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Ramblings of a retiree in France
A well-known duo that’s sadly now a solo act!
Carpenters were an American vocal and instrumental duo consisting of siblings Karen (1950–1983) and Richard Carpenter (1946 – ). They produced a distinct, soft, musical style, combining Karen’s contralto vocals with Richard’s harmonizing, arranging and composition skills. During their 14-year career, the Carpenters recorded 10 albums along with numerous singles and several television specials.
They first performed together as a duo in 1965 and formed the jazz-oriented Richard Carpenter Trio followed by the middle-of-the-road group Spectrum. Signing as Carpenters to A&M Records in 1969, they achieved major success the following year with the hit singles “(They Long to Be) Close to You” and “We’ve Only Just Begun”.
The duo’s brand of melodic pop produced a record-breaking run of hit recordings on the American Top 40 and Adult Contemporary charts, and they became leading sellers in the soft rock, easy listening and adult contemporary music genres. They had three number-one singles and five number-two singles on the Billboard Hot 100 and 15 number-one hits on the Adult Contemporary chart, in addition to 12 top-10 singles.
The duo toured continually during the 1970s, which put them under increased strain; Richard took a year off in 1979 after he had become addicted to Quaalude, while Karen suffered from anorexia nervosa. Their joint career ended in 1983 when Karen died from heart failure brought on by complications of anorexia. Extensive news coverage surrounding these circumstances increased public awareness of eating disorders. Their music continues to attract critical acclaim and commercial success. They have sold more than 100 million records worldwide, making them one of the best-selling music artists of all time.
View from the Back 
Karen Carpenter had such a beautiful voice. “Rainy Days And Mondays Always Get Me Down”.
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Didn’t she just!
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Yes she did. 🙂
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I absolutely loved the Carpenters and still do.
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Thanks for dropping by and commenting
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Such beautiful songs. I’ve loved them all. I did see the Carpenters in concert here in our city way back when. I still have the ticket stubs. 🙂
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How fortunate
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Very lucky.
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I enjoy the Carpenters still. Their best of Album is one of my favorites. It’s in my car on rotation.
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Great choice
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The Carpenters were the best! It was so sad when Karen died!
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Indeed it was, such a waste
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They were and are a favorite of mine. Thanks very much for the review.
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My pleasure
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The music industry is hard on a lot of people. Sad that some of them pay the price of life.
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Indeed BC, way too many of them
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They were SO popular in their day weren’t they. They had some great songs…
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You’re right Marie
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I don’t remember the Carpenter’s when they were a duo, but I did watch a movie about Karen’s life and it’s tragic end.
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It was so sad
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So many wonderful songs…..thanks for the memories Sheree 🙂
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My pleasure
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Love them but what a sad story it was.
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Indeed
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It is sad that music which is so soothing to the soul seems to destroy some people when they achiev fame. Karen Carpenter was the celebrity who raised awareness of anorexia as a disease and as a teenager, it was the first time I had heard of it.
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That’s true, I hadn’t heard of it before either
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Video blocked in our country! Which is a shame
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That’s odd maybe it’s a Brexit thing but you should be able to find it on YouTube Derrick
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I did, Sheree. I knew it of course, but it was good to be reminded
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😎
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Their Christmas songs are the best!
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They are good
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It is such a shame that she had to battle this illness. What a loss for all of us. 😔
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Absolutely Bee
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