Post by cam83 on Mar 23, 2005 1:27:11 GMT -5
Chapter Forty-Three
Karen, after spending the next few days, getting everything back in order, finally got the chance to sit down and start going through her journals and deciding what approach to take. She entered into the computer room and started to type. Hours passed, and she was pleased at how thoughtful Jon really was as he was watching the children while she was writing. Karen's mind just seemed to sink further and further into her past as she went back through her memories. Luckily for her, she had a great memory, and could even remember people's faces and sometimes their names. It was hard work though to go back in time and recall some very painful memories, but it had to be done.
She wanted this book to be a recording of her life, thoughts and feelings…of her insecurities, her fears, her likes and dislikes…She wanted this to make others better understand her, and more importantly, for this to be a lifeline to other men and women suffering the effects of anorexia and bulimia…If one life could be saved, well, then it was well worth it, she thought to herself as she continued to type.
The days turned into weeks, and she became the younger, more insecure Karen, and her whole being seemed to be the Karen of the 1960's and 1970's. She caught herself lost in that emotional and void time period, and then when thinking of it, she wondered how she had survived emotionally. She had come through so much, and it just amazed her to no avail. At nights, Jon seemed to do the suffering, and in silence. Karen just could not get herself to open up to him, romantically and emotionally. She seemed to be caught in between 2 time periods and this book was definitely consuming her. She would lay far away from his embrace, and while this hurt Jon terribly, he understood somewhat of what she was going through. If only the world really knew how much this woman beside him had suffered in silence. They would then understand why she developed anorexia in the first place.
Socially, Karen kept herself away from the Hollywood world for several months while she tried her best to complete her autobiography. She had some help as a well known biographer came in and helped her formulate her ideas and thoughts into a proper yet appealing way.
Hollywood, of course had not forgotten her. Her newest greatest hits album CRYSTALLINE (Greatest Hits) was released and featured 12 of her biggest solo hit singles. It also featured 2 new selection titled CRYSTALLINE that Richard had written for her. It was a lovely song and truly would be remembered as one of Karen's finest performances. She had shot a video quite awhile back, and she knew that it would someday be released as possibly a bonus track. And now it would be. CRYSTALLINE the single, shot into the Top 20 on it's first week at # 11, and the second week claimed the # 5 spot staying there for 3 weeks before hitting # 3, where it stayed for 5 weeks, going gold at 1.9 million copies, and hitting # 1 on the Adult Contemporary Charts for 8 weeks. CRYSTALLINE (Greatest Hits) album upon being released hit the Top 5 Album Chart, and within one month was already triple platinum. By 6 months later, this album sold 9 million copies in the United States, and worldwide, this album sold altogether 19 million copies, one of the biggest selling albums of all time. Karen was now a LEGEND. The other bonus single from that album was titled VISIONS AND DAYDREAMS which was a composition of Karen musically and lyrically. She loved this song, and produced it. It entered the Billboard Chart at # 44, . Within 4 weeks, it was already in the Top 20 where it peaked at #14. On the A.C. Chart, this single was # 1 for 19 weeks.
September came around, and plans were made for another Carpenters album to be released during the Holidays. They already had about 6 tracks that were completed, and were planning another 6 songs. Some of these new songs they wanted to record were LOVE WILL KEEP US TOGETHER, DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOU'RE GOING TO?, CRYING, I FALL TO PIECES, UNCHAINED MELODY and RAINDROPS KEEP FALLING ON MY HEAD.
The other completed songs were more recent compositions, but they wanted some songs included that they had never recorded during the early days which was the reason for the older hits now finally being recorded. Photo sessions were planned, and Karen and Richard liked the designs of the new album cover which was a silver cover, with gorgeous photos of them in separate photos. They were pleased that finally the art department was now following their instructions. The Carpenters logo was in all 4 corners. DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOU ARE GOING TO? their next single was actually made famous by Diana Ross from the movie MAHOGANY. Karen had always been taken with this powerful, sad song, and so she was delighted when given the opportunity to record it.
Karen had met Diana on many occasions, and liked her a lot. Diana was very nice, but a bit aloof, but Karen knew that that necessarily didn't mean a bad thing. Just that Diana couldn't be friends with everyone, just as Karen couldn't be friends with everyone else.
The single DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOU ARE GOING TO? hit the Top 10 at # 5 and stayed there for several weeks, but went gold at 1.2 million copies. On the Adult Contemporary Chart it hit # 1 for 6 weeks. Finally during the Thanksgiving weekend, the newest Carpenters album was released titled ANOTHER SONG. A bonus track on the album, was their song ANOTHER SONG done a cappella. The album was already platinum 6 weeks later, due to being on such shows as THE TONIGHT SHOW and others. Publicity and lots of exposure were given to this umpteenth Carpenters album release, and Karen's multi album release. Plans were being discussed about the possibility of Karen recording another album. Karen was talking about coming back into the Music industry, after taking a long and much needed vacation. Her biography was also completed and she was sifting through the hundreds of thousands of photos that would be in the book. The title was aptly called ONLY YESTERDAY: KAREN CARPENTER'S STORY 1950-1995.
