Carpenters In 20 Songs...

[theninjarabbit]

... It sounds like they really tried to have fun with this concert cut...

Kind of tangential, but after listening to the version of "Sacre Bleu" done in the BBC concert, it sounds it would've been a cool closer to the Tan Album. It fits in the same vein as the previous two "rock" album closers, "Clancy" and "Another Song". Only problem is, that high sax note at the end might rip more than just the tape..!

 

[K.C. Jr]

Kind of tangential, but after listening to the version of "Sacre Bleu" done in the BBC concert, it sounds it would've been a cool closer to the Tan Album. It fits in the same vein as the previous two "rock" album closers, "Clancy" and "Another Song". Only problem is, that high sax note at the end might rip more than just the tape..!

True, theninjarabbit! Even though I don't care much for the song, they did appear to have a lot of fun doing it. It was definitely the liveliest song they performed at the BBC!

 

[Don Malcolm]

Two more ballots have been cast, bringing us to an even dozen.

We again have exactly 20 songs with 5 or more votes, giving us the following configuration:

11—Rainy Days & Mondays, Superstar, Goodbye to Love, Only Yesterday
10—We’ve Only Just Begun
9—Close To You, A Song For You
8—Yesterday Once More, All You Get From Love is a Love Song
7—Hurting Each Other
6—Another Song, Top of the World, Road Ode, I Need To Be In Love
5—Ticket to Ride, Merry Christmas Darling, For All We Know, Let Me Be The One, I Won’t Last A Day Without You, This Masquerade

Three tracks bubbling under at 4: All of My Life, Solitaire, You’re The One

IN terms of trends in the data, let’s look at “consensus” this time. Who has the most personal Top 20 picks in the consensus Top 20? It is JBee, with 17. The least? Geographer, with 6, thanks to an idiosyncratic but very interesting ballot. The overall average is 12.

The average ballot contains two songs that are “lone selections”—songs picked by just one voter. You might have expected Geographer would have the most of these, but that is not the case. His total of 5 is eclipsed by Guitarmutt, who has seven (7) “lone selections.” (Guitarmutt has eight “consensus” selections, however, as opposed to just six for Geographer. These individual variations are actually quite fascinating!)

Looking a bit further at “lone selections,” it’s interesting to see how they are distributed across LPs. Here’s what the data says:

Offering/Ticket to Ride 4 (Don't Be Afraid, All I Can Do, Eve, Clancy)
Close to You 4 (Love Is Surrender, Help!, I’ll Never Fall in Love Again, Mr. Guder)
Carpenters (tan) 0
A Song for You 0
Now & Then 3 (Heather, I Can’t Make Music, Our Day Will Come)
Horizon 2 (I’m Caught Between Goodbye & I Love You, Love Me For What I Am)
Hush 2 (Boat to Sail, Sandy)
Passage 1 (Sweet, Sweet Smile)
Xmas 1 (Ave Maria)
MIA 1 (Strength of a Woman)
Voice of the Heart 1 (Look to Your Dreams)
Lovelines 2 (When I Fall In Love, Kiss Me the Way You Did Last Night)
From the Top 3 (Iced Tea, Dancing in the Streets, Can’t Buy Me Love)
As Time Goes By 2 (And When He Smiles, Karen/Ella Medley)

That’s 26 songs in this category—and they’d make a pretty darned interesting alternate LP, actually! And that fact supports what many have said in this thread—something I think we all agree about—the Carpenters have a massive amount of great songs, simply impossible to contain in a Top 20.

BUT—please keep the ballots coming anyway!!

 

[theninjarabbit]

"One Love" is a lone selection from the Tan Album.

 

[theninjarabbit]

Oh, nevermind! I misread, my bad. There was another vote for that one.

 

[Geographer]

Not surprised that I am in dead last in trends. I've been that way my whole life (and not just in music taste). Probably why I'm such a Carpenters fan in the first place!

Awesome analysis, btw! I find it very fascinating!

