WA2K Radio is now on the air

Lou Reed
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Lou Reed (born March 2, 1942), is an American rock and roll singer-songwriter, originally from Brooklyn, New York. Especially while a member of the The Velvet Underground in the 1960s, Reed broke new ground for the rock genre in several important dimensions, influencing the rock and roll movement in general, introducing more mature and intellectual themes to what was then considered a music genre for children and teenagers.

Reed first found prominence as the guitarist and principal singer-songwriter of The Velvet Underground. The band, which lasted from 1965 until 1973 (with Reed departing in late 1970 during the Loaded sessions), gained relatively little notice during its life but is often considered the seed from which most alternative traditions of rock music sprang. As the Velvets' songwriter, Reed wrote about such taboo subjects as S&M ("Venus in Furs"), transvestites and transsexuals ("Sister Ray" and "Lady Godiva's Operation"), prostitution ("There She Goes Again"), and drug addiction ("I'm Waiting for the Man", "White Light/White Heat", "Heroin"). As a guitarist, he made innovative use of abrasive distortion, volume-driven feedback, and nonstandard tunings. Reed's flat, New York voice, stripped of superficial emotions and, like Bob Dylan's, flaunting its lack of conventional training, was no less important to the music's radical effect.

Reed began a long and varied solo career in 1972. He scored a hit that year with Walk on the Wild Side. For more than a decade he then seemed purposely to evade mainstream commercial success. One of rock's most volatile personalities, Reed made inconsistent albums that frustrated critics who wished for a return of the Velvet Underground. The most notable example is 1975's infamous double LP of recorded feedback loops, Metal Machine Music, upon which Reed later commented, "no one is supposed to be able to do a thing like that and survive."

Despite erratic turns, Reed's work won him by the late 1980s wide recognition as an essential elder statesman of rock. He had for decades written frankly on subjects more intense than the genre had seemed capable of handling. The industry had matured, to the extent that his commercial position as an "art rocker" was secure.

Reed has lived in New York City for most of his life and much of his music invokes the city, earning the singer comparisons (which he has encouraged) to William Faulkner and James Joyce as writers of regional interest.


Career

His name at birth is sometimes given as Lewis Allen Firbank, but this is misinformation he himself once provided an interviewer; he was born Lewis Allen Reed. Born into a Jewish family (originally Rabinowitz) in New York, Reed as a child was a fan of rock and rhythm and blues, playing in several high school rock bands. His first recording was a doo wop-style single as a member of The Shades.

Reed attended Syracuse University and graduated with a degree in English. Delmore Schwartz, then in the last years of his life, taught at Syracuse and befriended Reed, who would later sing, "My Dedalus to your Bloom was such a perfect wit." Schwartz's greater influence on the aspiring writer seems to have been general encouragement, but Reed also credits him for insisting on colloquial language in writing. At college, Reed also developed a taste for free jazz and experimental music. Reed said later his goals were "to bring the sensitivities of the novel to rock music," or to write the Great American Novel in a record album.

In 1965, Reed moved to New York City, working as an in-house songwriter for Pickwick Records, where he came up with "The Ostrich," a parody of then-popular dances. His employers felt the song had hit record potential, and arranged for a band to be assembled around Reed to promote the recording. The ad hoc group, called The Primitives, included John Cale. Cale, born a week after Reed, was then playing with the avant-garde composer La Monte Young, after coming to the United States from Wales to study avant garde music under Aaron Copeland. Cale was surprised to find that for the would-be novelty song, Reed tuned each string of his guitar to the same note. This technique created a drone effect similar to that which Cale's avant-garde ensemble was experimenting with. When Cale heard the rest of Reed's early repertoire, including "Heroin," the songs' inventive and uncompromising nature convinced him to join Reed as a collaborator.

The pair rented an apartment on the Lower East Side and, adding Reed's college acquaintance Sterling Morrison and Maureen Tucker to the group, launched The Velvet Underground. Though internally unstable (Cale left in 1968; Reed in 1970) and never commercially viable, the V.U.'s reputation as one of the most influential underground bands in rock history has only grown.

Playing in downtown clubs, the group soon caught the attention of Andy Warhol, who raised their profile immeasurably, if not their immediate fortunes. Lou Reed fell into a thriving, multifacted artistic scene, and Reed rarely gives an interview today without paying homage to Warhol as another mentor figure. Still, conflict emerged when Warhol had the idea for the group to take on a "chanteuse," the German former model Nico. Reed and the others registered their objection by titling their debut album The Velvet Underground and Nico. Despite his resistance, Reed wrote several delicate songs for Nico to sing, which have since become classics, and the two were briefly lovers.

