CarpenterS Demographics

[Jeff]

Hi gang,

I"ve been wondering how broad the dynamic duo's fan base is regarding the age of their listeners? Also, at what point and year etc. did people discover the magic in the music? I must say that I was inducted to the" hall of Karen" back in 1970 at the tender age of seven. Curiosity here...

Jeff

 

[PHIL]

Jeff, I remember first being aware of Karen & Richard's music at Christmas 1972. My Dad bought the tan album for my Mum, and we played it every day for ages. That was it, I was 14 and hooked. Somehow that album ended up in my collection, and I pretty soon had all of the records. No other artist(s) will ever have the same meaning.

My Dad died this Christmas, and I have him to thank for not only introducing me to the Carpenters, but also his wide ranging choice of music which included Errol Garner and Fats Waller ( both featured at the funeral).

"Just like before, it's yesterday once more"

 

[andywithaz]

Hi Jeff!

I first heard the Carpenters music when I was watching The Karen Carpenter E! True Hollywood Story. I fell in love with them but then I forgot about them. Several years later I was taking a test and my teacher was playing the Singles 1969-1973 for us to concentrate better. By this time it was 2001 and that CD was no longer available. I bought the Singles 1969-1981 at the mall and I listened to it for about 5 months. Later I was at B&N and then purchased Lovelines. I noticed that these 2 CDs didn't have the same version or mixes as the Singles CD. So then I went online and started searching for it. I finally found it at cduniverse about 2 years later. Since then I have tried to get everything Carpenters whether it be CDs, LPs, singles, memoribillia, etc.

As you probably know I am probably the youngest member on this website. I am only 14. This is my favorite website and I try to visit it at least 2 times a day.

Andrew
NP: Original Master Karaoke

 

[Chris]

Andrew, it's great to hear that someone as young as yourself loves the Carpenters. I was just thinking recently about the Carpenters music and the younger generation. This past week I mentioned Karen and the Carpenters to two people in their 20's and neither knew who she was or knew the Carpenters. One of them had heard the song "Close To You" before, but that was about it. At least in the 1970s, 80s, and somewhat in the 90s the Carpenters were still getting a lot of airplay on the radio. Now, we hardly ever hear from them on the air waves except at Christmas time. It had me feeling a bit sad that so many young people today have far less chance of being exposed to the Carpenters music. It's good that you got to see the Karen Story on E! TV and that it peaked your interest in them. You obviously have an ear for good music.

I'm 37 years old. My first memory of the Carpenters is hearing "Yesterday Once More" being played on the radio in 1973. I was 7 years old at the time, and it was one of the Carpenters hits that got a lot of airplay. I was not aware of who it was at the time, but the song and her performance of it really stayed with me and got my attention like nothing else I'd ever heard. I think that the beauty of it along with the sweet sadness in the song, touched me and made the song so memorable. What lyrics that song has, and Karen made it so believable. Every word. "Yesterday Once More" remains one of their most haunting songs. A perfect performance of a beautiful sentiment, along with a melody that goes right into your soul.

When I got a few years older and realized that so many of the best songs ever were all by the Carpenters, I went out and found some of their records. I still remember the day that I found the "Carpenters Collection" 2 LP set in the music store and saw Karen's beautiful smile on the cover. I was so happy. Hearing all of their great music on those 2 records was when I fell in love with the Carpenters and Karen's voice and knew that she was the most special thing I'd ever heard or ever would hear.

In my teens through most of the 80's there was a local popular light rock radio station would play, at the very least, one or more Carpenters songs per hour. It was there that I first heard things like "I Can Dream Can't I" and "You". It was so much fun to be introduced to more and more by the Carpenters. Of course like all of you, I remember that very sad day in 1983 when we heard the news. After her passing there seemed to be even more of the music being played on the radio for several years after. It was not until around 1985 when singers like Whitney Houston came onto the scene that Karen started to get less airplay on the radio as one of the all time great queens of love songs. Of course she will always be number one for us.

 

[Mark-T]

It was fall of 1970, and I was on the bus riding to school the first time I heard "We've Only Just Begun". I was hooked! I had heard "Close to You" and thought it was good, but never bought it or recognized it as Carpenters.
I was 12 years old then - and have been listening ever since. Now, 45 and counting...

Mark

 

[thestitch]

At 64, I'm probably one of the oldest, if not THE oldest, one here!! The first time I heard of the Carpenters was back in 1969 or -70 when I was already a married lady of 5 years! Both my husband and I were completely enchanted by that "voice" and haven't stopped listening yet!

