American Pie Revealed

"Bye, bye, Miss American Pie"... I bet by now, you are singing the rest of the lyrics by heart.

Don McLean, songwriter and singer of one of the most beloved and mysterious songs ever, American Pie, finally reveals his thoughts about the song and the message he was trying to communicate. This 1971 hit could not be missed on just about any radio station.

Nobody could touch it. Even Madonna's bewildering delivery of it in the year 2000 added nothing to the masterful original.

So, are you ready to read about the secrets behind the song? If so, go here.

Notable and Quotable: Madonna

“It's crazy times. The Internet is as constructive and helpful in bringing to people together as it is in doing dangerous things and hurting people. It's a double-edged sword."

                                         Madonna 
                  (as told to Billboard magazine)

So sad and so true. Between my friends addicted to internet porn and the crazies recruiting for terrorists activities, the internet world can be a dangerous place...

When You Wish Upon A Star

A brand new year sounds like a great time to put together a wish list, doesn't it? Does to me! So, in no particular order, here are some things I wish for in 2014:

• People to say what they mean and mean what they say. So tired of sarcasm and innuendo. Show some integrity and say and do what you say you will.
• I'd like the suits at The Walt Disney Company to really go toe to toe with their theme park competitors. What would be even better would be if they would view their parks as works of art to be enhanced and added to due to the love of the place and not just the financials. Walt Disney loved his park. It showed, and folks flocked to see his living work of art.
• A change in focus in how news is reported. If you're like me, you'd probably enjoy the news facts being reported and not interpreted for the reader or listener. We are grown up enough to understand what you are telling us. Stop treating us as if we need you to explain events to us. 
• World Peace. Sure, Sandra Bullock in Miss Congeniality and all the women of pageants clamor for it, convinced it will make them memorable. I want it, but I do not want to have to sacrifice my morals for it. God bless our military men and women for standing up for freedom and humane treatment of others. Yes, someone has to do it. 
• Less Miley Cyrus more Danielle Bradbery. Our culture is prone to produce young women who feel like they have to flaunt their sexuality to sell and make a point. Yes, this includes you, Lady Gaga. Let's give it up instead for some good old-fashioned music made for real people and not Hollywood and their wannabes. Madonna has shown more class throughout most of her career.
• Sports figures you act like good sportsmen. I'm a bit tired of entitled NFL players and the like who act as if they can break the law and get away with it. Say what you will, but men the likes of Tim Tebow are good role models for our youth.
• Politicians that truly care about America and what she stands for. I'm sick of 99% of our politicians, including our current president. Time for something new.
• The church. And I do not mean just the Roman Catholic Church. May we be the light on the hill that Jesus spoke about. We can and must speak the truth in love or who will listen to the only true message that calls us to The One who can save us from ourselves?
• Lastly, I'd like to be a better me. More like the Lord I follow and more like the man He created me to be. Oh God, please change my heart and empower my life.

Timberlake Shows His Patriotism

One time Disney Mousketeer Justin Timberlake showed a heart of patriotism and a large dose of class by showing up to the 236 Marine Corps Birthday Ball over the weekend. While some in Hollywood find it easy to bash those in the military who are defending the liberties they enjoy, Timberlake expressed heartfelt appreciation for the men and women who serve the country. USA Today captures it all in this article. Class act, Mr. Timberlake. Great use of those 4 Minutes...

True Blue Madonna

Guess today is Madonna's 52nd birthday. Love her, hate her, or just ambivalent, she certainly is an icon of our generation. True Blue, in my humble opinion, represents her at her best. The song is just plain fun and so reminiscent of the 60 girl groups. Her take on Carpenters writer John Bettis' Crazy For You was another brilliant piece, showing her flexibility and willingness to adapt to whatever was hot during the period. The much later Take A Bow was another sultry favorite.

You don't find her on the radio stations I frequent, but I do not think I will ever forget her playing Breathless Mahoney in the Walt Disney film Dick Tracy. Warren Beatty was certainly smitten by her then both on and off the screen- and I was too.

I'm Breathless

Totally in love with this 2006 release from Corinne Bailey Rae. Smooth, light and breezy, with the perfect combination of sophistication and innocence. Couldn't you just hear it as a Phil Ramone produced hit for Karen Carpenter?

Karen Carpenter: Anything But An Ordinary Fool

Today marks the 27th anniversary of the death of Karen Carpenter.

As the Carpenters, she and her brother Richard crafted some of the most beautiful music of the latter half of the twentieth century. 
Maybe of the century. 