Reed's insecurity ensured that the rest of the band's tenure would be turbulent. By the time the band recorded White Light/White Heat, Nico had been dropped and Warhol fired. Warhol's replacement as manager, Steve Sesnick, was a more typical industry figure who in a bid for control next convinced Reed to drive out Cale.

In 1972 Reed, now a solo artist, released the career-making glam rock album Transformer. David Bowie and Mick Ronson produced the album and introduced Reed to mainstream pop audiences. The hit single was "Walk on the Wild Side," a wry and graphic salute to (or swipe at) the misfits, male hustlers and transvestites at Andy Warhol's Factory. It rapidly became Reed's signature tune, and only in recent years has he regularly performed concerts without its inclusion. The song was a result of Reed having been commissioned to compose a soundtrack for a film adaptation of Algren's novel that failed to materialize.

The stately, elegiac "Perfect Day" features a superb string arrangement by Mick Ronson which was lauded by Reed in the Transformer episode of the BBC's "Classic Albums" series. The song was later included on the soundtrack to Trainspotting and used in an extensive promotional campaign by the BBC. In his chosen material Reed followed, and updated, such authors as Allen Ginsberg and Jean Genet.

He followed Transformer with the much darker Berlin, which tells something like a love story of two junkies in the city of the same name. This, one of the more depressing albums ever made, includes "Caroline Says II" (violence), "The Kids" (prostitution and drug addiction), "The Bed" (suicide) and, unsurprisingly, "Sad Song."

Reed's persona and image were also far advanced. He preferred black leather, cropped his hair and dyed it blonde (and even silver) and dressed in S&M-like gear even in the hippie-infested 1960s. For many years Reed affected a deliberately 'camp' manner and image, sometimes colloquially referred to as his "junkie fag" look.

Understandably frustrated and bored by the tiresome and vacuous questions of the press, Reed's idiosyncratic media persona solidified during this period. His style was no doubt influenced to some extent by Bob Dylan's famously provocative approach to press conferences and interviews (cf D.A. Pennebaker's Dont Look Back), and Reed rapidly became known in the Seventies as one of the most difficult of all rock personalities to interview (a reputation he has maintained). Recently rediscovered footage of Reed's legendary 1974 Sydney press conference shows Reed at his sarcastic best.

In 1975, he produced a daring double studio album of pure guitar feedback Metal Machine Music. Some regarded it as an attempt to break his record company contract, although Reed has stated on several occasions that the album was a genuine artistic effort. The rock journalist Lester Bangs declared it genius, but the album was reportedly returned to stores by the thousands by fans. Though admitting that the liner notes' list of instruments used is fictitious and parodistic, Reed maintains that MMM was and is a serious album. His albums of the late 1970s are often regarded as a mixed affair by rock critics, owing at least partly to the addictions that were then overtaking Reed, although some of his work from this period (including his excellent late '70s LP Street Hassle) is long overdue for critical reassessment.

He married Sylvia Morales in 1980 (later divorced). Reed showed political concerns in 1986 when he joined the Amnesty International A Conspiracy of Hope Tour. Reed then fired an angry salvo at his hometown's political problems on the hit 1989 album New York, denouncing crime, high rents, Jesse Jackson, even Pope John Paul II and Kurt Waldheim; the album's "Dirty Blvd." gained fresh radio airplay.

When one-time Velvet Underground patron and producer Andy Warhol died after a routine surgery, Reed ended a 25-year estrangement to collaborate with fellow ex-V.U. John Cale on Songs for Drella, a Warhol biography in minimalist pop music, which Reed and Cale first performed as a duo stage performance in New York; the songs were subsequently recorded in the studio and released on CD. Ranking among Reed's very best work, Songs For Drella is touchingly affectionate and painfully confessional, often witty, but Reed's vocals blister and his anger is palpable when he sings of alleged medical errors and the 1968 assassination attempt on Warhol by Valerie Solanas.

In 1990, after a 20 year hiatus, the Velvet Underground played again at a Cartier benefit in France - performing 'Heroin" to a stunned crowd of 500 fans. In 1993, the band reunited and performed throughout Europe, but plans for a North American tour were scrapped due to another (and presumably irrevocable) falling out between Reed and Cale. Cale has since been quoted as saying that he could not understand how Reed who could write such tender and heartfelt songs, and yet "could be the complete opposite as a human being".

Reed continued on those dark notes with Magic and Loss, an album about mortality, inspired by the death of a close friend. In 1997 over thirty artists covered "Perfect Day" for the BBC's "Children in Need" appeal. Incorrect reports of his death were broadcast by numerous US radio stations in 2001, caused by a hoax email (purporting to be from Reuters) which said he had died of an overdose. In 2003, he released a 2-CD set, The Raven, based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe. In 2004, a Groovefinder remix of his song, "Satellite of Love" (called "Satellite of Love '04") was released. It reached #10 in the UK singles chart.

