I Believe You. No promotion

"Carpenters" had 10 tracks just like an album should. It's just that many of them are rather short. "Saturday" is 1:20. It's like an interlude time-wise, yet it's got enough of a form to be a full song. Four others are a bit over 2 minutes with the melody being the longest thing here.

Ed
The self-title album and even TTR & CTY still have influences of the sixties, with all their short tracks that are mostly in the 2 min mark with the high-end being around 3 flat. When you think of the Beach Boys and other 60s groups, most of there albums were around the 30 min mark for both sides.
 
If you look at the numerics (# of songs), as printed on the cd's, we have this:
13 songs, Offering
12, Close To You
10, Tan Album
13, A Song For You
15, Now & Then
10, Horizon
10, Hush
8, Passage
10, Made In America.

I did not receive the memo which told me that an album consists of "ten songs,"
no more, and no less ! ( "just as an album should." ?)
I have never "judged" an album by the number of songs, or the temporal length.
(I bolded the albums which are "ten songs" in length).
 
If you look at the numerics (# of songs), as printed on the cd's, we have this:
13 songs, Offering
12, Close To You
10, Tan Album
13, A Song For You
15, Now & Then
10, Horizon
10, Hush
8, Passage
10, Made In America.

I did not receive the memo which told me that an album consists of "ten songs,"
no more, and no less ! ( "just as an album should." ?)
I have never "judged" an album by the number of songs, or the temporal length.
(I bolded the albums which are "ten songs" in length).

It was a publishing thing mostly. Albums with 10 tracks give the buyer the most "bang for the buck" while keeping the publishing reasonable. That was the rule adhered to for many years. Of course, albums now regularly have many more to fill out a standard CD so that rule no longer applies.

Ed
 
As tomswift said, it was the custom of the times. Back in the earlier part of the 60s, when A&M was getting its start, virtually all albums had 12 tracks. This was sort of an unwritten industry standard. You'll find all sorts of arguments in the Beatles world about the American albums being a rip-off because they only had 12 songs. The British versions always went to 14 and it does indeed have to do with royalty payments on the songs.

As the Tijuana Brass phase was winding down, the albums started skimping on one song, but they did so with the inclusion of a slightly longer song to fill out the album. Herb's NINTH featured "Carmen", clocking in at 3:40. BEAT OF THE BRASS came next and had Herb's big vocal opus "This Guy's In Love With You" at just about 4:00. WARM had 11 tracks, and then THE BRASS ARE COMIN' returned to the 12-song format.

So at this point, 11 - OR 12 - tracks were the norm, depending on whether some songs were long enough to attempt to cover for the deficit.

This is when Carpenters began, and their first on the label had that big 13-track song listing - but two of them, "Invocation" and "Benediction" were really short bookends, and could be counted as just one song's worth of space on the album.

As the 70's wore on, albums naturally featured fewer and fewer tracks, as the songs were starting to get longer. Bigger productions, longer intros, made for the best fit of 10 songs per album, assuming standard lengths of around 3:30.

PASSAGE had some really long tracks with "On The Balcony.../...Argentina" eating up 8 minutes. Then "Calling Occupants..." occupied over 7 minutes of time on the second side. "B'wana..." used up over 5 minutes and bot "Man Smart..." and "...Fall In Love Again" were over 4 minutes each. So only 8 songs for that album seems generous in the amount of time it took to play.

I always felt that CARPENTERS (the tan album) was a bit short. But consider it in context. We'd already had their big debut of CLOSE TO YOU with a full 12 tracks. That was followed with a period of two big singles: "For All We Know" and "Merry Christmas, Darling". Yes, even though it was a Christmas song, it got airplay like a hit record in that Christmas period of 1970. Radio was different then. There were no all-Christmas stations. Most stations would filter in more and more Christmas songs as we got closer to December 25th. On the actual holiday, and perhaps Christmas Eve, some stations would go all-Christmas, but it was largely comprised of music from Percy Faith and other instrumental artists. It was designed to be background music for the Christmas parties and gatherings, usually with very limited commercial interruption.

But in the lead-up to that period, Carpenters' "Merry Christmas Darling" got significant airplay. It served as their next single at that time, and was played like a hit record.

