Forty years ago this week, I was doing my radio show when I heard that Karen Carpenter had died.
We had no internet, so there were no sources of instant information, analysis, or gossip. We had an Associated Press teletype service with only the minimum facts. The popular vocal half of the Carpenter siblings was only 32 years old. I was numb.
By 1983, the Carpenters’ time had pretty much passed. On my top-40 radio station, I hadn’t played a Carpenters record in years, with the exception of “Merry Christmas Darling” which was in the stack of holiday records that every station played.
I was not yet a teenager when the Carpenters’ run of soft-rock hits began. Their first release was a re-working of the Beatles hit “Ticket to Ride.” It was performed as a ballad by Karen and her brother Richard, a gifted pianist and producer. I didn’t particularly care for it.
The following year, they found the right formula. They took an old Burt Bacharach song called “Close to You” that had been recorded by several artists and made it their own.
It soon went all the way to number one, followed by “We’ve Only Just Begun,” which was originally a bank commercial.
These were followed by a long string of hits in the 1970s.
Karen was special. Even though she was barely out of her teens, her voice had a very mature, womanly “lived in” quality. Karen often sang in a low, deep range, so when she sang about “Rainy Days and Mondays” always getting her down, she sold every word of it.
She could also brighten our day by singing about “The Top of the World” or reminiscing about the songs she and her brother grew up with, in “Yesterday Once More.”
As you can hear from the live performance videos, Karen didn’t need computer tricks or AutoTune. At their peak, the Carpenters were the hardest-working act in show business. Between 1970 and 1976, no one recorded more songs, appeared on more TV shows, or performed more live concerts, worldwide. It was not unusual for them to sell out a show in Chattanooga one week, go to Los Angeles to record an album the following week, and then host a prime time network TV special before jetting off to Japan to do a week’s worth of shows. Eventually the breakneck schedule took its toll.
The siblings each battled their own demons. Richard took Quaaludes to get to sleep each night, and suffered from severe depression. Karen, once a normal sized healthy woman, began to lose weight at a frightening pace. When a British TV host observed her skeletal frame and quizzed her about it, Karen shrugged it off. “I’m just pooped,” she said.
A few days after Karen’s death, the medical reports confirmed what many had suspected. She had succumbed to heart failure brought on by her long, largely secret battle with a disease called anorexia.
I had never heard that word until after Karen’s death. It made no sense to me. How could a beautiful, healthy woman look in the mirror and see such a distorted reflection of herself that she would take drastic measures to lose weight? This was no laughing matter. It was starvation.
In the months and years to come, a slew of news stories and TV movies spotlighted anorexia and its warning signs. Of course, it had been around before Karen, and it still is today. We now understand it a bit more, and we cheer for those who have managed to cope with it, and those who have overcome it.
Recently I dusted off my old Carpenters greatest hits CD that I hadn’t touched in years. In some quarters it isn’t cool or manly for a guy to admit he’s a Carpenters fan. Let me repeat, I was (and still am, sort of) a rock ‘n roll deejay. People expect me to talk about the Stones, the Who, and U2. Not those syrupy love songs.
So this is my confession. I’m proudly listening to “Superstar,” to be followed by “Goodbye to Love” and “Only Yesterday.” Karen Carpenter is responsible for some of the greatest music ever recorded, and it still sounds great today. She did it all in only 32 years. I miss this Superstar.
(Here is a final observation): In my opinion, the best Carpenters non-single is “Masquerade” a Leon Russell song that was first recorded in 1973 by the Carpenters, but was considered by A & M Records to be too long for radio airplay. In 1976, George Benson released it as a single, and it became a top-10 hit. It’s too bad the Carpenters version was not a single. I thing it could have been huge.
I absolutely agree with every statement David. Karen was a beautiful richly talented lady and her team with Richard was nothing short of amazing. Played more of her hits at WGOW than WFLI, and turned the music up in the headphones every time a Carpenters record came up in the play logs. Still miss them to this day! Hearing this music I can still have the “feel” of Chattanooga in the summertime! Thanks for the story!
Thank you for the memories💕💫
Absolute agree! She was phenomenally talented and I mourn every Feb 4th.
Karen was just 7 years older than me and I absolutely idolized her. I’m from the west coast and lived in southern Ca when she passed. I was driving and I had to pull over. It was like my stomach dropped. I never did get to see them live and that makes me sad to this day. Most beautiful alto voice ever.
I agree. I thought the Carpenters were “top drawer” from the very beginning and was greatly saddened at Karen’s death. They added a richness to our musical heritage very few of the current crop of popular “musicians” (I use the term loosely!) can even approach!
Thank you for the tribute to a once in a lifetime singer, Karen Carpenter, David.
I remember crying when I heard the announcement, and once again when reading the details in the newspaper.
The feeling she put into her music, would draw one into each song. The rich lower register of her voice and the angelic upper notes made her voice stand out from any other. She is missed, even forty years later.
I wish she had gotten some help before it was too late for her. Pulled out of that steep dive of distorted body image. My late wife suffered from Anorexia when she was young but conquered it. She told me that in a world of having to be perfect and held to high standards that eating was the only thing she could control. I guess Karen felt the same with the record industry.
