Carpenters

: This article is about a musical group. If you are looking for information about the skilled trade, see carpenter.

1970s

The Carpenters achieved their breakthrough in 1970 with the release of the Burt Bacharach-Hal David song, "(They Long to Be) Close to You", which rose to #1 and stayed atop the charts for four weeks. A follow-up recording, "We've Only Just Begun" (written by Paul Williams and Roger Nichols), reached #2 to become the duo's second major hit in the fall of 1970, and helped catapult the album featuring both hits (titled Close to You) to bestseller status. The duo rounded out the year with a holiday release, "Merry Christmas Darling", which Richard co-wrote with Frank Pooler, who had been the duo's choral director at Long Beach State. The single scored high on the holiday charts in 1970 and made repeat appearances on the charts in subsequent years.

Related Topics:
1970 - Burt Bacharach - Hal David - They Long to Be) Close to You - We've Only Just Begun - Paul Williams

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A string of hit singles and albums kept the Carpenters on the charts through the early 1970s, including "For All We Know", "Rainy Days and Mondays", and "Superstar" (all from the LP, Carpenters) in 1971; "Hurting Each Other", "It's Going to Take Some Time", and "Goodbye to Love" (from the LP, A Song for You) in 1972; "Sing" and "Yesterday Once More" (from the LP, Now and Then) in 1973. "Top of the World", an album selection on the Song for You LP, was covered by country artist Lynn Anderson, became a word-of-mouth hit and was re-recorded for single release in 1973, reaching number one on the Top 40 late that year. A greatest hits LP, titled The Singles: 1969-1973, topped the charts in the U.S. and the United Kingdom and became one of the bestselling albums of the decade, ultimately selling more than 7,000,000 copies in the U.S. alone.

Related Topics:
1971 - 1972 - 1973 - Country - Lynn Anderson - United Kingdom

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During the first half of the 1970s, the Carpenters' music was a staple of Top 40 playlists. The duo produced a distinctive sound featuring Karen's expressive contralto on lead vocals, with both siblings contributing background vocals that were overdubbed to create densely layered harmonies. To his role as vocalist, keyboardist, and arranger, Richard added that of composer on numerous tracks. Several of his compositions with lyricist John Bettis became hit records, including "Goodbye to Love", "Yesterday Once More", and "Top of the World".

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To promote their recordings, the Carpenters maintained a staggering schedule of concert tours and television appearances during this period. Among their numerous television credits were appearances on such popular series as American Bandstand, The Ed Sullivan Show, The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson, and the Carol Burnett Show. In 1971 the duo appeared in a television special on the BBC in the United Kingdom and were the featured performers in a summer replacement series, Make Your Own Kind of Music, which aired on NBC-TV in the U.S. In May 1973 the Carpenters accepted an invitation to perform at the White House for President Richard Nixon and visiting West German chancellor Willy Brandt.

Related Topics:
American Bandstand - The Ed Sullivan Show - The Tonight Show - Johnny Carson - Carol Burnett - BBC - NBC - White House - Richard Nixon - West German - Willy Brandt

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The Carpenters' popularity often confounded critics. With their output focused on ballads and mid-tempo pop, the duo's music was often dismissed by critics as bland and "saccharine". The recording industry, however, bestowed awards on the duo, who won three Grammy Awards during their career (including Best New Artist, and Best Pop Performance by a Duo, Group, or Chorus, for "Close to You" in 1970; and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group for the LP Carpenters in 1971). In 1973, the Carpenters were voted Best Band, Duo, or Group (Pop/Rock) at the first annual American Music Awards.

Related Topics:
Grammy Award - American Music Award

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Extensive touring in 1973-74 left the duo with little time for recording new material. As a result, the Carpenters did not issue a new album in 1974. Instead the pair chose for single release the Williams-Nichols composition, "I Won't Last a Day Without You." Originally recorded as an album track for 1972's Song for You LP, the single version became the fifth and final selection from that album project to chart in the Top 20, reaching #11 on the U.S. charts. In late 1974 a Christmas single followed, a jazz-influenced rendition of "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town".

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In early 1975 the Carpenters scaled the charts with a remake of the Marvelettes' hit "Please Mr. Postman". Released in late 1974, the single soared to #1 on the U.S. charts in January 1975, becoming the duo's third and final number one single. Later that spring the pair scored a final top five hit with the Carpenter-Bettis song "Only Yesterday". Both singles appeared on the LP Horizon, which also included covers of The Eagles' "Desperado" and Neil Sedaka's "Solitaire", which became a moderate hit for the duo that year. The LPs Horizon and A Kind of Hush, released in 1975 and 1976 respectively, achieved "gold" status but failed to peak as high as previous efforts. Their singles releases in 1976 likewise followed a pattern of diminishing returns. The duo's highest charting single that year was a cover of Herman's Hermits' "There's a Kind of Hush", which peaked at number 12. The follow-up single, the Carpenter-Bettis song "I Need to Be in Love" charted no higher than 25, while the novelty song "Goofus" failed to reach the Top 40 entirely.

Related Topics:
1975 - The Marvelettes - The Eagles - Neil Sedaka - 1976 - Herman's Hermits

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Their more experimental album, Passage, released in 1977, marked an attempt to broaden their appeal by venturing into other musical genres. The LP featured an unlikely mix of Latin rock, calypso, and pop, and included the Top 40 hit "All You Get From Love is a Love Song". The most notable tracks included cover versions of "Don't Cry For Me, Argentina" (from the rock opera Evita), and Klaatu's "Calling Occupants Of Interplanetary Craft", both complete with choral and orchestral accompaniment. Although the single release of "Calling Occupants" became a top ten hit in the U.K., it stalled at number 32 on the U.S. charts, and the album failed to cross the gold threshold of 500,000 copies sold in the States.

Related Topics:
1977 - Latin - Calypso - Cover versions - Don't Cry For Me, Argentina - Rock opera - Evita - Klaatu - Calling Occupants Of Interplanetary Craft

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Despite their disappointing performance on domestic charts, the Carpenters continued to enjoy enormous popularity. A second Singles album (covering the years 1974-1978) was released in the U.K., while in the States, their 1978 holiday album, A Christmas Portrait, proved an exception to their faltering career at home and became a seasonal favorite. (A second Christmas collection, An Old Fashioned Christmas, was released in 1984 after Karen's death.) Their television specials also garnered solid ratings and kept them before the public eye during the late 1970s. Karen dated such celebrities as Allan Osmond and Mike Curb.

Related Topics:
1978 - Allan Osmond - Mike Curb

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By the mid-1970s, extensive touring and lengthy recording sessions had begun to take their toll on the duo and contributed to their professional difficulties during the latter half of the decade. Karen dieted obsessively and developed the disorder anorexia nervosa, which first manifested itself in 1975, when an exhausted and emaciated Karen was forced to cancel concert tours in the U.K. and Japan after collapsing onstage in Las Vegas while singing "Top of the World." (Her obsession with weight loss apparently began after she read a review in Billboard magazine that dubbed her "Richard's chubby sister.") Richard, meanwhile, developed an addiction to Quaaludes, which began to affect his performance in the late 1970s and led to the end of the duo's live concert appearances in 1978.

Related Topics:
Anorexia nervosa - Japan - Las Vegas - Billboard - Quaaludes

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