"I Need to Be in Love" - a mistake as the second single from AKOH?

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"Goofus" was about three years too late as a single. If it had been out in 73-74 when the Tony Orlando & Dawn Ragtime stuff was hitting it might have worked but even then it probably wouldn't have been a million seller or top ten pop.

The songs picked for AKOH by Richard seem to me like an overreaction to his saying "Horizon" was too draggy. Most everything was mid tempo and lyrically light. "Ordinary Fool" passed over for Goofus? The album could have used one or two more songs like Fool to break up the sunny but inconsequential lyrical vibe of most of the material save INTBIL or One More Time.

I think this nails my problem with the album. I used to think it was too ballad-y, but I love ballads (heck the Carpenters' "Rainy Days", "We've Only Just Begun", and "Close to You" are some of my favorite songs period). I love Horizon as well, even if it is "draggy". By contrast, AKOH comes off as too MOR (that dreaded phrase), many of the songs in the same tempo, many of the songs of the same type. And the songs that are different from that template- say the uptempo "Breaking Up is Hard to Do" (an unnecessary cover) are below par in my view. It also may be why MIA is my least favorite Carpenters album - too many songs with a similar sound.

I must say that the Insights And Sounds Blog has the best review of the Hush album I have ever encountered.
Of everything said there, I particularly agree that Karen's vocals are the "thing' that makes this album a delight.
Of course, I might clarify that the Master Karaoke of I Need To Be In Love--while still lacking the lead--has all
of the elements of a great Carpenters' ballad.

Now, I'm torn between One More Time and I Need To Be In Love--would the former have done any better on the Charts ?
Would the slow-burn, jazzy- version of Breaking Up Is Hard To Do have been an even better recording opportunity ?
When one considers that possibility coupled with Ordinary Fool, the reception of the Album might have fared better in the public forum.
And, if Herb Alpert had heard Ordinary Fool--at that time--would he not have urged its placement on the Album ?

Would any of the above changes really mattered in mid-1976 ?
My gut-feeling is that it would not have mattered regarding sales or charting position.

I think overall it might not have changed anything in 1976 but for the album's legacy, a few changes might have made it hold up better. I'm not saying the album bad or even average, but its no Horizon and it doesn't have the experimental, let's try something new feel of Passage either. Replace "Goofus" with "Ordinary Fool", replace the uptempo "Breaking Up is Hard to Do" with the ballad version (and Karen is a better more soulful singer than Sedaka, she would would have knocked it out of the park), then with no "Goofus", release INTBIL as the THIRD single off the album (since it meant so much to the duo personally), and then pick either "You" or "I Can't Smile" as the second single (I don't think either would have done WORSE than #25 on the charts). Just those three changes and the whole album and its standing in the Carpenters oeuvre is dramatically improved to my mind.

I have no problem with the sound or with Karen's vocals, for me they are the highlight of the entire album, though I agree with you that anyone who doesn't think her physical problems affected her voice may be delusional (though that line that her voice never changed is often repeated even today), I never noticed it in this album - though I did on MIA - but the lack of the earlier verve and power from 69-73, and the choice of softer songs, could be a direct result of them recording the album when she was recovering from a complete collapse and not being able to belt out another "Superstar".

It's interesting that this discussion has gone more into the defects (or non-defects for some) of the album. My view on it is this, if there had been stronger song choices by RC and stronger cuts on the album, they would not have led off with a so-so cover song ("A Kind of Hush"), followed by an excellent, but overproduced ballad (INTBIL) followed by..."Goofus" (no defending that one). I don't think "Goofus" would even have made it onto any of their 70-73 albums. Just think how A Song for You was so stacked with great songs that they were able to pluck one from it "I Won't Last A Day Without You" and release it as #11 single TWO years later. Or the discussion we've had in earlier threads about "A Place to Hideaway", which was just a regular album cut on the tan album, but is so strong that it probably would have been the lead single had it been on AKOH.
 
...Replace "Goofus" with "Ordinary Fool", replace the uptempo "Breaking Up is Hard to Do" with the ballad version (and Karen is a better more soulful singer than Sedaka, she would would have knocked it out of the park), then with no "Goofus", release INTBIL as the THIRD single off the album (since it meant so much to the duo personally), and then pick either "You" or "I Can't Smile" as the second single (I don't think either would have done WORSE than #25 on the charts). Just those three changes and the whole album and its standing in the Carpenters oeuvre is dramatically improved to my mind...

JBee, I want you to know that I have read (and enjoyed) your insightful analysis throughout. And even if we might disagree on some points, the portion I have excerpted here, showing your suggestions for dramatic improvement of the album, are wonderful! I especially like your suggestion of Karen singing the slower version of "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do." Wouldn't that have been a joy to hear!...
 