When it came time to compile the next album in the middle part of 1971, it seemed kind of dumb to be placing a Christmas record in the middle of an album. So the powers that be decided to leave it off, rendering the CARPENTERS album with only 10 songs. I can just hear the back-and-forth as to whether to include the Christmas record on the album, with the counter argument that the Bacharach medley was actually 6 songs strung together occupying more than 5 minutes. Both of the big hit singles that were ushered in with and after the album were over 3½ minutes, so I guess the length of the album, fairly short, wasn't really a factor. But consider that if "Merry Christmas, Darling" had been included, that album would have clocked in at nearly 35 minutes - quite standard.
 
Albums in the 60s and even the early 70s tended to hover around the 30 minute mark. As the 70s went on and AOR became more popular, the total time on an album would stretch to 35-40 minutes, with some going over 40. Also in the 70s, the songs tended to be longer, so it was not uncommon to have four songs per side. (With the funk/soul/dance records of the day, it was not uncommon to have three or even two songs on a side.) But 8-10 songs seemed to be a good balance in the 70s and 80s.

I feel the CD ruined the album experience, as some artists suddenly felt they needed to pad out that additional space. So other than concept albums or live albums, which would often take up two LPs vs. one, the CDs became loaded with filler. IMHO it is really asking a lot of listeners to stay tuned into an album for more than the usual 40-45 minutes, and/or more than ten songs. (Anthology and compilation CDs are another story--load 'em up!)

BTW, the shortest A&M album I know if is Gino Vannelli's Crazy Life, which clocks in with nine tracks at 24 minutes long.
 
Sergio Mendes' early albums for A&M were all 10-track affairs and only run around 30 minutes each, some over some under. 10 tracks seemed standard for those Brasil '66 albums even though the tracks were all reasonably short.
 
I still remember being surprised in 2003 when the Beach Boys “Sounds Of Summer” compilation was released and had 30 tracks on 1 CD. Even for comps I was used to 20-21 tracks max for the Carpenters, but when you go back and look, most of the Beach Boys songs of the 60’s were like 1.5 or 2 minutes or there about in length. So at 2 minutes on average per track, you could get 30 tracks on a disc that could still hold about another 7 tracks or 14 minutes more.
 
Okay, full disclosure: I truly appreciated the joke @John Adam made at my expense. And then I thought that @Actorman was also humorously "busting my chops" with his last comment here. I didn't even make the connection about the actual writers of "I Believe You." Anyway, so glad to see much love given to this great and unexpected-at-the-time single!
 
Okay, full disclosure: I truly appreciated the joke @John Adam made at my expense. And then I thought that @Actorman was also humorously "busting my chops" with his last comment here. I didn't even make the connection about the actual writers of "I Believe You." Anyway, so glad to see much love given to this great and unexpected-at-the-time single!

Yeah guys sorry if I did offend anyone. When I'm on late, tired and punchy my "humor, or humour" gets even more out there. Remember I mean no harm to anyone. I come in peace. :)
 
I've enjoyed reading this thread and here's how I would like to sum it all up:

It seems to me that the lack of success of I Believe You was a combination of factors. 70% promotion and 30% selection. Anybody who is familiar with the music business knows that popular music audiences, for the most part, don't choose what they like. They are told what to like. There are few exceptions, and Carpenters were appreciated early on for the quality of their overall deal, from Karen's one in a quadrillion voice to Richard's selection, composition, arranging and production. They captured magic from Close to you through Horizon, when it was starting to fade due to them just not being 100% fresh anymore. I don't mean fresh in the ears of the audience, but personally fresh. They were sick and tired, and as a result, not up to par by the time Passages was being worked out. Everyone can agree on that.

They had a deal that was well promoted by A&M initially, and when people actually heard them, they said "OK" and locked right in with it. Sure, there were plenty of fans who became ride or die for Carpenters and their music, valuing every release. There are never enough of those (us), sadly, to sustain album sales on a major level. And the music business is a business. When sales start to fall off, other deals are pushed with that available advertising budget and resources. Carpenters had to take a back burner until they were able to either once again achieve greatness and go "viral" again or fade away.

