Anyone here a fan? I'm a huge fan actually!. Although they were and are considered bland by lots of people, I consider them one of the most talented acts in the history of pop music. With Richard's arrangements and Karen's gifted talent in her voice, they managed to produced perfect pop songs in the 70's.

 

Of course we could name the obvious huge hits like Yesterday Once More, Top Of The World or Please Mr Postman, but they went beyond those songs. Prime examples of the talent they had is the Bacharach/David Medley they used to perform in early 70's (it was also included on their third album Carpenters):

 

 

 

My favourite album (which I guess it's actually every fan's favourite) is, of course, A Song For You. But I also love their later material, especially the stuff from Passage which is quite different to anything else they'd done in their career. Bit of a letdown is their A Kind Of Hush era from 1976, even when it includes one of Karen's best vocal performances ever I Need To Be In Love.

 

 

I'm a huge fan too. I like Those Good Old Dreams, Only Yesterday, Solitaire and Top Of The World best.

Never been a huge fan. I suppose I'm one of those who generally think of them as being a bit bland. But I've always loved their cover of a Klaatu song

 

 

Never been a huge fan. I suppose I'm one of those who generally think of them as being a bit bland. But I've always loved their cover of a Klaatu song

 

Much prefer the original. Personally I've always loathed them. Too saccharine for my palette

always rated karens voice as one of the best ever... but often their material was awful!. liked '(they long to be) close to you', 'yesterday once more' and a couple of others.

Found some of their material a bit bland, but I remember enjoying Solitaire the best.

Never floated my boat, too MOR.

Over the weekend, I was listening to the radio, when “Superstar”, the Carpenters cover by Sonic Youth was played. It was for the first time in years that I have heard that particular record and for a moment I thought I was actually listening to a cover of a song written by Lee Hazlewood as I was reminded of the recording of the song “Summer Wine" by Ville Valo.

 

Similar to “Vienna” from the NME’s ‘Ruby Trax’ album [which was discussed recently in another thread], “Superstar” was a song from a charity covers album, which featured many American acts of the mid 1990s re-recording songs that were previously done by The Carpenters. I think the album came out in 1995, but I cannot be sure as I would have been very much into my Britpop at the time and so would have tried my best to ignore that release when it originally came out.

 

I only remember “Superstar” because it happened to be featured on one of my A&M/Island samplers where it was featured alongside new releases by acts such as Tricky, Tindersticks and Del Amitri. I used to enjoy collecting all those [not intended for commercial sale] samplers from the second hand shop, as I would be getting all the new single releases from A&M/Island for a few pounds and bizarre artwork too, that would make me laugh.

 

All the CDs were packaged using the type of dreadful album artwork that used to be synonymous with charity shops, in the days before eBay alerted people to the fact that there might be a large collectors market ‘out there’ for these weird albums [in the exotica category]. On the other hand, I think you might be able to find that charity Carpenters covers album for a couple of pounds now in your local second hand shop alongside the discs of many old Britpop bands.

 

Loz

 

Over the weekend, I was listening to the radio, when “Superstar”, the Carpenters cover by Sonic Youth was played. It was for the first time in years that I have heard that particular record and for a moment I thought I was actually listening to a cover of a song written by Lee Hazlewood as I was reminded of the recording of the song “Summer Wine" by Ville Valo.

 

a classic song, and imho ville valo did a damn fair cover of it.... mind you, he and HIM have covered several tracks and made a damn good job of it, remember, generally i hate classics being covered. neil diamonds 'solitary man' and blue oyster cults '(dont fear) the reaper' being prime examples of how to do a decent cover.

a classic song, and imho ville valo did a damn fair cover of it.... mind you, he and HIM have covered several tracks and made a damn good job of it, remember, generally i hate classics being covered. neil diamonds 'solitary man'

 

Neil Diamond is an act, like The Carpenters, that I have I have never highly regarded. I have always thought of him as a cheesy American act and so, for many years, his output would have been regarded as ‘one of the most horrible things imaginable’, especially during my years as a Britpop loving student.

