doing a lot of pronouncing and enunciation of the words, whereas Dusty was not doing that (plus didn’t Dusty have a cold or something in 87?).
 
Her version has always been my favorite and one of our members sent me the YouTube location to hear the entire album. I like Dusty’s version to and find it equally appealing, just different in its approach. It is very said to hear that she passed away. I am sad today. I always wanted a version of this song by her where the sound on the video is not over saturated.
 
No offense to dusty's 87 performance but having just listened to Claire's version I now can actually understand several more lyrics, though any similarity to Karen had long gone by the time she sang this.

That said, I think Richard merely appeared in a couple of shots since I cant imagine he was responsible for the hallmark synth arrangement.

62 is no age to go.

Neil
I wrote the above yesterday about the arrangement of Claire's Something in your Eyes and realized I was way too harsh. I'd only just woken up, I only half listened on tinny speakers, and only to a minute of the song. It's a nice arrangement...to me still not as good as Dusty's...but nice.
I also think I hear Richard on background vocals. I'm still unclear if he arranged this but it may well be the case.
I truly didnt mean to upset anyone...Goodjeans I'm looking at you😉.
And of course, sad news shes passed away. Nice voice.
 
I wrote the above yesterday about the arrangement of Claire's Something in your Eyes and realized I was way too harsh. I'd only just woken up, I only half listened on tinny speakers, and only to a minute of the song. It's a nice arrangement...to me still not as good as Dusty's...but nice.
I also think I hear Richard on background vocals. I'm still unclear if he arranged this but it may well be the case.
I truly didnt mean to upset anyone...Goodjeans I'm looking at you😉.
And of course, sad news shes passed away. Nice voice.
I love the video of Claire's version.
 
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