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Post by YesterdayOnceMore on May 8, 2006 19:04:20 GMT -5
NEWS JUST IN (From Becky Boxberger, Personal Assistant to Richard Carpenter) Hear Richard Carpenter LIVE on Radio London BigL Thursday, May 11, 4pm PST -Tune in online - www.bigl.co.uk and click the link "listen Live" transmitter and satellite on Sky channel 0190. -Radion London BigL can be heard across Britain and Europe by transmitter and satellite on Sky channel 0190. -See the website for listening options www.richardandkarencarpenter.com/index.html -Email website at morriscove@aol.com to tell them you heard this wonderful ALL CARPENTERS special program starting at 2pm PST (10 pm London time). Tell them also "where on Earth" you are listening! RECAP - PROGRAM STARTS AT 2:00 P.M. PST/RICHARD IS ON LIVE AT 4 PM PST. CHECK YOUR LOCAL TIMES FOR THE CORRECT TIME. There you have it - right from Becky to us!!! Tim
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Post by smoothie2 on May 8, 2006 23:53:19 GMT -5
How very exciting!!!! Seems like a little here and a little there, Richard and Karen continue to get more into the media...that can only mean they still are in great demand! Glad you can connect the way you do with Becky, R. 's assistant. thanks!
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Post by Rick Henry on May 9, 2006 0:13:46 GMT -5
Thank you Tim for the info. I plan on listening to the program.
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Post by YesterdayOnceMore on May 11, 2006 13:10:22 GMT -5
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Post by YesterdayOnceMore on May 11, 2006 18:43:56 GMT -5
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Post by Rick Henry on May 11, 2006 20:58:43 GMT -5
I completely missed the program. It was one of those crazy busy days for me again. I did check out the Big L web site and it looks like they will have the RC interview available for repeat listens. So, those of us who missed it will be able to listen to it.
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Post by Rick Henry on May 11, 2006 22:10:56 GMT -5
Tim, I just noticed something totally funny. In the title of this thread you named it November 11th instead of May 11th. Nontheless the message came through anyway.
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Post by YesterdayOnceMore on May 11, 2006 23:36:51 GMT -5
Rick you're absolutely right.....now, it makes me wonder why the heck I did that??? Hmmm..... Glad you understood, nonetheless. November??? Wow...I must have really been distracted. I could understand had I titled it maybe September 11th....a date with another unfortunate significance, but November??? Oh well... I just had to modify it! It's correct now - a day late, and a dollar short! That's me! Tim
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Post by Ming on May 12, 2006 20:50:11 GMT -5
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Post by Rick Henry on May 12, 2006 21:12:22 GMT -5
I took a listen to the interview today. It's was nice to hear Richard. Looking forward to his Christmas album coming out in 2007. Other than that there was much new information - except that Richard seems sure that he will not release anymore of the unreleased material.
He mentioned that Karen would be upset to know that some of the outakes were released. I found that an interesting statement - as I would think that Karen would only want to make the fans happy. I know as a fan it would make me happy to have atleast one more release of the unreleased gems sitting in the vaults. Or possibly a Live In Las Vegas CD and DVD combo. Someone asked about Karen's unreleased solo songs - I would be thrilled to have nice clean sounding recordings of these songs. Oh well I can dream can't I?
Regardless, I really enjoyed the interview I was delighted to be listening.
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Post by YesterdayOnceMore on May 12, 2006 21:49:13 GMT -5
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Post by Ming on May 13, 2006 0:26:15 GMT -5
In the interview, Richard said he liked the music of Andrea Bocelli. I think this is interesting. Personally, I also like Andrea Bocelli's music. His new album 'Amore' is good. Ming
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Dave
Ultra Emissary
"sleeping in the arms of the cosmos..."
Posts: 1,515
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Post by Dave on May 13, 2006 6:18:40 GMT -5
I managed to miss the whole thing myself! I'd just gotten home from a long motorcycle trip to the Tail of the Dragon (www.tailofthedragon.com) the night before, and was running a sleep deficit. Thanks for posting the link so I can listen to it later. I suppose if Richard was an actor, he would buck the trend of showing outtakes while rolling the credits. We've talked about how artists get caught up in the pursuit of "perfection", and can become consumed by it. But really... Would Karen be offended, or would she be appreciative of the fact that their fans loved them both, "warts" and all, and being able to see some rather intimate moments in the process? I'd think not. Artists and craftsmen invariably reach a point where they have to accept that a given effort is "good enough". Kenny Chesney said it best last year when he said that he doesn't sweat "perfection", he just does it and the fans will tell him what is good and what isn't. Honestly, Richard, we already have the good stuff, in some cases, over and over again. If I were you, I'd take a good, hard look at what you have, and release some of it, maybe from your website. Who knows, there just might be a diamond in the rough in there. Maybe you should get someone (like Tim and Palma) to bounce the songs off of, and see what they think. Now, having Karen wearing a turkey suit, alongside Paul Simon, opening "Saturday Night Live" together is something that might give you a heart attack, but I think she'd have loved it! Never underestimate your sister's sense of humor.
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Post by Rick Henry on May 13, 2006 9:29:51 GMT -5
Dave, you make some interesting points here. I agree with what you have to say about perfection. In Richard's defense I do understand why he wants to move on to new projects. But in our defense these new projects do not include Karen - and we know why we are all here - yes Richard in part - but our love of Carpenters is primarily because of Karen. The Kinks recorded a song in 1980 called "Give The People What They Want" - this seems to be fitting in this discussion.
