Only Yesterday Reached #4 on Billboard - But No Gold

[JohnFB]

...

Maybe, although to me it doesn't seem to have as big of a "pop hook" as some of the other earlier hits. I'm not sure why, and it may just be my own taste talking. I've just never warmed up to that song, for some reason. To me it's OK, but not a classic.

I've tried on several occasions to figure out both how this song could have been reconstructed to make it more "balanced" and how it could have been recorded differently to make it more appealing.

As far as modifying it's structure goes, one idea I keep coming back to is to add a fourth 5-line verse right after the third verse ("I have found my home here in your arms...") - the first two verses (5 lines each) are at the beginning of the song, leading into the pre-chorus and then the chorus. The third verse comes nicely out of the chorus (beautifully, as the accompaniment becomes less prominent). This is where the fourth verse should have come in, to balance out the double verses at the beginning. After this I want to say that I'm not sure there should be a repeat of the pre-chorus & chorus. Instead, the song should end softly just as it began, with maybe a repeat of part of the fourth verse with the same minimal accompaiment that the first verse started with.

As far as the recording goes it only needed to have Karen sing the entire song all the way through without any double-tracking (you probably expected me to say this) and with neither her nor Richard singing along on the lyrics, but both doing strategically placed background vocals. And it needed toned down orchestral accompaniment. After all, the best parts of the recording by far are the three verses Karen sings alone, so why not make the song her's all the way through. With her dominating there is no way this couldn't have been great.

Just some random thoughts...

 

[Mike Blakesley]

If you got all your wishes, then it wouldn't sound like a Carpenters record anymore!

My problem with this tune, I think, is that it came along after Richard had developed his recording skills to the max and was using them that way. The song seems overproduced to me. Too much reverb, it's too "produced"-sounding. Maybe I'm just not a fan of the melody. I don't know, it's a tough one for me. I just like the earlier hits better, that's the bottom line.

 

[Jack A.]

My problem with this tune, I think, is that it came along after Richard had developed his recording skills to the max and was using them that way. The song seems overproduced to me. Too much reverb, it's too "produced"-sounding. Maybe I'm just not a fan of the melody. I don't know, it's a tough one for me. I just like the earlier hits better, that's the bottom line.

I agree with that, it does sound more processed than the earlier recordings did. I still love the song, but it does seem a little less genuine with the overproduction that you mentioned - it sounds like a bunch of effects were added that weren’t needed. Maybe Richard was just trying to take a different approach with his productions in order to prove that the C’s weren’t losing their mojo in a time of waning popularity for them. Think he was going for a “Wall of Sound” type production.

 

[AM Matt]

In the Ozark Mountain Daredevils song "Jackie Blue", the 3rd & final verse of the song is cut which goes "Ooh-hoo Jackie Blue, lives a dream that could never come true, making love is like siftin' through sand, ooh Jackie it slips through your hand. Every day in your indigo eyes, I watch the sunset but I don't see it rise, moonlight & stars in your strawberry wine, you'd take the world but you won't take the time" from the 45 single.

 

[JohnFB]

If you got all your wishes, then it wouldn't sound like a Carpenters record anymore!

With all the talk here on the Forum over the years about the "Carpenter Sound" the fact is there was no single sound (arrangement of vocals/recording technique) that they used exclusively, and that defined them. Yes, many of them had multi-voiced lead vocals with the multi-tracked background vocals (some of which were over-produced, as you say). And this was generally what was meant or implied as the "Carpenter Sound". But, some of their very best songs weren't recorded this way. Take "Rainy Days and Mondays" or "For All We Know" or "A Song for You" or "This Masquerade" as several good examples among others. These recording were special precisely because Karen dominated all the way through, there was no "duet" on the lead vocal (either with Richard or with Karen herself double-tracking), and, yes, some multi-tracked background vocals, often with a lighter touch. These songs also made up the "Carpenter Sound" and often at its highest level. It is exactly this style of recording - this "sound" - that I was specifying above for OY. This was NOT an over-produced sound. There was absolutely nothing over-produced about RDAM. In fact, from every aspect, it was the perfect recording - something they should have striven for on most songs, and which should have become the "Carpenter Sound". This is what I was talking about in my 3rd paragraph above. And I think this approach, along with the "structural" changes that I discussed, could have helped OY in a big way.

My problem with this tune, I think, is that it came along after Richard had developed his recording skills to the max and was using them that way. The song seems overproduced to me. Too much reverb, it's too "produced"-sounding...

Agree fully...

 

[Michael Hagerty]

"Disco Lady" also has some pretty provocative lyrics (which seem pretty innocuous today, but we all know what they were writing about!), so it probably got less airplay than it might have. Some stations only played it at night, supposedly.