 

[K.C. Jr]

Not surprised that I am in dead last in trends. I've been that way my whole life (and not just in music taste). Probably why I'm such a Carpenters fan in the first place!

Awesome analysis, btw! I find it very fascinating!

Geographer, I'll have you know that I very much liked your list. Many of your choices are my personal favorites. We all did great, and it just proves how subjective everyone's opinions truly are!

 

[Guitarmutt]

Two more ballots have been cast, bringing us to an even dozen.

We again have exactly 20 songs with 5 or more votes, giving us the following configuration:

11—Rainy Days & Mondays, Superstar, Goodbye to Love, Only Yesterday
10—We’ve Only Just Begun
9—Close To You, A Song For You
8—Yesterday Once More, All You Get From Love is a Love Song
7—Hurting Each Other
6—Another Song, Top of the World, Road Ode, I Need To Be In Love
5—Ticket to Ride, Merry Christmas Darling, For All We Know, Let Me Be The One, I Won’t Last A Day Without You, This Masquerade

Three tracks bubbling under at 4: All of My Life, Solitaire, You’re The One

IN terms of trends in the data, let’s look at “consensus” this time. Who has the most personal Top 20 picks in the consensus Top 20? It is JBee, with 17. The least? Geographer, with 6, thanks to an idiosyncratic but very interesting ballot. The overall average is 12.

The average ballot contains two songs that are “lone selections”—songs picked by just one voter. You might have expected Geographer would have the most of these, but that is not the case. His total of 5 is eclipsed by Guitarmutt, who has seven (7) “lone selections.” (Guitarmutt has eight “consensus” selections, however, as opposed to just six for Geographer. These individual variations are actually quite fascinating!)

Looking a bit further at “lone selections,” it’s interesting to see how they are distributed across LPs. Here’s what the data says:

Offering/Ticket to Ride 4 (Don't Be Afraid, All I Can Do, Eve, Clancy)
Close to You 4 (Love Is Surrender, Help!, I’ll Never Fall in Love Again, Mr. Guder)
Carpenters (tan) 0
A Song for You 0
Now & Then 3 (Heather, I Can’t Make Music, Our Day Will Come)
Horizon 2 (I’m Caught Between Goodbye & I Love You, Love Me For What I Am)
Hush 2 (Boat to Sail, Sandy)
Passage 1 (Sweet, Sweet Smile)
Xmas 1 (Ave Maria)
MIA 1 (Strength of a Woman)
Voice of the Heart 1 (Look to Your Dreams)
Lovelines 2 (When I Fall In Love, Kiss Me the Way You Did Last Night)
From the Top 3 (Iced Tea, Dancing in the Streets, Can’t Buy Me Love)
As Time Goes By 2 (And When He Smiles, Karen/Ella Medley)

That’s 26 songs in this category—and they’d make a pretty darned interesting alternate LP, actually! And that fact supports what many have said in this thread—something I think we all agree about—the Carpenters have a massive amount of great songs, simply impossible to contain in a Top 20.

BUT—please keep the ballots coming anyway!!

Well, I am a mutt. Really. Hence, my name. I like what I like, and I dislike what I dislike regardless of anything. Good is good. That is all. I'm here so .................................

 

[Guitarmutt]

Also, I find it fascinating, Another Song is one I did not expect to see so liked. I thought I might be alone in naming it on my list, but it wound up on so many lists! Lone/Consensus (sp? Sorry) whatever, we are all fans and appreciators, and that should be enough.

So short a time; so rich a legacy!
Amazing!

 

[Passenger]

These lists are always fun....

1. All of My Life
2. Turn Away
3. Close to You
4. Baby It’s You
5. Rainy Days & Mondays
6. Let Me Be the One
7. Superstar
8. One Love
9. A Song for You
10. Hurting Each Other
11. Goodbye to Love
12. Road Ode
13. Yesterday Once More
14. Our Day Will Come
15. Only Yesterday
16. All You Get From Love is a Love Song
17. I Just Fall in Love Again
18. Touch Me When We’re Dancing
19. Where Do I Go From Here
20. Kiss Me the Way You Did Last Night

 

[mr J.]

