Karen Carpenter Solo: The Singles

[Rick Henry]

You are the executive in charge of Karen Carpenter's solo album. It is 1980 and the album is soon to be released but you have to choose 4 singles to be released from the album. Which four songs would you choose and why?

Remember in choosing the four singles from this album you are looking at commercial quality and hit potential. The four songs you choose may not necessarily be your favorite songs from the album.

[freddykaren]

Ah, gee whiz, I overlooked the title song, "Lovelines," but is that on the solo album?

Saturday, Saturday, ever-lovin' Saturday...

Frederic

[cam83]

I chose MAKING LOVE IN THE AFTERNOON. I always thought this would have been a wonderful upbeat spring or summer single. If also remixed to allow it more of a duet, and not for Peter Cetera to be more background but more upfront. Imagine them doing this on Good Morning America or some other show.

[Rick Henry]

Mar 14, 2009 11:01:08 GMT -5 freddykaren said:

Ah, gee whiz, I overlooked the title song, "Lovelines," but is that on the solo album?

Saturday, Saturday, ever-lovin' Saturday...

Frederic

Yes, by all means "Lovelines" is from Karen's solo album. Although, I wouldn't call it the title song of the album as the album was simply titled "Karen Carpenter". "Lovelines" was expressly written for Karen by the great Rod Temperton.

[enigma]

I went with

Making love in the afternoon with peter Cetera/Chicago's fan base and Karen Carpenter/Carpenters fan base this song has hit written all over it it would surely sell well and it is a really strong song to begin with this would probably be my first release

lovelines this one would be third because it is strong enough to bring Karen back to hit status if the second release failed its upbeat and energetic and one of the stronger songs on the record

still in love with you I would take a chance and release this one second it would introduce Karen to a more rock audience and hopefully not detract from the momentum of the first single. It would either be a smash or a bomb so it would be risky to do this.

if we try always throw a slower ballad like song in there this would be a fourth release and a hit based on the momentum created by the first three releases.

This may not be the best strategy for the solo release but not really knowing the music business I based it on the known formats used in the past to achieve success no predicting how it would go but that's the way I would do the single releasing on Karen Carpenters solo record.

[smoothie2]

Lot of great songs and tough choices. I choose If I Had You, it is definitely my fave of all of them, but I think it would go over in a huge big way as a single especially for 1980. I think this is the type of song that might go over if done by other singers even today too because it has a great beat and wonderful blend of vocals all the way through.
I also would choose "make Believe It's your First Time"
"My Body Keeps Changing My Mind" and Makin Love in the Afternoon.
Although not listed among the choices here, I adore "It's Really You"
but for some reason, I don't think it would have quite the strength to make it as a single.
"My Body.." , "Make believe it's..." and "Makin Love..."
I definitelly think would be perfect as singles especially for the time period noted, because the "power pop" or a bit of disco kind of stuff
was kicking in about that time and at least for the 2 faster songs I mentioned, those would be perfect I think.
and Make Believe....is such a beautiful song it stands on its own
as a classic. Enigma, very well done analysis. I think your strategy overall is superb! ???s

[carpentersgermany]

First, what a great job to do!

It's kind of difficult for me to think about a marketing strategy based on the market of 1980.. I just chose the 4 songs that seem to have the biggest hit potential from my point of view..
Those are:
Making love in the afternoon
Remember when lovin took all night
Guess I just lost my head
If I had you

[cinscorp]

Hard to think what would have been great for 1980, but here is my take:
I would pick "If I Had You" as the first single because I think it's a break from the typical Carpenters sound being a little more soulful and yet still goes for a big chill factor sound with its awe-inspiring dubs and Karen's big-range vocals.

I would've followed it with "Making Love In The Afternoon" because I think it would appeal to most of Top 40 radio.

Next I would've released "Still In Love With You" to capitalize on the gains I believe the previous single would have made at establishing Karen as a solo artist.

As a 4th single, I would've released "Make Believe It's Your First Time" because I think after showing Karen in a different way, audiences would've been ready for something familiar (a ballad) in a simpler production...establishing the familiar and the "missed" with something still very "80"

[Rick Henry]

Before go on with my picks (and some I would not release as a single) I want to say hi to Cinscorp! Welcome to the forum.

I also want to mention to Enigma... I really like what you had to say and how you thought this one out. Very good strategy.

And finally to CG... my choices are exactly the same as yours.

Here are my thoughts on this.

first off... I would not release "My Body Keeps Changing My Mind" for the reason that by 1980 disco was becoming very passe (old hat). We were moving away from disco and into new wave and dance rock, dance pop and even dance influenced jazz. Karen's solo album was chalked full of dance pop, dance rock and dance influenced jazz.



I would first release "If I Had You" because it has a somewhat familiar Carpenters sound yet builds into a total masterpiece of jazz fusion containing intricate instrumental and vocal work. This song would have blown the socks off many music listeners in 1980. This would have been the sleeper (unexpected) hit of the year. I think this one would have turned many heads and people would purchased this just for the sheer fact that it was so very well recorded and is one of Karen's finest vocals of her entire career.

Second I would release "Making Love In The Afternoon" because after the huge hit of "If I Had you" we would want to keep the momentum with another sure fire hit. And as enigma mentioned we have both the fans of Peter Cetera/Chicago and Karen Carpenter/Carpenters who would purchase this irresistible power-pop tune. Not to mention the many new fans Karen has now attracted from her jazz fusion ballad smash hit "If I Had You".

With the third single her album would now be released so we would need to go with a song that has the potential to ride to the top ten on it's own measure. I would go with "Guess I Just Lost My Head" because in the day of music videos Karen would be able to do a great video of being the new girl in town. she's the new girl in the big city of new York working with all these guys such as Liberty DeVitto and Louis Johnson both who developed a crush on her while working on her album. This could be a very fun music video which would clearly sell the song. Than the song itself is very much akin to Michael Jackson's "Rock With You" which has that same easy going feel with a slight dance rhythm to it and a hint of smooth jazz tones. Michael Jackson's "Rock With You" was at #1 in the early months of 1980 which is the time Karen would be emerging with her solo works.

To square it off I would end the singles with "remember When Lovin' Took All Night"... dance rock tunes were becoming very popular by 1980 with hits such as "Funky Town" by Lipps Inc, "The Wanderer" by Donna Summer and "Bette Davis Eyes" by Kim Carnes. Yes, "Remember When Lovin' Took All Night" has some elements of disco in it... but far more rock and jazz overtones that save the song from being "old hat". This may not be the biggest hit single off the album but is good enough and upbeat and dance-able to keep the Top 20 momentum up for a fourth single.

[jimjames]

My picks are If I Had Y0ou, Making Love In The Afternoon, Still In Love With You, and Guess I Just Lost My Head. I like Still In Love With you because it is upbeat and the guitar work is great.

[ale57]

Make believe it´s your first time
If I had you
Still Crazy after all these year
My body keeps changing my mind