Public Broadcasting Exclusive: Carpenters The Complete Singles Release

Harry

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EXCLUSIVE! It’s Yesterday Once More: Carpenters “Complete Singles” Released For Public Television

AUGUST 24, 2015 BY JOE MARCHESE




BUY NOW FROM KQED.ORG

On November 5, 1969, the very first single by Carpenters was released on A&M Records. “Ticket to Ride” b/w “Your Wonderful Parade” announced the fresh talents of Richard Carpenter, 23, and Karen Carpenter, 19. The dramatically reinterpreted Beatles song introduced radio to Karen’s richly intimate voice, and the bitingly ironic flipside heralded the songwriting team of Richard Carpenter and John Bettis – while both sides revealed Richard’s prodigious gifts for arrangement and orchestration. On Valentine’s Day, 1970, “Ticket to Ride” entered the Billboard Hot 100 where, five weeks later, it peaked at a more-than-respectable No. 54. With their very next single, “(They Long to Be) Close to You,” the Carpenters would reach No. 1 on the Billboard Pop and Easy Listening charts, as well as topping Cash Box and Record World. In a career that spanned 1969 to 1983, Richard and Karen would notch 20 Billboard top 40 hits, including three #1s and five #2s, as well as fifteen Adult Contemporary #1s. The brother and sister earned three Grammy Awards, fifteen more nominations, and two song inductions into the Grammy Hall of Fame. More than 100 million Carpenters records have been sold. Now, the enduring music of Richard and Karen Carpenter is being celebrated with a very special new 3-CD release in conjunction with the public television return of the definitive documentary devoted to the duo.


CarpentersThe Complete Singles features, for the very first time, the A- and B-side of every Carpenters single released on A&M Records in the United States between 1969 and 1989 in their original single versions. As longtime fans and collectors know, the Carpenters’ singles frequently featured variations in mixes, length, vocals and instrumentation from the familiar album versions and subsequent remixes. These unique single versions have been highly sought-after on CD, and some of the tracks have never previously been released in the CD format at all.

The Complete Singles collects 66 songs on three discs, from 1969’s “Ticket to Ride” through 1989’s cassette-single release of Karen’s solo “If I Had You.” “Ticket to Ride” and “Your Wonderful Parade” are heard in their original mono single mixes, while the remaining 64 tracks are presented in their original stereo single mixes. I’m thrilled to announce that I have written the new liner notes for the 16-page booklet included with The Complete Singles. The set has been beautifully designed by Bill Pitzonka and includes rare and previously unpublished photos of the duo. Every shimmering track on this first-of-its-kind anthology has been freshly remastered at Universal Mastering with Jim Pierson and Richard Carpenter himself having assembled and supervised the release.

The Complete Singles is being released as a Public Television exclusive in conjunction with the upcoming broadcasts of Close to You: Remembering the Carpenters as part of the acclaimed seriesMy Music. The Complete Singles will not be for sale in stores or through online retail outlets and can only be purchased by making a contribution to Public Television stations when they begin airing Close to You: Remembering The Carpenters this December. However, KQED-TV in San Francisco will be airing an advance, sneak-peek broadcast of Close to You on Thursday, August 27 at 8:00 pm and is already offering The Complete Singles on their website which allows fans nationwide to make a contribution to KQED and receive The Complete Singles CD set by October, two months prior to the nationwide release on Public Television.

To order, please use the following link:

https://www.kqed.org/donate/catalogue.jsp?&pgmid=6425&page=1

CD 1

  1. Ticket to Ride (A&M 1142, 1969)
  2. Your Wonderful Parade (A&M 1142, 1969)
  3. (They Long to Be) Close to You (A&M 1183, 1970)
  4. I Kept On Loving You (A&M 1183, 1970)
  5. We’ve Only Just Begun (A&M 1217, 1970)
  6. All of My Life (A&M 1217, 1970)
  7. Merry Christmas Darling (A&M 1236, 1970)
  8. Mr. Guder (A&M 1236, 1970)
  9. For All We Know (A&M 1243, 1971)
  10. Don’t Be Afraid (A&M 1243, 1971)
  11. Rainy Days and Mondays (A&M 1260, 1971)
  12. Saturday (A&M 1260, 1971)
  13. Superstar (A&M 1289, 1971)
  14. Bless the Beasts and Children (A&M 1289, 1971)
  15. Hurting Each Other (A&M 1322, 1972)
  16. Maybe It’s You (A&M 1322, 1972)
  17. It’s Going to Take Some Time (A&M 1351, 1972)
  18. Flat Baroque (A&M 1351, 1972)
  19. Goodbye to Love (A&M 1367, 1972)
  20. Crystal Lullaby (A&M 1367, 1972)
  21. Sing (A&M 1413, 1973)
  22. Druscilla Penny (A&M 1413, 1973)
  23. Yesterday Once More (A&M 1446, 1973)
  24. Road Ode (A&M 1446, 1973)
  25. Top of the World (A&M 1468, 1973)
  26. Heather (A&M 1468, 1973)
CD 2

  1. I Won’t Last a Day Without You (A&M 1521, 1974)
  2. One Love (A&M 1521, 1974)
  3. Please Mr. Postman (A&M 1646, 1974)
  4. This Masquerade (A&M 1646, 1974)
  5. Santa Claus is Coming to Town (A&M 1648, 1974)
  6. Only Yesterday (A&M 1677, 1975)
  7. Happy (A&M 1677, 1975)
  8. Solitaire (A&M 1721, 1975)
  9. Love Me for What I Am (A&M 1721, 1975)
  10. There’s a Kind of Hush (All Over the World) (A&M 1800, 1976)
  11. (I’m Caught Between) Goodbye and I Love You (A&M 1800, 1976)
  12. I Need to Be in Love (A&M 1828, 1976)
  13. Sandy (A&M 1828, 1976)
  14. Goofus (A&M 1859, 1976)
  15. Boat to Sail (A&M 1859, 1976)
  16. All You Get from Love is a Love Song (A&M 1940, 1977)
  17. I Have You (A&M 1940, 1977)
  18. Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft (A&M 1978, 1977)
  19. Can’t Smile Without You (A&M 1978, 1977)
  20. Sweet, Sweet Smile (A&M 2008, 1978)
  21. The Christmas Song (A&M 1991, 1977)
CD 3

  1. I Believe You (A&M 2097, 1978)
  2. B’wana She No Home (A&M 2097, 1978)
  3. Touch Me When We’re Dancing (A&M 2344, 1981)
  4. Because We Are in Love (A&M 2344, 1981)
  5. (Want You) Back in My Life Again (A&M 2370, 1981)
  6. Somebody’s Been Lyin’ (A&M 2370, 1981)
  7. Those Good Old Dreams (A&M 2386, 1981)
  8. When It’s Gone (It’s Just Gone) (A&M 2386, 1981)
  9. Beechwood 4-5789 (A&M 2405, 1982)
  10. Two Sides (A&M 2405, 1982)
  11. Don’t Cry for Me Argentina (A&M 8629, 1983)
  12. Make Believe It’s Your First Time (A&M 2585, 1983)
  13. Look to Your Dreams (A&M 2585, 1983)
  14. Your Baby Doesn’t Love You Anymore (A&M 2620, 1984)
  15. Sailing on the Tide (A&M 2620, 1984)
  16. Honolulu City Lights (A&M 8667, 1986)
  17. I Just Fall in Love Again (A&M 8667, 1986)
  18. If I Had You (A&M 1471, 1989)
  19. The Uninvited Guest (A&M 1471, 1989)

Harry
 
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I was all set to order from the link provided; however, one can not get just the new CD. Since I already have Christmas Portrait AND the DVD documentary, I might just wait until it becomes more widely available? Head scratcher for sure.
 
PBS is infamous for the way it bundles stuff to get you to "donate" more. I'll use the Christmas Portrait as a gift or donation to charity.

Harry
 
This collection is assuredly attractive. Yet I am always hesitant to buy repackaged compilations when I already have all the songs in some format already.