1. This Masquerade
2. Ordinary Fool
3. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
4. A Song For You
5. Solitaire
6. Little Altar Boy
7. The Christmas Song
8. For All We Know
9. Rainy Days & Mondays
10. Little Girl Blue
11. Don't Cry For Me Argentina
12. Maybe It's You
13. Baby It's You
14. Crescent Noon
15. One More Time
16. What Are You Doing New Years Eve
17. I Believe You
18. Somebody's Been Lyin'
19. All You Get From Love Is A Love Song
20. Another Song

 

[Harry]

Welcome back, mr J.

That's an interesting compilation - one that might be a very good listen, indeed!

Harry

 

[Song4uman]

Ok. Here is my list. Not chronological and probably not in order of preference. Just a list.

1)Rainy Days and Mondays
2)Ticket to Ride '73
3)Goodbye to love
4)This Masquerade
5)Only Yesterday
6)Trying to get the Feeling
7)Someday
8)Baby It's You
9)Crescent Noon
10)Road Ode
11)Happy
12)I Can Dream Can't I
13)Touch Me When We're Dancing
14)All You Get From Love is a Love Song
15)Kiss Me The Way You Did Last Night
16)B'wana She No Home
17)I Just Fall In Love Agaon
18)TwoLives
19)You're The One
20)Superstar

The list really changes pretty often as to what I listen to or what I would share with others.

I really like the idea mentioned earlier about an A&M corner list. A lot of work, but maybe a poll with all songs included. A certain period of time to vote and then take the top 40 and vote again and keep cutting down until there was a top 20 of our members. Then everyone could make their own cd to listen to. Kind of fun.

Jonathan

 

[John Tkacik]

This is my desert island 20 Richard and/or Karen recordings CD.

1) Eve
2) (They Long To Be) Close To You (Album Version)
3) Superstar
4) "Zodiac" Medley (Make Your Own Kind Of Music)
5) A Song For You
6) This Masquerade
7) Santa Claus Is Coming To Town (1974 Single)
8) Bacharach/David Medley (1974 Live, Extended Version: Anthology Album)
9) Solitaire (1975 Single Version)
10)I Can Dream Can't I
11) You
12)I Need To Be In Love
13) Don't Cry For Me Argentina
14) You're The One
15) Merry Christmas Darling (1978 Version)
16) Where Do I Go From Here
17) Something's Missing (Karen Solo)
18) Make Believe It's Your First Time (Karen Solo)
19) Now
20)Karen's Theme (Richard Solo)

 

[A&M Retro]

Ok, here goes....


Ticket To Ride (1973 version)
Eve
Help!
We've Only Just Begun
Merry Christmas Darling (1970 version)
Rainy Days and Mondays
Superstar
Hurting Each Other
A Song For You
Goodbye To Love
Road Ode
Bacharach/David Medley ('live' from 1974)
Only Yesterday
Happy
Desperado
Solitaire
Trying To Get The Feeling Again
Do You Hear What I Hear
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
If I Had You

I was surprised I picked 3 Christmas songs after looking over this list. But the vocals on all 3 are pretty much unmatchable and beyond compare.

 

[theninjarabbit]

I have a question for those who selected "Road Ode" (myself included) -- album version or remix? I would use the remix, personally. Have at it

 

[A&M Retro]

I'd like to make an amendment to the list above. Let's replace 'Do You Hear What I Hear' with 'All You Get From Love Is A Love Song'. No clue how I missed that one!

Regarding 'Road Ode', ninjarabbit, I'd go with the original. Karen's vocal is dry and upfront, and the same for the background vocals. I'd also sneak in the 'A Song For You' (Reprise), which is how I always end custom Carpenters compilations.

 

[Must Hear This Album]

I have a question for those who selected "Road Ode" (myself included) -- album version or remix? I would use the remix, personally. Have at it

As a stand alone track, I slightly prefer the crisp, new remix, especially the clean piano ending, but I’ll always love the the way the song segues into the “A Song For You” reprise on the album. Can someone help me on the flute solo? For some reason, it sounds very different to me on the remix, like it’s truncated, but listening side-by-side, I believe it’s the same length. Are my ears playing tricks on me?

