Official Carpenters Web Site

[thestitch]

Harry, I think everyone's on edge because we all want this SOOOO badly!! And, perhaps, we were hoping for a miracle! Skepticism tends to run right along with disappointment and I think many people here are just that--disappointed. I'm sure that sometime (hopefully soon!) we will have an official website. I very much doubt it will be run personally by Richard himself. He's probably much too busy to take this upon himself. Let's all try to be tolerant of each other's opinion, and, above all, have patience.

Randy, thanks so much for a really great explanation of register.com!! That's what I love about this forum. We learn from each other and are so willing to share.

Marilyn,
who keeps on hoping, and who's off on vacation tomorrow! Yippee!! Have a great week, guys!

 

[thestitch]

OMG!!! What happened here to submit this thing so many times????!!!!

Marilyn,
in awe ofinternet peculiarities!

 

[Harry]

I'm deleting the extra ones Marilyn. Looks like a glitch.

Harry

 

[thestitch]

Thanks very much, Harry!

Marilyn

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

Gosh I'm re-reading through my posts & hope I didn't say anything that offended you Tony. I really hope you don't keep things to yourself in the future, I am one that enjoys reading your posts & you always bring great info to the team.

The thing I have learned from the internet is you never know what kind of responses you will get when posting on the internet, everyone thinks differently. It's also hard to determine sometimes from reading what kind of tone someone is really writing, so I wouldn't take it personally.

...thanking Tony for sharing this info with us, online...

 

[SwimAMile]

First, Tony, my comments have nothing to do with you personally and your sharing some info, which I appreciated.

I just found some facts odd about this registration.

richardandkarencarpenter.com was registered through joker.com in Switzerland in March for one year. The contact info for everything is the hosting service in CA, which is very unusual and implies that someone is hiding their identity.

Contrast that with the registrations for the Foundation which have complete contact info (a person) and phone number and a three year registration.

I sent an email to the manager at the web hosting service asking them to investigate. I'll post the reply if I get one.

 

[CarpentersToYou]

Hmm....for some reason that URL looks familiar.

I have written Richard numerous time about the release of AS TIME GOES BY as well as other information. He never gave me a response. He'd respond to me when I sent a nice fan letter (2 times) but never when I asked questions.

I wrote to him explaining what kinds of materials Carpenters fans want released.
I spent around $7 on a HUGE envelope fillled with a "petition" and nice letters from fans. (this was last year on Lead Sister's Forums)

I at least expected a response, but never ever got one! I even sent it Prority Mail.

Hmm...what else...oh!
I explained to him that we'd like to see a fan club again. I said I'd love to help.
Maybe it never got past his assistant's desk.
We'll never know.

 

[PJ]

Alex -do not take it too personally that Richard or PA have not replied. A few years back his PA wrote that due to the level of fan mail, autograph requests and other letters -it was impossible to reply or gain Richard's response every time.Many items are not seen by Richard and sounds like this was one such occasion :|

You have had some personal replies -so not too bad

Richard does / has received some very demanding letters -especially since publication of infamous Buried Treasures Listing ....Richard does not take kindly to demands or aggressive letters ...so always better to suggest various reasons for fav tracks / re-issues that appeal to Richard's ....that is a good idea / let's consider this ....UK fans wrote re : And When He Smiles for several years and eventually .....it was released

Back to official website topic - I am surprised that several topic messages seemed to think Richard would install some state of the art logos / site design ...Richard has only just commissioned this site as planned Carpenters website ....it will be 6 months to a year before anything is set up and working..possibly longer

Richard mentioned plans for a website back in 1998 -but he has no personal interest in this ....only when Universal / A&M plus Carpenter Center informed Richard of many queries / fan e-mails etc has this progressed

Still needs to employ excellent web designer / site curator to complete & maintain this site plus someone with interest in Carpenters career & music. Ideally one of Carpenter children will be Internet users and assist with the official site

Still a long way to go yet

Peter ....Patiently Waiting ......Only Since 1998 ....

 

[PJ]

Tony -hope you keep on posting items of interest for AMcorner members -as Marilyn put it so well -we all learn from each other and exchange various views and engage in good debates

Look forward to more Tony / other members nuggets of interest / info
......

Peter

 

[coolvox]

I checked out the site and it does seem plain but it
is under construction. Richard is always full of surprises
that are worth waiting for!
I think Richard will stay true to form and is fine tuning
a product that we will all be gratefull for.
Jim

 

[Harry]

The official site has changed. Perhaps the powers that be are reading this thread!

Now it's a simple "Book Antiqua" font black-on-white text with a picture of Richard's PACC album. This is a certainly more professional looking holding-page than the one that was up last week.

Keep an eye on it, folks.

http://www.richardandkarencarpenter.com

Harry
...checking out the official site, online...

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

Your right, it's all different now. Seems now it's Barnes & Noble listed for the place to buy. Looks great so far, this is going to be really exciting. Reading it makes me think it was done for "us".

Why do I get this strong feeling that his children are helping with this? This A & M Corner Forum could be more powerful than we think.

 

[Mike Blakesley]

It has Barnes and Noble spelled wrong. (Sorry, I'm a typo-hater.)

 

[Harry]

It has Barnes and Noble spelled wrong. (Sorry, I'm a typo-hater.)