We all waited with bated breath for each new release, praying for a return to glory, but life and the road were just too formidable of obstacles to overcome. It's one of those things that you just have to be a musician to fully understand. You're pushed to maintain a level of excellence regardless of your personal condition or level of well being. The only thing that drives you is knowing that if you stumble and fall, thousands of acts are waiting in the wings to pick up where you left off and leave you in the scrap heap. It's never too late to work nine-to-five.

So 1979 was around the corner and an album was in the works. Richard decided to drop I Believe You instead of Thank You For The Music, which was a poor choice IMHO. IBY was an album supporting single, while TYFTM could have stood on its own and kept them relevant for a little bit when the 1979 album didn't happen. They weren't getting the promo anyway because they just weren't cutting it lately due to well known reasons, but TYFTM was magic and we all know it, which is why we are clamoring for an official release, being forced to deal with the crappy VHS transfer of the Tonight Show performance. It's still better than nothing and gives us plenty of fuel to imagine an official track. Maybe it's the teasing of that video that makes us want it more. But I digress...

Poor single selection and different arrangement on IBY due to Richard's limited involvement is indicative of the reduced quality of their work due to their problems, with Karen being the exception because she always got the job done when she was singing due to her natural gift. Selection of songs for her solo album though were indicative of her personal problems causing her to not be able to capture that old magic, production wise, any more than Richard could at this point with Carpenters stuff. As much as we hate to admit it, they were creatively spent and needed a break, one that came too late.

And because of the lack of promotion, the single relied on die hard fans to push it through word of mouth, but the lukewarm "meh" response from the fan base was the final few nails in the coffin. I think that if Karen had survived that last hiatus, they would have come back strong in 1983-85 with the second Christmas album, an amazing cut of One Moment in Time, Something in Your Eyes, and plenty of other stuff that would have put them back on top of the pop music world in an era where ballads were still treasured among easy listening aficionados. Fans would have been excited and sales would have improved, though not to peak levels, because they just don't, and the promotion train would have cranked back up, this time promoting the veterans in the biz to a new generation, rather than the fresh new, innovative act.

The bottom line is that investment in anything requires believing in that thing. With A&M, the belief was fading, Alpert and Moss knowing first hand how the siblings were coming apart and hedging their investments accordingly. The other part of that investment that is required, once adequate resources are allocated, is the product, and R&K weren't in the shape to invest their best in the product. Richard less than Karen, because his talent was more acquired while Karen's was more natural. What we got, in IBY and the subsequent MIM, was a product that was invested in weakly, although the spirit was certainly willing on R&K's part. The flesh, however, was weak. A&M couldn't get 110% behind that if they wanted to stay in business.
 
By "well promoted by A&M initially" I mean after Offering, which is proof that they were more of a grassroots appeal group than a manufactured pop act like the Monkees, whose first album went to #1 before anyone had ever even heard it. Alpert had faith in them, backed them for a second go round with Close to You, and then got the promotion machine behind it when he saw their true potential.
 
I've enjoyed reading this thread and here's how I would like to sum it all up:

It seems to me that the lack of success of I Believe You was a combination of factors. 70% promotion and 30% selection. Anybody who is familiar with the music business knows that popular music audiences, for the most part, don't choose what they like. They are told what to like. There are few exceptions, and Carpenters were appreciated early on for the quality of their overall deal, from Karen's one in a quadrillion voice to Richard's selection, composition, arranging and production. They captured magic from Close to you through Horizon, when it was starting to fade due to them just not being 100% fresh anymore. I don't mean fresh in the ears of the audience, but personally fresh. They were sick and tired, and as a result, not up to par by the time Passages was being worked out. Everyone can agree on that.

They had a deal that was well promoted by A&M initially, and when people actually heard them, they said "OK" and locked right in with it. Sure, there were plenty of fans who became ride or die for Carpenters and their music, valuing every release. There are never enough of those (us), sadly, to sustain album sales on a major level. And the music business is a business. When sales start to fall off, other deals are pushed with that available advertising budget and resources. Carpenters had to take a back burner until they were able to either once again achieve greatness and go "viral" again or fade away.