In 1996, the Velvet Underground were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. At the induction ceremony, Reed performed a song entitled "Last Night I Said Goodbye to My Friend" with former bandmates John Cale and Maureen Tucker, in dedication to VU guitarist Sterling Morrison who had died the previous August.

A tribute album, After Hours, was released by Wampus Multimedia in 2003.

He has been in a relationship with the artist Laurie Anderson for several years.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Reed

Carpenters
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Karen Carpenter)

This article is about a musical group. If you are looking for information about the skilled trade, see carpenter.


The Carpenters were a 1970s vocal and instrumental duo, consisting of siblings Karen and Richard Carpenter. With their brand of melodic pop, they charted a score of hit recordings on the American Top 40, becoming leading exponents of the soft rock or adult contemporary genre and ranking among the foremost recording artists of the decade.

Before Carpenters

Born in New Haven, Connecticut, USA, (Richard Lynn on October 15, 1946, and Karen Anne on March 2, 1950), the Carpenter siblings moved with their parents to California in 1963 and settled in the Los Angeles suburb of Downey. Richard had developed his interest in music at an early age, becoming a piano prodigy. The move to southern California was intended in part to foster his budding musical career. Karen, meanwhile, did not manifest her musical talents until high school, when she joined her high school band (Downey High School) and found an interest in the drums. She soon taught herself how to play the drums and mastered them. Around this time, she also realized she could sing.

1960s

During the mid to late 1960s, the two attempted to launch a musical career but failed to gain a successful recording deal until the decade's end. In May 1966 Karen joined Richard in attending a late night session in the garage studio of L.A. bassist Joe Osborn, where Richard was to accompany an auditioning vocalist. Asked to sing, Karen performed and landed a short-lived recording contract as a solo artist with Osborn's fledgling label Magic Lamp. The resulting single included two of Richard's compositions, "Looking for Love" and "I'll Be Yours," but the label soon folded, bringing this promising start to a close.

During this period, the pair, joined by bassist friend Wes Jacobs, formed the Richard Carpenter Trio, a jazz instrumental group. Winning the Hollywood Bowl "Battle of the Bands" in 1966, the trio was picked up by the RCA label. The label chose not to release their songs, however, and doubting their commercial potential, RCA soon dropped the trio. Richard and Karen next teamed with four other student musicians from Long Beach State to form the sextet Spectrum. Although the new group landed club dates at such venues as the Whisky A Go-Go, no record deal was forthcoming. Nevertheless, the experience proved rewarding for the siblings, as Richard found a lyricist for his original compositions in fellow Spectrum member John Bettis.

After Spectrum folded, the Carpenters decided to continue as a duo, with Richard on keyboards, Karen on drums, and both contributing vocals. They sent out demo tapes and attracted the attention of A&M Records producer Jack Daugherty, who signed the duo in 1969. Their initial LP, titled Offering, featured numerous selections that Richard had written or co-written during their Spectrum period. The most significant track on the album, though, was a ballad rendition of The Beatles' hit "Ticket to Ride", which soon became a minor hit for the Carpenters, and the LP was subsequently repackaged and retitled Ticket to Ride with somewhat improved sales. Following the autumn release of "Ticket to Ride", their label arranged for the duo to perform at the film premieres of Goodbye, Mr. Chips and Hello Dolly in December.


1970s

The Carpenters achieved their breakthrough in 1970 with the release of the Burt Bacharach-Hal David song, "(They Long to Be) Close to You", which rose to #1 and stayed atop the charts for four weeks. Though Richard and Karen were not the first artists to cut the song - among the others were Dionne Warwick and Richard Chamberlain - the Carpenters' version was by far the most popular, and the song has become synonymous with the duo. A follow-up recording, "We've Only Just Begun" (written by Paul Williams and Roger Nichols), reached #2 to become the duo's second major hit in the fall of 1970. Both songs featured on the album "Close To You", which became a bestseller. The duo rounded out the year with a holiday release, "Merry Christmas Darling", which Richard co-wrote with Frank Pooler, who had been the duo's choral director at Long Beach State. The single scored high on the holiday charts in 1970 and made repeat appearances on the charts in subsequent years.

A string of hit singles and albums kept the Carpenters on the charts through the early 1970s, including "For All We Know", "Rainy Days and Mondays", and "Superstar" (all from the LP, Carpenters) in 1971; "Hurting Each Other", "It's Going to Take Some Time", and "Goodbye to Love" (from the LP, A Song for You) in 1972; "Sing" and "Yesterday Once More" (from the oldies-oriented LP, Now and Then) in 1973. "Top of the World", an album selection on the Song for You LP, was covered by country artist Lynn Anderson (of "Rose Garden" fame), became a word-of-mouth hit and was re-recorded for single release in 1973, reaching number one on the Top 40 late that year. A greatest hits LP, titled The Singles: 1969-1973, topped the charts in the U.S. and the United Kingdom and became one of the bestselling albums of the decade, ultimately selling more than 7,000,000 copies in the U.S. alone.

