Richard & Dusty

Simon KC1950

Well-Known Member
I took out a book from the library called "The Complete Dusty Springfield" by Paul Howes. With a forword by Petula Clark. It details every song recorded by Dusty. The track "Something In Your Eyes" has details I never knew and quotes from Richard & Dusty I had never read so I thought I'd upload it here:

SOMETHING IN YOUR EYES
(lead vocals: Dusty Springfield)

Writers: Richard Carpenter/Pamela Phillips Oland
Producer: Richard Carpenter
Arranged by Richard Carpenter

Background Vocals: Richard Carpenter
Record at A&M Studios, Los Angeles, California
Recording Date: Several sessions during September 1986
First US Release: Richard Carpenter album Time (A&M SP 5117) and A&M Single AM-2940 (A-Side)
US Release Date: 8 September 1987 (album)/ 22 September 1987 (Single)
Highest Chart position in the US: No Entry
First UK Release: A&M Single AM 406 (A Side) and Richard Carpenter album Time
UK Release Date: 21 September 1987 (Single) / September 1987 (Album)
Highest Chart Position in UK: 84
Chart Entry (Week Ending): 3 October 1987
Chart Run: 89-98-84
Weeks In Chart: 3

Dusty's collaboration with Rixhard Carpenter on "Something In Your Eyes" must have seemed a backward step after gaining credibility with the Pet Shop Boys but, in fact, the song was recorded before "What Have I Done To Deserve This?" However, the single, taken from Richard Carpenters album Time, wasn't released until the duet with the Pet Shop Boys was in the charts.
Time was Carpenter's first project since the death of his sister Karen and it certainly seemed as if he was looking to fill a gap left by Karen when he called on Dusty and Dionne Warwick to do lead vocals on a couple of tracks.
While Dionne recorded hers in a couple of takes, it was not the same for Dusty.
No sooner had she sung a couple of lines than her insecurities took over and it took an endless number of sessions to finally get her track completed. When Dusty was asked how she felt stepping into the spot previously occupied by Karen, she admitted that she was nervous. "I thought there's no way I can do it as well as Karen did and then I thought that's probably not what he [Richard] wants anyway. Otherwise he wouldn't have asked me"
Dusty elaborated: "Its a strange story because when I did it not only did I have bronchitis at the time but I sort of went in thinking - oh, what a nice album track, and I followed very much what Richard wanted me to do. He's wonderful to work with and we both have hearing like you wouldn't believe and we hear the same things you know. When somethings wrong we both stopped and always we'd stop for the same reason. It's the first time in my life that I've ever come across anybody like that and we always got along really well.
"But as such, I sang it before he put all the other stuff on and of course now, hearing it as a single which I didn't expect, at least not the first single, I'd like to go back and do it all again. You know there are places in it where I really feel that vocally I would like to have done more and, in fact, Richard and I were experimenting in the studio with doing more vocally but because it wasn't surrounded with lots of strings and things and vocal backings, it sounded borderline, strained and a little bit overdone. But now I hear it back and I hear what I was going to do, and what he and I were working on, actually we would have been right to have done it, but it's always in hindsight. I think it's a really pretty song and I'm amazed that it's the first singe"

"After completing the song with Pamela Phillips Oland, the first vocalist who came to mind (other than Karen) was Dusty" says Richard Carpenter. "Karen and I had always enjoyed her work, and I was looking for a vocalist who had their own unique sound. I sent a demo tape to Dusty, who at the time was in Semi-retirement. I received word back that she liked it, and we went on to record the tune in studio D at A&M Studios. I enjoyed working with her. As Dusty is a terrific singer. I remain very pleased with the finished product."
The lush ballad unfortunately only made a brief appearance in the lower regions of the Top 100 in the UK. Of course it might have had more success if released a few years later, when the Carpenters were back in vogue, but Dusty certainly didn't help matters back in 1987. Although she and Richard Carpenter made a video, she refused A&M's invitation to come over and promote the single in the UK. Dusty received no credit whatsoever for her vocal work on either the UK or the US single.
In the states, the record didn't enter the Billboard Hot 100 at all, although it did make the adult contemporary chart, peaking at #12.
 