In 2006 (I believe), Universal released Carpenters: The Ultimate Collection, which I think I bought as an import from The Netherlands, and this compilation has the distinction of including all singles in order of release and, in addition, included solo tracks of Karen as well as Richard. This new collection includes B-sides (and no solo releases, other than "If I Had You"). So, for me, the terrain has basically been covered, but alas, I am tempted...
 
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I hope that the CD set eventually turns up on Amazon, for the sake of us non-USA people. No way am I paying $120 USD (= $159 Canadian dollars), assuming they'd even ship it here. I realize that it's priced high because it includes a donation to PBS, but I wouldn't even benefit from the tax receipt.
 
I'm a bit confused (as physicists tend to be!):
Not "all done"?
Or,
"...he's making fun of me and laughing at my dreams..."
 
I purchased (2) full orders so I'm happy to post the contents of one of them once received. :)
 
I'm a bit confused (as physicists tend to be!):
Not "all done"?
Or,
"...he's making fun of me and laughing at my dreams..."

The "all done" simply implies no new material. Repackaging of existing is a whole different deal as everything included in THIS set has already been featured elsewhere.
 
This is pretty exciting and caught me off guard, had no idea Richard had finally worked on a U.S. Singles box set. I guess he was under no obligation to announce it as this is a PBS production exclusively.

Darn, I don't really have the cash for this but since it's not being sold in stores I'm going to have to order this.

Has anyone compared this to the Japan single box as far as track title comparison? The Japan single box was also 66 tracks, Harry I can't remember but did Japan issue the mono versions of those 2 tracks? Or is this really a first?

I also wonder if Your Wonderful Parade is the shortened edit version found on my US 45. In addition are these being sourced from the original 45's like Japan did?

Exciting stuff, can't wait to get home tonight and place my order.
 
Japan's "Ticket..." single was stereo on the Single Box. There are a number of b-side differences and timing of US singles vs. Japanese releases, so the order is sometimes a bit different.

Harry
 
From Above Advertisement:
"The set has been beautifully designed by Bill Pitzonka and includes rare and previously unpublished photos of the duo.
Every shimmering track on this first-of-its-kind anthology has been freshly remastered at Universal Mastering with
Jim Pierson and Richard Carpenter himself having assembled and supervised the release."
 
This is really exciting! Finally the "non-DJ" version of "Calling Occupants..." and the original single mix of "Santa..." at somewhat affordable price. (Compared to the Japanese Single Box anyway.)

It also indicated that the DVD contains additional bonus footage and performances different from what was included in the previous DVD release. Can't wait to see what that is. A few numbers from the TV specials maybe?
 
Goldmine Standard Catalog ,page 208, also, does include:
A&M Forget-Me-Not
Carpenters Single #8629
1980 Calling Occupants/Don't Cry For Me Argentina
 
It also indicated that the DVD contains additional bonus footage and performances different from what was included in the previous DVD release. Can't wait to see what that is. A few numbers from the TV specials maybe?

I saw that too but is it really additional footage because we don't really know what was on the prior PTV version they're referring to.
 
Goldmine Standard Catalog ,page 208, also, does include:
A&M Forget-Me-Not
Carpenters Single #8629
1980 Calling Occupants/Don't Cry For Me Argentina

I thought the single was released in 1980 too, that's what threw me when I saw it listed as 1983. The way it's listed on the new set makes it appear that it was the A-side, I guess they didn't include Occupants as it's already included earlier.
 
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Well, I went ahead and placed an order for the DVD and 4 CD set. I'm a lot poorer now since I started visiting these forums. :laugh:
 
I hope we get more details on the DVD and CD's....I'm in Richard, if there are at least a few new things we haven't seen before.
 
It was released as a b-side to Calling Occupants on a Memories series single.

Harry

I wonder why a Memories/Forget Me Nots single has been included amongst all the other mainstream singles releases?

This is really exciting! Finally the "non-DJ" version of "Calling Occupants..." and the original single mix of "Santa..." at somewhat affordable price. (Compared to the Japanese Single Box anyway.)

Does anyone know if these tracks will be the same as those on the Japanese set i.e. lifted from vinyl sources?
 
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