JBee, I want you to know that I have read (and enjoyed) your insightful analysis throughout. And even if we might disagree on some points, the portion I have excerpted here, showing your suggestions for dramatic improvement of the album, are wonderful! I especially like your suggestion of Karen singing the slower version of "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do." Wouldn't that have been a joy to hear!...

Thank you, James. And I will acknowledge that some of the defenders of the album here have made me reevaluate it. I used to rank it just above MIA (which I never listen to), but now think it better than Lovelines and almost on par with Voice of the Heart (an album that ALSO consists of good melodies, listenable more than once songs and some of Karen's best vocals - but no instant radio/chart hits) I do like most of the songs on AKOH - its just 2 or 3 that turn the album, for me, from great to merely so-so.

I still also think that if the C's had taken 1976 off we could have had something great. Give Karen all the time she needed to recover from her health issues, perhaps put less pressure on RC (and thus less of a need for sleeping pills). Then in 1977 we still have the Passage LP, but it has a great kick-off song ("All You Get from a Love Song") with an audience that hasn't heard new material from the C's in over a year, and the best tracks on AKOH (INTBIL, "You", "One More Time", even "I Can't Smile") would have been put on Passage, replacing lesser fare like "Man Smart, Women Smarter" and filling out what was an under-tracked album. Critics might then have regarded Passage as a true come-back and on par with their earlier 70-73 (and Horizon) LPs (as it is I already love Passage, except for it being only 8 tracks - one and a half of which are the execrable "Man Smart" and the instrumental "Casa Rosada" part of "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina")
 
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^^Excellent discussion, JBee !
Every so often I step back and re-evaluate the Albums.
The only significant change throughout the Years (from first hear in the 1970's until Now)
is that Made In America goes up, but, the Tan Album goes down.
I note that what I consider to be a weak song, that is, "Sandy"
occurs on almost as many cd titles (14) than One More Time(6) , I Have You (4) and You (5) combined !
The later three being much better songs (IMHO) than the former.
Therefore, I have never taken the so-called pill-addiction seriously reasononing
for Album Hush's faults--whatever those faults may be.
 
And, we also read Richard's thoughts regarding I Need To Be In Love:
"To be frank, I always felt the song, performance, and arrangement were strong and commercial,
and was a bit perplexed when, in the U.S., it peaked only at #25."
 
And, we also read Richard's thoughts regarding I Need To Be In Love:
"To be frank, I always felt the song, performance, and arrangement were strong and commercial,
and was a bit perplexed when, in the U.S., it peaked only at #25."

It's worth remembering that this is the same Richard Carpenter who, knowing he and his sister had an image problem, recorded "Goofus", included it on the same album and then okayed its release as a single.

Richard had tremendous commercial instincts five years earlier. By 1976, they were gone. It was his equivalent to Herb Alpert losing his lip in '69. It took massive life changes over the next four years for Herb to get it back. Richard would have benefited from some time off and some re-evaluation. I'm sure Herb (tremendous human that he is) tried to help. But apart from Herb, K&R didn't have a lot of people rooting for them within A&M.
 
Most fans will remember with great affection the singles and albums released from 1969-1973. It produced an amazing catalogue of hits, and laid the foundations for a brilliant musical legacy. If you consider the recordings made from 1975-1981, although the mega hits were not there, the actual quality of work recorded was of a better performance. Karen was vocally producing a refined style that no one else could match, and that is what made them so recognisable. That period from 1975-1981 was so productive in musical terms, it spawned five TV specials, an amazing collection of Christmas songs, a sell-out appearance in 1976 at the London Palladium which I witnessed and can verify that Karen's vocals had not been affected negatively by health issues, in fact, Karen filled the Palladium with an amazing vocal capability and energy that I will never forget.
 
^^Excellent discussion, JBee !
Every so often I step back and re-evaluate the Albums.
The only significant change throughout the Years (from first hear in the 1970's until Now)
is that Made In America goes up, but, the Tan Album goes down.
I note that what I consider to be a weak song, that is, "Sandy"
occurs on almost as many cd titles (14) than One More Time(6) , I Have You (4) and You (5) combined !
The later three being much better songs (IMHO) than the former.
Therefore, I have never taken the so-called pill-addiction seriously reasononing
for Album Hush's faults--whatever those faults may be.