During the first half of the 1970s, the Carpenters' music was a staple of Top 40 playlists, and even more so Middle-of-the-Road, Easy Listening and Adult Contemporary radio. The duo produced a distinctive sound featuring Karen's expressive contralto on lead vocals, with both siblings contributing background vocals that were overdubbed to create densely layered harmonies. To his role as vocalist, keyboardist, and arranger, Richard added that of composer on numerous tracks. Several of his compositions with lyricist John Bettis became hit records, including "Goodbye to Love", "Yesterday Once More", and "Top of the World".

To promote their recordings, the Carpenters maintained a staggering schedule of concert tours and television appearances during this period. Among their numerous television credits were appearances on such popular series as American Bandstand, The Ed Sullivan Show, The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson, and the Carol Burnett Show. In 1971 the duo appeared in a television special on the BBC in the United Kingdom and were the featured performers in a summer replacement series, Make Your Own Kind of Music, which aired on NBC-TV in the U.S. In May 1973 the Carpenters accepted an invitation to perform at the White House for President Richard Nixon and visiting West German chancellor Willy Brandt.

The Carpenters' popularity often confounded critics. With their output focused on ballads and mid-tempo pop, the duo's music was often dismissed by critics as bland and "saccharine". The recording industry, however, bestowed awards on the duo, who won three Grammy Awards during their career (including Best New Artist, and Best Pop Performance by a Duo, Group, or Chorus, for "Close to You" in 1970; and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group for the LP Carpenters in 1971). In 1973, the Carpenters were voted Best Band, Duo, or Group (Pop/Rock) at the first annual American Music Awards.

Extensive touring in 1973-74 left the duo with little time for recording new material. As a result, the Carpenters did not issue a new album in 1974. Instead the pair chose for single release the Williams-Nichols composition, "I Won't Last a Day Without You." Originally recorded as an album track for 1972's Song for You LP, the single version became the fifth and final selection from that album project to chart in the Top 20, reaching #11 on the U.S. charts. Also in 1974, the Carpenters achieved a massive international hit with an uptempo remake of Hank Williams' "Jambalaya," which, while not released as a single in the U.S., reached the top 30 in Japan and sold well in England, among other countries. In late 1974 a Christmas single followed, a jazz-influenced rendition of "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town".

In early 1975 the Carpenters scaled the charts with a remake of the Marvelettes' hit "Please Mr. Postman". Released in late 1974, the single soared to #1 on the U.S. charts in January 1975, becoming the duo's third and final number one single. Later that spring the pair scored a final top five hit with the Carpenter-Bettis song "Only Yesterday". Both singles appeared on the LP Horizon, which also included covers of The Eagles' "Desperado" and Neil Sedaka's "Solitaire", which became a moderate hit for the duo that year. The LPs Horizon and A Kind of Hush, released in 1975 and 1976 respectively, achieved "gold" status but failed to peak as high as previous efforts. Their singles releases in 1976 likewise followed a pattern of diminishing returns. The duo's highest charting single that year was a cover of Herman's Hermits' "There's a Kind of Hush", which peaked at number 12. The follow-up single, the Carpenter-Bettis song "I Need to Be in Love" (said to be Karen's favorite of all of the duo's singles) charted no higher than 25, while the 1930s novelty song "Goofus" failed to reach the Top 40 entirely, and was also the first Carpenters single not to reach #1 or #2 on the Adult Contemporary chart since "Ticket To Ride." The disco craze was in full swing by 1977, and adult-appeal "easy listening" artists like the Carpenters as well as John Denver, Helen Reddy, and Olivia Newton-John (before her starring role in the movie musical "Grease" brought her back to prominence) were getting lost in the shuffle.

Their more experimental album, Passage, released in 1977 (and no doubt partially inspired by the science-fiction craze of the late '70s, due to Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind), marked an attempt to broaden their appeal by venturing into other musical genres. The LP featured an unlikely mix of Latin rock, calypso, and pop, and included the Top 40 hit "All You Get From Love is a Love Song". The most notable tracks included cover versions of "Don't Cry For Me, Argentina" (from the rock opera Evita), and Klaatu's "Calling Occupants Of Interplanetary Craft", both complete with choral and orchestral accompaniment. Although the single release of "Calling Occupants" became a top ten hit in the U.K., it stalled at number 32 on the U.S. charts, and the album failed to cross the gold threshold of 500,000 copies sold in the States. Richard has said that he felt another track from "Passage," "I Just Fall In Love Again," could have become a major success had A&M decided to release it as a single and might have gotten the duo back on track in terms of having hits. The song did in fact become a hit in 1979 for Anne Murray, proving Richard's feelings about the song's appeal.

