B.C. (before Carpenters)

[BarryT60]

So... I was listening to the 60's channel the other day and it gave me pause... Even though I was a mere tot - - I did have my favorites already - prior to Karen and Richard arriving and taking center stage in my musical preferences...

When the AM radio came on, I was usually thrilled to hear the 5th Dimension, Simon & Garfunkel, The Association, Petula Clark, The Supremes, The Beatles, The Bee Gee's, Climax, Don McClean, Harry Nilsson, The Dave Clark Five, and some one-hit-wonder folks, as well...

It made me realize that with the exception of possibly the Bee Gee's and maybe Beatles, most of my other favorites ended up with much shorter recording career spans than the Carpenters. Sure, there are solo careers that rose from some for the duos and groups, but as far as the initial acts, in comparison, it's pretty great that we have ten years of quality recordings, and even more posthumous releases to appreciate...

I started to wonder though.... Who were some of your favorites, B.C.?

 

[Jamesj75]

Nice topic, Barry! I, too, was --- ahem --- quite young in the 60s, with barely a memory, and yet...

B.C.:

I will see your 5th Dimension, Simon & Garfunkel, and The Association and raise you Monkees, Beach Boys, and Jefferson Airplane.

There were also songs I really enjoyed by (virtual) one-hit wonders:

• "Don't Say You Don't Remember" by Beverly Bremers
• "Timothy" by the Buoys
• "Red Rubber Ball" by Cyrcle

And, now, my first truly favorite song was "Leaving on a Jet Place," performed by Peter, Paul and Mary.

 

[BarryT60]

Seems you were ready for this topic! Love your answers...

Don't say you don't remember!! wow - hearing that title almost makes me get all mushy inside...

Yes - Leavin' on a Jet Plane... that's a doozy.... Oh babe, I hate to go.....

BTW - I'll see your Jet Plane and raise you one "Crimson & Clover"...

 

[Harry]

Being almost as old as Karen, I have some 50s memories of Les Paul & Mary Ford, Patti Page, Rosemary Clooney, The McGuire Sisters, The Laurie Sisters, The Fontane Sisters, Doris Day, and a good chunk of Doo-Wop/R&B stuff that my teenaged sister introduced to me. Looking at that list, you can see I always gravitated toward harmonies - not to mention sibling harmonies. Later on in the 60s, my focus was on Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass and Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66, but I also liked The 5th Dimension and Simon & Garfunkel, among others of the era.

 

[song4u]

I'm at the tail end of the baby boomers. Almost all of those mentioned here I remember hearing in my childhood home. My parents had some albums of the popular singers of the 60's, like Jo Stafford, Mitch Miller (sing along with Mitch), Doris Day, Perry Como and Andy Williams. I think the first record I bought for myself was a Jackson 5 greatest hits album, being near young Michael's age. I talked my parents into buying me a Carpenters "Close to You" album after hearing it at a friend's home. I wasn't an Osmond brothers fan like other girls my age, after seeing them on the Andy Williams program. Though I admit to a brief crush on Tony DeFranco.

I was usually listening to my brother's records: Beach Boys, Beatles, Buffalo Springfield, Grass Roots, Cream, Jimi Hendrix, etc and my sister's records: Fifth Dimension, Carole King, Association, Dave Clark Five, Mamas & Papas, but I couldn't stand those Rod McKuen poetry albums of hers. Yes, poetry. I especially loved Carole King's Tapestry album. I was thrilled when Carpenters recorded a Carole King song.

When in grammar school I realized I had a much more diverse love of music than others my age. The girls were interested in the aforementioned Osmonds, and David Cassidy. Unfortunately I hadn't the talent to go beyond 8th grade (age 14) choir. I went for fine arts in High School. But I still enjoy listening to my first loves in music from the 60's. In fact some of your reminders will keep me busy for a while on YouTube.

 

[song4u]

If any of you still miss that simpler time, young British singer Harriet is bringing that sound back.

