Touch Me When We're Dancing Brazil Video in HD

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Rick-An Ordinary Fool

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This video was just posted last month but I missed it. It's the first time I am seeing this in HD (be sure to change the quality when you view to 720 or 1080 HD) for the first time I can actually see Karen in the sky globe looking down and then close up with the water behind her then when on stage you can actually see the design in her dress. It's wonderful to finally see this in HD (well as much HD as you can get for 1981)

 
I just used Freemake to put this on my iPhone, it looks even better squeezing this 1080 resolution into a 4" screen on my phone. Thanks Sydney for providing this high quality video!!
 
Great quality clip! There's a real air of sadness to the whole thing though for obvious reasons. It also suffers from the image of them being a couple rather than siblings - poor Richard looks like a jilted lover when she takes off in the skylift lol.
 
Yes..it's an odd video...I wonder if this was a spur of the moment taping. I mean we know they taped a few songs on stage and part of this was used on this video. I wonder if Carpenters knew how the video would be spliced up and joined together like so, it makes one wonder. It also shows you Karen was not one to waste her money, although she was a millionaire she is wearing the same clothes she wore before here in US. :confused:

This was the worst time for Karen...Still...any video in such clarity is better than none.
 
I agree! So nice to have it in much better quality. This clip has always made me wonder if they were making a conscious effort to show more of Richard because of the way Karen looked physically at the time. I like the background shots, and you can't beat Brazil for backdrop.
 
What I also noticed is that at the start with the close up of Richard...his eyes look really tired to me at this point he was suppose to have been better but he looks tired too. It could just be the sun, not sure.

I also never noticed that Richard waves his hand as Karen passes by...because the video quality is better I'm noticing things I didn't see before.

I always though that this song should have been Karen only being presented to the viewer or listener, maybe pan to Richard once or twice but any more with the lyrics just seem strange.
 
Still, beats the "official" video with the mini-couple dancing on the piano. I bet it didn't cost that much more to produce to have them outside rather than just standing around on a soundstage.
 
"the mini couple...." sounds so funny when you read it that way - after a loooong day at work... BTW - on this, it is oddly directed for me. Richard pining... Karen singing a romantic tune... Karen nearly blowing off the mountain top.... It's just okay for me, dawg...
 
Richard's face on this is an ideal candidate for a caption competition ... come on guys, do your stuff!
 
Poor Rich. He seems as though he's shooting a bird watching /laxative commercial. He seems bored yet constipated..
 
All kidding aside, I'm sure Richard was extremely concerned over Karen's health at that time. As hard as it is to see her decline in pictures and videos, he was right there watching it.

I recently watched BBC's "Living Famously - Karen Carpenter" again. It's been years since I had watched it. I was very impressed by the therapist that gave insight on the relationship between her situation and condition. I don't think that really hit me until I read Little Girl Blue. I also liked Caroline Corr's insight into Karen's situation - being family, working together, pressure of the music business, basically "growing up" in the business. I've heard Andrea Corr in an interview describe it as arrested development.

I also watched the Joan Lunden interview from Good Morning America. Karen was married at the time and looked terrible. But it sounded like nothing or no one was going to stop her doing what she wanted to do - no matter how ill she became. It's pretty obvious she wanted her own separate career.

On topic - I do like this song, but it's definitely not a favorite.
 