Though that spelling still exists under the PACC picture, today the site has expanded to include some album covers and three pictures (including the Annie Leibowitz photo that was used for the AS TIME GOES BY cover). There's also a few links on the left side listing places to purchase, including a properly-spelled Barnes and Noble.

Daily changes - a good sign!

Harry
...watching, online...

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

Right, and I see there is a link to email the webmaster, I don't remember seeing that before. Could this be an email direct to Richard? Nice photos so far, this is really really exciting, maybe we will get some rare never before seen photos. The ATGB photo looks alot like my poster, however there is more sky photo in that one, even looks bigger to me in height.


...who checks each day to see if Nobel has been changed to Noble, online..

 

[Bruno]

I still think that this site is a fake. Look at the picture of the tan album. Beside the picture of Karen and Richard, there is a logo: SPECTRUM. This is the name of a low price label.

Don't you think Richard would post the original cover art of this album, if this site would be his??

Bruno
not believing

 

[Harry]

I think if it were Richard actually designing the website, yes. It's reasonbly clear that another entity is actually doing the web work. (I can't picture Richard working from his copy of Web Programming For Dummies!).

There are many pictures of Carpenters albums floating around on various sites. As a temporary measure, I'm sure the web designers just grabbed a few of whatever's available.

Harry
NP: radio at work

 

[Jeff]

Well Kids,

I just dunno...

Jeff

 

[SwimAMile]

This site has to be bogus.

Would Richard us an email address for the webmaster that is [email protected]?

Taken together, none of it adds up, from the url registration (joker.com), to the use of bogus emails for the registrar contact, to the small web hosting company (different from the foundation site), and the use of links with affiliate codes.

I've tried to contact the web hosting company to ask them to investigate and ensure that Richard really is the person behind the site, but no answer so far.

So far, in my opinion, no real proof it is legit.

 

[Tony]

OK, I'm back one more time. Folks, this site is 100%, absolutely, positively the real deal. Richard's new management (he recently parted company with David Alley) has convinced him that an official site is something that should be done, so they're giving it a shot. I'm told that the ultimate design and direction is still being worked out. The way I see it, since the webmaster's email address has now been posted, this is our chance to give her some feedback for what direction we'd like to see this new site take. We, as fans, have an opportunity to be heard here. Take advantage of it, in a nice way.

Tony

 

[engineer]

This site has to be bogus.

Would Richard us an email address for the webmaster that is [email protected]?

... (snip) ...

So far, in my opinion, no real proof it is legit.

There's also no proof it's NOT legit. Quite a few people seem to be jumping to conclusions based on nothing more than their own opinions.

1) Richard might not be designing this at all; he might have hired someone to do it. If he's merely being consulted and isn't actively participating in the design, then the look of the site might just be due to the fact that whoever is designing it isn't really very good at it. It would also explain e-mail addresses and domain names -- why couldn't those belong to the person who is designing the site? It doesn't mean it's fake.

2) We have it on good authority (Tony) that this is legit. To my knowledge, Tony's information has always been accurate, so why go to such lengths to call him wrong when there is NO definitive information to the contrary?

3) Who says that an "official" site can't look bad? Just because the designer isn't doing a nice job of it doesn't automatically mean it's fake. People have all sorts of levels of skill at design and web authoring. Maybe Richard IS sitting at home with "Web Publishing for Dummies," or maybe he hired a friend who has never done this sort of thing before... Whatever the reason, just because it looks bad doesn't mean that it's fake.

So why don't we all keep from jumping to conclusions until we have more information. Next month it could become the most spectacular website you've ever seen...

Dan

 

[Tony]

Dan,

You're my hero! And you make some very insightful observations.

Tony

 

[Mike Blakesley]

The one thing that bothers me about it most is, why is it even out there if it's "unfinished?" There's absolutely no reason or requirement to publish a site if it's not ready to publish. The only reason might be for Richard to check it out and make comments to the designer, but even then it would be simple to put up a simple "under construction" index page for the public, and hide the real site in a subdirectory address that only Richard would know.

I also have a hard time believing the "webmaster" putting an address up for comments. Knowing the millions of Carpenters fans, and the dozens (thousands?) of crackpots in the world, he or she would be foolish not to expect to be inundated with useless "suggestions." Knowing the amount of "suggestions" that Neil gets here at the Corner, from people who are too lazy to read the FAQ, I can only imagine how much email a link at an official Carpenters site would generate.

In his whole career, Richard Carpenter has never released anything in an unfinished state. If someone is doing it at his direction, they would have to get his approval for everything, including publishing it for the world to see.

Who knows. I hope it's legit. But I'm not quite a believer....yet. Sorry for doubting you, Tony, but there have been a lot of bogus topics here over the years and this one just seems....iffy. But I have to admit, I'm wavering in my disbelief. Slightly.

 

[close2u]

Tony's right -- it's 100% legit. David Alley, Richard's former manager, confirmed to me several days ago that Richard has hired someone to start a site for him. The lady running the site is currently serving as a personal assistant to Richard and has answered both fan mail and emails directed to Richard through Universal. It's just a matter of time. They will get it up and running!

Randy

 

[andywithaz]

Wow! I am so happy that Richard has finally created a website. I can't wait to see where it is heading in the future.

I am also happy that Tony is making posts again. Always love that inside information.

I also got rid of that virus and I am back on the Corner again!