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^^About the Feb 2,1980 Photo:
Karen is leaning back, then twisting her head off to the side a bit,
to gaze her look into the camera. Purple outfit.
A beautiful photo, by the way !
^^No, the photo is one with Karen wearing the purple outfit.
She is poised up right, but sort of backwards and twisting to stare into the camera.
Here it is:
Rick Henry - Photos of Karen Carpenter Solo
"Gil Friesen,A&M President told me (Grein)...Karen thought about it long and hard and decided
the duo takes precedence. That was the priority in her life and there was no way she wanted
the solo project to interfere." (regards May 1980 shelving of solo album).
I don't buy that for a second. Karen did all her soul searching before she even started working on the album, out of deference to Richard, and then still went ahead anyway. There's no way she'd have spent $400,000 of her own money and 12 months of her life investing her heart and soul into it, only then to decide "the duo takes precedence".
Is it true that Richard referred to Karen's solo work as "sh**"? I believe I read that somewhere (could have been Little Girl Blue, but I don't have a copy at hand). If it's true, did he say it to Karen?
Oh, to be a fly on the wall at A&M when that album was played for the powers-that-be.
I must say: while Karen sang brilliantly as always on the tracks for her solo album, did any of the songs themselves strike you as no-brainer, automatic smash hit material?
Yes, If I Had You had the potential to be hit. In a 1989 radio interview to promote Lovelines, Richard was confronted with a DJ who said that song sounded like it had been recorded yesterday. It was so commercial and catchy with a great hook, great harmonies and a killer sax solo. I don't think anyone expected her solo album to be a number one best seller but that single could have propelled its sales upwards. Even Richard has begrudgingly admitted as much.
I've got it on repeat play right now. It certainly isn't bad. I'm trying to imagine it in the context of other pop singles released in 1980 and how it would have performed in terms of radio airplay and record sales against the competition that year. Hot 100? Top 40? Top 20? Top 10? Top 5? All the way to # 1? What do you say, fans?
Here's a list of the Top 100 hits of the year 1980:
Top 100 Songs of 1980 - Billboard Year End Charts
Can you envision Karen knocking somebody off the list with "If I Had You" in 1980?
And Do It To Me One More Time was a song very similar to Karen's solo tracks --- it was basically a song about sex. So I could also see, besides If I Had You, Making Love In The Afternoon also being a contender as a single for Karen, along with My Body Keeps Changing My Mind, although with MBKCMM for a single in 80 I think it would've needed a remix closer to what Richard gave it in 90 to make it more a Dance single than a Disco single.If the Captain and Tennille can have a hit in 1980, Karen could have.
Agreed - but I really believe it would have to have been if Carpenters made a miraculous comeback. Perhaps in Country music?If the Captain and Tennille can have a hit in 1980, Karen could have.
I hope this doesn't devolve into a Richard bashing thread.
I thought that's what the "Insider" sub-forum is for.You mean another one...?