Thanks for sharing this. I read the same book a few years back and loved this anecdote about them having worked together. It’s a shame the single wasn’t more successful because I think it’s by far and away the best track he’s recorded and produced outside of the Carpenters.
 
Interesting to read the above, thanks.
I've always loved the song, Something In Your Eyes.
After reading the above, I have many a question !
(1) "endless number of sessions to get her track completed"....how many, actually ?
(2) Why go into a recording session--period--if you have bronchitis ?
(3) Why didn't Richard and Dusty collaborate, again, if they were so compatible ?
(4) Why was Dusty "amazed" that it was the "first single"...surely she knew beforehand that
the song was slated to be a single ?
(5) The decision to receive "no credit", was that decision made after she decided to do no promotion ?

Ah...so many questions....
 
Why was Dusty "amazed" that it was the "first single"...surely she knew beforehand that
the song was slated to be a single ?

I don’t think any decisions are made about which songs should be released as singles until the album is complete and delivered. That way they can hear the finished tracks and determine which has the most commercial potential. I remember reading that shortly before ABBA’s The Visitors was released, Polar Music circulated several tracks from it to affiliate labels around the world and the resounding feedback was that One Of Us should be released as the lead single.

It kinda sounds like she wasn't really ready to get back into singing and surely not into any promotion. It's weird because I always thought it was Dionne that had the cold.

I don’t think Dusty ever had any intention of getting behind its promotion as she had all but shunned the music business by that time. I also thought Dionne sounded very nasal on her track on Richard’s album.
 
^^Reading the Interview--regards Horizon--with Richard Carpenter (A&M, March 1975),
that album was not finished, and he was listing all the songs he felt were strong enough
to be Singles.....thus, my assumption that the process of choosing was a fluid one--certainly (then)
not waiting for completion of the entire album before making a decision regarding Singles.
 
As one of my Favorite stand out songs on The Time album I think I've mentioned elsewhere " This Should Have Been A Hit in The Hot 100"( at least in the U.S) but by 1987 these songs usually did Much Better. In the AC charts ( which today isn't the AC I knew and Liked at the time) But Dusty' s performance on "Something in your eyes" Made The Song Great Regardless of How many takes it took or other circumstances.i just felt it was a shame as this was Richard's Debut as a Solo artist and it seemed Nobody Really Cared.
 
I have a question for anyone who knows. My CD for "Time" reads "8/87" in the matrix. Various sources read that "Time" was released in October of 1987. I have an inclination to believe that September 8, 1987 is closer to the U.S. release date than October. Is there paperwork available to consult to know when exactly it is "Time" was released in the U.S.? The Japanese CD reads that it was released in Japan on September 21, 1987.
 
People Magazine, October 26,1987:

Singer Richard Carpenter Makes His Debut as a Solo Act...​

"On the professional front, Carpenter released his first solo LP, Time, last month."

Article here:
Thank you for sharing! Given my CD matrix of 8/87 (pressed in August of 1987), combined with the excerpt from Dusty's book and now this People article from the time, I'm inclined to believe that Time was released on September 8, 1987 like Simon wrote, and not October of 1987 as is on Wikipedia and MusicBrainz. I'll fix MusicBrainz and use this forum thread as my source.
 
Well, in that case, I'll be sure to celebrate Time's birthday at around the same time as mine (September 10). Who would have thought it would be a Virgo album? :)
 
A coincidence that there is a current discussion about Time; I recently found a sealed copy of the cassette for $2.50.




A&M sure put the money behind the cassette version, by putting it out on BASF Chrome tape. (Anyone recall if Richard’s second album got a cassette release in 97/98 or was it CD only?)

