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Thursday, May 22, 2014

"Those Good Old Dreams" by Carpenters

Song#:  0857
Date:  12/19/1981
Debut:  82
Peak:  63
Weeks:  6
Genre:  Pop, Adult Contemporary



Pop Bits:  Although the Carpenters' sound was not fitting in well to the 80s musical landscape, they were still having some success with their album "Made in America." The first single "Touch Me When We're Dancing" reached #16 while hitting #1 at AC and the album was a hit in the UK where it reached #11. This third single got on the pop chart for a few weeks and peaked at #21 at AC.

ReduxReview:  As much as I love the Carpenters, they did have some saccharine clunkers along the way that I could do without. This is one of those songs. Karen's voice and the harmonies are always lovely to hear, but this song is so...well...cheez whizzy. You can spread it on a dry cracker and the first couple of bites may taste okay, but too much doesn't settle well. The duo has churned out far, far better cheese than this.

ReduxRating:  3/10

Trivia:  Before the duo signed with A&M Records, they had two other previous deals that went nowhere. Karen, who sang and played drums, was signed to the small Magic Lamp label and issued a single in 1966. It went nowhere and the label folded. Then, after they won a major Battle of the Bands contest at the Hollywood Bowl as a trio (with Wes Jacobs), they got hooked up with RCA and did a few recordings. The results did not impress the heads of the label and the recordings were scraped with the trio being let go from their contract. Reduced to a duo, the Carpenters caught a break when their demos got to Herb Alpert. He fell in love with Karen's voice and the duo's sound and signed them in 1969. The following year they were on the pop chart for the first time with an interesting cover of the Beatles' "Ticket to Ride," which reached #54. But their next single, "(They Long to Be) Close to You," soared to #1 making stars out of the brother and sister duo.

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