Lovelines-25th anniversary

[mr J.]

An interesting milestone occurs today: K&R's final album is twenty-five years old.

Lovelines remains one of K&R's finest albums.

also,a couple of other milestones: An Old Fashioned Christmas is thirty years old this week(Oct 26).
Offering/Ticket To Ride is forty-five years old(Nov 15).

 

[A&M Retro]

I remember 25 years ago today very well. Talk about a great Halloween treat.

 

[GaryAlan]

I must concur, Lovelines is a terrific album !
Great song sequencing, classy cover, and outstanding vocals/arrangements.
It deserved a huge marketing push. (Did it get one?).
Back in the day, I purchased the only copy on hand at the record/retail outlet in the mall, and
snatched the cassette and cd at once. Years went by before I found a vinyl copy.
It remains an outstanding example of the best of Karen and Richard's musical output.

 

[Song4uman]

I bought it on vinyl when released. My copy is very "clean" as I haven't played it much. Love the album.

 

[1979lee]

Damn Fine Album By The Carpenters. I bought my copy in 1995 At wherehouse music here in bakersfield cal. It was My first C's Cd and my first NEW cd purchase!( i got my 1st cd player that summer a jvc unit. it looked like a big dvd player.!) paid 16.99$ for the cd. and i think $74usd for the jvc
i didnt know for years the kc's solo tracks weren't carpenters songs! LOL!!!
i didnt read the booklet very well!!!
Now i did purchase the vinal lp about 10 years ago off flebay. 15$ and the cassette for 50 cents and a thrift store.
Now its time for Mr richard to release another cd like this!

 

[Must Hear This Album]

I don't remember how I scraped up the dough to buy this casette my freshman year in college, but I did, and I listened to it non-stop that year. I loaned it (begrudgingly) to my Russian-immigrant friend, who learned English, growing-up, by watching "Three's Company," and it was she who aptly noted that the cover song, "Lovelines," sounded like the theme to "The Love Boat." Love that song. My favorite song on this album: (tie) "If I Had You" and "You're The One," which was revalatory and should have been a single the year it was recorded. It would have, most certainly, made the top 40.

 

[davidgra]

I bought it on vinyl when released. My copy is very "clean" as I haven't played it much. Love the album.

I, too, bought it on vinyl in 1989, but not until it had been out for two or three weeks. I bought the CD the day it was released, but I had quite a time tracking down a vinyl copy. In fact, the only time I ever saw the album on vinyl (new and sealed) was the day I found it at a record store in Houston.

It's funny, but I think that was the last "new" album that I ever really seriously hunted for on vinyl. I bought a few here and there after that, but only if I happened upon them. I do remember being extremely disappointed in 1990 to discover that From the Top wasn't receiving a vinyl release at all. For me, that was the day the LP officially died.

 

[LondonRobert]

Please stop quoting all these anniversary years - imakes me feel OLD OLD OLD! lol
I remember lovelines very well, I bought all three versions straight away, I dont think I've played the vinyl so it's pristine, same with the cassette. Its a lovely album and i love the cover, although I wish the border was not so dark......

 

[arthowson]

I was a huge Carpenters fan from that night in 1988 when I was re-introduced to them. I remembered dancing to Top of the World and Sing in 1st grade, which was 1976. I think it was in Navy Boot Camp when Lovelines came out. It was so wonderful to hear new material. That was a great time period because every Carpenters album was new to me. What an amazing body of work! I remember Lovelines sounding so current and modern, like any of the songs could be heard on the radio.

 

[CarpentersToYou]

Lovelines, to me, is an album I listen to more often than their 1969-1983 studio albums. There are just some real knock-outs. It also sounds very fresh. I didn't purchase LOVELINES until nine years after its original release as I became a fan in 1998. I feel fortunate to have been a fan during the release of "As Time Goes By" because I had the thrill of experiencing a "new release.". I'm afraid that probably won't happen again.

 

[davidgra]

There are just some real knock-outs. It also sounds very fresh.

Exactly! Lovelines was such a surprise, because it was so GOOD. It didn't sound like an album of outtakes or unfinished work leads. I was truly baffled at the time -- as I still am -- that so many really great songs could have been left off albums in favor of some of the material that was released. It was also very smart on Richard's part to include a few of the best tracks from Karen's solo album, rather than include some of the "rougher" unfinished tracks like "Rainbow Connection" and "Leave Yesterday Behind." Don't get me wrong -- I'm thrilled that those tracks were completed and released, but they're not as good as anything on Lovelines in terms of overall quality.

I, too, listen to Lovelines more than almost any other complete album. Part of that is probably due to the fact that I didn't listen to it to death during my teenage years -- it didn't exist then -- but part of it is that I just like the way it works as an "album." Whereas I'll pick and choose tracks to listen to from Now & Then, Horizon, A Kind of Hush, Passage, and Made in America, I tend to listen to Lovelines as a whole album.

 

[Chris May]

I have to hand it to Richard for taking a mishmash of songs from different time periods and genres and making a highly underrated and brilliant album. Really a work of art and very difficult to pull off.

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

The album cover is fantastic for Lovelines....it is best seen in LP format, the large photo just has a way of speaking without saying a word, the faded colors say Karen is gone but in music she is alive. I have always felt the original 89'CD cover didn't do the album cover justice it deserves. I really like the artwork with the almost watercolor scheme that fades into the Carpenter logo on top and even into the title words Lovelines. The Japan 35th anniv mini LP jacket captures the true essence of the original LP over. So much new material...talk about a buried treasure cove.....wish we had one more album of lost recordings like this. If Richard could churn his magic, one last time, "one more time for the good times"...I would never speak of buried anything ever again....

 

[Mark-T]

"Kiss Me" is one of my favorite Carps songs ever.

 

[newvillefan]

Whereas I'll pick and choose tracks to listen to from Now & Then, Horizon, A Kind of Hush, Passage, and Made in America, I tend to listen to Lovelines as a whole album.

I do that too - can put Lovelines on and listen all the way through.

When it came out and Richard explained in the liner notes that it had twelve selections, "ten of which are previously unreleased", I could never work out whether the two tracks already 'released' were 'When I Fall In Love' and 'Little Girl Blue' (aired on Music, Music, Music) or the two songs featured in The Karen Carpenter Story. Now I realise it was neither - he was referring to 'Honolulu City Lights' and 'Slow Dance', which had been released on the Japanese 1989 Anthology and 1987's Treasures compilation respectively.

"Kiss Me" is one of my favorite Carps songs ever.

Mine too! Had it not been so similar to 'Touch Me When We're Dancing', it would have made a great contender for 'Made In America'.

 

[newvillefan]

(aired on Music, Music, Music)

*EDIT* - aired on Music, Music, Music and Space Encounters respectively

 

[Vinylalbumcovers]

"Kiss Me" is one of my favorite Carps songs ever.

I agree. Hearing Siedah Garrett added to their harmonies really spices things up nicely. She adds some nice R&B elements to the background without clashing with Richard's choral arrangement - which, btw, is fantastic. She's a fantastic singer that never got the credit she deserved.

 

[newvillefan]

I agree. Hearing Siedah Garrett added to their harmonies really spices things up nicely. She adds some nice R&B elements to the background without clashing with Richard's choral arrangement - which, btw, is fantastic. She's a fantastic singer that never got the credit she deserved.

Completely agree, her vocals are amazing on that song!

If you want to see/hear her raw talent, watch this clip from the documentary of the making of Michael Jackson's 'Bad' album. Siedah wrote 'Man In The Mirror' for that album. Watch the 3-4 minute segment here from 52m50s.