Voice of the Heart

[Someday]

I have been re-reading some of the fan club newsletters from 1981/82, which mentions several times that the Carpenters were recording new material for their forthcoming album. Wondering how close Voice of the Heart is to what was invisaged back then? Yes, some tracks were recorded during the MiA sessions, but we know they were not averse to using older material on studio albums. Had Karen lived I wonder if VotH would have been similar to what it became (but with more backing vocals by the duo) ...

 

[newvillefan]

I think a lot of what Evelyn wrote in those newsletters was padded out and sugar coated...a lot like their image! We know now that the only session between finishing MIA and her death was the recording session with Karen in 1982. She wasn't even in LA between November 1981 and September 1982.

Richard has also said he doesn't rate a lot of the songs on VOTH and that had Karen lived, they would have left much of it behind in favour of stronger material. I'd tend to agree with him...songs like 'Prime Time Love', 'At The End Of A Song', 'Two Lives' and 'Your Baby Doesn't Love You Any More' are pure filler tracks and not a patch on them at their peak. 'Lovelines' six years later was a much better posthumous album, much more rounded out.

 

[Mark-T]

I think "Your Baby" is powerful! The others are nice, with two of them being written by Richard- and I think it was a smart financial move on his part to put them on the album.

 

[ullalume]

Yeah, I've always wondered that. On Sept 1st 1981 they mentioned in their Good Morning America interview that they were working on another album.

I've always presumed that the production of their last album would have followed previous offerings - i.e. start recording in Jan of 1982 and have it released in mid summer. In Sept. Karen was yet to decide to seek treatment, and she and Richard were most probably sifting through demo submissions and composing at the time of the above interview. As we know, after her return from London in Oct everything changed and in January off she went to New York.

Only Now and You're Enough were from the 1982 session in April. In Love Alone would have been on there, too. And I'm sure they'd include some of the MIA outtakes ( Richard loved Kiss Me. . ., )

Laters

Neil

 

[Mark-T]

Yep, I love Kiss Me, too. It's always on my Carps compilations.