Touch me when we're Dancing (Live)

WYBIMLA

Well-Known Member
Does anybody have a copy of that live performance?
I was looking on YouTube and cannot find it anymore. :sad:
Maybe I was dreaming I saw it. :tongue: lol
 
And off of the Facebook page too.
I kept an mp3 of it to be able to listen to an alternative take, but somehow misplaced the file. -__-
 
Go through the entire link regarding this clip. It's still there posted by somebody else. There's a glitch in it, though, which wasn't there before.
 
Here you go:



It's in the thread linked to here. @cam89 posted it. It's amazing how good she could sound given the condition we now know she was in. She's painfully thin here and her face is quite sunken in, yet she still sounds good and seems to have good energy.
 
Noted that she is wearing her wedding ring in this video. They were married in Aug. 1980 if memory serves, so by now she knew the marriage was a sham. That and her illness, it's amazing that she could put on the "performers mask" and do this at all.
 
Even though it was only a couple of years ago that this clip first emerged, I'd completely forgotten about it. Very bitterwsweet watching it - a real treat to have a live version of the track, even if the harmonies sound a bit off, but so sad seeing Karen in this state. All the footage from 1981 is marred by this. To use Carol Curb's words, her face was all eyes...
 
I agree it's a marvel this clip was unearthed so many years later. It's so great to hear a 'live' version of any song from 1981, and especially 'Touch Me When We're Dancing', as it became their final true hit.
But, it is a very sad watch. Poor Karen looks so pale and tired. She was a trooper in every sense of the word, and, as always, smiling through her pain.
 
And it was only ten years earlier that Karen was hale and healthy and in her prime. Karen Carpenter in 1971 and 1981 makes for quite a disturbing juxtaposition.
 
I think this clip should stay hidden. It is heartbreaking to hear the damage done from anorexia.
 
And it was only ten years earlier that Karen was hale and healthy and in her prime. Karen Carpenter in 1971 and 1981 makes for quite a disturbing juxtaposition.

I still find Karen's physical appearance in 1981 shocking, considering how fantastic she looked just 7 years earlier in 1974. It's difficult to comprehend how someone's appearance could change so drastically in the space of just a few years. She looked like a woman in her forties by the time she was 31. With the camera adding a few pounds, she must have been a sight to behold in person. I once showed my dad the clip of them on the Merv Griffin Show and at first he refused to actually believe it was her until he saw Richard beside her.
 
As I've mentioned before, Karen is very worn and tired sounding, to the point of sounding winded and pitchy. Definitely not the Karen we all know and grew to love over the decades sadly enough.
 
Interesting how some would prefer to have not seen this video while others of us it has really made us happy.

As sad as it is, I'm very grateful - and happy - we have it. It's a precious, rare clip from a time they did hardly any live vocal TV appearances. The only other one I know of is the performance of Top Of The World on French TV from the same promotional trip.

I remember when I first discovered this on YouTube and excitedly posted it here. I don't know what possessed me to search for it, but I typed in "Touch Me When We're Dancing Live", curious to see if any new European clips had been posted in recent months, and lo and behold, there it was - first in the search results. I was that excited, I didn't realise her vocal was live until a second or third listen, I was just amazed a new clip had surfaced.

I wonder if Richard is aware this has resurfaced after so long or even seen it at all?
 
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I don't hear pitch problems... strangely enough. Perhaps tired, yes... similarly to "uninvited guest" the soft approach kind of suits the song in my opinion. I don't hear anything glaring.
I like to listen to it preferably. That's why I was looking for it again because we don't have anything else for this song besides the studio version and isolated centre track from the SACD project.
So, this is a rare find indeed! Never heard of it before. No fan from the boards had known of it's existence until over a year ago now.
Despite the fact that it's transferred footage and the quality isn't as good you get to hear differences from the studio version. I think there's some improvements because the lead doesn't sound as buried.
On the "feel you when I'm falling in looove" Karen sounds stronger on that to me than the doubled parts on the studio version. I don't know I didn't think I had ear problems. Lol
 
I don't hear pitch problems... strangely enough. Perhaps tired, yes... similarly to "uninvited guest" the soft approach kind of suits the song in my opinion. [snip]

I don't hear pitch issues either, although I do hear subtle variations from the recorded track of course. Perhaps ears keener than mine can hear it. She does sound "wispy" to me, though. Whether that's an intentional choice by Karen - convey the song in that manner - or her illness, dunno.

This video is bittersweet.
 
I don't hear pitch issues either, although I do hear subtle variations from the recorded track of course. Perhaps ears keener than mine can hear it. She does sound "wispy" to me, though. Whether that's an intentional choice by Karen - convey the song in that manner - or her illness, dunno.

