🎶 Album Sides THE ALBUM SIDES [Poll]: "PASSAGE" (SP-4703)

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

another interesting info about Passage in the newsletters...

NEWSLETTER #56 - November, 1977

Good news for most foreign members. A terrific short length promotion film was made to promote Karen and Richard's new single 'Calling Occupants Of Interplanetary Craft'. It will be shown in theaters world-wide (except the United States.) Karen, in a lovely green satin jump suit, sings the entire song to Richard's accompaniment. If, like me, you enjoy watching his hands as he plays, you'll be pleased with the close-up shots of his hands on the keyboard. Background setting is, of course, outer space with a galaxy of stars, planets and space-ships. The disc-jockey in the radio station at the opening of the film, is group member Tony Peluso (as on 'Passage') who mimicks the 5O's DJs so well. Tony is also featured as a d.j. on previous Carpenters albums.

 

[newvillefan]

This is on a different topic from the recent 'Passage' posts. I read at some stage, (maybe in the fan club newsletters), that the recording of 'Don't Cry for Me, Argentina' was filmed for airing on news bulletins. Did anybody ever see this footage or has it ever surfaced on Youtube?

The footage has never surfaced, at least not on YouTube.

 

[Jeff]

That spectacular Argentina production possibly on film? Such an experience needs sharing.

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

So it's been a long time since I watched the tv special.
Here are 2 different versions. 7 mins



Then this is the music video (possibly the short length film?) 5 mins

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

I just quickly viewed the tv special on you tube and I guess I had forgot that Karen wore white on the tv special Space Encounters for this song and the DJ (Tony) was not played on the tv special version. So I'm betting that this 5 min version above alternate version 2 might be this promo film used in theaters.

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

The videos I posted above...que them up at the exact same time when Tony is talking and you can watch them both to see just how different they really are....

 

[Geographer]

I just quickly viewed the tv special on you tube and I guess I had forgot that Karen wore white on the tv special Space Encounters for this song and the DJ (Tony) was not played on the tv special version. So I'm betting that this 5 min version above alternate version 2 might be this promo film used in theaters.

I think the top one (7 minutes) is the actual "video." The bottom one (5 minutes) is from the Space Encounter TV Special. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[Murray]

I think the top one (7 minutes) is the actual "video." The bottom one (5 minutes) is from the Space Encounter TV Special. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong.

The top one (7 minutes) is a fan-made video, which combines the official promo film with clips from the TV special. The second one (5 minutes) is from Space Encounters (with the DJ bit from the official film added at the beginning). The official promo film is the one on the "Gold" DVD, and is the one that I saw in the theater.

 

[tomswift2002]

Yeah the top one is fan made, especially since both films were shot in 4:3 (which is why the top one also looks weird, someone has stretched it to 16:9). The bottom one is from the TV special, which is also available on the Interpretations DVD, with the DJ added. Also both have been upscaled to 1080p.

 

[Harry]

If you ever run across a YouTube video that someone uploaded in stretched mode, copy the URL and paste it in:

StretchSite - Fix YouTube Aspect Ratio

Once there, you can pick the option to squish the 16:9 picture back to 4:3, or if the reverse is true and someone uploaded a widescreen video in 4:3, you can undo that as well.

Works great!

Here's that top video unstretched:

StretchSite - Fix YouTube Aspect Ratio

There are also sliders if the aspect ratio is still wrong.

 

[song4u]

So it's been a long time since I watched the tv special.
Here are 2 different versions. 7 mins



Then this is the music video (possibly the short length film?) 5 mins

The first one, Karen in green, is the one shown before movies in the theater that I had seen (US).

 

[1979lee]

Well there's TWO SIDES....... i choose side TEW, remove Man Smart, Woman Smarter and replace it with Your the one (i do this on all my passage folders).

 

[Carpe diem]

The first one, Karen in green, is the one shown before movies in the theater that I had seen (US).

So they actually show music videos before the movie? What a great idea! Is this done a lot? Instead of seeing "coming attractions" and all the advertisements, how great would it be to see music videos on the big screen before the movie! I don't know, am I late to the party here?, the theater I occasionally go to does not do this...

 

[Murray]

So they actually show music videos before the movie? What a great idea! Is this done a lot? Instead of seeing "coming attractions" and all the advertisements, how great would it be to see music videos on the big screen before the movie! I don't know, am I late to the party here?, the theater I occasionally go to does not do this...

"Calling Occupants" was the only time I ever saw a music video played in a theater - first they showed the standard "coming attractions", then they played the "Occupants" video, right before those immortal words "A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away..." scrolled up the screen. It was ingenious promotion on the part of A&M (in Canada, don't know about elsewhere), showing that video to a theater full of sci-fi fans. It's a shame that they couldn't always have promoted the Carpenters with such imagination.

 

[Another Son]

Carpenters Passage was Number 11 Here's a link to a pic I just took of the South Australian Top 20 albums chart from 26th of January, 1978, showing 'Passage' at Number 18, down from Number 11 the week before. 'Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft' was spending its first week at Number 5 on the same chart / date.

 

[Mark-T]

Were "You're the One" and "Sailing on the Tide" the only two extra songs cut for the Passage album but never added?

