The Carpenters Gold (various years)
What can I say to some of you, I love the Carpenters. Karen Carpenter was an amazing singer, as no less than Kim Gordon and Elton John have said. I was dismissive of the Carpenters until Hallie almost forced me to listen to them. It was absolutely worth it. Karen Carpenter's voice is perfect and clear, and still capable of great depth.
I'm not always fond of Richard Carpenter's arrangements, but he had an uncanny ear for choosing songs. From Leon Russell and Bonnie Bramlett's haunting, groupie song, "Superstar," to the poppy-perfection of "Please Mr. Postman," to the loopiness of "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft," he could find the songs that his sister's voice was perfect for.
When an inability to recreate studio perfection, coupled with the early stages of what would become Karen Carpenter's fatal anorexia, led the duo to stop touring, they made some of the earliest music videos to promote their records. Stylistically, their videos vary, ranging from goofy story-telling sorts to "live" performances, to staged walks thru Disney Land. None of that really matters; the beauty of Karen Carpenter's voice is undebatable and undeniable.
They were pegged as clean-cut and perfect American kids. It was enough to get them dismissed as plastic and inauthentic. That was the fault of the label and didn't reflect the reality of Karen and Richard Carpenter. Fortunately, I'm old enough that all that sort of crap doesn't mean a thing to me anymore.
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