We all waited with bated breath for each new release, praying for a return to glory, but life and the road were just too formidable of obstacles to overcome. It's one of those things that you just have to be a musician to fully understand. You're pushed to maintain a level of excellence regardless of your personal condition or level of well being. The only thing that drives you is knowing that if you stumble and fall, thousands of acts are waiting in the wings to pick up where you left off and leave you in the scrap heap. It's never too late to work nine-to-five.

So 1979 was around the corner and an album was in the works. Richard decided to drop I Believe You instead of Thank You For The Music, which was a poor choice IMHO. IBY was an album supporting single, while TYFTM could have stood on its own and kept them relevant for a little bit when the 1979 album didn't happen. They weren't getting the promo anyway because they just weren't cutting it lately due to well known reasons, but TYFTM was magic and we all know it, which is why we are clamoring for an official release, being forced to deal with the crappy VHS transfer of the Tonight Show performance. It's still better than nothing and gives us plenty of fuel to imagine an official track. Maybe it's the teasing of that video that makes us want it more. But I digress...

Poor single selection and different arrangement on IBY due to Richard's limited involvement is indicative of the reduced quality of their work due to their problems, with Karen being the exception because she always got the job done when she was singing due to her natural gift. Selection of songs for her solo album though were indicative of her personal problems causing her to not be able to capture that old magic, production wise, any more than Richard could at this point with Carpenters stuff. As much as we hate to admit it, they were creatively spent and needed a break, one that came too late.

And because of the lack of promotion, the single relied on die hard fans to push it through word of mouth, but the lukewarm "meh" response from the fan base was the final few nails in the coffin. I think that if Karen had survived that last hiatus, they would have come back strong in 1983-85 with the second Christmas album, an amazing cut of One Moment in Time, Something in Your Eyes, and plenty of other stuff that would have put them back on top of the pop music world in an era where ballads were still treasured among easy listening aficionados. Fans would have been excited and sales would have improved, though not to peak levels, because they just don't, and the promotion train would have cranked back up, this time promoting the veterans in the biz to a new generation, rather than the fresh new, innovative act.

The bottom line is that investment in anything requires believing in that thing. With A&M, the belief was fading, Alpert and Moss knowing first hand how the siblings were coming apart and hedging their investments accordingly. The other part of that investment that is required, once adequate resources are allocated, is the product, and R&K weren't in the shape to invest their best in the product. Richard less than Karen, because his talent was more acquired while Karen's was more natural. What we got, in IBY and the subsequent MIM, was a product that was invested in weakly, although the spirit was certainly willing on R&K's part. The flesh, however, was weak. A&M couldn't get 110% behind that if they wanted to stay in business.

Thanks for this well-thought-out view on the Carpenters career arc (expanding upon the initial question about IBY). I would agree that too much emphasis is perhaps placed on their "image" as a reason for their ultimate slide; while that played a role (and I have elsewhere backed that notion), it seems clear to me that it was at least as important that they were fighting illness, burnout, and creative fatigue. One example: In my opinion, we had the OK Chorale not because it was thought by Richard to be a great option; it was an option chosen to avoid the laborious process that Karen and Richard endured when layering in so many backing vocals of their own.

You said: "Anybody who is familiar with the music business knows that popular music audiences, for the most part, don't choose what they like. They are told what to like."

I've often heard this before, and continue to have difficulty in accepting it; at least, in the notion that evolving musical styles are not a product of artistic changes and decisions but rather somehow "induced" by the studios and their marketing arm, as though they decide what groups or styles of music will be popular. I'd like to know more about this view, and where it finds gravitas (almost certainly a different thread topic than this one). I can speak for myself and say that there's been lots of music over the years that may have been force-fed to me by popular radio stations; but if I didn't like it, I didn't listen; or buy it.
 
I can speak for myself and say that there's been lots of music over the years that may have been force-fed to me by popular radio stations; but if I didn't like it, I didn't listen; or buy it.

And yet I recall for myself, there have been many times over the years where a song gained popularity and I didn't like it. I'll give the example of "Me And Mrs. Jones" by Billy Paul. This first times it began to be played on the radio station I listened to, I absolutely hated it. This was one of those "Philly" records that nay or may not have had much success elsewhere, I don't know. But it was played endlessly - over and over - on my Philly radio station. After awhile, through constant repetition, it became almost unnoticeable to me, and then finally disappeared from the playlists.

