Post by JD on Feb 22, 2005 19:14:05 GMT -5
Hi,
I was also part of the first Carpenters generation, being that I was 11 in 1970.
I was well aware of the Carpenters' image and criticism, some of which was deserved. One thing I have to say is that it appears that they never pretended to be something they weren't. They were great musicians and stuck to their principles, good or bad. The fact that they are popular 30 plus years later is a testament to their genuineness.
Here you had a brother and sister singing love songs against a backdrop of rock music and later disco. The problem I had with the critics is not that they called the music sappy and not socially relevant. The music was certainly sometimes sappy and always socially irrelevant. The problem I had with the critics is that the music was DISMISSED for those same reasons. The Carpenters should have been respected at least.
As someone else in this forum has pointed out, who says all music has to be socially relevant? There's more than one kind of music. The Carpenters' music makes people happy. It is unpretentious, unlike a lot of groups who have since disappeared.
But let's step out of the Carpenters' world for a second and realize that other artists were criticized too. Barry Manilow and Captain & Tennille come to mind.
I was a closet fan back then. You almost had to be if you were a teenage male. To this day I still listen to their music. I don't buy all their compilations because after awhile it all sounds the same. But prolonged listening to Karen tends to make me a little depressed. As great a singer she was, after a while I have to listen to someone else only to snap out of it.
Regards,
JD
I was also part of the first Carpenters generation, being that I was 11 in 1970.
I was well aware of the Carpenters' image and criticism, some of which was deserved. One thing I have to say is that it appears that they never pretended to be something they weren't. They were great musicians and stuck to their principles, good or bad. The fact that they are popular 30 plus years later is a testament to their genuineness.
Here you had a brother and sister singing love songs against a backdrop of rock music and later disco. The problem I had with the critics is not that they called the music sappy and not socially relevant. The music was certainly sometimes sappy and always socially irrelevant. The problem I had with the critics is that the music was DISMISSED for those same reasons. The Carpenters should have been respected at least.
As someone else in this forum has pointed out, who says all music has to be socially relevant? There's more than one kind of music. The Carpenters' music makes people happy. It is unpretentious, unlike a lot of groups who have since disappeared.
But let's step out of the Carpenters' world for a second and realize that other artists were criticized too. Barry Manilow and Captain & Tennille come to mind.
I was a closet fan back then. You almost had to be if you were a teenage male. To this day I still listen to their music. I don't buy all their compilations because after awhile it all sounds the same. But prolonged listening to Karen tends to make me a little depressed. As great a singer she was, after a while I have to listen to someone else only to snap out of it.
Regards,
JD