I too grew up in the Carpenters era. One of my most fondest childhood memory was to sit and listen to our local radio station play the Carpentars classics. When they made guest appearances,you couldn’t believe these two teens could produce such powerful sound. Karen’s sliky and strong voice. Richard’s brilliant song writing made a brilliant team. Years of enjoying their talent and music. The sad day when we heard of Karen’s unexpected death, some nicknamed the time that pop music took silent pause. Karen and Richard Carpentar will always be a wonderful piece of our childhood memories and pop music history forever.
Karen was a great loss to this world. She had a pure voice! Miss her songs!
A song of theirs I really liked (and I really liked almost all of them) was “Bless the Beasts and the Children,” from the movie with the same name (I think).
Many of their lesser known songs are also extraordinary. Off the top of my head
Ordinary Fool – brilliant arrangement and vocal
Now
Crescent Noon
Crystal Lullabye
Road Ode
Maybe It’s You
Because We Are in Love
Eve
Sailing on the Tide
And so many more. Songs of the Heart released posthumously is a masterpiece. And then in the 90s Richard and Dusty Springfield did Something in your Eyes, a perfect tribute to Karen.
I absolutely loved “The Carpenters” Karen had an amazing voice. It still stirs my emotions to listen to their recordings. The world lost an incredibly talented and influential recording duo. So sad.
David, thank you for this walk down memory lane. The Carpenters were such an inspiration by their hard work and God given talent. Karen was taken far too young.
A Christmas Portrait by The Carpenters is far and away my FAVORITE Christmas album of all time. Perfection!t i
Thanks for the article, Mr. Carroll
Another ‘David’ Karen Carpenter fan here. If that particular young lady did not have the voice of an angel, then no one else ever has. I don’t mind admitting that I shed a tear or two upon hearing of her passing. Leon Russell’s THIS MASQUERADE has always been my favorite CARPENTERS song. I recommend DON’T CRY FOR ME ARGENTINA (I believe from Karen’s solo album. Seldom heard, but wonderful performance, IMO.)
Thank you for sending me along her journey again!! Karen carpenter is & has been my all-time favorite female artist since I was a kid. I didn’t grow up listening to her music, I was only 8 years old when she died. But when they came out with the tv movie about her life, I watched it every single year & fell in love with her music. I would cry at the end every single year, even though I knew what was coming & why.
Karen Carpenter’s voice was in a class alone. She and her brother Richard were immensely talented.
Thank you, David Carroll for this reminder!
Shortly after Herb Albert’s A&M signed The Carpenters, one of the exec’s there was telling another about her. He remarked “Oh you mean the chubby little girl”. The remark got back to her. No doubt that began her tragic spiral. Oh by the way my favorite Carpenters tune is Paul Williams Rainbow Connection.
Thank you for sharing! I’m a huge Carpenters fan and I don’t care who knows it! Great songs by one of the greatest female voices ever! Seems like the best of us always leave too soon. I wept the day she died, and also when Jim Croce left us. I loved “Merry Christmas, Darling,” but radio won’t play it anymore.
Thank you for the reminder! I really enjoyed listening to the Carpenters. Wish we could hear more of their music today. It is hard to believe it has been 40 years. I am going to breakout some of my old albums!
I’m glad you finally discovered them. Welcome to the Carpenters application club. It has been a long 40 years & yet still hurts like yesterday. I was a young girl teenager. Have EVERY LP (no cds) when they came out. Dated them. Always wanted to see them in concert, but the closest stadium at that time 3 hour away. When she died a dream very close to my heart died too. If you can play her last recording. It’s called Now. You will love it, I cried through the whole album when it came out. Took me years before I could listen to her again missed her so much. Still cannot believe 40 years.
This brings back great memories. I loved listening to their music. Karen had one of the most unique voices in music. Both of the Carpenters were very talented and we still have their music to hold on to today. Thanks for the memories.
I feel in love with the Carpenters the first time I heard Close To You at 11 years old. The funny thing is, I wanted to play the drums before they were “The Carpenters”, as my uncle was a jazz drummer. Mom said no, so I took up trumpet from listening to all the Tijuana Brass records she would play. I love how that would ultimately tie in with the Carpenters!
Living in NYC I knew no one who loved them the way I did. As he said there was no internet or instant info back them, but I ate up any sparse info I could find. The newsletters from the fan club were wonderful. I remember seeing them on The Dating Game. It’s a good thing Karen couldn’t go on the date with the guy, as he turned out to be a nut job!
40 years later,I still remember that day like it was yesterday. I have never cried or mourned for anyone like that before or since.
Karen’s drumming was amazing and SKILLED. Nowhere more apparent than on my all time favorite song that should have been a massive hit – THIS MASQUERADE!! I would play that for people all the time, shocked it was the Carpenters. Please watch the video in the article that plays it. It’s fantastic.
Nice work David, beautiful voice and heartfelt lyrics.
I did enjoy listening to the music of, Carpenters. Karen had a wonderful voice that made your day, go great I do miss her,very much Her drums put you at ease