Musical artists as Madonna to Gloria Estefan and seemingly thousands of others praised Karen's golden voice and Richard's thoughtful arrangements, but it was their fans that made her a star. The warmth of her voice, the accessibility of their music, and the overall fine choice of song, arrangement, and production made them an act that would endure.

Hit after hit graced the airwaves until this day in 1983. Then it stopped- only to be heard again at Christmas when their Merry Christmas Darling remains a must hear.

So, today especially, rest in peace, Karen. And thank you for the music.

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Note: The impact of their music is profound. As part tribute and part review, I have begun a series of posts about each album. For those interested, the series begins here.

Give It A Rest

Overexposed celebrities range from the truly talented to those who have nothing more to offer than outrageous personal lives or incredibly beautiful looks. Without further ado, here is my list overexposed folks who need a rest from the media.

Remember, we made this situation what it is by our fascination with them, and I am guilty as charged...

Tom Cruise- Whether it is pimping his latest movie or waxing on about Scientology, I'd love to see him get some rest. Us, too.

Oprah- She's so big that we don't even use her last name anymore. The big "O" is everywhere. She's an industry unto herself and a generous one at that. However, the American public, and perhaps even Oprah herself, takes her way too seriously. How can they not when we cannot get away from her long enough to think for ourselves. 2011 cannot come soon enough.

Madonna- The music industry's queen of self-promotion. Go back to making the great music that made you shine. Haven't seen it for about a decade now. Will we again?

Rush Limbaugh- I already turn him off. Off the radio and the television. I am all for free speech be it MSNBC to Fox News, Time Magazine to Rolling Stone, National Public Radio to Conservative Talk. But enough is enough.

Lindsay Lohan- Once talented and focused on acting. Whether stoned, drunk, or showing off her body all over Hollywood, it's a disgrace. I miss the young talent she used to be and may never be again. That said, she is everywhere- but for all the wrong reasons.

Kim Kardashian- An example of the new generation media bringing us celebrities with no purpose. Just another overexposed (in more ways than one) pretty face.

Kate and Jon Gosselin- See above description. They played the game, made the money, and now it's time to set us free from the drama.

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie- OK, they do the humanitarian thing. I'm truly glad they do. The media seems to think we cannot live without hearing about them. Guess that's the norm for overexposed celebs who find themselves on the covers of magazines or in the headlines each week.

I'd like to add to this list the following: overpaid sports stars; egotistical politicians of both parties; charlatan, money-grubbing television preachers who distort God and His Word; and businessmen with no scruples that steal millions from the people they are supposed to serve.

Who do you think is overexposed and needs a rest?

Carpenters' Rite of Passage

The time for change had come.

With the prior studio album both a sales and creative disappointment, Richard and Karen Carpenter- and the A&M Records executives- knew it was time to inject something fresh and attention grabbing into their career. "A Kind of Hush" was a wonderfully warm album but one out of touch with the record buying audience fascinated with new sounds being created across the country and around the world. Disco was quickly becoming popular with artists like Donna Summer and KC and the Sunshine Band beginning their reign on the charts. Fans had moved on, and the Carpenters had to show them they were growing with them.

Their live disc from London's Palladium sold well and quickly, testifying to the duo's skill at reproducing their records before an audience. Yet, in person, it was also a live performance of surprising energy, something their latter studio output seemed to be lacking. It was time to translate some of that to disc. So, off to work they went!

At the creative helm, Richard bravely made startling- some would say drastic- choices for the new recording. For the first time, they would cross the threshold into disco, albeit with a light playful romp not too far from traditional Carpenter territory. All You Get from Love is a Love Song was the catchy and underrated first single. Poorly promoted with an ad campaign equally dire and unappealing, the new single barely cracked the Top 40, yet its swing, upbeat vocal performance and terrific saxophone line brought a bright and delightful freshness along with that dance beat. Karen and Richard sounded like they were having real fun, something that was missing from the previous singles.

If fans and disc jockeys alike had barely noticed the first release, the second choice was jarring enough to make just about everyone stand up and take notice: "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft" remains the oddest choice ever for their recording career. Playing on Richard's love of Sci-Fi and the popularity of the megahit movie Star Wars, the timing was at once perfect and an obvious display of following the leader. The promotion of the single, however, was groundbreaking.

The accompanying long form video for Occupants was created a full five years before Michael Jackson would do the same for his song Thriller, a fact overlooked by critics when they are busy accessing the work of Karen and Richard or considering who belongs in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Once again, as during a good portion of their career, Karen and Richard made some surprising choices and usually made them ahead of the pack.