But it’s interesting how on both the LP and cassette “Time” is down near Richard’s foot, but on the CD “Time” is by his shoulder. On the CD, did they think that the title would be too small at the foot so they moved it? (Of course on the cassette, which has a smaller space for the photo, “Time” is extremely small, smaller than it would be on the CD. Of course the cassette has the black area up top that also has “Time”, so that kind of makes up for it.) I can’t think of any other album where the title was moved on the cover for a different format, like Richard’s “Time”! Or was the CD cover an earlier design and the LP/cassette the finalized design? Or vice versa?
 
A&M sure put the money behind the cassette version, by putting it out on BASF Chrome tape. (Anyone recall if Richard’s second album got a cassette release in 97/98 or was it CD only?)

But it’s interesting how on both the LP and cassette “Time” is down near Richard’s foot, but on the CD “Time” is by his shoulder. On the CD, did they think that the title would be too small at the foot so they moved it? (Of course on the cassette, which has a smaller space for the photo, “Time” is extremely small, smaller than it would be on the CD. Of course the cassette has the black area up top that also has “Time”, so that kind of makes up for it.) I can’t think of any other album where the title was moved on the cover for a different format, like Richard’s “Time”! Or was the CD cover an earlier design and the LP/cassette the finalized design? Or vice versa?
I think they were using the BASF CrO2 tape for everyone during this time period. Interesting though that this packaging does not match what I have seem before for US cassette releases of the album. I wonder if this is a foreign release or maybe a subscription record club release.
 
I think they were using the BASF CrO2 tape for everyone during this time period.
Correct.

Once upon a time I had a cassette copy of · · · T·I·M·E · · ·, and as I recall, it looked more like the longbox I posted in that thread. It was on BASF Chrome as I recall, sounded pretty good for a cassette, and I ended up giving it to a friend.
 
I think they were using the BASF CrO2 tape for everyone during this time period. Interesting though that this packaging does not match what I have seem before for US cassette releases of the album. I wonder if this is a foreign release or maybe a subscription record club release.
It's the Canadian release. I also have the Canadian release of the "Yesterday Once More" compilation album (two cassettes) and "Old Fashioned Christmas", which all have the same cover presentation.

Indeed, there are record club versions of the Canadian releases that look identical on the outside, however, the back of the J card would likely say it is manufactured by Columbia House. The back of the one I picked up says "Manufactured and distributed by A&M Records of Canada Limited". I didn't open mine yet but the cassette itself would likely have the same mention.
 
It's the Canadian release. I also have the Canadian release of the "Yesterday Once More" compilation album (two cassettes) and "Old Fashioned Christmas", which all have the same cover presentation.

Indeed, there are record club versions of the Canadian releases that look identical on the outside, however, the back of the J card would likely say it is manufactured by Columbia House. The back of the one I picked up says "Manufactured and distributed by A&M Records of Canada Limited". I didn't open mine yet but the cassette itself would likely have the same mention.
Thanks for sharing! I don’t think I have ever seen a Canadian release cassette before.
 
Well, apparently A&M Canada issued both Christmas albums in 1985 on 1 cassette! (Carpenters – An Old Fashion Christmas / Christmas Portrait (1986, Cassette)) Apparently all of side 1 is An Old-Fashioned Christmas, in it's entirety, and then side 2 is Christmas Portrait in it's entirety. A&M Canada must've been using a rare 110-120 minute audio tape for this release, since both albums clock in around the 55 minute mark. So
each side is nearly an hour long!

But with Richard's "Time" album, the US & UK apparently used the "longbox" version of the artwork. Richard Carpenter – Time (1987, Dolby Chrome, Cassette)). But then you have South Africa that used a slightly different take on the Canadian artwork (Richard Carpenter – Time (1987, Cassette)).

Also, I found it interesting, but that US link, it has pictures of the actual US cassette being manufactured in the clear shell with the black inserts---which I thought didn't come on the market until sometime in the early-1990's. I've never heard of it being used in the 1980's or earlier. The Canadian version is in a solid black shell, which from what I know, was common for the 1980's.
 
Well, apparently A&M Canada issued both Christmas albums in 1985 on 1 cassette! (Carpenters – An Old Fashion Christmas / Christmas Portrait (1986, Cassette)) Apparently all of side 1 is An Old-Fashioned Christmas, in it's entirety, and then side 2 is Christmas Portrait in it's entirety. A&M Canada must've been using a rare 110-120 minute audio tape for this release, since both albums clock in around the 55 minute mark. So
each side is nearly an hour long!

