Heard Carpenters

Did I mishear that??

British celebrity chef, Rick Stein, on his TV show, 'Rick Stein's Cornwall', was interviewing a dairy farmer who makes his own cheeses on his farm.

The dairy farmer, on adapting one his cheeses:- "We've not gone from The Cowpenters to ACDC. We've just turned up the palate".

Later, Rick Stein, tasting a milder sample of cheese:- "Mmmmmm! COWpenters!"

Rick Stein, at the end of the segment:- "I thoroughly enjoyed meeting (whatever his name was), with his wonderful descriptions of cheese!"
 
Just heard Home For The Holidays on our Christmas station in San Francisco at 10:20 or so. It ended a fantastic set of classic music from Bing to Nat Cole to Charlie Brown and the Grinch to Johnny Mathis. It was great. And this station plays a lot of the modern versions by pop stars and country stars etc. It was fantastic to just be immersed in those timeless voices for a stretch ending with our K&R!! 🎶🎶🎶🔥🔥🎉🎉😊😊
 
I had a rental car this past week for a few days while my car was in the shop for repairs. This rental had Sirius radio (I’ve never had that) I heard the Carpenters a few times on 70’s station. There were so many channels, well over a 100.

To my surprise they had quite a few Christmas stations and on one of them they played Merry Christmas Darling. I always listen to hear if it’s the original or the re-record. Sure enough it was the original. It sounded so good on radio. I don’t think I’ve heard the original on the radio for a long time. It was so nice.
 
They would be very smart to add the medley "The First Snowfall/Let it Snow" to their Christmas playlist - excellently arranged and performed combo and highly underrated and not often mentioned...
 
Here in the UK, Carpenters Merry Christmas Darling has been played a lot on Smooth Radio and Magic.
Heart radio have a channel called Heart Christmas and it's been on there.
Magic seem to be playing songs from Christmas Portrait regularly as I have also heard Sleigh Ride and literally just heard The Christmas song(Chestnuts...).
Magic Radio is all Christmas songs now.
 
I tuned in a few times to the local "Magic 107.7" in Orlando this season, and have never heard a Carpenters song. They are all Christmas this season and have played a lot of Carpenters in the past. So I went to their website and looked at their past 24 hours of songs and - no Carpenters.

I sent an email to their PD and have heard nothing - not that I expected any - I know how little weight and attention the emails get at a radio station. But I wanted to do "something".

Checked again days later, still nothing. They are an IHeart station and this probably doesn't bode well for the future. Still lots of Andy Williams and Burl Ives, but - no Carpenters.
 
...and the same holds true for Tampa's Mix 100.7. Another IHeart station - and no Carpenters!
 
"Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!" NPR radio news quiz show (Dec. 24, 2022) with live audience. During the program they play a soundbite of "Home For The Holidays." (Out of all possible covers for the song, they could've chosen from Perry Como, Pentatonix, and others...... but they chose Carpenters).

From transcript:
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS")
KAREN CARPENTER: (Singing) Oh, there's no place like home for the holidays.

If you want to listen to the whole program, it's approx at the 18:17 mark.

 
Thanks again for re-posting this, Harry (and for making the video)! It truly takes me back to hearing this song on AM Top 40 and pleading with my Mom to let me get the 45. I was 9 years old. I played the 45 so much that the grooves practically disintegrated.

Side note: I remember Richard stated in an interview that the one mix he liked the best out of all the mixes he created is the original mono version. And we can certainly hear why.
 
Thanks again for re-posting this, Harry (and for making the video)! It truly takes me back to hearing this song on AM Top 40 and pleading with my Mom to let me get the 45. I was 9 years old. I played the 45 so much that the grooves practically disintegrated.

Side note: I remember Richard stated in an interview that the one mix he liked the best out of all the mixes he created is the original mono version. And we can certainly hear why.
There’s so much going on dynamically in the arrangement and recording, that, the “mono” almost gives it a Spector-esque kind of feel. The timpani drum (played by percussionist Gary Coleman) really helps to accentuate that. In fact, a little too much so, that one will notice when comparing the ‘72 (album) mix with the ‘73 (single) remix, the timp was left out of the remix in spots, as it was a little more than was needed—particularly in the first chorus. I touched on this a little in the Legacy book discography.
 
Today, while riding around and tuning to an AM station in Lakeland, I heard "I Won't Last A Day Without You". It was the fast single mix. Sad, really, that I could tell that through the AM muck.
 
Yesterday while in the car listening to Sirius XM channel “The Blend,” they paused for a plug for Women’s History Month, which is typically then followed by two tracks by the same female artist. They played “It’s Going to Take Some Time” and “Top of the World,” both the single versions, not remixes. Awesome and very rare to hear Carpenters back to back!
 
While driving to the gym on Saturday (around Noon again, as last time), none other than 'Saturday' started playing on MeTV FM. I'm convinced it's in a regular rotation on Saturdays now because I've heard it 3 times over the last few months. About a month ago, it was followed by 'Up, Up And Away' by the Fifth Dimension. This time, it was followed by 'Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In'. Pretty cool!
 
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