I find it very refreshing to find so many young people (especially you, Andrew!) here on the forum who are interested in every aspect of Carpenters music and career.

I still look forward to anything new by Richard himself, who I never forgot was (and still is) very much a musical genius.

Marilyn,
who was sooooo very disappointed at the non-release of the new Christmas album!

 

[Murray]

It was in 1970. I was given a portable radio for my 8th birthday, and one of the first songs I heard on it was "Close To You". It was a case of love at first hear! I carried that radio everywhere for years (until it finally fell apart), eagerly anticipating each new single. I've listened to, enjoyed, and collected a lot of different artists' music over the years, but none has meant as much to me as the music of Karen and Richard.

I find it very refreshing to find so many young people (especially you, Andrew!) here on the forum who are interested in every aspect of Carpenters music and career.

Refreshing yes, but not that surprising. When you think about it, a lot of us middle-aged fans were Andrew's age (or younger) when we discovered the Carpenters music. It wasn't "hip" then, NOT the kind of music that most kids were listening to (or would admit to listening to). But we were discerning enough to recognize great music when we heard it. I don't think that the youth of today are really any different. I'm sure that MANY more young people would fall in love with the Carpenters' music if they were exposed to it! Since radio won't play the Carpenters anymore, it's up to us...

...play your C's music when your kids are around (don't force them to sit there and listen, just have it on in the background)
...give C's CDs to your nieces and nephews as gifts (along with something that's popular so they can hear the difference! )
...when driving past schools, roll down your windows and crank up the volume!

Murray

 

[Dave]

Well, from the time of my birth, or maybe during my conception, The Carpenters' songs have been playing.

From the time I first heard "grown-up music" playing, I'm sure I took a liking to The Carpenters and if those record racks in the stores weren't so high up, I'd have at least bought a copy of THE SINGLES 1969-1973.

There was one house we lived near by that played The Carpenters frequently, and I'm sure a lot of other songs they did by other artists, like Paul Williams, et. al.

I first started buying their songs at the age of 11 or 12, on '45's, of course, and sadly, a year or two later, hearing and reading of Karen's death.

So, like the "Self-Referencing Thread", I felt a rather sad and melancholy quality in The Carpenters' music that I embraced and still do, though over the years in a lot of other artists' works, to this day.

Dave

 

[Harry]

Being a contemporary of Karen and Richard, I actually grew up hearing some of the same musical influences that they've quoted. Yes, I even have an old Les Paul and Mary Ford record that I had as a child in the '50s.

And I've mentioned it many times here at the Corner, I remember hearing "Ticket To Ride" on the radio back in 1969 and thinking what an interesting sound that group had. Hearing "Close To You" the next summer and then discovering that that they were an A&M act sealed my fascination, and I've not looked back since.

So I was 18 when I first heard them, and quite atypical in terms of music taste. I'd not yet become a Beatles fan, nor did I care much for typical rock and r&b of the day.

Having just turned 53 yesterday, I can say that I'm still very happy with my music choices - and my tastes have broadened over the years.

Harry
...where the temperature this morning has soared way 'up' to 15­° F, online...

 

[Tony]

Happy birthday belatedly Harry!

 

[Bruno]

Happy Birthday, Harry!

I discovered the Carpenters, when I was 17 years old. It was 1981, and Karen and Richard did their promo tour for MADE IN AMERICA. They appeared in a tv show in Germany. They performed BEECHWOOD and, if I remember this right, YESTERDAY ONCE MORE.

Next day, I went to the local record store and bought the album A KIND OF HUSH. And then, as the months passed by, I bought all Carpenters albums, which were available in Germany back then.
In 1982 I joined the official Carpenters Fan Club.

Well, to cut a long story short: I will be turning 40 this march, but I'm still a Carpenters fan, and always will be. I'm much more criticall about them than I was back in 1981, but still a fan.

Bruno
all my best memories come back clearly to me, some can even make me cry.....

 

[Captaindave]

I am 52 years old, so I had just turned 19 in the summer of 1970, and I think that was when the song "Close To You" came out as a Top 40 tune on AM radio. That would have been the first contact I would have had with Carpenters music...

If my memory is correct, "Close To You" was the first song the Carpenters had as a Top 40 single, yes?

 

[thestitch]

Hope it was a great birthday, Harry! :happybirthday:

Marilyn,
who is really enjoying the threads on this forum lately!!