Some years later, it got picked up as an oldie - and how good it was to hear again. I really like the song now - not to the point of running out and buying it, but it's like an old friend.
 
To be honest I never thought there version of TYFTM from the Tonight Show was very good. Authenticity comes to mind. I can understand Richard not wanting to record it, Karen sings it beautifully but no matter who sings it...it’s just a ABBA song and no one can sing it like ABBA. The last thing they needed in 1981 was to be a covers artist. The writing from Richard and JB had dried up. They needed a new direction and hit. Karen was on to something in 79/80.
 
And yet I recall for myself, there have been many times over the years where a song gained popularity and I didn't like it. I'll give the example of "Me And Mrs. Jones" by Billy Paul.

Just as a side note: Funny you should mention the song - I have been listening it as lately as today. The Dramatics version is my favourite though. I love the harmonies and the feeling in their version of the song.
 
I'd like to know more about this view, and where it finds gravitas (almost certainly a different thread topic than this one). I can speak for myself and say that there's been lots of music over the years that may have been force-fed to me by popular radio stations; but if I didn't like it, I didn't listen; or buy it.

A lot of pop acts come up this way, which is why I kinda lumped Carpenters in with that, due to them technically classified as pop, but with a major caveat. They were producing something that was pushing the envelope, rather than fitting into a cookie cutter mold. Initially, this led to quite a bit of a genuine following, which continued even though the general public (fueled in part by Rolling Stone Magazine) considered them uncool and too clean. They got the promo dollars from A&M because they ultimately sold records.

I also have a hard time believing that people can be told what to like, because I am also an independent thinker, but the general public for the most part will consume whatever is pushed on them hard enough. I like to cite the Monkees as a perfect example of this phenomenon, a group who went number one with their first album weeks before anyone had even heard it. If you're not familiar with their story, I highly recommend reading one of the books about them or watching the made for TV movie about how they started. Also, consider some of the manufactured groups of the 80's and 90's, such as the Spice Girls, Backstreet Boys, N'Sync and New Kids on the Block. I am a fan of none of this type of stuff, but countless millions are, and they are part of an entire package designed to create a fan frenzy. They take what the Beatles generated naturally and create it in an A&R office.
 
I think both TYFTM and IBY were the wrong choices for singles. Now, Where Do I Go From Here? would have been a winner in its place- I think. 20/20 Hindsight at best.
I adore that song myself and wonder how it would have done as a single at that time. That's the fickle art of selecting singles though. To be successful, it takes someone with a gift for knowing what will catch on. A lot of us think things should be singles because they appeal to us personally, but the rest of the public, and even other Carpenters fans, might not agree. But that's where promotion can help. Spin a record enough on the radio and people will acquire a taste for it and be won over within a few weeks.
 
I've enjoyed reading this thread and here's how I would like to sum it all up:

It seems to me that the lack of success of I Believe You was a combination of factors. 70% promotion and 30% selection. Anybody who is familiar with the music business knows that popular music audiences, for the most part, don't choose what they like. They are told what to like. There are few exceptions, and Carpenters were appreciated early on for the quality of their overall deal, from Karen's one in a quadrillion voice to Richard's selection, composition, arranging and production. They captured magic from Close to you through Horizon, when it was starting to fade due to them just not being 100% fresh anymore. I don't mean fresh in the ears of the audience, but personally fresh. They were sick and tired, and as a result, not up to par by the time Passages was being worked out. Everyone can agree on that.

They had a deal that was well promoted by A&M initially, and when people actually heard them, they said "OK" and locked right in with it. Sure, there were plenty of fans who became ride or die for Carpenters and their music, valuing every release. There are never enough of those (us), sadly, to sustain album sales on a major level. And the music business is a business. When sales start to fall off, other deals are pushed with that available advertising budget and resources. Carpenters had to take a back burner until they were able to either once again achieve greatness and go "viral" again or fade away.

We all waited with bated breath for each new release, praying for a return to glory, but life and the road were just too formidable of obstacles to overcome. It's one of those things that you just have to be a musician to fully understand. You're pushed to maintain a level of excellence regardless of your personal condition or level of well being. The only thing that drives you is knowing that if you stumble and fall, thousands of acts are waiting in the wings to pick up where you left off and leave you in the scrap heap. It's never too late to work nine-to-five.