I had never heard about Top 40 stations dayparting "Disco Lady". Not at all sure how it would do four weeks at #1 without near-total radio support. While it didn't chart at Adult Contemporary radio, I added it at KUKI and other AC stations, including KIIS-AM, WGAR in Cleveland, WTAE in Pittsburgh and WNBC were on it.

 

[Matthew S]

I had never heard about Top 40 stations dayparting "Disco Lady". Not at all sure how it would do four weeks at #1 without near-total radio support. While it didn't chart at Adult Contemporary radio, I added it at KUKI and other AC stations, including KIIS-AM, WGAR in Cleveland, WTAE in Pittsburgh and WNBC were on it.

And I was listening to it on WTAE on my little GE transistor radio while riding my Big Wheel around the neighborhood!

 

[motownboy]

I can say that "Disco Lady" was not a song that I heard with any regularity, but perhaps on the fringes of my consciousness. It wasn't played on any radio station I listened to, but I didn't listen to strict Top 40 back then. It might have been the occasional Casey Kasem show where I would have heard it. And I really didn't have a regular outlet for that show when it was aired. There was a fringe station in Philly (WIFI92) that had a really bad signal where I lived, and on weekends where we were away, it aired on another semi-receivable station from Baltimore.

"Disco Lady" also has some pretty provocative lyrics (which seem pretty innocuous today, but we all know what they were writing about!), so it probably got less airplay than it might have. Some stations only played it at night, supposedly.



Maybe, although to me it doesn't seem to have as big of a "pop hook" as some of the other earlier hits. I'm not sure why, and it may just be my own taste talking. I've just never warmed up to that song, for some reason. To me it's OK, but not a classic.

"Disco Lady' was certified double platinum. The audience for the song was not necessarily the same as for the Carpenters, but that audience responded... I bought the 45 and played it a lot.

 

[Mike Blakesley]

I had never heard about Top 40 stations dayparting "Disco Lady".

I may have read it in Billboard -- I used to comb that thing cover to cover in those days. But, R&B music was not my strong suit so maybe I just dreamed it or something. I mean, it was the '70s, so...

 

[Michael Hagerty]

I may have read it in Billboard -- I used to comb that thing cover to cover in those days. But, R&B music was not my strong suit so maybe I just dreamed it or something. I mean, it was the '70s, so...

There was a year-end piece in Billboard---eight months after "Disco Lady" peaked---discussing the "most suggestive" records of the year, and it was mentioned. WPIX-FM's PD says he played it, but wouldn't play Elton John's "The Bitch is Back" (which was from two years before and wasn't exactly suggestive).

That same PD didn't think Rod Stewart's "Tonight's the Night" was a sexually suggestive record. Go figure.

https://www.worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Billboard-Index/IDX/1976/1976-12-25-Billboard-Page-0019.pdf#search=%22disco%20lady%22

 

[kprather]

An interesting fact I learned from listening to "American Top 40" on Sirius XM the other day:

Once your record reaches the Top 40, the odds of your record hitting the Top 10 are 50:50!

 

[Jack A.]

An interesting fact I learned from listening to "American Top 40" on Sirius XM the other day:

Once your record reaches the Top 40, the odds of your record hitting the Top 10 are 50:50!

Interesting, wonder how that works. I guess that might explain why there aren’t all that many singles that reach the top 40 and then stop moving. The Carps had a handful of singles that stalled in the Top 40, but more that went on to reach the Top 10.

 

[Michael Hagerty]

An interesting fact I learned from listening to "American Top 40" on Sirius XM the other day:

Once your record reaches the Top 40, the odds of your record hitting the Top 10 are 50:50!

That may have been true for whatever year that particular AT40 originally aired, but it's something that would absolutely vary by the number of releases and the health of the record business at any given time.

Let's take 1975, since we're talking about "Only Yesterday". 108 songs went Top 10 that year. 260 went Top 40. So the odds were 55 you wouldn't make it, 45 you would.

For 1976, only 90 songs made the Top 10, and 226 hit the Top 40. That's 60 percent against, 40 percent for. 1977 was about the same, percentage wise.

And in 1978, only 77 songs made the top 10, 235 the Top 40...that's 66 against, 33 for.

 

[ringves]

All this goes to show how K&R were at the end of their chart topping days. OY is a great record! A year or two earlier, it would have been a smash.

In hindsight, I believe Richard views Horizon as being a bit "draggy". As much as I like I Can Dream, Can't I and Solitaire, there is no denying that the tempo in both recordings is very slow. Perhaps the predominance of slower-paced songs on Horizon was a factor in the disappointing sales of that album.

I have often wondered if Horizon would have sold better if it had included some of the songs from Passage - for example, AYGFLIALS, Sweet Sweet Smile and even Calling Occupants. Of course, some of these songs may not yet have been published in early 1975. In any case something more uptempo (like these songs) would have livened up Horizon and I suspect the album would have been more successful (commercially).

