PASSAGE/MADE IN AMERICA/KAREN CARPENTER OUT-OF-PRINT

[mr J.]

PASSAGE,MADE IN AMERICA and KAREN CARPENTER were deleted this spring.LOVELINES was also deleted last year.K&R's catalog is in a bit of a sales slump.

 

[Mike Blakesley]

Well there are only so many people willing to buy CDs these days... and those albums are probably among the slowest sellers.

The top seller listed in our purchasing website right now is CLOSE TO YOU, followed by five, count'em five compilations. Then comes A SONG FOR YOU. I'm surprised so many compilations are such strong sellers....most stores probably are not stocking all of them, so they all probably get about equal exposure. Here, we stock the SINGLES set, but will replace it with GOLD when it sells out.

 

[CarpentersToYou]

That is really funny because those CD's were the first to go out of print the first time they were put on CD. I remember well because they sold for beaucoup de dollars on ebay in the mid 1990s. Crazy.

Perhaps in time for another remastering job and repackage? Not unlikely

 

[PJ]

Carpenters catalogue overall STILL sells very well ....sales reflect how active Universal / A&M offices are in various world regions....

Perhaps Passage , Made In America , Lovelines & Karen's solo album are deleted in USA / North America due to average / low sales ... But sure key markets like Japan & Asia -still offer full catalogue for fans & collectors

Certainly in recent months, here in UK more copies of Karen's solo seem to be available in large HMV & Virgin stores plus quality independent music shops ....which is a surprise ....given the lack of promotion for Karen Carpenter since 1996

Most Supermarket & music retailers offer the key compilations ...GOLD, , Singles 1969-1981 & some budget price releases that keep UK Carpenters sales at high levels

Peter UK

 

[Michael Hagerty]

If anniversaries matter, and if CDs are still around in three years (!), the Carpenters' 40th anniversary on A&M is in 2009. Maybe then?

---Michael Hagerty

 

[Vinylalbumcovers]

If anniversaries matter, and if CDs are still around in three years (!),...

...and if A&M (essentially Interscope), it's parent Universal, or whatever it's name is this week is still around...

 

[mr J.]

Many people are probably not aware that the reissues of "Passage","Made In America" and "Ticket To Ride" owe their existence to the phenomenal success of "Love Songs" in 1998.K&R had a revival in their career with "Love Songs"(wich spent several months on the Billboard Top Album Chart),and A&M promptly reissued those three albums,along with the "Christmas Collection" package(a project A&M stalled on for years).In all likelihood,no out-of-print albums will ever be reissued unless K&R have(again) a revival .

 

[Harry]

Partially true - LOVE SONGS was and is a big hit - the 1998 re-issues were also released as a 30-year anniversary celebration by then-owners, PolyGram, with the excuse of remastering the albums in their original mixes. I recall those days when PASSAGE was out of print and was considered a bit of a rarity. People were seeking out Japanese and other versions that might still be in print, and they found them to be rather expensive.

That CHRISTMAS COLLECTION had come out earlier in England or Japan if my memory serves me here. I remember comtemplating ordering it from somewhere when it was announced that a US edition would be forthcoming.

Harry

 

[PJ]

Yes ....certainly Harry's observations tie in with my personal experiences of A&M / Polygram in 1998.

Summer 1998 was the last period of A&M's record company existence & later that year, after Polygram sold A&M, Island, Mercury & other labels to Vivendi , London A&M office was closed & sold off

That Summer, UK A&M re-issues manager confirmed Richard was remastering entire Carpenters studio catalogue plus selected key compilations ...these were due late 1998 to tie in with planned Carpenters 30th Anniversary promotion Remasters were issued Dec 1998 & Jan 1999 slightly later than USA & Japanese re-masters.

Love Songs was never a phenomenal seller in UK or Europe -indeed A&M's worst charting Carpenters compilation & seller for many years ....it was due to this release & several other poor performing A&M UK sets that decisions to fold A&M were taken & just keep the name / logo for a few classic artists ....Polygram followed this 1997 UK release ...a year later with an ABBA Love Stories CD ...that did even worst .... ...two of Polygrams key acts underperforming....still it shows music companies can really fail badly if there is poor promotion, co-ordination or laziness in assuming just releasing another name artist compilation will always achieve huge sales & top ten status