 

[Rumbahbah]

As a stand alone track, I slightly prefer the crisp, new remix, especially the clean piano ending, but I’ll always love the the way the song segues into the “A Song For You” reprise on the album. Can someone help me on the flute solo? For some reason, it sounds very different to me on the remix, like it’s truncated, but listening side-by-side, I believe it’s the same length. Are my ears playing tricks on me?

Because it cross-fades into the preceding and following tracks on A Song For You, I can see why Richard might have wanted to give 'Road Ode' a remix, but the replacement of the acoustic piano with the electric piano and the excessive added harp sweeps add an unnecessary sweetness to what should be quite a 'dark' track, ruining it for me. Whilst the original version might feature in my Top 20 songs, the remix wouldn't even make my Top 50.

I have the same problem with other remixes done at the same time (presumably for the Treasures compilation in Japan) for tracks like 'Baby It's You' and 'Crystal Lullaby' - the originals in both cases are far superior to the remixed versions. It seems that sometimes it is best to leave well alone...

 

[Don Malcolm]

More ballots have come in—great! A total of 18 at this point, including one that came via the Conversation route. For anyone who would prefer their choices to remain secret, that option is always available, though I would like to be able to mention names in the context of the breakouts below (which do not directly mention individual songs.

I would also clarify that the songs here are the songs, and in 99% of the cases they are NOT versions (“originals/remixes”) as that is simply going too far into the wonkier side of Carpenters’ fandom than can be accommodated by a simple poll. Since so many songs are subject to the original/remix quandary, I am merely counting the votes for the songs themselves. (At the risk of sounding unpleasant, I would also appreciate it if people who want to communicate about specifics regarding the original/remix issue do so in separate threads.)

As always, the new ballots give us fascinating perspectives to ponder and remind us that there is always something we can learn from our interactions here. Several of the new ballots are unusual takes on the Carpenters oeuvre that emphasize the range, depth and creative energy within the musical legacy. John T’s ballot literally added “Something('s) Missing” to the discussion—Karen’s unfinished track of the Paul Jabara song that really does deserve a full-blown production session from Richard—with his touch, the song could be something akin to a last testament to/for/from Karen, marrying once more his sonic template with one of her most emotionally direct and funkiest vocals. Thanks to you, John, for reminding me of this song—I personally can’t quite put it into my Top 20, but it really does have something special to offer—your vote here has symbolic and emotional resonance and is one of those great moments of rediscovery that makes an effort like this so worthwhile.

UPDATED BALLOT RESULTS

Here are the 18 songs that currently are locks for the CD version of the “Top 20” as picked by those who’ve voted thus far:

16—Rainy Days & Mondays, Superstar
15—Only Yesterday, Goodbye to Love
14—A Song For You
12—Close to You, We’ve Only Just Begun
11—All You Get From Love is a Love Song
10—Hurting Each Other, Yesterday Once More, Road Ode
8—Ticket to Ride, Top of the World, Another Song
7—This Masquerade, I Need to Be in Love, You’re The One, Merry Christmas Darling

Five songs have 6 votes, which means we will need even more voters to help us break the logjam to get “20 for the Top 20.” Here are those five songs:

For All We Know, Crescent Noon, Let Me Be The One, Solitaire, Touch Me When We’re Dancing

Voting by LP (or other source)
This is the first of several breakouts that follow what we’ve done earlier and that I hope you find of interest. We probably won’t be surprised to see this update to our breakout of votes by album, as the accumulation of new ballots has not really changed what we saw earlier. Here they are, presented in chronological order:

Offering 25, Close to You 51, TV ‘71 medley 1, Tan LP 53, A Song For You 66, Now & Then 21, Horizon 36, Hush 16, Passage 27, MIA 12, Voice 12, RC solo 1, Lovelines 16, Interpretations 2, KC solo 1, From the Top 3, As Time Goes By 15, Karen u/r 2, Xmas songs 15.

