Music: A Carpenters Tribute

I got this idea from this post (err - warning - NSFW, female bits on display and all that).

The Carpenters showed the world that if you sing other people's songs, and do it better than everyone else, you can still be quite popular. And for a time, they were; the Carpenters practically owned the early 70s with hits like "(They Long to Be) Close to You" and "Rainy Days and Mondays." In the late 70s, though, with the popularity of disco and the personal problems plaguing the group (Richard Carpenter's famous addiction to quaaludes, Karen's eating disorders that eventually led to her death), the Carpenters struggled to produce songs.

Critics have derided their sedate, mid-tempo pop ballads, but those guys are too stuck-up. Sometimes you feel like listening to a Carpenters song. Maybe you just suffered through a break-up. Maybe your car is falling off a cliff and it's playing on the radio ("Top of the World" would be appropriate there, I suppose). Karen's voice is pretty much the most mellow thing you can listen to - it should come with a warning not to operate heavy machinery.

In this video, you'll note that Karen is doing the drumming. I never knew she could drum.



In this video, the Carpenters' last hurrah, "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft." Yeah. The song is really weird, and probably proves that no matter how funky the lyrics, the right voice can make it palatable (if you asked Karen to sing the phone book, she could probably make it sound good).

Also notice the hilarious late 70s video effects. I feel like I'm watching an episode of Doctor Who.