Despite their disappointing performance on domestic charts, the Carpenters continued to enjoy enormous popularity. In 1978, they had a top 10 hit on the country chart with the uptempo, fiddle-sweetened "Sweet, Sweet Smile," written by future country-pop star Juice Newton (on the pop chart, it came up a few notches short of the Top 40, stopping at #44). A second Singles album (covering the years 1974-1978) was released in the U.K., while in the States, their 1978 holiday album, A Christmas Portrait, proved an exception to their faltering career at home and became a seasonal favorite. Their television specials also garnered solid ratings and kept them before the public eye during the late 1970s. Karen dated such celebrities as Alan Osmond and Mike Curb.

By the mid-1970s, extensive touring and lengthy recording sessions had begun to take their toll on the duo and contributed to their professional difficulties during the latter half of the decade. Karen dieted obsessively and developed the disorder anorexia nervosa, which first manifested itself in 1975, when an exhausted and emaciated Karen was forced to cancel concert tours in the U.K. and Japan after collapsing onstage in Las Vegas while singing "Top of the World." (Her obsession with weight loss apparently began after she read a review in Billboard magazine that dubbed her "Richard's chubby sister.") Richard, meanwhile, developed an addiction to Quaaludes, which began to affect his performance in the late 1970s and led to the end of the duo's live concert appearances in 1978.

1980s

Richard sought treatment for his addiction at a Topeka, Kansas, facility in early 1979. Karen, meanwhile, decided to pursue a solo album project with renowned producer Phil Ramone in New York. Her choice of more adult-oriented and disco/dance-tempo material represented an effort to retool their image. The resulting product, however, met a tepid response from Richard and A&M executives in early 1980, and Karen wavered in her dedication to the project. Ultimately, she abandoned the solo effort in favor of launching a new LP with her brother, now fully recovered from his addiction. (Her solo LP, Karen Carpenter, remained unreleased until October 1996; one single from it, "If I Had You," was released in 1989, and made the top 20 on the Adult Contemporary chart, and among the album's other tracks was a cover of Paul Simon's "Still Crazy After All These Years.") Their LP Made in America, released in 1981, spawned a final top 20 hit single, "Touch Me When We're Dancing" (also their final #1 Adult Contemporary hit), with three other singles (including another Motown cover version, this time "Beechwood 4-5789") barely cracking the Top 75.

Personal troubles, however, dimmed the prospects of this modest return to the charts with Karen's failed marriage to Tom Burris and the ongoing effects of her anorexia nervosa. After a whirlwind romance, Karen had married real estate developer Thomas J. Burris in a lavish wedding held at the Beverly Hills Hotel on August 31, 1980. The marriage turned out to be a disaster and the couple separated in November 1981. In 1982, Karen sought therapy with noted psychotherapist Steven Levenkron in New York City for her disorder and returned to California later that year determined to regain her professional career. She quickly gained 10 lb (5 kg) in one week, but the sudden weight gain further damaged her heart, which was already damaged from years of dieting and abuse (especially - as is rumored - abuse of ipecac, which directly damages heart muscle when taken repeatedly). On February 4, 1983, at the age of 32, Karen suffered cardiac arrest at her parents' home in Downey and was taken to Downey Memorial Hospital where she was pronounced dead. Karen had been planning to sign divorce papers however, she died before she got the chance and therefore she was still legally married to Tom Burris upon her death.

Her funeral service took place on Tuesday 8th Feburary, 1983 at the United Methodist Church in Downey. Karen Carpenter, dressed in pink, lay in an open white casket, and through an afternoon rain a thousand mourners passed through to say goodbye. Among the people were her best friends, Dorothy Hamill, Olivia Newton John, Petula Clark, Cristina Ferrare and Dionne Warwick. "I saw her at the Grammy's photo session and she was so proud of the way she looked", said Warwick.

Voice Of The Heart was released in November 1983, an album that was in the works at the time of her death, also included some finished tracks left out of Made In America and a couple of earlier albums. Voice Of The Heart review The album peaked at #46, and two singles were released. "Make Believe It's Your First Time", a duo version of a song she had recorded for her solo album, only got up to #101, and "Your Baby Doesn't Love You Anymore" didn't chart in the U.S. A couple of the more depressing songs recorded for these sessions were held back for later compilations.

Richard Carpenter married Mary Rudolf on May 19, 1984. He had known Mary since 1975.