“Consensus” Picks (Songs with 10+ Votes)
Average voter has 8 (actually 7.8) out of the 11 songs with 10+ votes (or, seen another way, songs mentioned on at least 55% of the ballots)

High: 11-11 (JBee)
Low: 3-11 (Geographer, Mr. J., John T.)

Most “Lone Votes”
Voters average just under two “lone votes” (votes for songs that no one else has voted for; precise average 1.78, or 32 “lone votes” from 18 voters).

High: 7 (Guitarmutt), 6 (Mr. J)
Low: 0 (Ullalume, James, GaryAlan, Passenger)

Number of “Top 20 Hits” Included in Personal “Top 20”
There are 15 “Top 20” hits, of which 12 have received votes. I must correct myself and note there are actually 3 “Top 20” hits that are not in anyone’s personal “Top 20”—the previously mentioned “It’s Going to Take Some Time” and “Sing”, but also “There’s A Kind of Hush (All Over the World").

Highest number of Top 20 hits in a personal “Top 20”: 10 (Ullalume, JBee, Barry)

A bunch of folks are at 9 and 8, as this one has a skewed distribution.

Lowest number: 2 (Geographer, Mr. J., John T.)

Songs from the 60s
Who has the most favorite songs from the early days?
4 (Guitarmutt), 3 (DM, Barry, Ninja)

Who has the least?
0 (MTaft, James, GaryAlan, Mr. J)

Songs from the 80s
Who has the most favorites from the later days?
6 (Geographer, John T.)

Who has the least?
0 (DM, Ninja)

Songs From 1969-73
Who has the most songs from the classic “on fire” years? (Horizon is not represented here, it’s in the 75-79 category)
18 (Ninja), 16 (DM), 15 (JBee, Barry)

Who has the least?
8 (Mr. J, John T.), 9 (Geographer, Song4Human)

The average progression for this (using four categories: 60s, 70-74, 75-79 and 80s) is as follows:

60s: 1.6 songs (8% of the top 20)
70-74: 11.1 songs (55%)
75-79: 4.8 songs (24%)
80s: 2.5 songs (13%)

So the average ballot has just under 2/3rds of its songs in the “early years” (60s, 70-74). Ninja and I are in the 80-90% range for this, while the lower end (represented by Mr. J, John T, Geographer, and Song4Human) is 40-45%.

Strong Trends in Favorite LPs
Only a few real clusterings here, with my own inordinate love for the Close to You LP still being the most stick-out-like-a-sore-thumb example (7 of that LP’s songs are in my Top 20).

Less pronounced examples of this can be found for the A Song for You LP, where GaryAlan has 6 of its songs in his Top 20; James, JBee and Ninja have 5 in theirs. JBee also has 5 songs from the Tan LP in his Top 20.

***

Hoping you find this worth the read and for those who haven’t voted, please consider doing so—we need you to get the Top 20 out of its logjam!

 

[newvillefan]

Excellent analysis, I really enjoyed reading that! This spurred me on to compile mine, in chronological order:

1) All Of My Life
2) We've Only Just Begun
3) Love Is Surrender
4) Another Song
5) Superstar
6) Rainy Days And Mondays
7) A Song For You
8) Crystal Lullaby
9) Road Ode
10) Yesterday Once More
11) Only Yesterday
12) Tryin' To Get The Feeling Again
13) Boat To Sail
14) B'Wana She No Home
15) All You Get From Love Is A Love Song
16) Slow Dance
17) If I Had You
18) Lovelines
19) Touch Me When We're Dancing
20) Kiss Me The Way You Did Last Night

 

[theninjarabbit]

More ballots have come in—great! A total of 18 at this point, including one that came via the Conversation route. For anyone who would prefer their choices to remain secret, that option is always available, though I would like to be able to mention names in the context of the breakouts below (which do not directly mention individual songs.