 

[jaredjohnfisher]

Sadly, this one is a toss up. Each side has its merits, but the overly long Argentina and Occupants cause each side to lose points. My ideal "side" would be the first two tracks on each side!

 

[Karen Carpenter Fan 2012]

I love anything Karen sings but I am not a Huge fan of "Calling Occupants" , but I love her voice! Karen had an ability to make any song sound great. This LP was the only one I didn't rush out to buy. I adore "Two Sides", "Sweet Sweet Smile", "I Just Fall In Love Again", "All You Get From Love Is A Love Song", "Argentina" is beautiful but I am not a fan of the operatic singing at the beginning of the track. "Bwana" is ok but I like it better than "Goofus" (I know wrong album!), "Man Smart" is a good track, but like I said Karen's voice...this is probably my least played Carps' LP. Heck, I don't even own a CD version....There's just TOO MUCH GOING ON HERE!

 

[Vinylalbumcovers]

I love anything Karen sings but I am not a Huge fan of "Calling Occupants" , but I love her voice! Karen had an ability to make any song sound great. This LP was the only one I didn't rush out to buy. I adore "Two Sides", "Sweet Sweet Smile", "I Just Fall In Love Again", "All You Get From Love Is A Love Song", "Argentina" is beautiful but I am not a fan of the operatic singing at the beginning of the track. "Bwana" is ok but I like it better than "Goofus" (I know wrong album!), "Man Smart" is a good track, but like I said Karen's voice...this is probably my least played Carps' LP. Heck, I don't even own a CD version....There's just TOO MUCH GOING ON HERE!

"Man Smart" was a very good track...when Robert Palmer did it exactly the same way the year before. Carpenters' version is slightly faster but otherwise, it's essentially the same thing. Karen even copies Robert's phrasing almost exactly. Not sure why they did this - especially when Richard said he wouldn't release the Abba tune for the same reasons.



Ed

 

[newvillefan]

Not sure why they did this - especially when Richard said he wouldn't release the Abba tune for the same reasons.

To this day, I’m still not sure what actually possessed Richard to even record this track, never mind think it worthy of including on the album. It’s a dire song and not even Karen can rescue it.

 

[Vinylalbumcovers]

To this day, I’m still not sure what actually possessed Richard to even record this track, never mind think it worthy of including on the album. It’s a dire song and not even Karen can rescue it.

It's a fun little thing and it's the second tune on the album that really lets the band let go. That's the one thing Palmer's doesn't do. I don't have a problem with it being there 'cause it is fun. I just don't understand why Richard did it almost exactly like Palmer. I know he was trying to not sound like himself throughout "Passage" but why sound like someone else?

Dire would come on the next album...in a few ways.

Ed

 

[newvillefan]

I just don't understand why Richard did it almost exactly like Palmer.

Richard had a habit of producing carbon copy covers of other tunes in the late 70s. Slow Dance is almost identical to the McNichols’ version, the same goes for the Righteous Brothers’ version of All You Get From Love Is A Love Song and the original Michael Franks version of B’Wana She No Home.

Based on their performance on The Tonight Show in 1978, I don’t think I’d even want to hear their version of Thank You For The Music.

 

[Rumbahbah]

I'm guessing 'Man Smart...' was picked because, like 'Bwana' and 'Occupants', it was something quite different from what they normally recorded, which was part of the rationale behind the song selection on Passage. I hadn't heard the Robert Palmer version before so didn't realise that the Carpenters' version was pretty much an exact copy of that.

Different it may be (and I rather like 'Bwana' and 'Occupants', so it wasn't necessarily a bad idea to go outside their comfort zone in the search for material), but it's just a dog of a song. At least Palmer's version is mercifully brief - the mess in the Carpenters' version seems to go on forever. It would win out over 'Goofus', 'Druscilla Penny' or 'Help!' as the worst thing they ever recorded in my eyes.

 

[Bobberman]

I'm kind of undecided as to which side to choose because I only have this album on CD and I never owned a Vinyl copy so I would obviously choose AYGFLIALS Sweet sweet smile And Calling Occupants ( the latter got tons of radio play in late 1977 and I liked the Sci fi references as I was into star trek and star wars for a while until other interests took over) and most of the other tracks I didn't hear much of at all until I bought the CD in 2007 and I do like Man Smart Woman Smarter I liked Harry Belafonte's version Best but I think The Carpenters version is a Good Comedy Novelty number. ( very much like Goofus was to A Kind of Hush) just my opinion I know not everyone will agree but to each their own.

 

[Rumbahbah]

Thinking about it, part of my issue with 'Man Smart...' is that, like a number of their other songs I'm not keen on ('Goofus' and 'Sweet Sweet Smile' spring to mind), it sounds like a novelty song, as in 'hey this is a fun and silly song! You'll think it's fun and silly too!' 'Fun' is a subjective matter and my idea of 'fun' certainly isn't anything like that put forward in 'Man Smart...' or 'Goofus'.

'Occupants' by contrast (and also 'Sing' to an extent), may be absurd but it's delivered with utter sincerity. If it were delivered in a more knowing style, it might well not work, but it's hard not to get swept up by the beauty of the performance, even if it's all about aliens.