 

If I was being truly honest I think you could categorise this as a case of British student snobbery, whereby references are picked up from the British media in regards to what is supposedly cool that week [shed Seven, Menswe@r, The Bluetones] and what is not [Michael Bolton, Phil Collins, most ‘non-urban’ American recording artists]. After reading and believing this music press ‘propaganda’, these views become firmly embedded in your subconscious and so you start to believe that the music that you listen to is one of the most important factors to your social standing, when really it is not, as the music you listen to should be there for ‘entertainment’ purposes only.

 

I used to work in a local pub where they would have regular karaoke nights and looking back I think I enjoyed this ‘cheesy low brow’ form of entertainment more than some of the supposedly cool bands that I saw in the same period. On the downside, as it was a local pub, a lot the people singing tended to be regulars who would sing the same songs week after week and one of these songs was “Sweet Caroline”.

 

Some might say that this is a good enough reason to dislike Neil Diamond, though I do not think I should judge a long-term recording artist on the basis of one or two songs. In addition to “Sweet Caroline”, the only other song that comes to mind when sung by Diamond is “Morning Has Broken”, which I think was a traditional hymn.

 

I do know the covers of “Red Red Wine”, “Solitary Man” and “Girl, You Be A Woman Soon” [as recorded by Urge Overkill, a record which I have regarded as one of the best film soundtrack songs ever] but not the originals and in addition to these songs, I also know that Diamond wrote songs for The Monkees, an act that I used to love watching on holiday morning TV when I was younger. Therefore, even though I only know a couple of ‘cheesy’ recordings by Diamond, it would seem dumb not to regard him as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, a verdict that I doubt anyone would bestow on the singers of Menswe@r or Shed Seven [acts I liked back in the 1990s].

 

As with Diamond, I think I may have been equally unfair to The Carpenters, when viewing their career. I think my verdict may have not been based just upon their musical output but due to a general association with ‘cheesy’ 1970s American culture [the 70s seemed to be the main retro area of interest/ridicule/obsession back in the 1990s].

 

Actually, I think a lot of the records by The Carpenters were written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, a duo whose songs I generally like when recorded by people like Dusty Springfield and Dionne Warwick. I guess these days I am more likely to buy a compilation of The Carpenters, if it had a good enough track listing, than the latest album by The Bluetones [new album released this week in fact].

 

Loz

 

always rated karens voice as one of the best ever... but often their material was awful!. liked '(they long to be) close to you', 'yesterday once more' and a couple of others.

 

Totally agree Karen had a beautiful tone to her voice & the most perfect diction but the material wasn't always great.

Zippy...that album was called "If I Were a Carpenter" and was indeed a tribute album of covers of tracks by The Carpenters by popular American grunge / alternative acts in late 1994. 'Superstar' was released as a AA side with Redd Kross' cover of 'Yesterday Once More' which I picked up, but I stopped short of buying the full album. I think the likes of Belly and Babes in Toyland were also on it.

 

Sonic Youth's cover is one of my favourite ever covers of any song. It received a new lease of life when it featured in a key scene in the film 'Juno' a couple of years ago.

 

As for the Carpenters themselves, well my Mum likes them :) Yeah, they're decent sugary pop, but I'm not likely to put them on.

Similar to “Vienna” from the NME’s ‘Ruby Trax’ album [which was discussed recently in another thread

 

Which thread? Vic's cover is one of the best things ever committed to record.

 

Which thread? Vic's cover is one of the best things ever committed to record.

It's in the Wrong songs getting to number one thread as it started to veer onto other number one related topics :lol: It starts on page 3.

zippy..

 

i dont like neil diamonds work from 1970 onwards, its his mid 60's material i rate, solitary man, cherry cherry (which he re-wrote and it became 'a little bit me, a little bit you' for the monkees), and girl youll be a woman soon... those tracks i think are superb.

 

i guess 'sweet caroline' fitted into the karaoke style and hence became a karaoke classic... dont like it though.