I would also clarify that the songs here are the songs, and in 99% of the cases they are NOT versions (“originals/remixes”) as that is simply going too far into the wonkier side of Carpenters’ fandom than can be accommodated by a simple poll. Since so many songs are subject to the original/remix quandary, I am merely counting the votes for the songs themselves. (At the risk of sounding unpleasant, I would also appreciate it if people who want to communicate about specifics regarding the original/remix issue do so in separate threads.)

As always, the new ballots give us fascinating perspectives to ponder and remind us that there is always something we can learn from our interactions here. Several of the new ballots are unusual takes on the Carpenters oeuvre that emphasize the range, depth and creative energy within the musical legacy. John T’s ballot literally added “Something('s) Missing” to the discussion—Karen’s unfinished track of the Paul Jabara song that really does deserve a full-blown production session from Richard—with his touch, the song could be something akin to a last testament to/for/from Karen, marrying once more his sonic template with one of her most emotionally direct and funkiest vocals. Thanks to you, John, for reminding me of this song—I personally can’t quite put it into my Top 20, but it really does have something special to offer—your vote here has symbolic and emotional resonance and is one of those great moments of rediscovery that makes an effort like this so worthwhile.

UPDATED BALLOT RESULTS

Here are the 18 songs that currently are locks for the CD version of the “Top 20” as picked by those who’ve voted thus far:

16—Rainy Days & Mondays, Superstar
15—Only Yesterday, Goodbye to Love
14—A Song For You
12—Close to You, We’ve Only Just Begun
11—All You Get From Love is a Love Song
10—Hurting Each Other, Yesterday Once More, Road Ode
8—Ticket to Ride, Top of the World, Another Song
7—This Masquerade, I Need to Be in Love, You’re The One, Merry Christmas Darling

Five songs have 6 votes, which means we will need even more voters to help us break the logjam to get “20 for the Top 20.” Here are those five songs:

For All We Know, Crescent Noon, Let Me Be The One, Solitaire, Touch Me When We’re Dancing

Voting by LP (or other source)
This is the first of several breakouts that follow what we’ve done earlier and that I hope you find of interest. We probably won’t be surprised to see this update to our breakout of votes by album, as the accumulation of new ballots has not really changed what we saw earlier. Here they are, presented in chronological order:

Offering 25, Close to You 51, TV ‘71 medley 1, Tan LP 53, A Song For You 66, Now & Then 21, Horizon 36, Hush 16, Passage 27, MIA 12, Voice 12, RC solo 1, Lovelines 16, Interpretations 2, KC solo 1, From the Top 3, As Time Goes By 15, Karen u/r 2, Xmas songs 15.

“Consensus” Picks (Songs with 10+ Votes)
Average voter has 8 (actually 7.8) out of the 11 songs with 10+ votes (or, seen another way, songs mentioned on at least 55% of the ballots)

High: 11-11 (JBee)
Low: 3-11 (Geographer, Mr. J., John T.)

Most “Lone Votes”
Voters average just under two “lone votes” (votes for songs that no one else has voted for; precise average 1.78, or 32 “lone votes” from 18 voters).

High: 7 (Guitarmutt), 6 (Mr. J)
Low: 0 (Ullalume, James, GaryAlan, Passenger)

Number of “Top 20 Hits” Included in Personal “Top 20”
There are 15 “Top 20” hits, of which 12 have received votes. I must correct myself and note there are actually 3 “Top 20” hits that are not in anyone’s personal “Top 20”—the previously mentioned “It’s Going to Take Some Time” and “Sing”, but also “There’s A Kind of Hush (All Over the World").

Highest number of Top 20 hits in a personal “Top 20”: 10 (Ullalume, JBee, Barry)

A bunch of folks are at 9 and 8, as this one has a skewed distribution.

Lowest number: 2 (Geographer, Mr. J., John T.)

Songs from the 60s
Who has the most favorite songs from the early days?
4 (Guitarmutt), 3 (DM, Barry, Ninja)

Who has the least?
0 (MTaft, James, GaryAlan, Mr. J)

Songs from the 80s
Who has the most favorites from the later days?
6 (Geographer, John T.)

