Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.
The overall quality of the record is also something very noticeable, this album doesn´t only sound louder, but brighter and more "alive".
August 1980
Single #2: My Body Keeps Changing My Mind
B-side: Steel Een Luv Weeth Yoo
Comment: Get 'em dancin'!
Maybe not better, just different, more Carpenteresque! (Both are wonderful listens.)I do think the sound of the band on the solo album is excellent, although I do think Richard's remixes are better.
Very interesting - i am a huge fan of Barbara Dickson and know the guy who runs her website.
He was doing an album of Dickson 'covers' and I sent him Karen's version of ' It's really you'.
I also have family in Adelaide so for me quite a connection - I also love that 80's pop sound that Alan created for Cliff and Barbara Dickson amongst others you mentioned.
Thank you for this interesting post
Barbara Dickson nails ‘It’s Really You’ with what I think might be a live vocal, around the same time Karen Carpenter recorded the song for her solo album. I feel this song was probably the best composition recorded for Karen’s solo project and could have turned out quite well, if she’d completed her recording.
Barbara Dickson reaches the low notes at the beginning of the first verse with ease and hits the highest notes in the chorus right at the end, after the key change, strongly and with no trouble. Seems she can sing as low as what Karen could. She has quite a range, actually.
You're right, Rick. Barbara Dickson's version actually seems to be set at a faster tempo than Karen's because it has the drum keeping the beat, but Karen's is actually at the faster tempo. Also, Karen's version is in just a slightly higher key than Barbara's - if the versions on Youtube are set at the correct speed.After hearing this makes me wonder why Phil Ramone had Karen's range too high on this track. It really sounds so much better with this slightly slower tempo where you can hear her interpreting the lyrics, while Karen sounds likes she's rushing through the song.
The song really works better in her lower register, "for all the things we ever wanted to be...the time is right and your here tonight so hold my hand and know that you'll understand" Barbara's version is spot on with this slower tempo and lower vocals while Karen's feels like she's reaching too high...unnecessarily.
The sad part is that Karen would have nailed this in her lower register and this slower tempo. It's very interesting that she recorded this in 1980. I wonder if Karen heard Barbara's version. Did anyone notice how her outfit looked similar to Karen's on the 1980 medley from MMM with the flower/or accessory on her side waist.
Thanks for posting!!
After hearing this makes me wonder why Phil Ramone had Karen's range too high on this track. It really sounds so much better with this slightly slower tempo where you can hear her interpreting the lyrics, while Karen sounds likes she's rushing through the song.
The song really works better in her lower register, "for all the things we ever wanted to be...the time is right and your here tonight so hold my hand and know that you'll understand" Barbara's version is spot on with this slower tempo and lower vocals while Karen's feels like she's reaching too high...unnecessarily.
The sad part is that Karen would have nailed this in her lower register and this slower tempo. It's very interesting that she recorded this in 1980. I wonder if Karen heard Barbara's version. Did anyone notice how her outfit looked similar to Karen's on the 1980 medley from MMM with the flower/or accessory on her side waist.
Thanks for posting!!
If Richard had picked the solo album and worked on it right in 1980-81, before MIA, wouldn't we have ended with a lot of the OK Chorale in and a lot of a more syrupy sound?
You're close - It's actually the D below Middle C ( a half step below Eb) - she sings this at two places in "Where Do I Go From Here", once each in the 2 verses - her longest and most gorgeous demonstration of sustained "cruising in the basement" in any song - one of their most under-appreciated songs and one of her most beautiful vocal performances.Having said that, Karen's version seems to be set about as low as her range would manage. Her lowest note is often said to be the 'E' below 'Middle C', but on 'It's Really You', she begins lower than that - on the 'E Flat' below 'Middle C', (I think).
The only song she really recorded from scratch in 1980 was ‘Lovelines’.
Considering Temperton had massive success with "Rock With You" Nov/Dec '79 by which point her solo sessions in New York were presumably over, you get the feeling the powers at A&M got him back in Jan '80 with hopes of scoring a hit with Lovelines which was recorded in LA.
Reading between the lines I think that’s pretty much what happened. They didn’t feel the album had a strong enough song to open it (which was an ominous omen in itself) and that’s how ‘Lovelines’ came to be.
It may also explain the sky-high cost of the album coz he must've cost a fortune to get back on board.
Do we know what (opening) track was considered originally when playback was done for the West Coast listening?
(I thought this might be an interesting listen for some of the Forum gang, if you haven't heard this previously.)
