Post by cam83 on Sept 26, 2003 14:11:03 GMT -5
She was guarenteed her own television special as well. Even though her brother did not see eye to eye on her album, she still wanted him to join her and star on Karen's special. She would get Olivia Newton-John, Suzanne Sommers and Peter Cetera to guest star on her new special.
The Television Special was titled KAREN AND FRIENDS and hit # 2 in the Neilson Ratings for the week of August 14, 1983, and the reviews were quite positive. Karen had a lot of fun in the making of it, and featured a generous sampling of her solo songs, as well as other stuff.
A new movie called IN MY HEART was to be released, and it was a romantic comedy-drama which starred Meryl Streep and Harrison Ford. The main song for the movie had been written by Diane Warren and titled IN MY HEART (where dreams lay), and Karen was selected to sing it. She was very honored, and upon hearing her first vocal track take, Diane was moved, and knew she had chosen the right singer for this magnificient masterpiece. Karen added her warmth, her impeccable intonation, and all her feelings into the song.
The single IN MY HEART was released, along with the movie, and the soundtrack, and both the movie, song, and soundtrack soared to # 1. Karen's song was # 1 for 7 weeks, and sold over 2.3 million copies, staying in the Top 10 charts for 18 weeks. On the A.C. chart, this single stayed # 1 for 16 weeks. There was talk, that this song especially written for this movie, would be nominated for an Academy Award for BEST SONG for 1983. Karen just ignored such hype, and concentrated solely on her solo career, and her career as the Carpenters.
The next single would be a toss up between IF I HAD YOU or REMEMBER WHEN LOVIN' TOOK ALL NIGHT. The A&M Record executives decided that REMEMBER…would be the most suitable choice. So Karen would be shooting a promotional video for it. A male actor would be hired to play her love interest in the video. Karen would be given a new, sexier image, with lots of new outfits. She wanted her hair streaked bronze, and straightened. She was very excited with all this attention payed to her.
Meanwhile Richard released the 12th Carpenters album TOGETHER AGAIN in September. It got some good reviews, and debuted at # 128. The single MAKE BELIEVE IT'S YOUR FIRST TIME peaked at # 1 on the Adult Contemporary Charts for 4 weeks, and on the Top 100 Singles, it hit #14. The album was near the gold mark, and Karen came to L.A. to help promote it. They sang on some shows, and signed autographs, did the radio circuit.
Karen was now in big demand, as the sister of Richard Carpenter and as the solo act Karen Carpenter. They began to work on their 6th television special titled TOGETHER AGAIN, and would be released on the Thanksgiving weekend. The Carpenters decided to invite Debby Boone and her sister Cherry Boone O'Neill as guests, as well as Burt Bacharach.
Karen got along great with the Boone sisters, who knew of Karen's torment with anorexia. Cherry had suffered for many years as well, and her lowest weight had been 80 pounds. For the last year and a half, Cherry had been in contact with Karen, to find out how Karen was doing. Cherry's book STARVING FOR ATTENTION had been released, and was a national best-seller. Karen too wanted to write a book on her experiences as well, but she wasn't ready. Her weight stabled to a near normal 102 pounds, even though the Boone girls were still concerned, as well as Karen's family.
The most interesting part of the tv special taping was singing the song YOU LIGHT UP MY LIFE. Karen loved that song, and so many times had regretted not recording it, so now was her chance. That song had been one of the best selling songs of the entire 1970's. Other songs they were televising were Abba's THANK YOU FOR THE MUSIC, Anne Murray's YOU NEEDED ME, and Eric Carmen's ALL BY MYSELF. Karen grew close to Rich while doing their television special, and they had a lot of fun. It reminded them of the earlier days. Richard was letting Karen do some of her own stuff, and so they decided to sing the song from her solo collection IF I HAD YOU. For the special, they omitted Karen's lead vocal from the track, and so Karen sang "live" with Richard helping out during the vocal gymnastic acrobatics.
Another very special moment was when they sang the song IN LOVE ALONE which Richard had written. This wasn't on their TOGETHER AGAIN album, but a bonus track for another album. Richard was moved to tears, when they were taping the song. Karen left for New York, after the television special was completed. She didn't want to go, but she knew that she had to go and do more work on the next single REMEMBER WHEN LOVIN' TOOK ALL NIGHT. The single hit the Adult Contemporary Charts at #5 and zoomed straight to the top at # 1 for a record-breaking 14 weeks. On the Top 100 Singles, it hit # 29 and quickly hit the # 1 spot for 5 weeks, selling over 2.2 million copies. It went to # 2 for another 4 weeks, and climbed back to # 1 for another 5 weeks, selling an additional 1.9 million copies. Altogether, the single sold 4.1 million copies. This would be her biggest hit single in her musical history, even bigger than anything in her Carpenters history. Karen had arrived again, onto the music scene.
