Carpenters "Top Of The World" in "Dark Shadows" movie

Status
Not open for further replies.
J

jukeboxexpress

Member
In the new "Dark Shadows" movie released last weekend, they used the Carpenters' "Top Of The World" song . The funny thing is that it is the CSG-Haeco stereo version, just like on the original promo 45. I thought that master would have been trashed years ago.
 
I'm not familiar with this version....what is different? And does that version appear on the soundtrack album?
 
Don't know about the album - it's disappeared from Amazon!

Earlier, I'd linked to the page and made the comment that it sounded like the original album version of the song to me, but now, all that's up there is the Elfman score album and a very expensive import. Looks like it was withdrawn for some reason.

Oh, and "CSG" refers to a processing used on some A&M albums and singles from the late sixties into the early seventies. It shifts the phasing so as not to have a cancelling effect in mono - which it does, at the expense of basically ruining the stereo. Some of the Carpenters promo singles had CSG processing, some didn't.

Harry
 
I just saw "Dark Shadows" yesterday. And it pleased me that "Top of the World" was played in its entirety during the film. So it was prominently featured in the trailer and in a pivotal scene. In addition, the Carpenters were mentioned in the dialogue. I, of course, felt compelled to sit through the entire credits to see the song listed, written by Richard Carpenter and John Bettis and performed by the Carpenters. To see those credits on a big screen in 2012 is satisfying indeed, and the sentiments of this upbeat Carpenters' song pervaded my being. :)
 
The CSG-Haeco process, as used in several of the Carpenters promotional 45's and on A&M commercial 45 #1236-S "Merry Christmas Darling"/"Mr. Guder", to the ear, sounds like the wide-stereo that was prevelent in the early days of stereo. In modern times, it is similar to when they take a stereo recording and convert it to 5.1 surround.

As far as "Top Of The World" is concerned, while stuck sitting near the front watching the movie, the CSG recording was very obvious as Karen's voice was split , out of phase, into two channels on either side of the screen.

Maybe they didn't use the best sources for music in honor of the original TV series which was known to play records during live taping for music and sound effects.

Also of note, in part of the "Dark Shadows" movie, when they are watching TV, guess who is on the screen? Karen Carpenter, in all her glory!

Through many different searches, the only soundtrack album that is available is of the score. Evidently, they didn't want to have to pay the royalties to put out a various artists soundtrack album. Oh, well. I guess that I'll just have to make up my own.
-Dan S.
 
There are other threads here devoted to CSG processing. Basically, it was a phase twister, taking whatever info was in both channels (center channel - lead vocal), and shifting the phase so that one side was 45 degrees out of phase with the other. The purpose was to prevent radio stations who were wired out of phase from playing the song and having the center channel disappeared entirely - something that actually happened in those early days of stereo radio. What would happen is the FM radio stations were rightfully proud of their stereo status and would monitor their station only in stereo, thus being unaware that their signal was eliminating lead vocal channels on all of those MONO radios out there in listener-land.

The record companies, A&M unfortunately included, developed CSG as a way of combating the problem, IMHO, a cure that was worse than the disease.

Harry
 
Thanks Harry! Now it finally all comes together for me on the phasing of CSG. In the early-60's AMI introduced "Stereo Round" on their jukeboxes. They had a single forward-facing large woofer and two tweeters, one on each of the cabinet's sides. The key to their system was that the stereo cartridge was wired out of phase. A center weighted mix of a stereo record would lose the center effect on those jukes. Seeing as how stereo 45's were gone by 1962 and wouldn't appear again until around 1968, the AMI jukes wouldn't have much of a problem for years.
-Dan S.
 
One slight inaccuracy in the movie - it's set it 1972, at which time only the album version of "Top" had been released. The mix in the movie is a 1973 remix (in whatever form it appears - my ears wouldn't pick anything more than the mix).
 
The Carpenters had been performing "Top Of The World" in concerts before it became a hit in 1973. For a live performance as shown on the television, it very well could have fit into the movie set in 1972, althought a bit premature. The original single has a "P"-date of 1973. In 1973, there were several different mixes or presentations of this song: CSG-Haeco promotional 45 version with a mono version(go figure, I thought that CSG eliminated this need) on the flip, regular stereo 45 version, the LP "Carpenters 1969-1973" with an SQ-encoded Quad version and the discrete quad 8-track tape of the album. Then there were all the other "remixes" that Richard did with subsequent re-releases down the road in different compilation albums. In fact, the "hit" version of 1973, used in the movie, was not a remix of the hit, but Karen's vocal re-recorded because Richard felt the 1972 version wasn't good enough.
Oh, Yes, the original series was cancelled in 1971.
As in many movies, the person in charge of continuity messed up. Maybe this person could have been considered incontinent?
Dan S.
 
I wonder what they had to pay to use it in the film...remember that they had to pay a huge amount to use it is "Shrek"...
 
Seeing as how they also used a Carpenters video, I'll bet Richard will be raking it in for quite a while. Not trying to be morbid, but just funny, maybe he'll have enough to add another room onto Karen's mausoleum.
 
Kinda off subject but not thread, I am glad RC has such a tight (albeit $$$ driven) control over the C's tunes and their use. How many more great songs can we hear raped over the airwaves to promote some God awful product?! Too many come to mind to list but, as an artist, a musical creation must mean more than a gooey cinnamon roll or eRectile dysfunction. Obviously its all about the $$ involved and the representation. I am glad RC has the controls here.
How many squirrelly products can you think of to disfigure your image of a great CarpenterS tune???
 
Link below is by far the oddest use of a Carpenters tune in a commercial that I've come across. Strongly recommend not watching if you don't like dark humor or do like rodents.

 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar discussions

Rudy
  • Sticky
  • Article
📜 Feature 2024 AXPONA Show Report
Replies
0
Views
52
Rudy
Rudy
Rudy
  • Article
📜 Feature Rudy's 2023 Records of the Year, Part 1
Replies
9
Views
2K
Electroliner
E
Harry
🎄 Holidays! Really? Another ¡SOMETHING FESTIVE! thread?
2
Replies
27
Views
794
rockdoctor
R
Rudy
  • Article
📜 Feature Rudy's 2023 Records of the Year, Part 2--Vinyl Reissues and Record Crawls
Replies
0
Views
279
Rudy
Rudy
Rudy
  • Sticky
  • Article
📜 Feature Cataloging a collection in Discogs
Replies
9
Views
2K
Sabatini
S
Back
Top Bottom