And for those who love Horizon as is, please don't take any offence! I fully realize that I'm playing Monday morning quarterback here!

 

[Without A Song]

Anytime "Only Yesterday" is featured prominently in a post here, I just feel compelled to say it is and always will be my favorite song. Not just by the Carpenters but by any singer or band. To me, the song is perfect mix of Karen's singing, Richard's arranging skills and their background vocals.

Another thing I love about it is its status as a home-grown tune: One that doesn't exist without Richard's musical composition and John Bettis' impeccable lyrics.

 

[goodjeans]

Anytime "Only Yesterday" is featured prominently in a post here, I just feel compelled to say it is and always will be my favorite song. Not just by the Carpenters but by any singer or band. To me, the song is perfect mix of Karen's singing, Richard's arranging skills and their background vocals.

Another thing I love about it is its status as a home-grown tune: One that doesn't exist without Richard's musical composition and John Bettis' impeccable lyrics.

This is also my favorite song of all time. I've said it before but once it hit the top 5 I wish that somehow radio could have been served the 4:10 album version, where they sing "tomorrow, baby...even brighter than today" and then the resolve. It gives me chills just writing this.

 

[Jorge]

All this goes to show how K&R were at the end of their chart topping days. OY is a great record! A year or two earlier, it would have been a smash.

Do you think the fact that they didn't do much tv around those years affected their songs in the charts? They did go to several shows in the 1970-73 years, and besides radio that was the only other way they could reach wider audiences.

I often wonder if had they done more TV, guest appereances, some of those #2 would have turned in a #1 hit.

 

[newvillefan]

This is also my favorite song of all time. I've said it before but once it hit the top 5 I wish that somehow radio could have been served the 4:10 album version, where they sing "tomorrow, baby...even brighter than today" and then the resolve. It gives me chills just writing this.

I’m sure it’s “tomorrow maybe even brighter than today”

 

[JohnFB]

I’m sure it’s “tomorrow maybe even brighter than today”

I always thought it was "tomorrow may be even brighter..."

 

[newvillefan]

I always thought it was "tomorrow may be even brighter..."

That’s what I meant.

 

[goodjeans]

...on the 4:10 version, the final one sounds like "baby" to my ears.

 

[Jack A.]

Should we ask Sharon which one is correct?

 

[GDBY2LV]

The lyric sheet included in the Horizon album reads, Tomorrow may be even brighter than today… but I’m still having problems with the printed lyrics for the Maybe It’s you line, the Ocean Came, instead of the Ocean King. So interpret away.

 

[newvillefan]

The lyric sheet included in the Horizon album reads, Tomorrow may be even brighter than today… but I’m still having problems with the printed lyrics for the Maybe It’s you line, the Ocean Came, instead of the Ocean King. So interpret away.

The line “tomorrow baby even brighter than today” isn’t even grammatically correct and I doubt is something John Bettis would ever write. It’s more likely a case of an imperfect punch-in during the recording of that line, similar to “tumtimes” on ‘Crystal Lullaby’.

 

[rockdoctor]

Chart peaks and total sales don't necessarily correlate.

A chart peak is a snapshot of how a given record did on its best week compared to the other records on the charts, not a cumulative tally of sales up to that point. There are big sales weeks and not-so-big sales weeks. "Only Yesterday" was up against some weaker records.

If you look at the three records above "Only Yesterday" in its first week at number four, only one of them, Earth, Wind & Fire's "Shining Star" is what you'd call a monster record. It peaked at #1 and went gold.

At #2, Freddy Fender's "Before the Next Teardrop Falls" went gold, but it was driven by Top 40, Adult Contemporary and Country airplay...and after 1974, when rock/pop singles peaked, Country singles had an advantage, as those fans were still buying 45s in significant numbers.

And number 3 was The Ozark Mountain Daredevils' "Jackie Blue", which also didn't go gold.

"Only Yesterday" also faded fast---two weeks at number four, and then #16-#44-#55-gone from the Hot 100 entirely.

Finally, if you look at Carpenters singles that did go gold----none of them peaked below #3.

Singles that were fast movers tended to get high on the charts but did not get the gold certification. Many number 1 singles from the sixties never got certified as gold records. One example is My Love by Petula Clark. It shot to number one but fell the next week so no gold. Belinda Carlisle hit number 1 with Heaven Is A Place On Earth and did not get a gold record. A single needed a stretch at number 1 or a long time in the top ten but even a long stretch was not a guarantee.
Stevie Nicks' single Stop Draggin My Heart Around spent six weeks in the number 3 position and it still did not get a gold certification.
Now I would bet that the latter two probably sold over 500,000 copies but the RIAA has never gone back to certify their sales.
The RIAA did look back at the singles by The 5Th Dimension and all five gold singles were certified as Platinum.
I was surprised that Only Yesterday did not make the gold even though I thought it was a great single.