 

[Captaindave]

I was what would be called today a "soft" or "light" rock fan in the sixties. The TJB was my favorite sound from about 1966 on, and before that I mostly listened to the Beatles, Beach Boys, and the other British Invasion music, as well as whatever other California-type pop was on Top 40 AM radio from about 1964 - 1969. I also found that I liked a lot of the so called "one hit wonders" of the sixties - too many to name or remember...But it all could have been heard on any given day on AM radio.

I lost interest in the Beatles after the mid sixties, and as my interest and involvement in playing the trumpet took hold. I liked them best when they were the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan show, and it was the pre-Sgt. Pepper era. With the advent of Sgt. Pepper, they lost me...anyway..

By the later part of the sixties up till I graduated from high school in 1969, I mostly was a TJB fan, along with the softer pop music of the times, such as the Association, Dennis Yost and the Classics IV, the Turtles, Tommy James and the Shondells, the Rascals, and even the Monkees.

I never much liked what would have been the hard rock of the sixties like Jimi Hendrix, Jefferson Airplane, Cream, Iron Butterfly, etc.

So, I did notice the Carpenter's music and that it was produced by Herb Alpert. I do appreciate their sound and songs and talent, but I am first and foremost a TJB fan...

 

[song4u]

my tastes have broadened over the years.

Ya Harry, mine too . . . along with other parts of me.

I began listening to the Carpenters in 1970. I was glued to the radio just waiting for Close to You to play. I was 10 years old. Having older siblings, I was used to listening to Top 40 radio and records. But Close to You got me hooked and after that I bought every album with my allowance and babysitting money, playing them over and over. I haven't owned a turntable in years, but I still lug my old vinyl albums everywhere I go like a favorite blanket. They hold such good memories.

In 1972 my dad took me to a Carpenters concert, and in 1974 my mom and sister and I attended a Carpenters concert at the World's Fair - Expo '74, both in my sort-of-home-town of Spokane.

I had always hoped to see their newer show someday, with the Grease spoof. But circumstances never allowed. It was so odd. I remember the newsletter announcing Karen was getting married, one about Karen being separated, and the one about the release of Made in America. And then on the evening of Feb. 4th, 1983 I turned on the news and I almost fell over. How could someone so young and seemingly full of life (from the point of view of one removed from her situation), have died of a heart attack. I was in a daze for quite some time. Then the newsletter about her passing and the funeral.

:: I much prefer my early memories of anticipating each new record album and the excitement of seeing them in concert. Their music has brought so much happiness to me and to so many people, and for that we will be forever grateful.

As far as other music, I have never had an interest in any other singer or group the way I have in the Carpenters. But I do like soft jazz (which my husband is fond of) and I love to hear a good alto singer - male or female - who can give me chills with a song. I am open to suggestions. This is a good thread for broadening my musical horizons.

 

[Dave]

A more "older person's perspective" just came to mind--My Aunt, who's my mother's youngest sister.

I remember a copy of CARPENTERS and A SONG FOR YOU in her college dorm at M.I.T.--A KIND OF HUSH and HORIZON in her apartment--NOW AND THEN and PASSAGE brought over to our house on a visit, though never played them--and on my sister's recent visit to her house, though a year or two ago, I think she said our cousins like their music, as well, so she still listens.

Just more thoughts here...thinking back, anyway...

Dave

...who "heard a lot of A&M", too, though "while in the womb for seven years"...

 

[andywithaz]

Even though that I am a diehard fan of the Carpenters, I like other artists on almost the same level. Here are the other artists that I like and consider myself a fan of.

Karen Carpenter- from her solo album

Sheryl Crow
Police
Barry Manilow
Eagles
Vannessa Carlton
Captain and Tennille
Burt Bacharach
Linda Ronstadt
Beatles
Carole King
Sting
Clay Aiken
Heart
Madonna
Harry Connick, Jr.
and so on....

Notice that most of these are A&M artists

 

[Murray]

Andrew, are you sure you're 14 years old, and not 44

Murray
...who likes most of the artists on Andrew's list...

 

[andywithaz]

Oh, I forgot to throw in the Raunch Hands. ha ha


No, I just have taste

 

[Chris]

Good answer, Andrew.

That reminds me of several years back when I was in my mid twenties. At my place of employment we would all take turns playing music while we worked. Of course I'd play things like Carpenters, Bee Gees, Johnny Mathis, Henry Mancini, Al Jarreau, Captain & Tennille, Dave Koz, etc. Then a certain lady commented on the music I chose because it was different from what most people my age was playing. I said "Yeah, I've always preferred some of the older stuff, I'm just weird I guess." She said, "No sweetie, you just have taste." That made me feel good.