Carpenters UK Radio Shows

[Billy Rees]

Hi,

I've been uploading to my Youtube channel a load of Radio interviews from the UK, most of which were kindly sent by @Tom_P

I'm pretty sure a few of them have never been available online before.

Here's links to them all...







Karen Carpenter Interview - Capital Radio - 1978

Karen Carpenter Interview - The David Hamilton Show - BBC Radio 2 - 1978

Carpenters - Radio London - Live Interview with Tony Blackburn - 22nd October 1981

Carpenters - Capital Radio - Live Interview with Michael Aspel - 23rd October 1981

The Carpenters at Christmas - Radio Clyde - 26th December 1981

The Carpenters: A Tribute - Capital Radio - 2nd March 1983

 

[newvillefan]

I’m travelling to Manchester early tomorrow so will listen to the 1981 interviews on the train, I’ve wanted to hear these for years! Thanks Billy for the uploads.

 

[Billy Rees]

I’m travelling to Manchester early tomorrow so will listen to the 1981 interviews on the train, I’ve wanted to hear these for years! Thanks Billy for the uploads.

I hope you enjoy them and have a safe journey to Manchester!

 

[ullalume]

Wow....thanks so much Billy.

 

[PaulinUK]

Yeah thanks very much for sharing these Billy, they are fantastic.

 

[ullalume]

Just listened to all. To have the material and share it is so nice of you billy. This is singularly the biggest carpenters event since the legacy book.

Thanks dude

Neil

 

[A&M Retro]

Agreed, Neil! I was just thinking the same thing. Thanks, Billy. You are a godsend! These interviews are so rare, priceless and cool.

Bob

 

[newvillefan]

I’ve listened through a few of these today, they’re really superb. Tony Blackburn seemed very excited to meet them, he fired questions at them like a machine gun . The Michael Aspel interview was even better, thanks to his calm and relaxing interviewing technique (he’s just as good as a TV chat show host). Bit of a cringe moment right at the opening though, when he asked where they’d been for the last three years. That’s at least twice during their UK visit they were asked that question. As usual, they papered over the cracks

Richard mentioned at one point during the Aspel interview that they “cut a lot more tracks than made the final album”. Most of the time, when artists say that, it always makes me hungry to hear what was recorded but not released. How lucky we are now that we have since heard many of those tracks on subsequent releases, which doesn’t happen with a lot of artists.

One that I didn’t notice initially in the list of links was the 1983 tribute - a broadcast I’ve never even heard of before. Really beautifully done by UK DJ Roger Scott.

What unexpected treats we’ve had, thank you again Billy!

 

[Billy Rees]

Thank you all for your very kind words of appreciation, I'm so glad you enjoyed listening to the radio interviews.

I wouldn't have been able to share them without the generosity of @Tom_P and another fan Tony Elflain sending them to me...
Huge thanks to those guys too.

 

[ullalume]

So I'm guessing the 26th Dec 1981 Christmas commentary is one of the last radio interviews they did.

 

[newvillefan]

So I'm guessing the 26th Dec 1981 Christmas commentary is one of the last radio interviews they did.

I’ve not listened all the way through so not sure if there are any clues as to a recording date, but it was probably done during their UK promotional tour in October 1981. It wasn’t “phoned in” from the US, they’re in the studio for this interview.

 

[Billy Rees]

In the David Hamilton interview with Karen from 1978 he plays Calling Occupants and afterwards says "Karen Carpenter was doing a beautiful harmony with that..." Can you imagine sitting there listening to her? How fantastic would that have been!

 

[Billy Rees]

Found another interview which I thought was already online, but can't seem to find it anywhere! So uploaded it to my channel...

 

[Portlander]

Tom Burris was such a fraud. It was 1981, 12 top ten hits and 5 television specials to their credit and he was not familiar with the Carpenters and their music, right!

 

[Late2theParty]

Billy, thanks so much for ALL you put on your channel. I'm going do a thread with my story, but let me say that people like you have allowed a "newby" like me get up to speed so quickly. People rank on "social media" all the time but I believe, like most things, it's how you use it. I have found that Carpenters fans have done a great job keeping the legacy going. Billy, your work is really appreciated!

 

[Billy Rees]

Billy, thanks so much for ALL you put on your channel. I'm going do a thread with my story, but let me say that people like you have allowed a "newby" like me get up to speed so quickly. People rank on "social media" all the time but I believe, like most things, it's how you use it. I have found that Carpenters fans have done a great job keeping the legacy going. Billy, your work is really appreciated!

Hi, I'm so pleased to know that the work I've put in over the years is appreciated. Thank you so much for the post and for your very kind words. Looking forward to reading your story and how you discovered their music...