Will there ever be another Karen?

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Chris May

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For me, it's all about that lower register, mixed with the vocal overdubs and PERFECT arrangements. I have to wonder, will there EVER be another sound like that? How about another Karen?

I mean, you hear Anne Murray sing with an edge to her lower register that resonates close to Karen's. You hear Manhattan Transfer, and there is a similar "core" to the vocal harmonies. Then you have Akiko Kobayashi who hauntingly sounds like Karen occasionally on her records as well.

But in this current day musically with all of the computerized music out there, what about the meat and potatoes? A REAL piano, with REAL strings, and REAL drums fronted by a singer who isn't all that interested in vocal acrobatics, just delivery of a great song with a one-in-a-million voice backed by an incredible arrangement? Any thoughts??

-Chris (who's finished babbling now, online)
 
Hi Chris

Three words for you:

'My Colouring Book'...by Agnetha Faltskog. Released 2004 on the Warner Sweden label but widely available most places or if not online at the usual outlets.

It's an album of covers, but it has all the ingredients you say you long to hear again. I'd recommend it to anyone!

Stephen
 
This is interesting. Given some thought the prospects of another KC seem highly unlikely, at least in my lifetime. Besides that Karen raised the bar so so high talent-wise. Who could match her intensity today? Certainly not Cher, Madonna, J.Lo (God help me) no not Barbra, although she'd be quick to disagree with me. As fond as I am of ONJ, this stratosphere is quite out of her reach as well. Within the short span of Karen's career '69-'83 she sold more records than all of the above combined. Not to mention the millions of record sales that have followed since her passing. In another generation I believe that The Material Girl will have dwindled into obscurity. There are some people who will be remembered forever based upon their impact. To name a few, Lucy, Billie Holliday, Teddy Roosevelt and KAREN CARPENTER etc... This company of brilliance answers the topics question to my satisfaction.

Jeff
 
I don't think there will ever be another singer that sounds like Karen. It's the one reason why I still play her music & yearn to keep hearing her voice after all these years. The tone of her voice is something that has never been replicated again since she died. I'm not into today's pop singers who can't sing at all. Everytime I hear them I say to myself, that person can't sing like Karen, not even close. Still there are some good singers out there but Karen was simply the "best".

I love ONJ's music & it's very special to me but her voice is not Karen.
 
I may dream a million dreams, but how can they come true? When there will never, ever be, another you...

Karen was unique for all reasons above... We definitely missed out on hearing more she could have sang... I think the way she changed the face of pop music would have sent an awakening through the music world of today to keep it the way she and Richard had changed it those 35 years ago...


Dave
 
I have always wished that RC would do a talent search and find a new singer to work with. Not someone who sounds "like" Karen, because she's irreplaceable, but another unique talent like hers. A vocalist who, like Herb Alpert said about Karen, "sounds like she's sitting in your lap."

Doesn't have to be somebody famous. Christopher Reeve was almost completely unknown when he was picked to play Superman.
 
Former "Bugaloos" actress Caroline Ellis (who played "Joy": the pink butterfly) could have been the next Karen. The TV show "The Bugaloos" (Sid & Marty Krofft) NBC Saturday morning show from 1970 singing "The Senses of Our World" & "Castles In The Air" (which was released on their only self-titled album from Capitol). Caroline is divorced & lives in Spain with her daughter Sasha who is 18 years old. I also thought that Debbie Gibson "Lost In Your Eyes" (1989) had a great voice. Actress & singer Christy Carlson Romano (from the Disney Channel "Even Stevens" & the voice of the cartoon series "Kim Possible") has her debut release in stores today. Both Deborah & Christy (separately) had the leading role of "Belle" on Broadway "Beauty And The Beast". Matt Clark Sanford, MI
 
AM Matt said:
I also thought that Debbie Gibson "Lost In Your Eyes" (1989) had a great voice.

Wholehearted agreement. I'm not ashamed to say I love that single!!

There'll never be another Karen, as far as I'm concerned. Has there been a single female singer in the last twenty years who sounds even REMOTELY like Karen? The only time I've ever listened to a record and thought "Hey, that reminds me a little bit of Karen Carpenter" is the very first line - and only the first line - in S Club 7's "Never Had a Dream Come True." But that's it. I can't think of any other record or part of a record from the last twenty years that's reminded me of Karen's singing. Unquestionably one of the most distinctive voices of any female singer in the history of pop music.

Jeff F.
 
The Carpenters sound can be duplicated but Karen's voice no way, never there will never be another Karen. I wish I could be wrong about this but so far no one comes close...no one! (and I don't think anyone ever will) :sad:
 
Of course there can never be another Karen but, gosh, kd lang comes awfully close. She's got a warm rich tone and she too sounds like she's "in your lap". Her pitch is just amazing. I could listen to that voice all day long. WOW!

Ed
 
Simply put -as Bruno stated -never ....nor do we want / need a copy of a truly original / unique vocalist & performer :cool:

Always puzzles me when in various media -upcoming performers want to be like this actor / actress , this singer / performer , this artist etc ....rather than attempting some enfeebled impression ...far better to be your self .... :!: I rarely see this as paying tribute ...more a lack of originality & imagination :shock:

Copycat talent shows are OK in small doses ....but if like Karen....you are a one -off ....best to stick with the best & original ....:cool:

Richard has stated this several times over the years....better to find a jazz or R&B performer to work with rather than a pale imitation pop singer, trying to copy Karen :o

Peter
 
I agree with Stephen about Agnetha Faltskog's My Colouring Book. Great album, especially the song, "Sometimes When I'm Dreaming". That song would have been so perfect for Karen to sing (Agnetha...you did a great job!).
 
I don't like the so called "Karen Sound Alikes" at all. None of them. It was weird when I listened Akiko's album because it eerily reminds you of Karen. She sounds like her in parts, but not as a whole. And Jenny???? I won't go there. Let me just say this instead: Karen was a one of a kind vocalist. Simply the best.
 
Karen obviously had great musicianship. What she has, for me, is subtlety and control; like Sinatra (who I didn't get for years), she knew how to sing a LYRIC, not feeling obligated to add all the licks and extra notes to achieve an effect - she put all the focus and emotion into what the writer wrote, and she made it come alive. Whereas an Ella Fitzgerald was an utterly brilliant jazz singer, embellishing and framing the song that way, Karen was simply one of the best real pop singers to come along. I agree, it's not about finding someone who sounds like her, but finding (and supporting) the artists that just move you......
 
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