After Carpenters

Karen's death from anorexia nervosa shocked the world; although many had noticed her increasingly frail appearance, few realized she had been starving herself for so many years. Her death brought lasting media attention to anorexia nervosa?-a devastating psychological disorder that destroys millions of lives each year. Karen's death encouraged celebrities to go public about their eating disorders. Medical centers and hospitals began receiving a massive amount of phone calls from people who were suffering from these disorders.

Following Karen's death, Richard Carpenter has continued to produce recordings of the duo's music, including several albums of previously unreleased material and numerous compilation albums. In 1984, using outtake material from the duo's first Christmas album (A Christmas Portrait) and recording new material around it, Richard constructed a "new" Carpenters Christmas album, An Old Fashioned Christmas. In 1987, Richard released his first solo album, Time [1], which generated one hit single, "Something in Your Eyes" (sung by Dusty Springfield). His dedication to protecting the Carpenters' image and recording legacy has sparked criticism from some quarters, as Richard has insisted on substantial project oversight as the price for his cooperation in any documentary or drama focusing on them. In 1987 he intervened to limit the distribution of the Todd Haynes short film Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story (which used Barbie dolls to relate a perspective on Karen's untimely death). Although numerous critics found Karen's portrayal to be sympathetic, the film depicted the Carpenter family in an unflattering light, and Richard prevailed in pulling the film from distribution on the basis that Carpenters tracks were used on the soundtrack without permission.

A 1989 TV movie, The Karen Carpenter Story, produced with Richard's cooperation, gained favorable notices and reached a wide audience. In the first few weeks after the movie's airdate, many record stores reported selling out of their Carpenters stock. A critical reevaluation of the Carpenters' musical output followed during the 1990s, as interest in and appreciation for the duo's recorded work increased. The superior technical quality of the recordings, the sorrowful undercurrents in many of their songs and the pain in Karen's voice as well as her life attracted many divergent fans, especially gay men and grunge rock groups. Even '90s R&B group Boyz II Men list the Carpenters among their biggest influences. In 1990 the avant noise rock band Sonic Youth recorded, "Tunic (Song for Karen)", which depicted Karen saying goodbye to her relatives as she got to play the drums again and meet her new "friends", Dennis Wilson, Elvis Presley and Janis Joplin. A 1994 biography, The Carpenters: The Untold Story, by respected music journalist and biographer Ray Coleman, covered the arc of the duo's career and personal lives. A tribute album, If I Were a Carpenter, by contemporary artists (such as Sonic Youth, Shonen Knife, Grant Lee Buffalo, Matthew Sweet, and The Cranberries) also appeared that year and provided an alternative rock interpretation of numerous Carpenters hits. Karen Carpenter, Karen's solo album, was released in October 1996.

One other country where the Carpenters' popularity reached monstrous proportions was Japan. Singles by non-Japanese artists typically do not sell well in Japan (not so with albums), but the Carpenters were one exception. Three of the Carpenters' singles ("Superstar," "Yesterday Once More," and the double-sided "I Need To Be In Love"/"Top Of The World") made the top 10 on Japan's Oricon chart, and seven others reached the top 40 there. In 1995, a Japan-only best-of compilation, "22 Hits of the Carpenters" (featuring all but two of the 20 songs the duo placed in the American top 40 during their career), was a massive best-seller, and actually received a tenth-anniversary re-release in 2005.

Several of their songs have achieved the status of popular standards. In particular, "Close To You" is frequently sung in karaoke bars, while the duo's signature tune, "We've Only Just Begun", continues to be performed at weddings and receptions. Both recordings have been honored with Grammy Hall of Fame awards for recordings of lasting quality or historical significance: "We've Only Just Begun" was inducted in 1998, while "Close to You" followed in 2000. "Superstar" has been covered by numerous artists, with extremely popular recordings from Luther Vandross and most recently Ruben Studdard. Clay Aiken performed "Solitaire" on American Idol and introduced the song to a whole new generation.

Today, Richard Carpenter lives with his wife Mary Rudolf-Carpenter and their four daughters and one son in Thousand Oaks, California, and the couple are prominent supporters of the arts there. In 2004, Carpenter and his wife pledged a generous $3 million gift to the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza Foundation in memory of Karen Carpenter. He is also affiliated with the Richard and Karen Carpenter Performing Arts Center on the campus of California State University, Long Beach. He continues to make occasional concert appearances, including fundraising efforts for the Carpenter Center. In 2001, he was a featured guest of Petula Clark in concert in Norfolk, Virginia, and portions of the concert were recorded for CD release and for broadcast as a PBS special. The following year, he introduced Clark at the Carpenter Center and appeared on her "Ultimate Collection" CD. Carpenter is also today an avid collector of award winning classic cars, including a black Chrysler 300 convertible from the '60s, which he has owned and maintained for over 25 years.

