Single releases by the Carpenters that reached number one!

Portlander

Well-Known Member
Over the years many accomplishments by the Carpenters have been published or acknowledged through various sources. Most notable examples are their status as the top American born recording artists of the 70's, 3 Grammys, an American Music award along with worldwide record sales that exceed 100 million units. After a little research I've come across another tidbit that I find just as impressive but has never been mentioned previously to the best of my knowledge .

Twenty (20) of the Carpenters singles have reached the top position on the charts which include Billboard's Top 40 and Adult Contemporary rankings along with chart positions from around the world. "Calling Occupants" was clearly one of the the biggest surprises when it reached #1 in Ireland in 1977. Also interesting is that even with the incredible amount of success the Carpenters had in Japan and the UK, they never had a single reach the top spot on their individual charts. Canada has been very appreciative of the Carpenters with 13 singles reaching #1 on their Top 40 and AC charts which is rarely mentioned.

For those of you that may cross check this claim out of curiosity and only come up with nineteen (19) chart toppers, I added "Merry Christmas Darling" to the list which reached #1 on three separate (1970,71,73) Billboard Holiday charts. Sadly, it's too late for Chris and Mike to add this noteworthy achievement to the Carpenters, The Musical Legacy book! :)
 
Over the years many accomplishments by the Carpenters have been published or acknowledged through various sources. Most notable examples are their status as the top American born recording artists of the 70's, 3 Grammys, an American Music award along with worldwide record sales that exceed 100 million units. After a little research I've come across another tidbit that I find just as impressive but has never been mentioned previously to the best of my knowledge .

Twenty (20) of the Carpenters singles have reached the top position on the charts which include Billboard's Top 40 and Adult Contemporary rankings along with chart positions from around the world. "Calling Occupants" was clearly one of the the biggest surprises when it reached #1 in Ireland in 1977. Also interesting is that even with the incredible amount of success the Carpenters had in Japan and the UK, they never had a single reach the top spot on their individual charts. Canada has been very appreciative of the Carpenters with 13 singles reaching #1 on their Top 40 and AC charts which is rarely mentioned.

For those of you that may cross check this claim out of curiosity and only come up with nineteen (19) chart toppers, I added "Merry Christmas Darling" to the list which reached #1 on three separate (1970,71,73) Billboard Holiday charts. Sadly, it's too late for Chris and Mike to add this noteworthy achievement to the Carpenters, The Musical Legacy book! :)
Now, THAT'S some impressive numbers right there! Thanks, Portlander, for your exemplary work on this list. I had no idea they had so many number one hits in Canada!
 
Last year I found an interesting book called “Carpenters All The Top 40Hits” by Craig Halstead. (Createspace). He lists all the locations that the Carpenters had Top 40 hits. Now then there are some spaces were he’ll list the number of weeks the song was on the chart, but due to missing information he’ll have a question mark. But he used internet sources as well as books and other physical sources for compiling. He also notes that prior to a certain year, some countries were known by other names, like Zimbabwe being known as Rhodesia prior to 1980.

In Rhodesia, Only Yesterday hit #1 on that chart on July 5, 1975. It was on the Rhodesian charts for 17 weeks.

In Hong Kong (yes Halstead even covers Hong Kong as a colony of the UK) Sing went #1.

It’s also interesting, but in 1976 in Rhodesia, the album “Ticket To Ride” rose to #18 on the charts there. “Horizon” spent 9 weeks at #1 in Rhodesia.

Halstead even lists foreign only album and single chart toppers like “Golden Prize Vol 2” hitting #1 in Japan. He even notes for the “Singles 1974-1978” album, since it’s release the UK the UK chart rules have changed, so if today’s rules had been in place in 1978, the 74-78 album would’ve spent 3 weeks at #1, since the “Grease” soundtrack, which held it out of the #1 spot in 78, would’ve been disqualified on the main albums chart, since “Grease” was a multi-artist album and soundtrack. Halstead also seems to indicate that the 74-78 album might’ve had similar success here in Canada, however due to the incompleteness of the RPM back catalog, there is no information available on the 74-78’s Canadian Chart action.

Halstead even lists K-Tel albums like the German/Austrian release “Beautiful Moments” from 1980 where it hit #1 on the German charts (Zeitraum) in October 1980 and #2 in Austria in November 1980. And this was all based on TV advertising.

Halstead also notes that “Lovelines” failed to chart anywhere on earth. But he notes that in the UK, Karen’s solo album hit #174 for one week, while in Japan it charted for 6 weeks with its highest being #19.
 
Good stuff Tom. I'm checking out albums (LP) now and our favorite duo had eight (8) reach the number one position somewhere in the world which does include the Golden Prize Vol II you mentioned above. :thumbsup:
 
Just in case anyone is interested I've listed the number one albums by the Carpenters. After more research the total count is actually seven:

Close To You, CAN
Now & Then, JAP
Horizon, JAP UK
The Singles (1969-73), US CAN UK
Grand Prix Vol II, JAP
The Very Best Of The Carpenters, AUS
Only Yesterday, UK

These albums reached the number two position:

Carpenters, US
The Singles (1974-78), UK
The Nation's Favourite Songs, UK
The Very Best Of The Carpenters, NZ
 
Just in case anyone is interested I've listed the number one albums by the Carpenters. After more research the total count is actually seven:

Close To You, CAN
Now & Then, JAP
Horizon, JAP UK
The Singles (1969-73), US CAN UK
Grand Prix Vol II, JAP
The Very Best Of The Carpenters, AUS
Only Yesterday, UK

These albums reached the number two position:

Carpenters, US
The Singles (1974-78), UK
The Nation's Favourite Songs, UK
The Very Best Of The Carpenters, NZ
It’s actually 8, since as I pointed out the German/Austria K-Tel release (someone’s uploaded it to YouTube or at least put the tracks together digitally from different CD’s) so it’s the actual Carpenters recordings and Discogs lists it as a legitimate A&M/CBS RECORDS release) “Beautiful Moments” hit #1 in Germany in 1980 (it might’ve just been West Germany at the time).
 
Worldwide Platinum, Gold and Silver record certifications for the Carpenters to date from RIAA, BPI, MC, RIAJ and ARIA sources.

ALBUMS: Platinum (16) Gold (20) Silver (3)

SINGLES: Gold (11) Silver (3)

TOTALS: Platinum (16) Gold (31) Silver (6)

Though the Carpenters charted extremely well in Canada, I was surprised they only had one Gold single (Please Mr. Postman), one Platinum album (The Singles 1969-73) and two Gold albums (Horizon and Christmas Portrait).
 
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