But with Richard's "Time" album, the US & UK apparently used the "longbox" version of the artwork. Richard Carpenter – Time (1987, Dolby Chrome, Cassette)). But then you have South Africa that used a slightly different take on the Canadian artwork (Richard Carpenter – Time (1987, Cassette)).

Also, I found it interesting, but that US link, it has pictures of the actual US cassette being manufactured in the clear shell with the black inserts---which I thought didn't come on the market until sometime in the early-1990's. I've never heard of it being used in the 1980's or earlier. The Canadian version is in a solid black shell, which from what I know, was common for the 1980's.
I have an ABBA cassette that is almost an hour long per side! 😱

If anyone knows (I have some CrO2 tapes…) what is the best way to hear them? I have a tape deck with I think Dolby A and Dolby B. I don’t know if the tape heads have been cleaned. Should I use Dolby A? Dolby B? How do I clean the tape heads properly?
 
I have an ABBA cassette that is almost an hour long per side! 😱

If anyone knows (I have some CrO2 tapes…) what is the best way to hear them? I have a tape deck with I think Dolby A and Dolby B. I don’t know if the tape heads have been cleaned. Should I use Dolby A? Dolby B? How do I clean the tape heads properly?
I think they are mastered in Dolby B. The instructions say to play them in “normal” and not chrome or metal settings. I wonder if you can still buy those cassette head cleaning kits. They had a cassette with a cleaning strip on the reels, and you added a few drops of cleaning fluid and then “played” the tape to clean it.
 
That was my Christmas gift in 1988 from my adopted mother. She bought me the twin tape cassette of Christmas Portrait and An Old Fashioned Christmas.....I was soooo ecstatic....

Another funny thing is that I used to scrapbook....but I always insisted the stuff in it was not SCRAP and would always call it my BOOK OF MEMORIES. I believe Ev Wallace said this and so I used it as my saying too!
 
I have an ABBA cassette that is almost an hour long per side! 😱

If anyone knows (I have some CrO2 tapes…) what is the best way to hear them? I have a tape deck with I think Dolby A and Dolby B. I don’t know if the tape heads have been cleaned. Should I use Dolby A? Dolby B? How do I clean the tape heads properly?
Dolby A was never released to the general public. Dolby A (and SR) was studio use only. The general public saw Dolby B, C & S. Dolby B became the de facto method of recording store bought cassettes and 8-tracks from the mid-70’s up until about 2014 when Dolby discontinued licensing it. Dolby C was an improvement but the recordings didn’t sound that good when played back on Dolby B and non-Dolby equipment; no known studio albums are known to have been released in C. Dolby C was also used in the TV world for Dolby HiFi encoded recordings on Betacam SP & U-Matic SP videos. Dolby S was introduced in 1989 and offered, on metal tapes, sound quality that rivalled CD. But even on standard type 1 tapes, there was a noticeable improvement, and even on non-Dolby equipment and Dolby B/C equipment, the sound was improved over what Dolby C offered.

 
Dolby A was never released to the general public. Dolby A (and SR) was studio use only. The general public saw Dolby B, C & S. Dolby B became the de facto method of recording store bought cassettes and 8-tracks from the mid-70’s up until about 2014 when Dolby discontinued licensing it. Dolby C was an improvement but the recordings didn’t sound that good when played back on Dolby B and non-Dolby equipment; no known studio albums are known to have been released in C. Dolby C was also used in the TV world for Dolby HiFi encoded recordings on Betacam SP & U-Matic SP videos. Dolby S was introduced in 1989 and offered, on metal tapes, sound quality that rivalled CD. But even on standard type 1 tapes, there was a noticeable improvement, and even on non-Dolby equipment and Dolby B/C equipment, the sound was improved over what Dolby C offered.


I will have to try Dolby B on the tape deck.

Thanks!
 
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