 

[CraigGA]

I often wonder how popular the others of the period would have been without the Carpenters pioneering the MOR field with Close To You. It touched all ages and they defined a period of American popular music that broke ground for the others who did not quite get the same squeaky clean jab. I never understood why someone should be attacked for concentration of quality workmanship, but that is another topic, so back to this one. I would have probably been more attracted to the Motown pop/soul/rhythm and blues sound as it led, in my mind, to the successful Philadelphia sound. Even though Paul Williams had songs popular by others, would his success been as great without Karen's voice leading attention to his material? Would Rain Drops Keep Falling On My Head been enough to lead Burt Bacharach into the 70's with great appreciation of Dionne's classics without the Carpenters' Close To You? Would the older singers who sang the "hits" like Perry Como and Andy Williams lasted as long as they did without those songs first popularized by the Carpenters? Would the softer 70's have been as much a success without them? My tastes go along with Harry's but I have to add the Beach Boys, the Beatles and other British Invasion acts. I remember liking Blood Sweat and Tears and Chicago and the Grass Roots and the Guess Who. So the Locomotion would probably have carried me in that direction.

Craig

 

[song4u]

You're right about Carpenters paving the way, and that's why they were bullied for their soft sound - they dared to do their own thing. I don't think most other so-called "mellow" artists on the Top 40 getting picked on so much. A lot of radio people wanted them relegated to adult contemporary and wouldn't play them on their Top 40 station. Imagine how much better it could have been for Carpenters if their fans weren't being ridiculed for requesting airplay for them.

Where I grew up it was so white bread that the only time you ever heard "soul" music (now Motown or R&B) was on American Top 40 and from the coolest night time DJ's. There was one AC station that allowed a "Jazz" program on Sunday mornings, which consisted of a guy playing Jeff Lorber's fusion album.

I and my peers loved that soul sound too and by the end of the 70's it finally wasn't taboo any more. But Carpenters music still was. Can't win em all.

Fast forward and it's still true of the now called Oldies stations. It's only cool to play Carpenters at Christmas.

 

[Rudy]

Where I grew up it was so white bread that the only time you ever heard "soul" music (now Motown or R&B) was on American Top 40 and from the coolest night time DJ's. There was one AC station that allowed a "Jazz" program on Sunday mornings, which consisted of a guy playing Jeff Lorber's fusion album.

Ouch, you were deprived! We had a great jazz station locally, WJZZ, that mixed a lot of the 70s classic fusion with more contemporary jazz of the day (until they jumped the shark and started copying the $mooth Jazz stations). WJLB was our big R&B/funk station in town, and WGPR was a little more on the fringe, a low-budget operation whose strength was supporting local artists. WLBS also covered funk/R&B/dance, and even threw in the occasional rock and fusions jazz track. Motown was relegated to oldies stations (where I safely ignored it). I was ecstatic when in the 90s, one broadcaster introduced a "classic soul" station, but it didn't take long before they drifted right into that tired old Motown shtick that the oldies stations covered, and I tuned out. A real waste, as they were at first playing some of that great Philly sound, 70s soul, etc., music that other stations ignored.

I don't think I would be so musically diverse today if it weren't for the wide array of music we had at home, and as I got older, the wide variety our local radio stations used to have.

 

[song4u]

Ouch, you were deprived!

Ha! Moved to bigger, diverse cities as an adult and could listen to all my heart desired.

 

[BarryT60]

I'm at the tail end of the baby boomers. Almost all of those mentioned here I remember hearing in my childhood home. My parents had some albums of the popular singers of the 60's, like Jo Stafford, Mitch Miller (sing along with Mitch), Doris Day, Perry Como and Andy Williams. I think the first record I bought for myself was a Jackson 5 greatest hits album, being near young Michael's age. I talked my parents into buying me a Carpenters "Close to You" album after hearing it at a friend's home. I wasn't an Osmond brothers fan like other girls my age, after seeing them on the Andy Williams program. Though I admit to a brief crush on Tony DeFranco.