Although the science fiction song was not the blockbuster hit they needed in their homeland, things were different elsewhere. In the United Kingdom, the Carpenters discovered the single to be quite popular, and the song stayed on the British charts for quite the duration.

Ad for the album in Billboard magazine.

When the full length album, Passage, was finally released, fans and music industry executives discovered the remake of Klaatu's spacey anthem to be just a taste of the many musical styles represented. From the bold choice of Michael Frank's Bwana She No Home as opening number going forward, this disc was different.

As a long time fan, I found the album both strangely satisfying and disappointing. It was great fun to hear Karen and Richard stretch and successfully perform so many different types of songs. On the other hand, the disc felt like a letdown, as there were not many traditional choices to be heard- and there was not one single Carpenter/Bettis composition to be found. Even the album jacket, photography and artwork broke from the past. Here, there was no elegant Carpenters logo on the front of the jacket, no photograph of the duo, instead an eclectic piece of artwork for the cover.

Thankfully, the liner notes were extensive although quite congratulatory. Yet rightfully so. Even the Los Angeles Times critic Robert Hilburn reviewed the disc and found it appealing. A new found measure of acceptance and respect was found from their critics. By releasing a disc that broke preconceived ideas established by the Carpenters earlier choices, folks had to reconsider the duo. It was just what Richard had hoped would happen.

Occupants was not the only stunner to be found on Passage. The true emotional centerpiece of the album was another unlikely choice. Long before Madonna covered the primary song from the pop opera Evita, Karen's performance of Don't Cry for Me Argentina was found here- and it is without a peer. As gorgeous as it is on record, it was even better live. I heard Karen perform the song in concert a month before the album was finally released. Her live reading of Argentina was at once strong, tender, and heartbreaking. For a singer known for the softness of her voice, the power and range of Karen's vocal abilities cannot be understated. Each nuance of the anthem was played to full effect. Every note perfect with Karen in control. Just beautiful!

In spite of such notoriety, the album still did not break the sales spell the Carpenters seemed to be under. The last single was yet another bold choice. Juice Newton's Sweet, Sweet Smile eschewed the expected release of I Just Fall in Love Again, a radio perfect traditional Carpenter ballad.

One of the cleverest ads for Carpenters music ever.

Smile played well to country music fans, selling enough copies to make the duo consider producing an entire disc of the genre, but even the extremely innovative ad campaign using the Mona Lisa couldn't generate enough sales to make the song appear on the pop charts. It was enough, however, to make them consider a country album for another release in the future.

Although Passage generated decent but not great sales numbers worldwide, in the United States, the album soon faded into the background among other higher profile Christmas releases.

Passage marks the transition of one season in their career to another: from highly successful and chart-topping to that of artists needing a hit and on the comeback trail. At this point, Karen and Richard's personal lives were unraveling, but they would return the following year with one of the most beloved and acclaimed albums of their career. A Christmas album- a disc the duo felt they were created to make- that would become an enduring masterpiece. 

My life was changing as well, and Passage was a turning point of sorts...
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2025 Note: This post on Passage is part of my series reviewing each Carpenters album in the order released. You can begin reading with my review of Offering / Ticket to Ride here. But you'll want to read the "Revisited / Fresh Look" review of Passage because it includes a never before seen photo of Karen and Richard recording Argentina. It's from my private collection I've kept private until now.

 

This is part of a continuing series on the albums of Karen and Richard Carpenter. There are so many stand alone posts highlighting different aspects of their career, recordings, rare photographs, and life that I've lost count. 

Below is the list of my "Revisited /Fresh Look" reviews, the more extensive articles than my initial ones a decade earlier. Each have different photos and clippings and focus on various aspects of the individual disc's creation, promotion, and public reaction.

My Revisited / Fresh Look at the albums:

Offering / Ticket to Ride
Close to You
Carpenters 
A Song for You 

Now & Then

The Singles 1969 - 1973

Live in Japan

Horizon

A Kind of Hush

Live at the Palladium

Passage

The Singles 1974 - 1978

Christmas Portrait

Karen Carpenter (The Solo Album)

My Initial Reviews of the albums:

Offering/Ticket to Ride

Close to You

Carpenters

A Song for You

Now & Then

The Singles 1969-1973

Live In Japan

Horizon

A Kind of Hush

Live at the Palladium

Passage

The Singles 1974-1978

Christmas Portrait

Made in America

Voice of the Heart

An Old Fashioned Christmas

Time (Richard Solo)

Lovelines

Karen Carpenter (Solo)

As Time Goes By