Who has the least?
0 (DM, Ninja)

Songs From 1969-73
Who has the most songs from the classic “on fire” years? (Horizon is not represented here, it’s in the 75-79 category)
18 (Ninja), 16 (DM), 15 (JBee, Barry)

Who has the least?
8 (Mr. J, John T.), 9 (Geographer, Song4Human)

The average progression for this (using four categories: 60s, 70-74, 75-79 and 80s) is as follows:

60s: 1.6 songs (8% of the top 20)
70-74: 11.1 songs (55%)
75-79: 4.8 songs (24%)
80s: 2.5 songs (13%)

So the average ballot has just under 2/3rds of its songs in the “early years” (60s, 70-74). Ninja and I are in the 80-90% range for this, while the lower end (represented by Mr. J, John T, Geographer, and Song4Human) is 40-45%.

Strong Trends in Favorite LPs
Only a few real clusterings here, with my own inordinate love for the Close to You LP still being the most stick-out-like-a-sore-thumb example (7 of that LP’s songs are in my Top 20).

Less pronounced examples of this can be found for the A Song for You LP, where GaryAlan has 6 of its songs in his Top 20; James, JBee and Ninja have 5 in theirs. JBee also has 5 songs from the Tan LP in his Top 20.

***

Hoping you find this worth the read and for those who haven’t voted, please consider doing so—we need you to get the Top 20 out of its logjam!

Thank you, Don. Your information posts on the ballots are worth it indeed.

 

[GaryAlan]

Don Malcolm has presented a wonderful analysis !
I appreciate the time, effort, and detail with such an endeavor.

Indeed, it is difficult to encapsulate Carpenters' in (only) 20 songs.
For my part, I intentionally excluded Christmas Offerings, but my
affection for all of the Christmas vocals is well documented.
(Although Merry Christmas Darling and ballad Santa Claus are two all-time favorites.)

It truly is inspirational to read the posts from so many ardent Carpenters' music fans.
Once I felt alone in my Carpenters-fandom,
here and now I know I am far from alone !

 

[Geographer]

More ballots have come in—great! A total of 18 at this point, including one that came via the Conversation route. For anyone who would prefer their choices to remain secret, that option is always available, though I would like to be able to mention names in the context of the breakouts below (which do not directly mention individual songs.

I would also clarify that the songs here are the songs, and in 99% of the cases they are NOT versions (“originals/remixes”) as that is simply going too far into the wonkier side of Carpenters’ fandom than can be accommodated by a simple poll. Since so many songs are subject to the original/remix quandary, I am merely counting the votes for the songs themselves. (At the risk of sounding unpleasant, I would also appreciate it if people who want to communicate about specifics regarding the original/remix issue do so in separate threads.)

As always, the new ballots give us fascinating perspectives to ponder and remind us that there is always something we can learn from our interactions here. Several of the new ballots are unusual takes on the Carpenters oeuvre that emphasize the range, depth and creative energy within the musical legacy. John T’s ballot literally added “Something('s) Missing” to the discussion—Karen’s unfinished track of the Paul Jabara song that really does deserve a full-blown production session from Richard—with his touch, the song could be something akin to a last testament to/for/from Karen, marrying once more his sonic template with one of her most emotionally direct and funkiest vocals. Thanks to you, John, for reminding me of this song—I personally can’t quite put it into my Top 20, but it really does have something special to offer—your vote here has symbolic and emotional resonance and is one of those great moments of rediscovery that makes an effort like this so worthwhile.