In December 2003, Karen (along with her parents) was exhumed from Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Cypress, California, and re interred in Pierce Brothers Valley Oaks Memorial Park in Westlake Village, CA.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_Carpenter


Top Of The World :: Carpenters

There is wonder in most everything I see

Not a cloud in the sky

Got the sun in my eyes

And I won't be surprised if it's a dream



Everything I want the world to be

Is now coming true especially for me

And the reason is clear

It's because you are here

You're the nearest thing to heaven that I've seen



(*) I'm on the top of the world lookin' down on creation

And the only explanation I can find

Is the love that I've found ever since you've been around

Your love's put me at the top of the world



Something in the wind has learned my name

And it's tellin' me that things are not the same

In the leaves on the trees and the touch of the breeze

There's a pleasin' sense of happiness for me



There is only one wish on my mind

When this day is through I hope that I will find

That tomorrow will be just the same for you and me

All I need will be mine if you are here



Repeat (*) twice

Jon Bon Jovi
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Jon Bon Jovi (born March 2, 1962) is an American singer, composer, musician (guitar, piano, harmonica, keyboard) of the rock band Bon Jovi, and Hollywood actor.

Biography

He was born John Francis Bongiovi, in Perth Amboy, New Jersey to Italian-American parents. His mother, Carol Sharkey, was a former playboy bunny and his father, John Bongiovi, was a coiffeur/hair stylist of partial Italian ancestry.

John Bongiovi attended high school in Sayreville, New Jersey, and later adopted the stage name Jon Bon Jovi at the behest of the record company that he signed with. His early career was assisted by his cousin, Tony Bongiovi, a notable record producer who owned the Power Station recording studio. Jon worked as a janitor at the studio, and in periods of studio downtime recorded his own material, helped by his uncle. An album of these early recordings John Bongiovi: The Power Station Years was released in 1999.

Bon Jovi married Dorothea Hurley on April 29, 1989 in the Graceland Chapel in Las Vegas, Nevada. He fathered one daughter, Stephanie Rose Bongiovi (born on May 31, 1993), and three sons, Jesse James Louis Bongiovi (born on February 19, 1995) Jacob Hurley Bongiovi (born on May 7, 2002) and Romeo Jon Bongiovi (born on March 29, 2004).

Bon Jovi is a credited actor in the movies Moonlight and Valentino, The Leading Man, Destination Anywhere, Homegrown, Little City, No Looking Back, 'Row Your Boat, Vampires Los Muertos, U-571 and Cry Wolf. He also had a supporting role in the movie Pay It Forward, where he played Helen Hunt's abusive ex-husband. His TV series appearances include Sex and the City and an extended stint on Ally McBeal.

Bon Jovi's first appearance in any musical production was in the 1980 Star Wars album, Christmas in the Stars. He was the lead in singing the song, "R2-D2 We Wish You A Merry Christmas."

Jon Bon Jovi has recorded two solo albums: Blaze of Glory (1990) and Destination anywhere (1997) and sold over 100 million albums with the band Bon Jovi.

Jon Bon Jovi has worked on behalf of the Special Olympics, the American Red Cross, the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation and other groups.

On June 15, 2001, Jon Bon Jovi addressed the prestigious Oxford Union debate society.

An American football fan all of his life, in 2003 he became founder and owner of the Philadelphia Soul of the Arena Football League. He appeared in several television commercials for the league.

On September 21, 2005, during an appearance on her show, the Bon Jovi band donated $1,000,000 to Oprah Winfrey for her Angel Network foundation.

His cousin is Robert Hegyes, who played Epstein on the popular 1970s sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter.

He currently lives in a wealthy part of Middletown, New Jersey along with Geraldo Rivera. He is an active and outspoken member of the Democratic Party.


Awards

* 1989: American Music Award: Best Pop/Rock Band, Duo or Group; award shared with his band
* 1990: Golden Globe: Best Song, Blaze of Glory (from Young Guns II soundtrack)
* 1991: MTV Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award; shared with his band
* 2001: Humanitarian of the Year by The Food Bank of Monmouth & Ocean Counties for his charitable work on behalf of the people of New Jersey
* 2001: Honorary Doctorate in Humanities degree from Monmouth University in New Jersey, for his success as an entertainer and his humanitarian work
* 2004 He and his band get the Award of merit at the American music awards for their long career
* 2005 He and his band get the Diamond award at the Worlds music awards for selling 100 million albums


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Bon_Jovi

Ladies have come up with all these expressions to reassure men.
"Oh honey, it's not the size of the ship, it's the motion of the ocean."

That may be true, but I know it takes a long time to get to England in a rowboat.