I was usually listening to my brother's records: Beach Boys, Beatles, Buffalo Springfield, Grass Roots, Cream, Jimi Hendrix, etc and my sister's records: Fifth Dimension, Carole King, Association, Dave Clark Five, Mamas & Papas, but I couldn't stand those Rod McKuen poetry albums of hers. Yes, poetry. I especially loved Carole King's Tapestry album. I was thrilled when Carpenters recorded a Carole King song.

When in grammar school I realized I had a much more diverse love of music than others my age. The girls were interested in the aforementioned Osmonds, and David Cassidy. Unfortunately I hadn't the talent to go beyond 8th grade (age 14) choir. I went for fine arts in High School. But I still enjoy listening to my first loves in music from the 60's. In fact some of your reminders will keep me busy for a while on YouTube.

I had forgotten about One Bad Apple! (You mentioned the Osmonds).... But to be sure, that early Jackson 5 material was always at the top of my list. Same with the Mamas and the Papas... I always looked forward to their tunes on the radio. I guess Harry was right... I was into the harmonies early on - and Karen and Richard trumped them all once they hot the scene...

More song specifically, as a kid, B.C. - I remember really feeling a pit in my stomach when I heard "I started a joke" on the radio. I am quote sure I didn't know why - but the melancholy and aching that Robin Gibb delivered in that haunting melody hit me then - and still hits me now.

 

[newvillefan]

One of my other loves aside from the Carpenters is The Seekers - an Australian folk-influenced pop harmony quartet. Their lead singer, Judith Durham, was in many ways like Karen - she had that 'girl next door' quality about her and became Australia's sweetheart.

Their biggest hit, The Carnival Is Over, knocked the Rolling Stones off the #1 spot in the UK charts in 1967 and at one point was selling over 90,000 copies a day. Can you imagine that?

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

Never heard them before but I like it thanks Stephen, I'd love to hear Karen sing that maybe the B side to "And When He Smiles"

 

[BarryT60]

One of my other loves aside from the Carpenters is The Seekers - an Australian folk-influenced pop harmony quartet. Their lead singer, Judith Durham, was in many ways like Karen - she had that 'girl next door' quality about her and became Australia's sweetheart.

Their biggest hit, The Carnival Is Over, knocked the Rolling Stones off the #1 spot in the UK charts in 1967 and at one point was selling over 90,000 copies a day. Can you imagine that?

There goes that harmony again! Are you from Australia? My son studied in Sydney for a semester and I visited him there. LOVED IT! Beautiful place, beautiful people....

 

[Jamesj75]

Though I admit to a brief crush on Tony DeFranco

song4u, I'm sure you weren't the only one... Heartbeat, It's a Lovebeat!

 

[newvillefan]

There goes that harmony again! Are you from Australia? My son studied in Sydney for a semester and I visited him there. LOVED IT! Beautiful place, beautiful people....

I'm not, though funnily enough I spent a month there last Christmas (Australia's summer). As you rightfully say, beautiful people, beautiful place. My dad got me into the Seekers. Judith Durham was his teenage crush in the 60s and I had the great privilege of getting us tickets for their 50th anniversary tour in the UK last year. Although they're all now in their 70s, they sounded better than ever and we were amazed by the fact that she was back on tour all the way from her native Australia after having suffered a brain haemorrhage in 2013. She's a trouper for sure and on last year's tour she never missed a beat

 

[Portlander]

The Beach Boys, The Supremes, The 4 Seasons, The Lovin' Spoonful, The Association and The Grassroots. Some of my favorite songs from the late sixties from other artists were Sugar Sugar (The Archies), Tracy (The Cufflinks), Downtown (Petula Clark), Dizzy (Tommy Roe), I Saw Her Again (The Mamas & The Papas), Easy Come, Easy Go (Bobby Sherman) and A Beautiful Morning (The Rascals). AM radio and American Top 40 ruled during this period and I miss those simpler days. My focus was diverted during the summer of 1970 when "Close To You" arrived on the airwaves which started my teenage crush on Karen and lifelong admiration for the Carpenters!

