The Carpenters: The Untold Story : An Authorized Biography

Product Information

Between 1970 and 1984 brother and sister Richard and Karen Carpenter had 17 top 20 hits, including " Goodbye to Love ", " Yesterday Once More ", " Close to You " and " Rainy Days and Mondays ". But the focus is on the music and not as much about personal stuff outside personal stuff that affected the music. She levelled off at around 8st 8lb and maintained her weight by eating sensibly but not starving herself. According to his book, "Failure of the family to understand this produces division within the family that in turn results in feelings of anger and guilt. The author of Lennon journeys beyond the limelight to explore the public and private lives of Karen and Richard Carpenter, their rise to international fame, and Karen's struggle with anorexia and her tragic death.

The interviewer's continued efforts to pinpoint a reason for Karen's skeletal appearance prompted Richard to come to his sister's defence.I suggested natural food groups that might relieve her 'constipation' but she always won those arguments. A must-read for any Carpenters fan, with much here that I have not seen elsewhere, no doubt thanks to Richard's close involvement. There are lots of questions that remain, but we have to remember that those are questions that only Karen herself can answer, and unfortunately she is no longer with us to do so.

Carpenter has passed on many retrospective projects, after facing decades of questions about his sister’s inner life and her death in 1983 from heart failure, a complication of anorexia, at age 32. Finally, their talents are being acknowledged - Richard is praised for being the great musician that he is, a superior producer and arranger with an unparalleled ear for quality and timelessness. It's safe to say that every musician has released that "dud" album that was a blight on their career. I champion the quality, the vibe and the attention to detail while wishing I had an extra scoop of soft serve ice cream or actually managed to rock up while they still had cheesecake or other special offer desserts left.

Critics from the era and hard rock fans dismissed them, labelling them with phrases such as "Squeaky Clean," "Too Good To Be True," "All American," and many, many others. Richard was the musical driving force but it was Karen's effortless voice that lay behind the Carpenters' hits. Pretty much if they liked a song they did it and based on the merits (or demerits) of the song itself and not based on anything personal outside of Richard and Karen's musical abilities and whether the song had appeal or not to Karen and Richard. Chris has over 25 years of experience in the music industry as a music director, arranger, producer and radio host. Etsy’s 100% renewable electricity commitment includes the electricity used by the data centres that host Etsy.

Besides being THE greatest female singer that ever was, you can relate to Karen, as if she's your sister or your best friend, someone in your life that you really love and cherish. Nearly four decades after Karen’s death, Lennox and May hope the biography will reintroduce the duo to a younger generation and rectify their legacy. Levitin, John Tobler, Digby Diehl, Ray Coleman, Robert Hilburn, and Lester Bangs provide insight into the music and personalities of the duo who produced such timeless pop music. Another Mudge island book that I would have not read had I not met Hallvard and his fondness for the Carpenters.

Mike Cidoni Lennox has logged forty years as an entertainment journalist, with bylines appearing in dozens of outlets including "Billboard," "Variety," "The Washington Post," and "USA Today.

And granted, in a way they were both out of their time period (since they would have certainly made waves in the ‘40s and ‘50’s or later when pop music was stronger) and ahead of many artists in their uses of technology to create their sound. But if Karen's story achieves anything, I hope it is this - that it may save the lives of other anorexia sufferers.Rereading the story of Richard and Karen just makes me think how sad it is that someone can be so troubled in life that they can't see they are slowly killing themselves. Arriving at Levenkron's office at 16 East Seventy-Ninth in Manhattan, Karen weighed in at an alarming 5st 8lb. What looks on the surface like an uncritical celebration of an American pop institution turns out to be a fascinating exercise in musical archaeology .