The Television Special was titled KAREN AND FRIENDS and hit # 2 in the Neilson Ratings for the week of August 14, 1983, and the reviews were quite positive. Karen had a lot of fun in the making of it, and featured a generous sampling of her solo songs, as well as other stuff.
A new movie called IN MY HEART was to be released, and it was a romantic comedy-drama which starred Meryl Streep and Harrison Ford. The main song for the movie had been written by Diane Warren and titled IN MY HEART (where dreams lay), and Karen was selected to sing it. She was very honored, and upon hearing her first vocal track take, Diane was moved, and knew she had chosen the right singer for this magnificient masterpiece. Karen added her warmth, her impeccable intonation, and all her feelings into the song.
The single IN MY HEART was released, along with the movie, and the soundtrack, and both the movie, song, and soundtrack soared to # 1. Karen's song was # 1 for 7 weeks, and sold over 2.3 million copies, staying in the Top 10 charts for 18 weeks. On the A.C. chart, this single stayed # 1 for 16 weeks. There was talk, that this song especially written for this movie, would be nominated for an Academy Award for BEST SONG for 1983. Karen just ignored such hype, and concentrated solely on her solo career, and her career as the Carpenters.
The next single would be a toss up between IF I HAD YOU or REMEMBER WHEN LOVIN' TOOK ALL NIGHT. The A&M Record executives decided that REMEMBER…would be the most suitable choice. So Karen would be shooting a promotional video for it. A male actor would be hired to play her love interest in the video. Karen would be given a new, sexier image, with lots of new outfits. She wanted her hair streaked bronze, and straightened. She was very excited with all this attention payed to her.
Meanwhile Richard released the 12th Carpenters album TOGETHER AGAIN in September. It got some good reviews, and debuted at # 128. The single MAKE BELIEVE IT'S YOUR FIRST TIME peaked at # 1 on the Adult Contemporary Charts for 4 weeks, and on the Top 100 Singles, it hit #14. The album was near the gold mark, and Karen came to L.A. to help promote it. They sang on some shows, and signed autographs, did the radio circuit.
Karen was now in big demand, as the sister of Richard Carpenter and as the solo act Karen Carpenter. They began to work on their 6th television special titled TOGETHER AGAIN, and would be released on the Thanksgiving weekend. The Carpenters decided to invite Debby Boone and her sister Cherry Boone O'Neill as guests, as well as Burt Bacharach.
Karen got along great with the Boone sisters, who knew of Karen's torment with anorexia. Cherry had suffered for many years as well, and her lowest weight had been 80 pounds. For the last year and a half, Cherry had been in contact with Karen, to find out how Karen was doing. Cherry's book STARVING FOR ATTENTION had been released, and was a national best-seller. Karen too wanted to write a book on her experiences as well, but she wasn't ready. Her weight stabled to a near normal 102 pounds, even though the Boone girls were still concerned, as well as Karen's family.
The most interesting part of the tv special taping was singing the song YOU LIGHT UP MY LIFE. Karen loved that song, and so many times had regretted not recording it, so now was her chance. That song had been one of the best selling songs of the entire 1970's. Other songs they were televising were Abba's THANK YOU FOR THE MUSIC, Anne Murray's YOU NEEDED ME, and Eric Carmen's ALL BY MYSELF. Karen grew close to Rich while doing their television special, and they had a lot of fun. It reminded them of the earlier days. Richard was letting Karen do some of her own stuff, and so they decided to sing the song from her solo collection IF I HAD YOU. For the special, they omitted Karen's lead vocal from the track, and so Karen sang "live" with Richard helping out during the vocal gymnastic acrobatics.
Another very special moment was when they sang the song IN LOVE ALONE which Richard had written. This wasn't on their TOGETHER AGAIN album, but a bonus track for another album. Richard was moved to tears, when they were taping the song. Karen left for New York, after the television special was completed. She didn't want to go, but she knew that she had to go and do more work on the next single REMEMBER WHEN LOVIN' TOOK ALL NIGHT. The single hit the Adult Contemporary Charts at #5 and zoomed straight to the top at # 1 for a record-breaking 14 weeks. On the Top 100 Singles, it hit # 29 and quickly hit the # 1 spot for 5 weeks, selling over 2.2 million copies. It went to # 2 for another 4 weeks, and climbed back to # 1 for another 5 weeks, selling an additional 1.9 million copies. Altogether, the single sold 4.1 million copies. This would be her biggest hit single in her musical history, even bigger than anything in her Carpenters history. Karen had arrived again, onto the music scene.