She sounds wispy for sure but there are definitely pitch issues in this clip. I know we're talking minute differences, but they're there. That could be down to any number of issues, from studio monitor quality to Karen's general poor health. I think because we've never heard this song performed live until this point and because many people focus on this part of her life, we obsessive fans were always going to scrutinise every syllable of it.
 
As I've mentioned before, Karen is very worn and tired sounding, to the point of sounding winded and pitchy. Definitely not the Karen we all know and grew to love over the decades sadly enough.
She put her heart and soul into her performance, so I'm sure it was a reflection of the state of both at the time.
 
She sounds wispy for sure but there are definitely pitch issues in this clip. I know we're talking minute differences, but they're there. That could be down to any number of issues, from studio monitor quality to Karen's general poor health. I think because we've never heard this song performed live until this point and because many people focus on this part of her life, we obsessive fans were always going to scrutinise every syllable of it.

I'm sorry but if we're going to scrutinize and I don't mean to make you go through the trouble,
But can you give specific examples?
I must be tone deaf then. Lol
A few exact phrases or words you can pinpoint in this video compared to the studio version would help me out.

Maybe I expect everything KC did to be pitch perfect because she always was on record.
I assume the queen of pitch wouldn't have any problems.

However, fans point out these few things from outtakes, but to the untrained ear there's little difference.
I've had some music training (limited) but I guess now you can't get away with too much these days. It's analyzed and criticized. That's how it is.
No wonder now contemporary artists rely heavily on technology to make everything just so.

I can hear different timing than expected or a breathy note in the lesser known bonus tracks or live versions.
That is also a technique and stylistic choice as is vibrato to distort the note a bit tricking the listener into thinking you'd hit it. Which the artist did, but not "exact".

I know the obvious bittersweetness here... I'm ignoring that part of it while I'm asking this.
 
I'm sorry but if we're going to scrutinize and I don't mean to make you go through the trouble,
But can you give specific examples?
I must be tone deaf then. Lol
A few exact phrases or words you can pinpoint in this video compared to the studio version would help me out.

Maybe I expect everything KC did to be pitch perfect because she always was on record.
I assume the queen of pitch wouldn't have any problems.

However, fans point out these few things from outtakes, but to the untrained ear there's little difference.
I've had some music training (limited) but I guess now you can't get away with too much these days. It's analyzed and criticized. That's how it is.
No wonder now contemporary artists rely heavily on technology to make everything just so.

I can hear different timing than expected or a breathy note in the lesser known bonus tracks or live versions.
That is also a technique and stylistic choice as is vibrato to distort the note a bit tricking the listener into thinking you'd hit it. Which the artist did, but not "exact".

First and second verse she's very slightly out on many notes. If you don't hear it, that's fine. I don't want to sit here and rip her to pieces over nuances because she's my favourite singer but they're there and in such contrast to almost all other live performances she ever gave. She was human and very ill when this was filmed. It's a miracle she sounded this good given her condition.
 
First and second verse she's very slightly out on many notes. If you don't hear it, that's fine. I don't want to sit here and rip her to pieces over nuances because she's my favourite singer but they're there and in such contrast to almost all other live performances she ever gave. She was human and very ill when this was filmed. It's a miracle she sounded this good given her condition.

I echo those sentiments as well and she sounds like someone who just briskly climbed a flight of stairs, trying to sing while avoiding heavy breathing.

And believe me, there is absolutely no doubt that no one that can hold a candle to Karen's voice and legacy. I sometimes feel like I have to tread lightly when critiquing the solo album as well just to keep the peace in Carpenters forums. Again, none of this stuff is to detract from Karen's God-given gifts, abilities and legacy like I mentioned. But being human, we tend to hear what we want to hear rather than what's actually going on, or at the very least, filter someone like Karen thru the same ears we hear/heard her when she was healthiest. Why? Because she was THAT good!

But again let's not ever forget, she WAS human, was extremely ill in the few short years preceding her death, and not even she nor anyone else could deny that. So much so that hell, it literally killed her.
 
And, on that 'note,' Karen reportedly gave her last singing performance on December 17,1982.
(LGB,Page 270). Frenda Leffler, while stating "Karen's joy was palpable that day,"
gives absolutely no indication of how Karen's voice sounded, or what she did sing to those school children.
I really do wonder if things (e.g., vocals) had not deterioriated even more by that point in time.
Simply too sad to contemplate.
 
Yet, just a few months later, Karen records "Now" and "You're Enough" as work leads in April 1982. And these work leads sound beautiful to my ears.

At this time, she was still quite ill. So it seems that she was still capable of some incredible performances - even under trying circumstances.
 
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