The Carpenters fever just keeps spreading...I just bought the whole catalog

The Karen/Ella medley, which debuted on CD on AS TIME GOES BY, is also found on the ESSENTIAL COLLECTION box set. For the TV special, Ella recorded her take "live" on camera, whereas Karen pre-recorded her part in-studio and lip-synched on TV.

 

Funny, I'm just about to buy the whole Carpenters catalogue! Just did it with Bee Gees (on japanese CDs mostly) and trying hard to achieve the same thing with Olivia Newton-John. I'm sure Carpenters will be next!

 

I'm always disappointed and a little angry @ myself when I've done the, "entire catalog," thing. Inevitably, I find myself weeding out and selling the weak material, and angry that I spent the $$$.

 

Her name isn't by chance, "Akiko" is it?

 

See I don't mind know because if I realize that I don't want the whole thing. I'll burn my own comp because a GH most likely won't have all the songs I want. There's only a couple catalogs that I wish I didn't delve into and most of those are only a handful a CD's.
I a way I'm sort of happy that the major Motown artists' albums are OOP because I would buy every CD of the Supremes, Wonder, Gaye, Four Tops, etc.

 

If all they'd ever released was "I Won't Last A Day Without You" c/w "Goodbye To Love", their place in history would be guaranteed. What a single!

Mart.

 

Harry,

How does the remastering on the 35th Anniversary box set compare to the previous remasterings - speciifically the last US remasterings and the limited edition Japanese mini-LP sleeves from a few years ago?

I also suffer (gladly) from having multiple copies of the different reissues of the albums over the years including the MFSL "A Song For You" and the original german CD pressing of "A Song For You" from the mid 1980s years before the album was released in the US. I also bought the Japanese mini-LP sleeve reissues of all the albums except "Ticket To Ride" and "Close to You." I even have the Quadraphonic LPs and managed to at least get a CD-R copy of the karaoke tracks as well.

Also, from anyone, any comments on the last remastering of the "Passage" CD? I found that last one very dull and lacking in dynamics compared to the first US CD issue.

 

I see I am not the only one with the completest disease. And the darn thing is spreading!

 

I know that this has been hashed and rehashed over and over, but here goes: If I wanted to get "most" of the Carpenters hits (major and minor) in their originally mixed form (or close to it, what should I get?

When I divided up the CDs in my recent divorce settlement somehow I ended up with no Carpenters, so I hastily went out and picked up the new remaster of "The Singles 1969-1973" and the Gold - 35th Anniversary Edition 2 CD set. My wife got the original 80's versions of "The Singles" and "Yesterday Once More."

When I heard the remixes on the Gold set, I almost keeled over! Some of the songs sound like what Frank Zappa did to "We're Only In It For The Money" back in the '80's! "Top Of The World" is particularly horrendous, with a WAY overdone kick drum, and not even in time! And the reverb on Karen's voice...

So if you guys can help me, I'd really appreciate it. I know I've read here before that the 4CD box set might be a good start, and that the individual album remasters contain mostly original mixes, but as my money is tight right now, I could go for a nice 2 disc collection with 30-40 songs.

Thanks

 

No, and if I may ask, who is "Akiko"? Thanks.

 

The box & all 2 CD comps have a ton of remixes. You can only either:
A) Buy the original albums
B) Get Singles 69-73 (which you have) and Singles 74-78. Every other comp is remixed.
Singles 69-73 has the single mixes plus the re-record of Ticket To Ride. The remaster is pitch corrected but it has the 1985 remix of Yesterday Once More. Why they did this I have no idea as they stayed true to the original albums on the Remastered Classics series- maybe it was a mistake? So you may want to get the unremastered version of Singles 68-73 too. I have both versions.

 

Also... could someone please post the link to that website that lists all of the original vs. remix info regarding the remastered CDs.

Thanks

 

Sure...
http://www.grantguerrero.com/carpenters/carindex.html

Please remember that the original studio albums on CD are not remixed.
Just every CD comp except unremastered Singles 69-73 & Singles 74-78.

 

Michael my avatar's hotter.

 

It's a matter of opinion...

 

Thanks for the info! Correct me if I'm wrong, but not all of the remixes are the same on each comp, right? If I remember my original CDs, the remixes on the 1985 "Yesterday Once More" aren't half as bad as the ones on the new "Gold 35th Anniversary" set.

 

Wow!....I'm sorry, dude.

 

Correct there's different remixes on each comp. That site specifies all of that. I'm just going to stay away from the remixes. I just bought the Singles 69-81 SACD for the surround mix. I am really glad I bought the Singles comps (69-73 & 74-78) first as I wanted the original hit single versions. If I heard the remixes first I might've adjusted my ears to those as I haven't heard these songs since I was a kid for the most part.

 

Some versions of "The Singles 1969-1973" have the 1985 remix of "Yesterday Once More". The "remastered classics" version does have the original single mix.

 

The new remixes on the Gold Collection don't sound like anything I remember as a kid

I guess I'll pick up the '74-'78 set for now and try to get the original "Singles" disc back from my wife somehow

 

Akiko is a Japanese singer that had always been a huge Carpenters fan. Back around 1989, she managed to get Richard Carpenter to produce an album for her on Voss Records. It's out there with two titles, one called (I believe)"City Of Angels", the other just called "Akiko"(that's the one I have.)

Richard provided a song or two for the album, and handled some backing vocals as well, making some of the songs very "Carpenteresque." Scarier though is the fact that Akiko at times sounds exactly like Karen Carpenter, save for her thick Japanese accent. Some of the songs are in Japanese, some are in English. Naturally, Richard's songs are in English. They include "How Can I Ask For More?" co-written by John Bettis, and "The Reply" co-written by Pamela Phillips Oland.

This was one of three albums Richard produced, did backing vocals on, and wrote a song or two for, in the year 1989. In addition to AKIKO, there's one by Scott Grimes, and one by a Canadian singer named Veronique Beliveau. Scott Grimes (now a doctor on E.R.!) had appeared on one track of Richard's solo album TIME, and Veronique Beliveau was a Canadian singer signed with A&M Canada at the time. Her voice is remeniscent of Sheena Easton, and the A&M album she did with Richard is extremely rare.

As for the Carpenters comps, we've been over and over it time and again. The best way to get the original mixes is to buy the individual album remasters. If you're cash-conscious, start with a hit-laden album like A SONG FOR YOU, then get CARPENTERS, and CLOSE TO YOU when time and funds permit, and you've got the great bulk of their biggest hits on those three albums. Exapnd from there to include the first album for "Ticket To Ride", and then grab HORIZON and NOW AND THEN for songs like "Only Yesterday", "Yesterday Once More", and "Sing". If you can snag the '74-'78 disc, that'll fill in the later stuff nicely.

 

You have it opposite.

 

Is that so? At least the Japanese "remastered classics" version has the original single mix.

 

http://www.stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=48545&page=2&highlight=carpenters

Maybe we're both right (or wrong). Look here.

 

I also read that thread and edited my post. A total mess.