Top 5 Most Cringe-inducing Carpenters Moments:

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1: Rich Little as Santa commentiong "aren't they cute" at a stunning Karen who pretty much said 'whatever' on camera. (Cringeworthy can go both ways, correct?)
2. The OK Chorale on "I Need To Be In Love"
3. Not releasing Karens solo album when initially planned.
4. One Smothers Brother who took digs at K & R on a late night talk show. Carpenters were so classy. I was hoping that Karen would haul off and punch him in the jaw if only to silence him.
5. The release of "Goofus" as a single.
 
KACE said:
Grimes is/was in HBO's "Band of Brothers."

As for the list, somehow missed the actual airing of Space Encounters; at least, I think so! Is it possible I was so embarrassed by it that it remained buried deep in my brain? I saw the youtube clip awhile back, and I really do not remember seeing it when originally aired. Maybe I was in college at the time - I didn't watch too much tv at school. Anyway, it was quite dreadful.
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Thanks to this discussion, I had to look Grimes up. I recognize him, but was totally clueless as to his connection with Richard (admittedly, I've pretty much skipped most of Richard's solo career). As for Space Encounters, ugh ... sadly, I remember it all too well. I loathed it when it aired, and time hasn't improved my opinion of it any. Some of these oddities age like fine wine, but not this one!
Must Hear This Album said:
I think for me, Carpenters "jump the shark" the most when they didn't play to their strengths and chased after the trends du jour. While I respect an artist's need to expand, I would have been wholly content had the duo stayed true to their "classic" sound, which for me was anything recorded/released between 1970-1973.
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I agree, though for me the time frame is a bit wider, running from Offering/Ticket to Ride on through Horizon ... which would be 1969 through 1975. Things really started to fall apart in conjunction with their health issues (the extent of which were largely kept secret at the time). Knowing what we know now about the state of their personal lives at the time, it's not all that surprising that their career declined, too. It's just too bad that they were not given better advice ... or, if they were, that they didn't take it. But maybe they were getting so many conflicting messages that they just took what felt like the path of least resistance, which was the best they could do at the time.
 
goodjeans said:
1: Rich Little as Santa commentiong "aren't they cute" at a stunning Karen who pretty much said 'whatever' on camera. (Cringeworthy can go both ways, correct?)
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Do you have a clip of that? Can't remember them with Rich Little.
 
It's there "cringy" moments that make many non-fans categorize them under pure 70's kitsch, rather than classy, sophisticated musicians. They may have been kitschy in a interesting, cultural way (?), but they also transcend it by the quality of music that holds up forty-some years later.
 
It seems fairly obvious to me, and bears out everything that RC has been saying for years. It's the records that stand up well - Carpenters were not TV personalities and they both look very uncomfortable most of the time. They were studio artists. Although it would be great to have them for curiosity value, I perfectly understand why RC won't issue the TV specials on DVD - they don't represent them in a good light. The image problem on the record sleeves and publicity shots were bad enough but the TV stuff only hightened it. Any budding artists out there? It would be good to see other fans' representation of album covers how they should have been (except for Horizon, which is perfect as it is) ...
 
How about these? Alternate shots from the photoshoot for the Offering album cover... :)

Carpenters+Offering+1969+outtake+2.jpg


Carpenters+Offering+1969+outtake+1.jpg
 
Those pictures are FANTASTIC! But I'm glad they didn't use either one. :) Richard looks like he's saying, "I'm the King of the World!" Too 'Titanic' for my taste. But the quality of those pictures is unreal. Amazing to see.
 
I remember the story about them coming up with the idea of yanking a sunflower out of the ground to have Karen hold for the shot that became the album cover. I think I can see it still in the ground in the second photo :)
 
The more I look at the second shot, the more I like it. It could have been nice for the back cover rather than the black and white shot used.
 
Omg....look how young they look/were. Just two enormously talented babies in my opinion. If I were there manager or mentor there's no way I wouldn't want to just "protect them." Maybe that's kinda what happened in real life? It's hard to grow your horizons and stretch your talents when you are over protected. Too bad Jerry Weintraub wasn't with them from the beginning. He would've known how to present them as new and then as growing artists. Wonder what their image would have been then??
 
If only due to this being a "first" & these two not being so new in terms of using a budget wisely, in terms of as far as packaging a debut album goes, then, yes, all those pics could have been gate-folded, or 'Unipacked', or just about anything!

Otherwise, here's what an Online search revealed to make the Offering incarnation worth searching for; the back cover photo is different from the one used for Ticket To Ride:


R-3966144-1367540246-6972.jpeg



-- Dave
 
Dave said:
If only due to this being a "first" & these two not being so new in terms of using a budget wisely, in terms of as far as packaging a debut album goes, then, yes, all those pics could have been gate-folded, or 'Unipacked', or just about anything!

Otherwise, here's what an Online search revealed to make the Offering incarnation worth searching for; the back cover photo is different from the one used for Ticket To Ride:


R-3966144-1367540246-6972.jpeg


Oh, I knew that! TTR had them on the boat, I believe with Rich in shades.


-- Dave
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They do indeed look like pups! So young. Wish we could go back to 1969, and re-work things to give it a much happier ending for Karen.
 
No one mentioned it, but Druscilla Penny" is the tops when it comes to cringe inducement. Just a pride filled slap at 70s rock but with one of Richard's worst vocals!
 
I liked Saturday and I Kept On Loving You, but while Druscilla Penny does sound like a corny song on some, campy Puff n' Stuff-esque variety hour. Only these two weren't allowed to be puffin' stuff...and that it's right beside their two best known classics makes it look worse. It sounds like something that would have been on Now & Then when they needed material.

I still think that Doug Strawn should have done so more leads or backgrounds. He had a MUCH nicer voice.
 
"Saturday" is the one that gets the cringe award from me. The whole thing is dispensable except for the last line that segues so damned well into "Let Me Be The One".
 
I actually found this thread to be allot of fun! Albeit a little awkward... I rememeber trying to justify some of this stuff as it was happening, (Space Encounters, Kid Sister), but for me the winner - or a very close runner up - may be when the choir starts in: The winds might blow through me but I don't mind".. on Now. It almost runins this - one of Karen's last recordings for me

There - I said it.

Man - this is better than an hour on the couch!

And - for what it's worth, I rather liked 'That's What I Believe". I drive a convertible, and occasionally I drive down the road - top down, and sing along like I myself am Scott Grimes! Okay - I do it when I am certain nobody will be around at a red-light - but I find it a catchy little ditty, far more relevant than say... Goofus....

Okay - have a great day, all!
 
BarryT60 said:
I actually found this thread to be allot of fun! Albeit a little awkward... I rememeber trying to justify some of this stuff as it was happening, (Space Encounters, Kid Sister), but for me the winner - or a very close runner up - may be when the choir starts in: The winds might blow through me but I don't mind".. on Now. It almost runins this - one of Karen's last recordings for me

There - I said it.

Man - this is better than an hour on the couch!

And - for what it's worth, I rather liked 'That's What I Believe". I drive a convertible, and occasionally I drive down the road - top down, and sing along like I myself am Scott Grimes! Okay - I do it when I am certain nobody will be around at a red-light - but I find it a catchy little ditty, far more relevant than say... Goofus....

Okay - have a great day, all!
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I crank it up at redlights.
People seem to hate black Range Rovers anyway so I drive and play whatever I like and LOVE the Scott Grimes CD.
 
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