I agree that all 3 are better than "Sandy", sometimes I wonder about the choices made in some compilations. As for the "pill-addiction" reasoning I wonder if that is how Richard (and others) now explain dubious choices he (and Karen) seemed satisfied with when they were occurring (in one radio interview during the late 70s RC actually says he's proud of everything that has been released I believe and this was post-AKOH). I'm not sure I accept it either. The directly post-AKOH albums (Christmas Potrait and Passage) still show evidence of great producing/arranging from RC and some excellent song choices, yet Richard downplays his role in Portrait (although Karen insisted in interviews he was very involved) and seems much prouder of MIA (which I consider a "safe" MOR album) than Passage (which took many more risks).

It's worth remembering that this is the same Richard Carpenter who, knowing he and his sister had an image problem, recorded "Goofus", included it on the same album and then okayed its release as a single.
Not only that but both Carpenters also said in an interview how proud they were of their TV specials because they had creative control (as opposed to their previous experience with Make Your Own Kind of Music). I have no idea how true that is. But, when I look at the 1978 "Space Encounters" special - I see disco-loathing Richard vainly trying to do "The Hustle" (with no enthusiasm whatsoever) with Suzanne Somers, I see John Davidson being given a solo of Billy Joel's recent hit "Just the Way You Are" (a song just made for Karen's rendering), and then cutting away from Karen singing their most recent single "Sweet Sweet Smile" so we could see "aliens" (including aforesaid Suzanne and John) dance badly, all the while they later have an entire length cringe-worthy musical bit with a very thin Karen dressed in denim overalls and little girl pigtails singing "Goofus" (a song that bombed disastrously from an album put out two whole years earlier) in a faux-garage, while Charlie Callas mugs for the camera and all I could think is...Richard, you agreed to this.

Why? Why "Goofus" of all their songs to perform for a TV special (and then to give Davidson Billy Joel)! Yet, you and Karen both agreed to this and were proud of it at the time. However unfair (and it was) the treatment the Carpenters got for their "image" from 1970-1976 (when they complained about it to Rolling Stone and then later to People Magazine), by 1978 they were agreeing to stuff like this. Richard loathing it now in retrospect doesn't change that.

Richard had tremendous commercial instincts five years earlier. By 1976, they were gone. It was his equivalent to Herb Alpert losing his lip in '69. It took massive life changes over the next four years for Herb to get it back. Richard would have benefited from some time off and some re-evaluation. I'm sure Herb (tremendous human that he is) tried to help. But apart from Herb, K&R didn't have a lot of people rooting for them within A&M.

Yes, there was one quote in one documentaries to the effect that Richard had lost the golden touch for picking hits - probably not only due to the C's mental/physical issues (partly due to over touring I will alway believe) around 74-75, but also due his own lack of interest/time writing material with Bettis, changing musical tastes (disco was coming) and the emergence of singer-songwriters who were performing their own works instead of giving it to groups like Carpenters. By 1976, the Carpenters themselves had such a large catalog of past hits to perform in concert, they could coast with AKOH (I think Hush and INTBIL are the only songs from the album I've ever heard they did live).

The role of A&M is questionable too. In the beginning post-Offering and the so-so charting of "Ticket to Ride" there were people who wanted to dump the Carpenters within A&M (this has been said many times) until Herb came to the rescue with "Close to You". By 1976, the Carpenters had made so much money for A&M, they seemed to be left to their own devices (even if, as it seems reading between the lines, some people/execs at A&M were almost embarrassed about the Carpenters and their MOR music, and their image - which A&M marketing had largely created!). That may have been a mistake. Herb or someone else could have stepped in to provide songs/advice/tell them to take a break etc., as it was the Weintraub-era started instead as we got schtick-fulled TV specials, the still in their late 20s/early 30 siblings suffering from physical issues, all the while doing a Vegas-type only-the-hits type concert act and acting like they 10-20 years older than they were, and no one seemingly willing to step in and replace RC as producer (although they said they tried). Where was A&M in all this? I sometimes think that even though there have been reports that Richard has an OK relationship with Universal (and certainly he has worked on new collections for them), if Karen had lived I could see the both of them jumping ship from A&M when Herb (and Jerry) sold it. Herb seemed to be their persona tie to the label.
 
Co-writer ( ?) Performance (Carpenters referenced beginning, Karen Carpenter "shout-out" at very end:
Albert Hammond, 2015 I Need To Be In Love:
 
It's documented somewhere that K&R did do Breaking Up with Neil Sedaka live in Vegas- leading to that dreaded clash. What I wouldn't give to hear that!
 
Karen and Richard targeted a specific audience by appearing on TV shows hosted by Andy Williams, Bob Hope, Perry Como, continuing that in the UK by sharing a TV platform with Bruce Forsyth, where Karen demonstrated her fondness for I Need To Be In Love, and proceeded to give one of her best performances of this great song.
 
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