Favourite Moments over the past 20 years

[WYBIMLA]

A lot is to be said about the 'Golden Years' in the early 70s and of course right up until the early 80s of the Carpenters marvellous recordings.
Even Post-humous records of the 1980s have had their fair share of threads, reviews and commentary.
Transitioning into the 90s there's still milestones and exciting releases left to be seen from the Carpenters (meaning Richard is still half of the duo and handling the legacy).

As time went by, there is a stark contrast between the heyday of Carpenters in the 20th century, and what is discussion of The Carpenters in the 2000s, 2010s and 2020s so far.
It is harder to have discussion solely on the Carpenters releases or projects in the 21st century for obvious reasons. These decades may not carry the same level of excitement as decades past. Bitter-sweet, but still the music plays on.

For the purposes of this thread, I thought it'd be interesting to try to do so anyways.

Share some of your favourite moments from the past 20 some years.

For the 2000s:

I'd say obviously 'As Time Goes By' is an absolute favourite coming into the 21st century. Great way to come into a new century.
It is a potpourri of songs, but the quality is superb and well worth the effort.
Much gratitude to Rich for completing it.

Next is 'Carpenters Perform Carpenter' because the original songwriting definitely needs to be highlighted. And there they all are organized in a satisfying way.
I think it's one of the best things out of the 2000s for Carpenters.

As for compilations, their Gold release is fabulous as is '40/40' and SACD. For singles or hit songs collection it doesn't get much better than that.

There were some good documentaries that decade as well like 'The Carpenters story: Only Yesterday' and 'The Carpenters Close to You.'
Also, really nice TV special in 2009 'Celebrating the Carpenters.'

An honourable mention was the excitement swirling on fan boards about the mythical Christmas album produced by Richard Carpenter that never came to be.
In some odd way, it was a good decade to be a Carpenters fan with the amount of media on TV, Radio and the internet that was all about KC and RC.

For the 2010s:

And now I'm going to switch my format here a bit so I don't bore readers too much. There's likely more things to mention, but just these come to my mind as some highlights or favourites moments of mine.

-Little Girl Blue book
-The complete singles collection
-Re-issued Vinyl collection
-Goodbye to Love Karen Carpenter story
-Podcast appearances by Rich
-RPO
-YouTube videos of people reacting to The C's for the 1st time

There was a lot of hype around a few documentaries that did re-enactments of the duo and that was of interest as a fan, but
The RPO album probably takes the cake out of the whole decade. That's my opinion with all things considered.

The 2020s so far:

Carpenters Musical Legacy book and the discussion surrounding it was nice to see, and Rich's songbook was such a great surprise.
Even to hear him back on radio interviews and such is fantastic.
Those a going to be treasured moments. That Rich and family playing 'Top of the World' for Oscar winners. haha

Hmm there's not that much else as a highlight only because it's still early in this decade, but we've only just begun.

I feel there might be something more to come down the pipeline for The Carpenters. I can only hope for some of the rumoured follow up projects to take shape.
Like the RPO treatment of Christmas songs, second songbook album or finally seeing the new official website that's been in the making for the past 20 years.

Anyhow, that does it for some of my favourite moments of the 21st century for Carpenters. How about you? Feel free to be as long winded or succinct as you'd like.

 

[Harry]

Briefly, my favorite moments of the past 23 years are:

Finding this forum. (1997, but I'll count it.)
AS TIME GOES By from Japan and later US.
The 35th box set from Japan.
The singles box set from Japan.
The singles package from Public Broadcasting.
The DVDs that were also released.
The RPO.
The Carpenters Legacy book.

and, finally getting the Carpenters Complete Recording Resource online.

 

[WYBIMLA]

Briefly, my favorite moments of the past 23 years are:

Finding this forum. (1997, but I'll count it.)
AS TIME GOES By from Japan and later US.
The 35th box set from Japan.
The singles box set from Japan.
The singles package from Public Broadcasting.
The DVDs that were also released.
The RPO.
The Carpenters Legacy book.

and, finally getting the Carpenters Complete Recording Resource online.

I really like that. The Japan connection is really great as well. It's funny how people in North America have to order from Japan for some of the best Carpenters stuff. And of course I used the resource from this site as a reference for this thread among others.
When looking at it, there's surprisingly been a considerable amount of activity the past 20 some years.
There's still be a whole lot of life happening in the 21st century for Carpenters.
I look forward to others replies too.

 

[Mark-T]

There's been more this past 20 years than I thought!

Just to mention a few: As Time Goes By and the RPO album.
Of course, the Musical Legacy book.
But personally, me being interviewed for a part of Randy's "Carpenters: Illustrated Discography" book was a personal high.

 

[John Tkacik]

In addition to everything that has been mentioned above, I would also add that fans were able to get together for a 50th anniversary celebration in 2019.

 

[downeypatriot]

If the new documentary about Karen (Starving for Perfection) ever gets a wider release, maybe on Netflix or Hulu, that would probably be a highlight for me for the 2020's....

 

[newvillefan]

If the new documentary about Karen (Starving for Perfection) ever gets a wider release, maybe on Netflix or Hulu, that would probably be a highlight for me for the 2020's....

I think it will eventually, I’m looking forward to seeing it over here.

 

[adamj95]

Since becoming a fan in the mid 2010’s, i’d definitely say the RPO album. I never thought i’d get to see a brand new album since becoming a fan so late so I was so happy for that album to be made. Plus the Musical legacy book coming out. What we fans continue to get treated to even in 2023, over 40 years now since Karen’s passing is beyond amazing. I’m on the young side so I wasn’t around during their prime so to still be getting new material is awesome.

