Yes, I like The Carpenters

Hey Family,

Everyone who knows me, knows that I am a certifiable crack fiend when it comes to music. Obviously, my musical tastes are deeply steeped in jazz, R&B and Hip-Hop, but I am also a fan of rock, country, classical and various other forms of music.

One of my closest friends recently asked me what CD, group or solo artist people would be shocked to know that I loved. I thought long and hard, smiled and said....

"The Carpenters."

YES, I AM A DIEHARD CARPENTERS FAN! I admit it...sue me. Karen and Richard were the shi*!!! Man...look. I dare you to listen to "We've Only Just Begun" alone and depressed. We'll be reading about your death the next day! LOL! There is something about Karen Carpenter's voice and Richard's piano playing that has this harmonious, illuminating haunting quality to it. It's the same quality that Sade, Donny Hathaway and Sam Cooke had. Karen had the ability to emote such pain and feeling within her music. Battling bulimia, personal romantic problems and a whole host of other issues gives you more than enough material to draw from.Plus, Karen was pretty nice on the drums. How many female singing artists with the exception of Chaka Khan and Sheila E. was nice on the drums and the vocals??

So with that being said, here's my ode to The Carpenters. A lil history and some music for you to enjoy.

BIO (courtesy of Wikipedia)

The Carpenters were a vocal and instrumental duo, consisting of siblings Karen and Richard Carpenter. Though often referred to by the public as "The Carpenters", the duo's official name on authorized recordings and press materials is simply "Carpenters", without the definite article.[1] During a period in the 1970s when louder and wilder rock was in great demand, Richard and Karen produced a distinctively soft musical style that made them one of the best-selling music artists of all time.[2][3]

The Carpenters' melodic pop charted a record-breaking score of hit recordings on the American Top 40 and Adult Contemporary charts, becoming leading sellers in the soft rock, easy listening and adult contemporary genres. The Carpenters had three #1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 and fifteen #1 hits on the Adult Contemporary Chart (see The Carpenters discography). In addition, they had twelve top 10 singles (including their #1 hits). To date, The Carpenters' album and single sales total more than 100 million units.[3]

During their fourteen-year career, The Carpenters recorded eleven albums, five of which contained top 10 singles (Close to You, Carpenters, A Song for You, Now & Then and Horizon), thirty-one singles, five television specials, and one short-lived television series. They toured in the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Australia, the Netherlands and Belgium. Their recording career ended with Karen's death on February 4, 1983. Karen passed away due to a cardiac arrest due to complications of anorexia nervosa. Extensive news coverage of the circumstances surrounding her death increased public awareness of the consequences of eating disorders.[4][5]