Only Yesterday? - The Carpenters

First , a brief history...>

Many of you who read this review , will have read other music reviews of mine , concentrating on groups I really love , eg Queen , Fleletwood Mac and Erasure . All have been very well received via the ratings given , which is always good news .

Well here lies a review , on what is basically a greatest hits album , from a brother/sister duo , who first hit the headlines in 1968 , and continued to do so unto the untimely death of Karen in 1983 . Yet still the albums sell , and so the world is richer for the voice of an angel , who just happens to have got my vote as best female vocal , in my recently posted music challenge. So onwards and forwards....

Ask anyone with a fairly decent knowledge of music , to name a female singer with abosolute pitch perfect voice , and one answer that will always surface is that of Karen Carpenter , who with brother Richard , made up The Carpenters .

Formed as the Carpenters in 1968 , their big break came from the A in A&M Records , Herb Alpert , who upon hearing Karens voice , signed them up in double quick time , and set about helping them on a worldwide crusade , to prove that Popular music was a force to be reckoned with .

With Karens rich and medolious voice ( she was also a great drummer ! ) and the quite superb arrangements ( and also to a lesser extent writing abilitity ) of Richard , the Carpenters proved to be a world hit , and are still as popular today

Their first hit was in 1969, a Lennon & McCartney song , ?Ticket to ride? . They had their rocky patches , as do all groups , but were still in very high demand when in 1983 , Karen tragically died , aged just 32 years .

1989 saw the release of the final new Carpenters album ?Lovelines? which saw archive material never before released , thus proving their saleability .1990 saw the release of ?Only Yesterday? , their greatest Hits album ( which in
itself has been release on at least one other occasion under a new name - a great marketing ploy eh ). , and to which this op is really all about , so hear goes....>

So what?s on this album then , well for starters 20 tracks , almost all of which you would recognise if played , even if you don?t like to admit it ! And they are :

1) ?Yesterday Once More? - 1973 > a classic
2) ?Superstar? - 1971 > catchy
3) ?Rainy Days and Mondays? - 1971> haunting
4) ?Top Of The World? - 1972 > poptastic while being funky
5) ?Ticket to Ride? - 1969 > much better than the Beatles version
6) ?Goodbye To Love? - 1972 > ode to the broken hearted
7) ?This Maquerade? - 1973 > mellow babe !
8) ?Hurting Each Other? - 1972 > reflective mood but some...
9) ?Solitair? - 1975 > even Sedaka recognises this as sheer beauty
10) ?We?ve Only Just Begun? - 1970 > so apt , so true
11) ?Those Good Old Dream? - 1981 > snazzy, kitsh
12) ?Please Mr Postman?- 1974 > remember the Disney themed video ?
13) ?I Won?t Last A Day Without You? - 1972 > poetry in otion
14) ?Touch Me When We?re Dancing? - 1981 > one for true lovers
15) ?Jambalaya? - 1973 > crawfish pie and fillet gumbo - so good !
16) ?For All We Know? - 1971 > moody and melodramatic
17) ?All You Get From Love Is A Love Song? - 1977 > oh so true
18) ?Close To You? - 1970 > the beginning and originally music to a TV ad !
19) ?Only Yesterday? - 1975 > an all time great
20) ?Calling Occupants Of Interplanetary Craft? - 1977 > unuasual & great.

So there you have it twenty clasic songs and history to - yes HISTORY , ?Calling Occupants Of Interplanetary Craft? is still the recognised anthem of world contact day , so should those little green men ever grace us mortals with their presence then this is what they?ll hear first of all .

Everyone should own at least one piece of work by The Carpenters , and your first choice and an excellent intro
duction is this album . Highly recommended .

PS> others to note , Singles I & II ( both providing missing links such as ?Happy It? ) , Lovelines and Reflections