Remembering Karen Carpenter 2018

Simon KC1950

Well-Known Member
Today marks the 35th anniversary of Karen Carpenters death.

this has been in planning for about a month between myself and some friends across the globe. We are aiming to get Karen trending today on Facebook and also twitter. We are doing this by going crazy, posting, sharing and commenting using #KarenCarpenter.

Also we are holding a minute of silence at the time Karen passed away. This will mean that fans from across the globe will be silent and reflecting upon Karen's life at the same time for a whole minute together. I think that is very powerful.

This will be done at 9:51am California time (5:51pm UK time ect.) it would be nice if you can join us.
This has all been organized on Facebook via Carpenters groups, and pages "Close To The Carpenters" and my page "The Carpenters: History & News".
if you do not already follow these pages/in these groups I would really recommend it. I've made dozens of great friends from across the world. It's a really nice community as is this one. Thank you,
Simon.

RIP Karen x
 
Today marks the 35th anniversary of Karen Carpenters death.

this has been in planning for about a month between myself and some friends across the globe. We are aiming to get Karen trending today on Facebook and also twitter. We are doing this by going crazy, posting, sharing and commenting using #KarenCarpenter.

Also we are holding a minute of silence at the time Karen passed away. This will mean that fans from across the globe will be silent and reflecting upon Karen's life at the same time for a whole minute together. I think that is very powerful.

This will be done at 9:51am California time (5:51pm UK time ect.) it would be nice if you can join us.
This has all been organized on Facebook via Carpenters groups, and pages "Close To The Carpenters" and my page "The Carpenters: History & News".
if you do not already follow these pages/in these groups I would really recommend it. I've made dozens of great friends from across the world. It's a really nice community as is this one. Thank you,
Simon.

RIP Karen x
I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when the news came on the TV saying Karen had died......I don't think I will ever forget that moment, Randy
 
If you've never seen it, this is the text of one of the many wire-service stories that clacked out on teletype machines all over the country, 35 years ago:

U A BC-CARPENTER-OBIT-WRITETHRU 2-4 0939
^ (COMBINING TAKES)<
URGENT@<

DOWNEY, CALIF. (UPI) _ POP SINGER KAREN CARPENTER, WHO RECORDED A
STRING OF ROMANTIC LOVE SONGS INCLUDING ``CLOSE TO YOU’’ AND ``WE’VE
ONLY JUST BEGUN’’ WITH HER BROTHER RICHARD AS THE CARPENTERS, DIED
FRIDAY, SHE WAS 32.<


OFFICIALS AT DOWNEY COMMUNITY HOSPITAL, ABOUT 15 MILES SOUTHEAST OF
LOS ANGELES, REFUSED TO DISCLOSE DETAILS OF THE DEATH AND REFERRED ALL
CALLS TO HER AGENT.<

``WE RESPONDED TO A CALL FOR AID AT 8:51.’’ DOWNEY FIRE CHIEF DON
DAVIS SAID. ``I BELIEVE THAT’S HER PARENTS’ HOME. APPARENTLY THE YOUNG
LADY HAD COLLAPSED UPSTAIRS AND OUR PERSONNEL FOUND HER MOTHER AT HER
SIDE AND OUR PARAMEDICS AND FIRE PERSONNEL STARTED CPR (CARDIOPULMONARY
RESPIRATION) AND ASSISTED IN TRANSPORTING HER TO DOWNEY COMMUNITY
HOSPITAL.’’<

THE FIRE DEPARTMENT SAID THE SINGER WAS IN A FULL CARDIAC ARREST.<

PRESS AGENT PAUL BLOCH SAID MISS CARPENTER'S PARENTS AND HER
BROTHER RICHARD, 37, ACCOMPANIED THE SINGER TO THE HOSPITAL, WHERE SHE
DIED AT 9:51 A.M. PST. HE SAID THE BODY HAD BEEN TURNED OVER TO THE
CORONER.<

BLOCK SAID MISS CARPENTER, WHO MARRIED LOS ANGELES INDUSTRIALIST
THOMAS BURRIS IN 1980 AND WAS DIVORCED LAST YEAR, LIVED ALONE IN A
CENTURY CITY HIGH RISE APARTMENT. HE SAID SHE SPENT THE NIGHT AT HER
PARENTS' HOUSE THURSDAY.<

THE CARPENTERS FINISHED THEIR LAST ALBUM, ``MADE IN AMERICA'' IN
1981 AND WERE GOING INTO THE STUDIO FOR A NEW ALBUM LATER THIS MONTH.<

THE BROTHER-SISTER COMBINATION, WITH MISS CARPENTER PLAYING THE
DRUMS AND SINGING LEAD VOCALS AND RICHARD PLAYING THE PIANO, BECAME ONE
OF THE MOST POPULAR ACTS OF THE 1970S WITH THEIR WHOLESOME AMERICAN
IMAGE AND VELVETY HARMONIZATION.<