I'm not a huge fan of the song, I like it...but, something holds it back.
But, if stacked against it's peers, I love it!:
BILLBOARD (USA) MAGAZINE'S SINGLES CHART FOR WEEK OF:August 8,1981
TW LW Wks. Song-Artist
1 1 20 JESSIE'S GIRL-Rick Springfield
2 14 5 ENDLESS LOVE-Diana Ross and Lionel Richie
3 3 14 THEME FROM "GREATEST AMERICAN HERO"-Joey Scarbury
4 4 9 I DON'T NEED YOU-Kenny Rogers
5 5 13 ELVIRA-Oak Ridge Boys
6 6 11 SLOW HAND-Pointer Sisters
7 8 12 BOY FROM NEW YORK CITY-Manhattan Transfer
8 9 12 HEARTS-Marty Balin
9 10 11 QUEEN OF HEARTS-Juice Newton
10 2 13 THE ONE THAT YOU LOVE-Air Supply
11 13 7 (THERE'S) NO GETTIN' OVER ME-Ronnie Milsap
12 7 20 BETTE DAVIS EYES-Kim Carnes
13 11 15 YOU MAKE MY DREAMS-Daryl Hall and John Oates
14 17 8 LADY-Commodores
15 15 17 TIME-Alan Parsons Project
16 16 8 TOUCH ME WHEN WE'RE DANCING-Carpenters
17 20 11 IT'S NOW OR NEVER-John Schneider
18 18 13 THE STROKE-Billy Squier
19 19 15 SWEET BABY-Stanley Clarke/George Duke
20 22 6 URGENT-Foreigner

I finally found my VHS-tape with this video on it, and other Brazil moments:
Karen was obviously quite ill at this time.Very difficult to watch. As it must be for Richard.
 
If you compare "Touch Me When We're Dancing" against other single releases at that time, it does hold it's own. First you have the intro.....understated, but catchy....then Karen Carpenter starts singing.....it's her, but she sounds sort of different, almost as if Karen was having a great time, and then, to wake up our dulled senses even more, the overdub harmonies have a new soulful sound to them. Mission accomplished........certainly grabbed my attention back then!
 
Funny, I've seen this video or a version of it many times. I always think "Great song- probably the best on MIA and a real showcase of what they could do!"
 
Yeah, 'Touch Me When We're Dancing' has definitely stood the test of time. I loved it in '81 and I love it now! Everything worked perfectly on this record. More contemporary-sounding, sexy vocal, great sax solo, great backgrounds and strings.
 
I must say, and this is unusual for me, but ,"Touch Me When We're Dancing" has
really grown on me over the years.
Initially (6/1981) I was unimpressed. I really enjoy it, now.
However, it is one of the best from the album Made In America, and my only concern (then, as now)
was a bit of ambiguity in the placement of overdubs (w/Carolyn Dennis ),
which I feel don't quite mesh properly with Karen's Lead vocal.

Now: regarding the Brazil Promotional Tour.
I notice this week, on Youtube, someone (Alvaro Rinaldo) has placed a two-part audio,
with still-photos, from the Brazil Tour.
I have a VHS tape of this promo tour--but, I no longer have capabilities to play it--so, my memory is
very rusty. However, my VHS is most certainly an 'inside' lip-synched performance.
Whereas, the recent audio/stills sounds to me like it is a "live" performance, done outside.
I realize we have covered this territory before:
Could someone listen to the just posted (this week) Youtube audio and authenticate that it is "live"?
(Recently, I've lost roughly 50% of my hearing, so I really can not tell if this is "live").
 
I have a VHS tape of this promo tour--but, I no longer have capabilities to play it--so, my memory is very rusty. However, my VHS is most certainly an 'inside' lip-synched performance. Whereas, the recent audio/stills sounds to me like it is a "live" performance, done outside. I realize we have covered this territory before:
Could someone listen to the just posted (this week) Youtube audio and authenticate that it is "live"?

That's 100% the 1970 studio version which they evidently mimed to in an outside setting where the audience can clearly be heard. You refer to your VHS copy of an 'inside' lip-synched performance. Are you thinking of this one, also in Brazil?

(Want You) Back In My Life Again



We've Only Just Begun

 
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Thanks, again, Stephen!
You are correct, those are the videos I have on VHS-Tape.
What a shame, that both inside and outside, performances are lip-synched.
In my 'old' age I simply could not discern between "Live" and "Mimed" performances.
Thanks for setting this old man straight!
 
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