Karen, after spending the next few days, getting everything back in order, finally got the chance to sit down and start going through her journals and deciding what approach to take. She entered into the computer room and started to type. Hours passed, and she was pleased at how thoughtful Jon really was as he was watching the children while she was writing. Karen's mind just seemed to sink further and further into her past as she went back through her memories. Luckily for her, she had a great memory, and could even remember people's faces and sometimes their names. It was hard work though to go back in time and recall some very painful memories, but it had to be done.
She wanted this book to be a recording of her life, thoughts and feelings…of her insecurities, her fears, her likes and dislikes…She wanted this to make others better understand her, and more importantly, for this to be a lifeline to other men and women suffering the effects of anorexia and bulimia…If one life could be saved, well, then it was well worth it, she thought to herself as she continued to type.
The days turned into weeks, and she became the younger, more insecure Karen, and her whole being seemed to be the Karen of the 1960's and 1970's. She caught herself lost in that emotional and void time period, and then when thinking of it, she wondered how she had survived emotionally. She had come through so much, and it just amazed her to no avail. At nights, Jon seemed to do the suffering, and in silence. Karen just could not get herself to open up to him, romantically and emotionally. She seemed to be caught in between 2 time periods and this book was definitely consuming her. She would lay far away from his embrace, and while this hurt Jon terribly, he understood somewhat of what she was going through. If only the world really knew how much this woman beside him had suffered in silence. They would then understand why she developed anorexia in the first place.
Socially, Karen kept herself away from the Hollywood world for several months while she tried her best to complete her autobiography. She had some help as a well known biographer came in and helped her formulate her ideas and thoughts into a proper yet appealing way.
Hollywood, of course had not forgotten her. Her newest greatest hits album CRYSTALLINE (Greatest Hits) was released and featured 12 of her biggest solo hit singles. It also featured 2 new selection titled CRYSTALLINE that Richard had written for her. It was a lovely song and truly would be remembered as one of Karen's finest performances. She had shot a video quite awhile back, and she knew that it would someday be released as possibly a bonus track. And now it would be. CRYSTALLINE the single, shot into the Top 20 on it's first week at # 11, and the second week claimed the # 5 spot staying there for 3 weeks before hitting # 3, where it stayed for 5 weeks, going gold at 1.9 million copies, and hitting # 1 on the Adult Contemporary Charts for 8 weeks. CRYSTALLINE (Greatest Hits) album upon being released hit the Top 5 Album Chart, and within one month was already triple platinum. By 6 months later, this album sold 9 million copies in the United States, and worldwide, this album sold altogether 19 million copies, one of the biggest selling albums of all time. Karen was now a LEGEND. The other bonus single from that album was titled VISIONS AND DAYDREAMS which was a composition of Karen musically and lyrically. She loved this song, and produced it. It entered the Billboard Chart at # 44, . Within 4 weeks, it was already in the Top 20 where it peaked at #14. On the A.C. Chart, this single was # 1 for 19 weeks.
September came around, and plans were made for another Carpenters album to be released during the Holidays. They already had about 6 tracks that were completed, and were planning another 6 songs. Some of these new songs they wanted to record were LOVE WILL KEEP US TOGETHER, DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOU'RE GOING TO?, CRYING, I FALL TO PIECES, UNCHAINED MELODY and RAINDROPS KEEP FALLING ON MY HEAD.
The other completed songs were more recent compositions, but they wanted some songs included that they had never recorded during the early days which was the reason for the older hits now finally being recorded. Photo sessions were planned, and Karen and Richard liked the designs of the new album cover which was a silver cover, with gorgeous photos of them in separate photos. They were pleased that finally the art department was now following their instructions. The Carpenters logo was in all 4 corners. DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOU ARE GOING TO? their next single was actually made famous by Diana Ross from the movie MAHOGANY. Karen had always been taken with this powerful, sad song, and so she was delighted when given the opportunity to record it.
Karen had met Diana on many occasions, and liked her a lot. Diana was very nice, but a bit aloof, but Karen knew that that necessarily didn't mean a bad thing. Just that Diana couldn't be friends with everyone, just as Karen couldn't be friends with everyone else.
The single DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOU ARE GOING TO? hit the Top 10 at # 5 and stayed there for several weeks, but went gold at 1.2 million copies. On the Adult Contemporary Chart it hit # 1 for 6 weeks. Finally during the Thanksgiving weekend, the newest Carpenters album was released titled ANOTHER SONG. A bonus track on the album, was their song ANOTHER SONG done a cappella. The album was already platinum 6 weeks later, due to being on such shows as THE TONIGHT SHOW and others. Publicity and lots of exposure were given to this umpteenth Carpenters album release, and Karen's multi album release. Plans were being discussed about the possibility of Karen recording another album. Karen was talking about coming back into the Music industry, after taking a long and much needed vacation. Her biography was also completed and she was sifting through the hundreds of thousands of photos that would be in the book. The title was aptly called ONLY YESTERDAY: KAREN CARPENTER'S STORY 1950-1995.
