"Goodbye to Love" was the only good record the Carpenters ever recorded.
Let me get the first thing out of the way: I don't get the Carpenters. When I think of songs like "Rainy Days and Mondays," "Sing," "Close to You," "Top of the World," and "We've Only Just Begun" ... well, thinking of them makes me wanna puke, but that's better than actually listening to them. What a pile of insipid tripe! I have friends, smart friends with good taste in music ... you know who you are, you're nodding your heads in disapproval as you read this ... who seem to have a fondness for the crap that was the Carpenters, a fondness apparently lacking in irony. I don't share that fondness; like I say, I don't get the Carpenters. Explain to me the excellence of this:
Sing, sing a song
Sing out loud
Sing out strong
Sing of good things not bad
Sing of happy not sad…
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Article comments
26 - Ritchie Blackmore
Steve, You're talking bollocks. Hundreds of millions of people all over the world disagree with you.
27 - Jon Lord
You have to "listen without prejudice", Steve. Lie down in a dark room and play Carpenters Gold, whilst trying to forget the image you have of the Carpenters. Listen to whole songs at a time without interruption. If you just focus on the songs themselves and forget the album covers, you'll realise just how brilliant the Carpenters are.
28 - Ian Paice
OK, so Hal Blaine played on some of the records. No shit. He also played live for the ballads when Karen sang out front.
29 - Christopher Rose
It's nice to see 4/5ths of the entire membership of Deep Purple turning up in support of The Carpenters and Tony Peluso, although the odds of the four of you all being at the same computer at the same time must be astronomical! And what's the matter; aren't you guys talking to Ian Gillan any more?
30 - Chuck Brown
I was young when I first discovered the Carpenters (probably 13), and was a huge fan of a lot of pop music at the time. I loved Karen's voice, and devoured their first 2-3 albums. Eventually, I moved on to different styles, of course. But they simply WERE the sound of adult contemporary music in the early Seventies. I think you're not only being way too harsh, but also ignoring a huge factor here: The Carpenters were single-handedly (well, I guess they had 4 hands between them...) responsible for exposing some really great songs to the world. Some excellent Burt Bacharach stuff, a couple really fine Leon Russell compositions and more. Leon Russell may have been much "hipper" by your definition, but there's no way he reached nearly as many people with his renditions of Superstar and This Masquerade...both of which were hellaciously well-written songs, whether or not you liked The Carpenters versions. Paul Williams was also a heck of a writer (Old Fashioned Love Song and Out in the Country for Three Dog Night, plus Rainbow Connection), and they had big hits with 3 of his best pieces. By the way, Sing (which you make such a point of loathing), was written by Joe Raposo for SESAME STREET. It's a children's song. You may notice the CHILDREN singing thru much of it. It still happens to be a well-crafted pop piece, but maybe you just should admit that you're not the target demographic there and move on, eh? ;-)
31 - rob
The Carpenters is the wrong title.Carpenters would be correct and they were really good at what they did.You never heard karen miss a note.
32 - bill walker
who cares that they made pop music gosh music is for us the people if we like it bugger the critics
33 - David F
Only a complete idiot or a(n) (un)musical bigot would write this about the Carpenters. They were one of the best acts in the history of pop and rock music. Karens singing was simply amazing and the musical arrangements were brilliant. They are up there with the likes of the Beach Boys, Steely Dan, Frank Zappa etc. You need to acquire a brain and a knowledge of music old chap.
34 - Roger Rheingold
It is a pity that sites like this give such a poor service to popular music legacy , Your are of course entitled to an opinion. But to see the way that you dedicate a good part of this blog to descredit one of America's top acts of the 70's and in my opinion one of the most interesting voices pop music has delivered in all of these years, is , to say the least...disturbing. Mr. Carpenter's arrangements were crafted. Maybe one of the most outstanding arrangers of popular music. Do you perform or arrange , sir? If you do , chances are that in your search for knowledge of this difficult craft , you have studied one or more of Richard's arrangements. So...please sir... in the future... you maybe could be more considerate when making a blog about the facts and not issues of your personal dislikes and issues.
35 - John Gebhart
It breaks my heart to report that my beloved friend Tony Peluso succumbed to a heart attack on June 5, 2010. He was a remarkable talent and will be sorely missed.
36 - Margaret Osborne
Tony is a great loss, both professionally, and personally, to all of us who knew him and loved him. He had a big, warm heart and told a joke better than anybody on the planet. Tony, you will be terribly missed...
37 - George
I did enjoy the music of the Carpenters, starting with Close to You when I was age 18. I am a pianist and singer, and I identify with what Karen and Richard put together. I think their best efforts were some of the jazzy items on their early records - and in fact it was from the album "Horizon" that they became excessively commercial for my tastes. Still we saw some brilliance - what about Tony Peluso written "Happy" for a great example.
38 - steve from manila
im a metallica fan , yet cannot deny the music of the carpenters as one of the best in history.
39 - Paul Cantillon
Goodbye to Love was the first record that made me want to play the guitar - at seven years old. I'm now 45 and a guitar tutor and am embarrassed to say I never knew who Tony Peluso he was till he died.
The chord structures in many a carpenter song and in fact many an easy listening song are about as advanced as you get in music.
As you can imagine, I have a hard time telling my students that when they think 30stm are the be all and end all of musicianship (though I admit the frontman does have nice hair and looks good in make up)..... ;)
40 - mariana
You dont have to like, just respect their sucessful carrer
41 - David Dunkin
Today I returned from a cross country road trip during which I listened to Goodbye to Love and was blown away once again with Tony's musicianship and artistry. As a Guitarist and Guitar teacher I am very picky about which Guitarists I compliment. Tony deserves this compliment and I miss his presence in the industry.
42 - Mark C
To the original writer of this blog: right on. Seriously, I grew up at a time when you couldn't turn on the radio for fear of hearing a Carptenters tune. Sugar overload before modern fat people made it commonplace. Thank God for Tony Peluso and may he rest in peace (along with Karen who had a terrific voice despite the material she had to sing). Peluso did indeed leave a gift to the world.