My parents had decidedly opposite tastes in music: my Father was into rock acts like Chicago, Steve Miller and Boston, but my mother was into soft vocals and easy listening tunes of artists like Johnny Mathis, Lettermen, Neil Sedaka, and…the Carpenters!
As such I grew up with the songs of Richard and Karen playing in the house for seemingly my whole life, and as I got older, I'd always reminisce fondly over those classic Carpenters tunes from my youth! In a nostalgic mood one day, I picked up their Greatest Hits album “The Singles 1969-1973” and was INSTANTLY taken back to my childhood with all those familiar tunes, “We’ve Only Just Begun”, “Close To You”, “Sing”, “Yesterday Once More” and the awesome “Top of the World”, and WOW did I LOVE it! It became my GO-TO album for awhile there, and it was all my poor friends heard every time they came over!
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With all those hit singles, it occurred to me that I was still missing a lot of other songs I grew up with, songs that came AFTER 1973, like “Please Mr. Postman”, “A Kind of Hush”, “Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft”, and the first song I really loved from them, the 1977 single “All You Get From Love Is A Love Song”, and I remedied this with the purchase of the double A&M CD collection “Classics Volume2”, (one of the earliest CDs I ever bought, BTW) and was soon in love with THAT album and songs within as well!
With a newfound love and infatuation with the duo, it was time to venture into The Carpenters’ vast catalog of ALBUMS, and by chance I came across a beautiful LP of their 1976 release “A Kind Of Hush” in a used bookstore, and as the first actual album release of theirs I got, still have a huge sentimental attachment to!
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But I couldn’t be restricted to just that ONE album- I was now a huge fan and needed to hear MORE, and soon got all their regular releases: “Ticket To Ride” “Close To You”, “Carpenters”, “Now and Then”, “Horizon”, and the incredible “A Song For You”- I fell in love with them ALL!
Not content with the vinyl, I had to grab every album on CD, and soon had most of those as well!
My Carpenters Albums:
My Carpenters CDs
By this point my love of the group was obsessive, and I spent my days perusing the used record shops in search of what collectible 45s I could find- I found quite a few, and was particularly tickled when I found one that my Mother had when we were kids!
My Carpenters 45 Singles
One album that always eluded me was their 1969 LP "Offering”...This was Karen and Richard’s original A&M debut LP, but it did poorly and was withdrawn. Only after the success of “Close To You” was it re-released under the new moniker “Ticket To Ride”, and while that's all very good, for the consummate Carpenters Collector, the original Offering LP was a MUST HAVE!!!
Sadly I went for many a year without it, that is until the arrival of the internet and auction site EBAY (the true BOON for collectors!) where I was FINALLY able to get my hands on a dealer with a copy for me to purchase!!!! Words cannot explain how giddy with DELIGHT I was upon receiving THAT one, but the collection continued, with Books, Magazines and MORE to get!
My Carpenters Books, Magazines, Programs
Carpenters Video and Laserdiscs
With the help of ebay, there were always brand new venues to explore, and for awhile I was even passionate about collecting individual SONG SHEETS for some of their classic songs- these were really just glossy one sheets folded in half, but they were so PRETTY I just had to have them!
My Carpenters Music Song Sheets, Cassettes
In the above picture, you see an envelope on the side and this is an oddity for sure- In the mid 80’s I tried to join the International Carpenters Fan Club advertised on their album sleeves, and sent along my information to the club...only to get a letter back advising that they were CLOSING the club and were no longer accepting memberships! NOOOOO
They DID send along a complimentary postcard in the letter and a xeroxed list of remaining club merchandise if I chose to purchase anything. I ended up getting a program and one book, but was SO bummed being denied the ultimate fan "feather-in-the-cap" status!
It’s funny- The Carpenters are SO cherished and beloved yet they are one act that has no official club anymore. True, there are some fine individual clubs (especially the facebook groups), but with their legacy only getting bigger and more celebrated as the years go by, isn’t it time to open an OFFICIAL Carpenters Fan Club up again? Come on, A&M! We'’ll be waiting!
