A "full circle" story for Cameron?

[bwbw8585]

Hello to all. I moderate the Jane Relf Appreciation Society over on Yahoo. Jane was a singer and the sister of Yardbird Keith Relf; Keith died far too soon at the age of 33 from electrocution (long story) after a long period of ill health. Jane was a tremendous singer who got very little attention at the time, or since. She was with the British bands Renaissance and Illusion.

My site is launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/JRAS/

You all have a wonderful site here, and a tasteful and loving tribute. Congratulations

Anyways, I just bought the Karen solo album from 1980, released finally in 1996. I was curious as to a conspiracy theory floating around on the Amazon.com reviews. The reviewers indicated that this album (although "dated" now) was a perfectly releasable album at the time, but was likely held back since A&M, and possibly Richard himself, were deep-down concerned that solo album success would ruin the Carpenters as a going concern, and perhaps that Karen would jump labels and thus end the revenue stream for A&M from future Carpenters' work.

Hard to tell what to think!!!

Brian Williams
Pittsburgh, PA

[bwbw8585]

Thanks Dave. Hey, If you hear about a Carpenters tribute band coming around our parts, like dahntahn n'at, let me know and we can maybe meet there!

brian

[bwbw8585]

If this is redundant I apologize, I posted it yesterday but could not find it today.

Dave, I'm overwhelmed by the sheer volume of the site having just joined late yesterday, so if you can point me towards Cam's 3 stories that would be great. thanks!

bw

[bwbw8585]

Dave-

wow, I'm out of breath after reading your story. I think the gamut of emotions that you cover so well in writing capture what a lot of fans feel about their favorite female vocalists (those who have passed and those who have retired). It's really an interesting social phenomenon having been thru discussion boards with Annie Haslam/Renaissance, Jane Relf/Renaissance-Illusion, October Project/both vocalists of theirs, and see folks try to be either so politically correct or just so overtly wishful that it just doesn't come out as a literary work, or art, as it were (instead coming off as very adolescent). It was impressive how you were able to melt into it without losing grasp of reality (and alienating
yourself from your wife in the process!)

I very much liked that you introduced that maybe Karen just didn't want to do it anymore. From a literary standpoint, your throwing in the "relapse" was effective artistically, and really illustrates how addictive fame
can be for many a performer.

Next question-

There's a husband-wife-best friend type of band from New York called October Project (which I alluded to above). They had a contract with Columbia in the mid-90s, got cut off after 2 albums, and are attempting a comeback. The husband is like the Richard figure, the wife is the lyricist/vocal harmonist (a female Bernie Taupin as far as lyrical mysticism goes; Betty Thatcher from Renaissance is the best example but I'm not sure
you know about Renaissance), and the best friend is the lead singer who was formerly the backing vocalist until their mid-90s lead vocalist left in 1996.

The singer (Marina Belica is her name) actually worked on "the other side" of the recording industry (production coordination) from 1996-2002, so no one pushes
her around from an industry standpoint nowadays. It's a very cool arrangement of talent and self-management.

Anyways, it's a familiar, comfortable sound geared to our generation (I'm an old 37, by the way). Let me know if interested offboard, I'd be happy to discuss them with you further.

Talk soon. Amazing story, again.
Brian