UPDATED BALLOT RESULTS

Here are the 18 songs that currently are locks for the CD version of the “Top 20” as picked by those who’ve voted thus far:

16—Rainy Days & Mondays, Superstar
15—Only Yesterday, Goodbye to Love
14—A Song For You
12—Close to You, We’ve Only Just Begun
11—All You Get From Love is a Love Song
10—Hurting Each Other, Yesterday Once More, Road Ode
8—Ticket to Ride, Top of the World, Another Song
7—This Masquerade, I Need to Be in Love, You’re The One, Merry Christmas Darling

Five songs have 6 votes, which means we will need even more voters to help us break the logjam to get “20 for the Top 20.” Here are those five songs:

For All We Know, Crescent Noon, Let Me Be The One, Solitaire, Touch Me When We’re Dancing

Voting by LP (or other source)
This is the first of several breakouts that follow what we’ve done earlier and that I hope you find of interest. We probably won’t be surprised to see this update to our breakout of votes by album, as the accumulation of new ballots has not really changed what we saw earlier. Here they are, presented in chronological order:

Offering 25, Close to You 51, TV ‘71 medley 1, Tan LP 53, A Song For You 66, Now & Then 21, Horizon 36, Hush 16, Passage 27, MIA 12, Voice 12, RC solo 1, Lovelines 16, Interpretations 2, KC solo 1, From the Top 3, As Time Goes By 15, Karen u/r 2, Xmas songs 15.

“Consensus” Picks (Songs with 10+ Votes)
Average voter has 8 (actually 7.8) out of the 11 songs with 10+ votes (or, seen another way, songs mentioned on at least 55% of the ballots)

High: 11-11 (JBee)
Low: 3-11 (Geographer, Mr. J., John T.)

Most “Lone Votes”
Voters average just under two “lone votes” (votes for songs that no one else has voted for; precise average 1.78, or 32 “lone votes” from 18 voters).

High: 7 (Guitarmutt), 6 (Mr. J)
Low: 0 (Ullalume, James, GaryAlan, Passenger)

Number of “Top 20 Hits” Included in Personal “Top 20”
There are 15 “Top 20” hits, of which 12 have received votes. I must correct myself and note there are actually 3 “Top 20” hits that are not in anyone’s personal “Top 20”—the previously mentioned “It’s Going to Take Some Time” and “Sing”, but also “There’s A Kind of Hush (All Over the World").

Highest number of Top 20 hits in a personal “Top 20”: 10 (Ullalume, JBee, Barry)

A bunch of folks are at 9 and 8, as this one has a skewed distribution.

Lowest number: 2 (Geographer, Mr. J., John T.)

Songs from the 60s
Who has the most favorite songs from the early days?
4 (Guitarmutt), 3 (DM, Barry, Ninja)

Who has the least?
0 (MTaft, James, GaryAlan, Mr. J)

Songs from the 80s
Who has the most favorites from the later days?
6 (Geographer, John T.)

Who has the least?
0 (DM, Ninja)

Songs From 1969-73
Who has the most songs from the classic “on fire” years? (Horizon is not represented here, it’s in the 75-79 category)
18 (Ninja), 16 (DM), 15 (JBee, Barry)

Who has the least?
8 (Mr. J, John T.), 9 (Geographer, Song4Human)

The average progression for this (using four categories: 60s, 70-74, 75-79 and 80s) is as follows:

60s: 1.6 songs (8% of the top 20)
70-74: 11.1 songs (55%)
75-79: 4.8 songs (24%)
80s: 2.5 songs (13%)

So the average ballot has just under 2/3rds of its songs in the “early years” (60s, 70-74). Ninja and I are in the 80-90% range for this, while the lower end (represented by Mr. J, John T, Geographer, and Song4Human) is 40-45%.

Strong Trends in Favorite LPs
Only a few real clusterings here, with my own inordinate love for the Close to You LP still being the most stick-out-like-a-sore-thumb example (7 of that LP’s songs are in my Top 20).

Less pronounced examples of this can be found for the A Song for You LP, where GaryAlan has 6 of its songs in his Top 20; James, JBee and Ninja have 5 in theirs. JBee also has 5 songs from the Tan LP in his Top 20.

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Hoping you find this worth the read and for those who haven’t voted, please consider doing so—we need you to get the Top 20 out of its logjam!

Most excellent analysis! Again, I find myself near the bottom (or out at least one standard deviation from the norm) in my selections.