From YouTuber Phil F:
"One of my pandemic hobbies is audio editing and DJ software. I discovered Algoriddim's Neural Mix Pro (macOS) which lets you separate components of a track (ie, vocal, instruments, and drums.) I felt up to the challenge to remix this song. Neural Mix Pro is a cool product but it isn't perfect resulting in some parts of the instrumentals sounding muddled. I added a drum beat loop and increased BPM from 117 to 123. I feel good about my edits. I hope you do, too."
Listening to this remix reminded me of a thought I've had in the past but don't believe I've expressed - although others may have expressed similar musings.
Disco music was nearing it's end in 1979, and the anti-disco backlash had been in full swing for some time. There were still disco songs and some big disco hits, even a couple of songs into the very early '80's, but the writing was on the wall for disco.
Had Karen's album been released, and she had a sizeable "disco hit" (and ONLY a disco-oriented hit), it would likely have led to an even more ferocious assault by critics, on Karen directly, and indirectly pushed Karen (and the Carpenters) further outside the musical scene that would become the 80's. Of course this point would become irrelevant given Karen's passing, so this is from a 'what-if' perspective.
There were other female vocalists who had disco hits and survived well into the 80's (or even beyond), but most if not all of them had already established themselves long before the disco phenomenon (Streisand, Diana Ross, et al). This was Karen's first solo effort.
Summarizing; would a big disco hit from Karen's solo album have had an adverse affect on her chance of having further solo success in the 80's (assuming she chose a solo path in some form)?
Maybe David, (this also being from a what-if perspective) Karen's vocals as "lead sister" of the Carpenters was pretty established in the 1970's. Her voice is the main reason I could listen to an extended (mock-up) club mix like this. Along with real singers like Donna Summer, Streisand etc. who survived the 80's and beyond. I don't think this would be my 1st choice for a debut single, it would be "If I Have You." The single mix of MBKCMM could of been the B-side and maybe some dance stations might of played that on the radio too! But I do believe had the solo album been released in 1980, a promo only Extended Mix could of been issued prior to the album's release for Dance/Disco play. Her vocals really make it come alive!
I don't think Karen would of wanted to be remembered for her one and only "disco" hit that was a fluke. She was a gifted vocalist suitable for all kinds of contemporary pop music, country or standards. But you were right, disco was a trend and it was ending and evolving into the next big thing, although the early 80's was off to a slow start in finding out exactly "what" that was. Wasn't AC really big in the early 80's? Karen's voice though, could of been a bigger part of that. Or perhaps not.
Good points. I certainly agree that Karen's voice was established and well-recognized (and adored, for the most part). I think there's a question of whether her first SOLO effort would have been viewed in the same light as many other females vocalists who went solo after being well-known as part of a band or group - say, a Diana Ross post-Supremes, or Marilyn McCoo post 5th Dimension - because Karen's voice was so intimately linked to the unique Carpenters "sound."
Ultimately, you've changed my mind on this. I agree that had Karen lived and was healthy, her options - from musical genre to musicals, big duets, acting, etc. - would have been there for her, whether she had a big "one-off" disco hit or not. She was simply too talented not to have had some form of success in the 80's, had she pursued it - with and/or without "Carpenters".
We'd do well to remember that when Karen was recording her solo album, Carpenters meant nearly nothing. "Passage" didn't do much and no one was really checking for Carpenters' music. I'm not certain that her solo album would have gotten the attention many here think it would have. I also think this song in particular would have gotten many a "side eye". Like..."Close to You girl is now doing disco...what??" and it probably would have elicited quite a bit of laugher - no matter how good she sounds on it (and she does sound excellent, of course).
In short, the record would have to have been phenomenal to not only get the public's attention but to make people take Karen seriously. Carpenters had long since been written off as square and "Passage" did nothing to change that. Karen's solo record was facing quite the uphill battle and while I've always liked it, it probably wouldn't have done much to turn the tide. I'm grateful that it came out so we could hear it but in terms of chart action, it likely would have done very little. I also doubt a "dance mix" of "My Body..." would have garnered much interest unless they did the "Donny Osmond/Soldier of Love" trick where they put the tune out without telling anyone who the artist was at first. This would very much have been very much the same situation and Karen's solo record would have needed similar creative marketing to get it over.
Ed
My original premise/question was based on the "what-if" Karen found lightning in a bottle with a disco-song from her album, and how that may have impacted her solo career, since disco was winding down and was reviled by many. Your "side-eye" is exactly what I was referring to, and definitely would have happened.
But as @John Adam points out, and I agree - even if that had happened (a disco hit), she was simply too talented not to have had some form of 80's career success, in one form or another.
Sadly, of course, we'll never know.