If Karen were still alive and able to record new material - I agree she most likely would be upset if outakes (which she did not approve) were released. But seeing she is not here and not able to record anything new I would think that her wish would be to make the fans happy and give the people what they want. That's just my own personal outlook.
In another statement Richard again mentioned how he regrets recording songs like "Please Mr. Postman", "There's A Kind Of Hush", "Goofus" and "Beechwood 4-5789". I can understand his point here. It would have been great to have more songs like "This Masquerade", "Desperado", "Rainy Days And Mondays" and songs of that caliber and power. Though at the same point I've always felt the happy go lucky upbeat songs are just as important as the classic dark songs. It creates a nice balance. I always felt "Postman" and "Hush" were both outstanding tunes - and both were good sized hit - with "Postman" being the Carpenters' biggest hit worldwide. But I can understand what he's saying here. Truly songs like "Beechwood", "Goofus" (which I love), "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do", "Man Smart Woman Smarter" and others are really "fluff" and don't really add much to the legacy of the Carpenters. They're all good songs but really each album these songs came from could have been stronger had they contained upbeat songs more akin to "Happy", "Boat To Sail", "Sweet Sweet Smile" and so forth.
Just some thoughts on Richard's comments...
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Dave
Ultra Emissary
"sleeping in the arms of the cosmos..."
Posts: 1,515
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Post by Dave on May 13, 2006 10:10:59 GMT -5
It's fascinating that Richard would think that about two songs which went on to become solid hits like "Postman" and "Hush", even 30 years later. I'd think that you would agree with me when I say that although he may not have liked them, nevertheless they are more solid than, say, "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft". When I heard that song for the first time, my initial reaction WAS "What WERE you thinking?!!!", but after further review and research, one could place "Mr. Guder" at one end of their musical spectrum, and "Occupants" at the other, and everything else they recorded would fit neatly beneath that "rainbow". Richard didn't even like "The Rainbow Connection", yet it is dearly beloved by all who know of its existence. Notice that it's not on the new compilation? I muse whether or not there is a song hiding in the hidden archives that might be as powerful as "Stairway to Heaven" , or "Free Bird", or even "Superstar". Until we hear them, we'll never know. Maybe it's "Box Office Movie King"?... I'm listening to his interview right now, and it's interesting that he doesn't like "Sing" either.
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Post by smoothie2 on May 15, 2006 0:02:16 GMT -5
Well, Phooey...I still don't have any sound on my comp...really miss it too, so didn't get to hear the interview, but glad for those of you who did hear it and shared the info. .... ;)I love all those songs you mentioned Rick, and I sure don't understand why Richard doesn't like those songs , nor why he doesn't want to release any hidden material. ::)I think Karen wouldn't mind "new" releases.
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Post by Rick Henry on May 15, 2006 9:22:55 GMT -5
Well, Phooey...I still don't have any sound on my comp...really miss it too, so didn't get to hear the interview, but glad for those of you who did hear it and shared the info. .... ;)I love all those songs you mentioned Rick, and I sure don't understand why Richard doesn't like those songs , nor why he doesn't want to release any hidden material. ::)I think Karen wouldn't mind "new" releases. Hi Kathy... Give me a few days and I will transcribe this interview for you and post it on the forum so you can read it.If anybody else already has it transcribed please feel free to post it. Richard didn't even like "The Rainbow Connection", yet it is dearly beloved by all who know of its existence. Notice that it's not on the new compilation? I muse whether or not there is a song hiding in the hidden archives that might be as powerful as "Stairway to Heaven" , or "Free Bird", or even "Superstar". Until we hear them, we'll never know. Maybe it's "Box Office Movie King"?... I'm listening to his interview right now, and it's interesting that he doesn't like "Sing" either. Richard did mention how Karen wouldn't like the fact that all these outakes have been released - because they weren't meant to be released (not his exact words but he said something to that effect). I have to think on all the songs (unfinished, outakes) which have been released. There's "The Rainbow Connection", "Leave Yesterday Behind", "Tryin' To Get The Feeling Again", "Ordinary Fool". These are all fantastic songs - and in my mind are as good if not better than some of the songs that were released.
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Post by enigma on May 15, 2006 13:38:35 GMT -5
"In another statement Richard again mentioned how he regrets recording songs like "Please Mr. Postman", "There's A Kind Of Hush", "Goofus" and "Beechwood 4-5789".
For the most part I agree with Richards asessment on these songs. Maybe he should not regret recording them as it was pointed out they were well recieved but really these songs do not reflect the best material the Carpenters have done. The thing I find about Karen is she is so masterful at conveying emotion in slower numbers that these "upbeat numbers" really seem second rate in comparison. Of course Karen can sing anything and does so to perfection no matter what the song but these particular numbers really do not reflect Karen at her best and its not only because they are upbeat but also for the most part these are poor choices for material for Karen to sing. Look at Only Yesterday its upbeat and powerful and all the formentioned songs pale in comparison including Sing I am sure Richard would never regret recording OY and from this listeners perspective none of the formentioned songs really floors me like so many other numbers Karen sings like OY etc.
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