I -love- The Carpenters.

1960 Views 32 Replies 12 Participants Last post by Gristle Boy, Apr 17, 2009

Jesda

Discussion Starter · Apr 11, 2009

I went into storage and dug up my dad's tape deck (early 1980s) and some old cassettes. Its amazing how nice original studio recordings sound, even a decade later. I had to clean the heads and rollers first, but it turned out nicely. The left deck, for recording, is unfortunately dead. The counter no longer rotates. I might take it to a shop for repair.

In 1996 during a vacation in Thailand, I bought a dozen cassettes for 90-100 baht each, or $2.50 in current US dollars (about $1.30 back then). That was incredibly cheap for legitimate non-pirated cassettes, especially while CDs in Thailand were going for over $20USD. I suspect all the piracy drove down the price of superior-sounding original tapes. I was happy to bring them home.

Anyway, the Carpenters kick ass. The balance of instruments, beautiful writing, polished production, and Karen's incredible voice -- wow. I loved them before, but having the entire album to listen to end-to-end doubled my appreciation. Anyone who hates them listens to Lil Wayne and tosses salads.

The fold-up cover in the cassette case failed to mention her unfortunate death.

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1 - 20 of 33 Posts

gary88

· #2 · Apr 11, 2009

Clapton FTW

I~LUV~Caddys8792

· #3 · Apr 11, 2009

Jesus was a carpenter.

77CDV

· #4 · Apr 11, 2009

At the risk of having to surrender my man card, I'll admit the Karen Carpenter did have a lovely voice. Too bad she did herself to death with anorexia.

Richard Carpenter, BTW, is not only still an active songwriter, he's also well-known collector of antique and classic cars.

Blackout

· #5 · Apr 11, 2009

But can it play Crysis?

I~LUV~Caddys8792

· #6 · Apr 11, 2009

Doesnt Mr. Carpenter publish an article in a collectors car mag?

dkozloski

· #7 · Apr 11, 2009

The first carpenter was Eve. She made Adam's banana stand.

Blackout

· #8 · Apr 11, 2009

dkozloski said:
The first carpenter was Eve. She made Adam's banana stand.

So before Eve there were no banana stands?

dkozloski

· #9 · Apr 11, 2009

Blackout said:
So before Eve there were no banana stands?

Before Adam there were no bananas.

77CDV

· #10 · Apr 11, 2009

I~LUV~Caddys8792 said:
Doesnt Mr. Carpenter publish an article in a collectors car mag?

He's written a number of articles in magazines like Hemmings and Collectible Automobile on late 50s Mopars, which are his primary area of interest.

Blackout

· #11 · Apr 11, 2009

dkozloski said:
Before Adam there were no bananas.

Well what did the dinosaurs eat?

dirt_cheap_fleetwood

· #12 · Apr 11, 2009

Wow, I have that same Teac Equalizer at my house.

I~LUV~Caddys8792

· #13 · Apr 12, 2009

77CDV said:
He's written a number of articles in magazines like Hemmings and Collectible Automobile on late 50s Mopars, which are his primary area of interest.

Ah yes, that's what it was. I have a Hemmings book on classic Mopars from about 1955-70, and he's got an article in there regarding one of his muscle cars.

gdwriter

· #14 · Apr 12, 2009

Jesda said:
Anyway, the Carpenters kick ass. The balance of instruments, beautiful writing, polished production, and Karen's incredible voice -- wow. I loved them before, but having the entire album to listen to end-to-end doubled my appreciation.

I agree. Karen had a voice like an angel, and you're right, the orchestration and production values are top-notch. I have a Carpenters greatest hits CD and several of their songs on my iPod.

77CDV said:
At the risk of having to surrender my man card, I'll admit the Karen Carpenter did have a lovely voice. Too bad she did herself to death with anorexia.

Richard Carpenter, BTW, is not only still an active songwriter, he's also well-known collector of antique and classic cars.

He has quite an impressive selection of early Letter Series Chrysler 300s, my second favorite Mopar after the 1968-70 Charger.

c5 rv

· #15 · Apr 12, 2009

These Carpenters?

http://www.carpenters.org/

G

· #16 · Apr 12, 2009

The Carpenter's music is way too mellow and extremely outdated. It just sounds Brady Bunch(ish) whereas you have timeless music such as "Sweet Emotion" by Aerosmith that still sounds fresh. Hard to believe people under 60 listen and appreciate music like that.

codewize

· #17 · Apr 12, 2009

Jesda, for once I agree with you. I love the carpenters and I love old audio equipment. There's something about a nice tube powered amp that you just cant beat.

dkozloski

· #18 · Apr 12, 2009

Destroyer said:
The Carpenter's music is way too mellow and extremely outdated. It just sounds Brady Bunch(ish) whereas you have timeless music such as "Sweet Emotion" by Aerosmith that still sounds fresh. Hard to believe people under 60 listen and appreciate music like that.

Timeless music is Bach, Brahms, and Beethoven. What you're talking about is aborigines beatin' on a log.

Jesda

Discussion Starter · #19 · Apr 12, 2009

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G

· #20 · Apr 12, 2009

dkozloski said:
Timeless music is Bach, Brahms, and Beethoven. What you're talking about is aborigines beatin' on a log.

Yeah, aborigines beatin' on a log sounds good. That classical stuff is out.:bouncy:

1 - 20 of 33 Posts

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