Times where the C's lipsynched

[CarpentersToYou]

Hi all!
I was asked a question on my website on when the Carpenters lipsunc. Here's what I know:
-TV Specials
-BBC Concert
-Make Your Own Kind Of Music
-1981 Japanese Telethon ("Beechwood 4-5789", "Touch Me When We're Dancing" - power outage, she couldn't do the rest!)
-Telethon "We've Only just Begun"

Any of your help would be appreciated!

Thanks!

edited thread title for correct spelling

 

[Mike Blakesley]

I don't know the answer, but I think the correct term is "lip-synced." (Using a pre-recorded backing track rather than singing "live.")

Maybe this will help people understand what you're looking for.

 

[CarpentersToYou]

Thanks! I never thought about people not knowing that! Thanks a lot Mike! Take care!

 

[newvillefan]

Alex

There are hundreds of times they appeared on television, so it's probably near impossible to catalogue all of them and which were lip synched, but the only other ones I can think of are:

Merv Griffin Show (Want You Back In My Life Again)
Suntory Pop Adverts x 2
Dorothy Hamill Special (Make Me Laugh)
All of the promos

Stephen

 

[Jeff]

CarpenterS First Special...Top Of The world, plus everything
C's at Christmas...Everything
Space Encounters...yep
Music Music Music...oh yeah
The other Christmas show...Little Girl Blue
Every video clip
in the shower, just kidding

Honestly the only live TV performance I can recall is on The Tonight Show Hosted by Late Night King John Davidson. They performed Thank you For The Music and a Superstar/Rainy days medley.

CarpenterS were a studio band. In each concert review it is generally said that K&R flawlessly reproduced their sound. In the three concerts I attended, Doug Strawn and Bob messenger didn't have quite the same oooo's and ahhhh's going on. In each performance these and oh yeah, Tony The Bone Peluso, were featured back-ups. Plus we had Richard on falsetto. No one here will dispute my feelings about Karen's vocal prowess. However my conclusion has been that CarpenterS were a studio band. Which worked fine for me. The reason I attended the concerts wasn't for the sound replication, but rather being in the same room with and finally having the opportunity to meet them was my satisfaction. Starstruck ya know?

There was alot of lip-synching out of necessity. Repeated appearances featuring Live perfomance may not have sold as many albums. It feels somewhat odd to declare that the lead/backup vocals on the albums are far superior to those in concert. But, here's the 411. Gone are all of the rich, smoky alto "low notes". The punch or emotion in delivery is vacant. Obviously the over-dubbing couldn't be reproduced. Rendering harmony absent. Listen to Live In Japan or The Palladium and you'll understand.

Now nobody get worked up. This is merely the observation of a CarpenterS authority.

I'm grateful for A&M,

Jeff

 

[Harry]

I totally agree. While the live concerts were entertaining in their own right, Carpenters never sounded better than they did on record - a fact that probably has more to do with the very small number of live recordings that Richard has released. He, more than any of us, realizes how hard it was to reproduce that studio sound out on the road. Peluso, Strawn, and Messenger did a good job on stage attempting to recreate the harmonies, but they just couldn't possibly replicate the studio magic.

So it's very understandable why naerly all of Carpenters TV performances were lip-synched.

Harry
NP: LIVE AT THE BUDOKAN

 

[Chris May]

Gone are all of the rich, smoky alto "low notes". The punch or emotion in delivery is vacant. Obviously the over-dubbing couldn't be reproduced. Rendering harmony absent. Listen to Live In Japan or The Palladium and you'll understand.

I too couldn't agree with you more, Jeff. I never had the opportunity to see the Carpenters live, although I do own the live albums, etc. With the exception of "I Need To Be In Love" at the Palladium and the 'shorts' if you will extracted from "Make Your Own Kind Of Music" series, you just don't get the same feeling when you listen to the live recordings versus the studio stuff.

I remember seeing/hearing Richard in Long Beach several years ago playing and singing live to the Carpenters tracks. Now THAT was an experience. It was kind of "the best of both worlds" so-to-speak. Karen's perfect voice, the arrangements and overdubbed harmonies, with a "live" Richard singing backup over the top of everything and playing acoustic grand live right along with it. Man, I don't think I've ever had a more satisfying Carpenters experience. Just a few of my thoughts. -Chris