THE DUO WON THREE GRAMMYS, EIGHT GOLD ALBUMS AND 10 GOLD SINGLES.
THEIR HITS ALSO INCLUDED ``RAINY DAYS AND MONDAYS,’’ ``YESTERDAY ONCE
MORE,’’ AND A REMAKE OF ``PLEASE MR. POSTMAN.’’<

A GREATEST HITS ALBUM RELEASED IN 1973 RANKED AT THE TIME AMONG THE
BIGGEST SELLING ALBUMS OF ALL TIME.<

BOTH BORN IN NEW HAVEN, CONN., THE CARPENTERS MOVED WITH THEIR
FAMILY TO DOWNEY, A LOS ANGELES SUBURB, IN 1963, AS CHILDREN. THEY WERE
INFLUENCED BY THEIR FATHER’S INTEREST IN POPULAR MUSIC AND HIS EXTENSIVE
RECORD COLLECTION.<

RICHARD CARPENTER BEGAN STUDYING THE PIANO AT AGE 12, TOOK CLASSES
IN THE INSTRUMENT AT YALE AT AGE 16 AND BEGAN PLAYING JAZZ IN LOCAL
CLUBS. HE CONTINUED HIS MUSIC EDUCATION AT CAL STATE LONG BEACH WHEN THE
FAMILY MOVED TO CALIFORNIA.<

KAREN DEVELOPED AN INTEREST IN THE DRUMS AFTER BEING ENCOURAGED BY
A FELLOW MEMBER OF HER HIGH SCHOOL MARCHING BAND.<

AS TEENS, THE CARPENTERS AND A FRIEND WHO PLAYED THE BASS, WES
JACOBS, FORMED THE FIRST OF THE CARPENTERS’ THREE GROUPS.<

THE JAZZ INSTRUMENTAL TRIO WON FIRST PLACE IN A HOLLYWOOD BOWL
BATTLE OF THE BANDS CONTEST. RCA EXECUTIVES WHO WERE AT THE SHOW SIGNED
THE GROUP AND THE TRIO RECORDED TWO RECORDS THAT WERE NEVER RELEASED.<

THE STUDIO DECIDED THE TRIO’S SOUND WAS ``TOO SOFT.’’<

SOON AFTER, RICHARD DISBANDED THE TRIO IN FAVOR OF A GROUP THAT
PERMITTED HIM AND KAREN TO PURSUE THEIR GROWING INTEREST IN VOCAL
HARMONIES.<

THIS BAND, SPECTRUM, BROUGHT IN FOUR OTHER CAL STATE STUDENTS WHO
JOINED THE CARPENTERS.<
 
35 years...man. That we still think about and cherish this woman's beautiful voice and her and Richard's contribution to music, says it all. I didn't know Karen personally; but it feels like it, and that was part of her magic.

It is my fondest hope that the Carpenter family today feels the love and appreciation we all have for Karen.
 
35 years...man. That we still think about and cherish this woman's beautiful voice and her and Richard's contribution to music, says it all. I didn't know Karen personally; but it feels like it, and that was part of her magic.

It is my fondest hope that the Carpenter family today feels the love and appreciation we all have for Karen.

a lovely sentiment.
 
As to the question of where was I 35 years ago, I don't know. Maybe I met Karen in heaven while awaiting my turn to come down to this earth, as I was still aways off from being born! So I guess you could say that I'm a second-generation Carpenters lover. I wasn't around for the year's that Karen was here, but her voice on All You Get From Love Is A Love Song hooked me and continues to have an impact this quarter decade later. (By the way, the Carpenters The Singles 1974-1978 makes a great soundtrack to the 1990 Super Mario Bros. 3 NES game!)
 
I remember the day clearly. I was a sophomore in college at SUNY-Oswego, sharing a house off-campus with three other guys. I'd listen to the public radio station going to and from campus, and I heard the news on the radio. I remember feeling a loss, although I hadn't been a fan of The Carpenters since I was a pre-adolescent and purchased singles of Top of the World and Postman. At about 12 years old, my cousins across the street purchased a jukebox and put it in their basement. It had Yesterday Once More on it. The beauty of Karen's voice on that song and the harmonies gave me chills. As a sign of things to come, I was embarrassed to admit that I liked the song, and used to try to come up with pretexts for get us into the basement to listen to it. Then, at about 13 or 14, the testosterone started kicking in and I turned to harder music. Among the people I ran with in high school, you would have been mocked mercilessly if you admitted liking The Carpenters. This was the prevailing attitude when I came home to the house the night of her death and encountered my housemates. Someone said, "Did you hear Karen Carpenter died?" Then someone made a mildly dismissive comment, and that was it. Thirty-three years later, watching the documentary, Close to You: Remembering the Carpenters on PBS, I rediscovered the voice that gave me chills when I was 12. I've listened to Karen almost every day since.
 
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I never succumbed to peer pressure; I reveled in the Carpenters records fully and completely throughout their entire career. I was 23 when I heard the news on our local TV channel in Ohio. Like the rest of us at that time, I had no idea what anorexia was or that Karen had it. I knew she was thin (on their TV specials) but had no idea why.
 
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