Over the weekend, I was listening to the radio, when “Superstar”, the Carpenters cover by Sonic Youth was played. It was for the first time in years that I have heard that particular record and for a moment I thought I was actually listening to a cover of a song written by Lee Hazlewood as I was reminded of the recording of the song “Summer Wine" by Ville Valo.

 

Similar to “Vienna” from the NME’s ‘Ruby Trax’ album [which was discussed recently in another thread], “Superstar” was a song from a charity covers album, which featured many American acts of the mid 1990s re-recording songs that were previously done by The Carpenters. I think the album came out in 1995, but I cannot be sure as I would have been very much into my Britpop at the time and so would have tried my best to ignore that release when it originally came out.

 

I only remember “Superstar” because it happened to be featured on one of my A&M/Island samplers where it was featured alongside new releases by acts such as Tricky, Tindersticks and Del Amitri. I used to enjoy collecting all those [not intended for commercial sale] samplers from the second hand shop, as I would be getting all the new single releases from A&M/Island for a few pounds and bizarre artwork too, that would make me laugh.

 

All the CDs were packaged using the type of dreadful album artwork that used to be synonymous with charity shops, in the days before eBay alerted people to the fact that there might be a large collectors market ‘out there’ for these weird albums [in the exotica category]. On the other hand, I think you might be able to find that charity Carpenters covers album for a couple of pounds now in your local second hand shop alongside the discs of many old Britpop bands.

 

Loz

That album was called If I Were A Carpenter. My favourite on it was Shonen Knife doing Top Of The World in a hugely clipped English Japanese accent.

 

1994 although I thought it was earlier - http://www.amazon.com/If-Were-Carpenter-Va...s/dp/B000005IL6

Zippy...that album was called "If I Were a Carpenter" and was indeed a tribute album of covers of tracks by The Carpenters by popular American grunge / alternative acts in late 1994. 'Superstar' was released as a AA side with Redd Kross' cover of 'Yesterday Once More' which I picked up, but I stopped short of buying the full album. I think the likes of Belly and Babes in Toyland were also on it.

 

I think it may be an interesting album for me to listen to these days, as I would probably be interested in most of the acts on the album now. I suppose if the album would have come out a few years earlier when I was in school I would have not ignored it, as at that point I did buy records by bands like Jellyfish, Pixies and Throwing Muses [i was generally interested in most 4AD artists at that point].

 

I think Redd Kross would be a band I would like to know more about. Back in the 1990s I never knew their songs but I remember their name. I think they are a power pop act and sound like Jellyfish or Big Star, though I cannot be sure because I cannot remember anything else about them.

 

Loz

 

I think Redd Kross would be a band I would like to know more about. Back in the 1990s I never knew their songs but I remember their name. I think they are a power pop act and sound like Jellyfish or Big Star, though I cannot be sure because I cannot remember anything else about them.

 

Yeah, Redd Kross began in the mid-80s with a bit more of a gothic sound - certainly a goth look! But by this time they'd gone far more alternative, still with Jeff MacDonald's powerful voice and strong, powerful melodies. Yes, Jellyfish and Big Star are good comparisons, I guess you could say the Longpigs too in a way. See if you can get hold of their 1993 'Phaseshifter' album, that's when they were at the top of their game.

Yeah, Redd Kross began in the mid-80s with a bit more of a gothic sound - certainly a goth look! But by this time they'd gone far more alternative, still with Jeff MacDonald's powerful voice and strong, powerful melodies. Yes, Jellyfish and Big Star are good comparisons, I guess you could say the Longpigs too in a way. See if you can get hold of their 1993 'Phaseshifter' album, that's when they were at the top of their game.

Get their Neurotica album while you're at it.

 

Best 99p I ever spent on an album I bought because I liked the look of the cover.

Get their Neurotica album while you're at it.

 

Best 99p I ever spent on an album I bought because I liked the look of the cover.

 

I bought mine for about the same price because I loved 'Phaseshifter' and despite the fact the camera made them look a bit dodgy I thought!