So 1979 was around the corner and an album was in the works. Richard decided to drop I Believe You instead of Thank You For The Music, which was a poor choice IMHO. IBY was an album supporting single, while TYFTM could have stood on its own and kept them relevant for a little bit when the 1979 album didn't happen. They weren't getting the promo anyway because they just weren't cutting it lately due to well known reasons, but TYFTM was magic and we all know it, which is why we are clamoring for an official release, being forced to deal with the crappy VHS transfer of the Tonight Show performance. It's still better than nothing and gives us plenty of fuel to imagine an official track. Maybe it's the teasing of that video that makes us want it more. But I digress...

Poor single selection and different arrangement on IBY due to Richard's limited involvement is indicative of the reduced quality of their work due to their problems, with Karen being the exception because she always got the job done when she was singing due to her natural gift. Selection of songs for her solo album though were indicative of her personal problems causing her to not be able to capture that old magic, production wise, any more than Richard could at this point with Carpenters stuff. As much as we hate to admit it, they were creatively spent and needed a break, one that came too late.

And because of the lack of promotion, the single relied on die hard fans to push it through word of mouth, but the lukewarm "meh" response from the fan base was the final few nails in the coffin. I think that if Karen had survived that last hiatus, they would have come back strong in 1983-85 with the second Christmas album, an amazing cut of One Moment in Time, Something in Your Eyes, and plenty of other stuff that would have put them back on top of the pop music world in an era where ballads were still treasured among easy listening aficionados. Fans would have been excited and sales would have improved, though not to peak levels, because they just don't, and the promotion train would have cranked back up, this time promoting the veterans in the biz to a new generation, rather than the fresh new, innovative act.

The bottom line is that investment in anything requires believing in that thing. With A&M, the belief was fading, Alpert and Moss knowing first hand how the siblings were coming apart and hedging their investments accordingly. The other part of that investment that is required, once adequate resources are allocated, is the product, and R&K weren't in the shape to invest their best in the product. Richard less than Karen, because his talent was more acquired while Karen's was more natural. What we got, in IBY and the subsequent MIM, was a product that was invested in weakly, although the spirit was certainly willing on R&K's part. The flesh, however, was weak. A&M couldn't get 110% behind that if they wanted to stay in business.

TYFTM was a dud. anyone singing it sounded arrogant.
 
I'd love to know why so many fans seem to have a problem with the lyric "freckled little girl."

Harry
I always found it to be an endearing line, definitely from the perspective of a woman like Karen who had that innocent sweetness in the way she conveyed her hopes and dreams in a love song. A little sappy and cheesy? Sure. But then again, if we are being realistic, the cheese factor was pretty high at times with them, which as we know all too well, made it difficult for non ride or die fans to forgive.

I always pictured this song as something she would sing to the man she really truly fell head over heels for, *COUGHtomburrisCOUGH* not withstanding. You know, just bust out at the wedding reception with a microphone and bring the freakin house down, with not a dry eye anywhere in the place. I'm not gonna lie, I've had dreams about it being me, and that's something I would only share here at the nuthouse with my fellow loonies.:rotf:
 
I Believe You....is interesting, in that Dorothy Moore's single release scored much better on the charts (only on the Easy
Listening chart did the duo's version place higher than Moore's---but that might not amount to much in terms of sales).
Personally, I prefer Carpenters' version. However, on the whole the song is a sleeper for me (I do like the drum break, though).

Now, to read Wiki, the poor showing is attributed to the absence of an album release in 1978 to coincide with the single release.
However, I believe that that explanation is entirely beside the point. The song itself is the problem.
To be sure, the song makes a pleasant-enough album cut, it is simply not cut out to be a "hit" pop single.
Quite frankly I am surprised that it was released as a single at that time.
Unfortunately, I am not informed as to the technical aspects of music, but there is something about the song that
has never set right with me (excluding lyric). That is, I recall hearing it in 1978 on the radio and from first-listen
I knew it would bomb. But, I can not describe why that is.
On the other hand, I felt that the three singles from Passage would do well, so what do I know !
 
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