 

[Harry]

You Seekers fans know that Judith Durham did an album for A&M?

http://www.amcorner.com/forum/threads/aotw-judith-durham-gift-of-song-a-m-sp-4240.395/

Harry

 

[Toolman]

Carpenters took off at pretty much the same time as I began seriously listening to and buying music. Before that, my tastes were largely borrowed from what family members were bringing into the house. My brothers were big on the Monkees, the Beach Boys, the Beatles, the Stones (the latter, I never really picked up on, but over time acquired practically everything the Beatles ever sang, spoke or burped); dad was a country music fan, and I latched onto Roger Miller, Glen Campbell, Bobby Goldsboro and many others; mom preferred the Hollywood musicals and John Phillips Sousa. I was pretty much a sponge for all of it but, like some others here, seemed to gravitate toward anything with inventive vocal harmonies. First concert I can remember attending and really enjoying was the Cowsills. Today I think pretty much every genre is represented in my CD collection. Don't have a lot of patience with the music snobs who can't find something to admire or enjoy in just about any well-done piece of music, no matter who recorded it or what it's called.

 

[Jeff]

Was there a B.C.?

 

[70sFan]

As an aside, I basically have the same collection of music most of you have/had since I also grew up in the 60's and 70's. Even at a young age I would read and re-read the album jackets and liner notes also hoping for lyrics. I remember being familiar with Hal Blaine's name from the Partridge Family albums and was excited to see him credited on the Carpenters albums. It's amazing how much of our favorite music was enhanced by the members of the Wrecking Crew. I thank this forum for turning me on to that movie and allowing me to rediscover my passion for Top 40 AM Radio!

 

[song4u]

As Jamesj75 said in another thread "Those were such happy times and not so long ago . . ."

 

[70sFan]

The Beach Boys, The Supremes, The 4 Seasons, The Lovin' Spoonful, The Association and The Grassroots. Some of my favorite songs from the late sixties from other artists were Sugar Sugar (The Archies), Tracy (The Cufflinks), Downtown (Petula Clark), Dizzy (Tommy Roe), I Saw Her Again (The Mamas & The Papas), Easy Come, Easy Go (Bobby Sherman) and A Beautiful Morning (The Rascals). AM radio and American Top 40 ruled during this period and I miss those simpler days. My focus was diverted during the summer of 1970 when "Close To You" arrived on the airwaves which started my teenage crush on Karen and lifelong admiration for the Carpenters!

Portlander, you mentioned Petula Clark. Every song she sang holds special memories for me like Karen did for me in the 70's. I think it was so nice Karen and Petula would become great friends.

ps I loved the same singles, plus Both Sides Now (Judy Collins), Young Girl (Gary Pucket and the Union Gap), To Sir With Love (Lulu), Build Me Up Buttercup (Foundations) and These Boots Are Made For Walking (Nancy Sinatra). Let's not forget I Got You Babe (Sonny & Cher) and Alfie (Cher).

 

[newvillefan]

You Seekers fans know that Judith Durham did an album for A&M?

http://www.amcorner.com/forum/threads/aotw-judith-durham-gift-of-song-a-m-sp-4240.395/

Harry

I didn't know that Harry, thanks! I'm familiar with the title song but didn't realise it came from an A&M album

 

[Portlander]

70sFan, Petula Clark was a favorite of mine long before I became aware of her friendship with Karen. Hits like "I Know A Place", "My Love", and "Don't Sleep In The Subway" are timeless classics that remind me of my youth. Forgot to mention Three Dog Night whose career just barely preceded the Carpenters. Like our favorite duo, they ran the table from 1969 to 1975 with 11 Top 10 hits, 3 of them reaching number 1 and 7 achieving gold status.