 

[WYBIMLA]

Since becoming a fan in the mid 2010’s, i’d definitely say the RPO album. I never thought i’d get to see a brand new album since becoming a fan so late so I was so happy for that album to be made. Plus the Musical legacy book coming out. What we fans continue to get treated to even in 2023, over 40 years now since Karen’s passing is beyond amazing. I’m on the young side so I wasn’t around during their prime so to still be getting new material is awesome.

Agreed. It is amazing to see. I got hooked sometime in the early 2000s, and joined fan boards sometime around 2007-2008. I was still in high school around the time of the early internet activity surrounding Carpenters. I tried a few social media fan groups, but then joined this one a bit later (almost 10 years ago now). There's something about the message boards that I find social media can't replace. Not sure what that is. Feels a bit more forgiving than what social media is. You get to spend a little more time with the boards and focus on the subject which is fantastic to still have.

There's been a little something released each decade for our fav duo which is really nice and contrary to what many of us believed. By the mid-2010s, it was compilation city. There wasn't a fan anywhere I saw that thought we'd get anything more, and how could we ask for anything more?
New releases have been wonderful to see! A complete surprise and it's nice to witness Richard enjoying the legacy as well.

Fans have been encouraging releases probably since the late 1980s. Definitely throughout the 90s and 2000s. Lots of fantasy playlists and ideas for releases.
Just when most of us thought it was all finished, and dug through as many gems and treasures that can be found there was something else waiting in the wings. Somehow we keep getting an answer to our wishes, hopes and desires to simply celebrate such fine music.

I think it's really the fans that keeps it going. Might sound cliche, but it's true. I mean, there still is general public interest in the Carpenters of course, but they are one of the best selling artists of all time and have a strong fan base that's always been there.

For me, it's been about 20 years and others have been there 40 or 50 years. Goes to show how wide reaching KC and RC are. Not that many artists can say they span across generations like that.
It'll be younger fans just like you that will still have a vote in the retail market. It is the fans still willing to buy it, watch it, hear it, share it, read about it and that activity sends a message that there is still interest in hearing authentic, genuine music from the heart.

Karen would've loved it. She'd have been ecstatic and likely would've been all over social media just sharing her love for people still digging the music.
I can imagine it now. The joy radiating from her eyes. She'd be so happy to have shared her life and music for people, and be part of the soundtrack for their special moments in life.

I hope that there's still more to come. And even if there isn't, then it'll be younger fans that'll be around to share enthusiasm for what will be something like their 75th Anniversary. That's many years off from now, but still... these things don't celebrate themselves, so there's still gonna be a need for their to be fans around to talk and share their stories and enjoy the music and memories. ✨

 

[LongAgo]

"

I think it will eventually, I’m looking forward to seeing it over here.

I had hopes the documentary would have been picked up for streaming during the recently ended strikes in HOLLYWOOD. Streaming services and networks were scrambling for content trying to keep audiences entertained. Now with the strikes over and overall production is about to start once again, odds are further against a deal for the documentary. While WE are all interested in the subject, there seems to be caution on taking the chance of the quality and the over all public interest for it to be profitable. This year was the perfect time to make a deal if one was to be had. It's sad.

 

[rbisherw]

1. Discovering Marty Stuart through his "Pilgrim" release in 2000.

2. Rediscovering my love of audio with continuous and significant upgrades from 2000 to last week.

3. Purchasing the import Universal SHM CD replica sleeve releases of Fresh Air, Those Were the Days, Offering and Carpenters. (wish I purchased more.)

4. Thankful for the Herb Alpert (solo and TJB) and John Barry (007soundtrack) reissues on CD.

I can probably this of others, but these easily come to mind.

 

[Carl]

Being a young fan who only discovered the carpenters in 2005 I’m limited 😂 my favourite moments would have to be

The Musical Legacy book which is a treasured item in my collection.

Randy Schmidt’s Little Girl Blue and Illustrated Discography

Carpenters with the RPO. I was thrilled when I saw a new Carpenters album released after all these years

The 2016 Karen Carpenter drama Goodbye to Love which I think of as a movie

Karen Carpenter : Starving For Perfection documentary. Having seen this amazing documentary I’m so glad Karen’s legacy and story is being told so future generations can enjoy and discover her amazing voice

 

[Without A Song]

One of my favorite Carpenters moments over the past 20 years was the release in 2016 of the DVD "Carpenters Christmas Memories." It contains not only clips from their TV holiday specials featuring songs they included in their Christmas albums and CDs but also the only official releases of "Make Me Laugh" and "Christmas Alphabet." Hopefully they'll both end up on a CD someday, too.

 

[JohnFB]

In addition to much of the above it was the GOLD album...

After having been away from Carpenter's music for many years - listening to mostly Jazz, Smooth Jazz, Blues and even Classical - it was this album that brought me back to them, and in a big way.

And I have to thank my wife. Somewhere back in the 2010s she asked me to get her some CDs of 60s & 70s Pop music to play in her new used car and among some other greatest hits albums by various artists the GOLD album was found & purchased.

It arrived. I listened to it. Then I listened to it repeatedly. It was quite some time until my wife actually got to hear it in her car. I had forgotten how much I had enjoyed their music back in the day, and fell in love again - especially Richard's ingenious arrangements and, of course, Karen's beautiful and compelling voice.

Other CDs followed, and I discovered their music videos on YouTube. It was not only great to see & hear them here, but to read the many comments that people from all over the world were making about their music & especially Karen's voice. These were not only almost all positive, but many of them were raving, bordering on adoration. It was, and still is, very "moving" because I've come to feel the same way myself. Now, I'm addicted to that voice and must hear it every day!

Then I discovered this Forum. The ride here has been a little "bumpy" at times but overall very informative and satisfying. I just hope the number of people here that I've possibly informed or entertained or maybe even made think twice about certain issues slightly exceeds the number I've angered or irritated- it could be close...