Today Wikipedia has just published its' 1 millionth English language article since it all began in January 2001

The English language fascinates me in how it has changed, grown, been adapted world wide & is the main international language.
Being a Londonder I'm a lover of Cockney rhyming slang. A form of speech that is meant to confuse those who are not meant to know what is being said & Wikipedia has a section devoted to CRS. A different kind of profile to those we usualy see on this thread


Cockney rhyming slang
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Cockney rhyming slang (sometimes abbreviated as CRS) is a form of English slang which originated in the East End of London. Many of its expressions have passed into common language, and the creation of new ones is no longer restricted to Cockneys. Australian English shares some Cockney rhyming slang and also has many of its own terms. (See: Australian rhyming slang.) Some people have speculated that this is due to a strong formative influence of Cockneys on Australian culture.

It has been noted by the Edinburgh author and journalist Irvine Welsh that rhyming slang with Cockney origin is now more likely to be used and developed in Scotland than in the East End of London, giving rise to formations that rely on the Scottish accent for their effect (see 'Dennis Law' = 'snow' for example).

In United States some common slang seems to have had its origin in Cockney rhyming slang: "raspberry," shortened from "raspberry tart" means fart; "dukes" means fists; "duke it out" means settle an argument via fisticuffs; "bread" means money; "creamed" means beaten (interestingly, in the UK "creamed" can also mean "exhausted", from the rhyme of "cream cracker" and "knacker").

Rhyming slang developed as a way of obscuring the meaning of sentences to those who did not understand the slang, though it remains a matter of speculation whether this was a linguistic accident, or whether it was developed intentionally to assist criminals or to maintain a particular community.

Rhyming slang works by replacing the word to be obscured with the first word of a phrase that rhymes with that word. For instance, "face" would be replaced by "boat", because face rhymes with "boat race". Similarly "feet" becomes "plates" ("plates of meat"), and "money" is "bread" (a very common usage, from "bread and honey"). Sometimes the full phrase is used, for example "Currant Bun" to mean The Sun, usually referring to the British tabloid newspaper of that name. There is no hard and fast rule for this, and you just have to know whether a particular expression is always shortened, never shortened, or can be used either way.

Some substitutions have become relatively widespread in Britain, for example to "have a butcher's" means to have a look, from the rhyming slang "butcher's hook", and these are often now used without awareness of the original rhyming slang (so for example "berk" and "cobblers" are both less taboo than their etymology would suggest). However, most other actual and purported substitutions are still not in common usage.

This style of rhyming has also spread through many English-speaking countries, where the original phrases are supplemented by rhymes created to fit local needs. Creation of rhyming slang has become a word game for people of many classes and regions. The term Cockney rhyming slang is generally applied to these expansions to indicate the rhyming style, though arguably the term only applies to phrases used in the East End of London. Similar formations exist in other parts of the United Kingdom. In the East Midlands, 'Derby Road' is rhymed with 'cold', a conjunction that would not be possible in any other dialect of the UK.

Musical artists such as The Audiobullys and The Streets use CRS in almost all of their songs. It is also often used in feature films, such as Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) (which contains a glossary of Cockney rhyming slang on the United States DVD version to assist the viewer), and on television (e.g. Minder, EastEnders) to lend authenticity to an East End setting. The theme song to The Italian Job, composed by Quincy Jones, contains many Cockney rhyming slang expressions. The lyrics by Don Black amused and fascinated the composer. The schoolkid characters in the film To Sir With Love regularly utilise CRS, which their new teacher (played by Sidney Poitier) finds impossible to understand.

The box office success Ocean's Eleven (2001) contains an apparent example of Cockney rhyming slang, when the character Basher Tarr (played by Don Cheadle) uses the slang "Barney" to mean "trouble," derived from Barney Rubble. In common usage, "Barney" does not mean trouble; it means an argument or a fight. Some argue that it is derived from "Barn Owl" which (in a Cockney accent) nearly rhymes with "row" (argument).

However, the book Understanding British English, by Margaret E. Moore, Citadel Press, 1995, does not list "Barney" in its "Rhyming Slang" section. Furthermore, an old book called Slang and Its Analogues, by J.S. Farmer and W.E. Henley, originally printed in 1890 and reprinted by Arno Press in 1970, states that "Barney" (which can mean anything from a "lark" to a "row") is of unknown origin, and was used in print as early as 1865.

All slang is rooted in the era of its origin and therefore some of it will to be lost as time passes. In the 1980s, for example, "Kerry Packered" meant "knackered"; in 2004, the term "Britneys" was used to mean beers (or in Ireland to mean queers) via the music artist "Britney Spears", although the usage may not outlast her career and/or popularity. There is a set of specialist rhyming slang terms used by some members of the British disabled community to describe medical conditions. This is sometimes termed "disability rhyming slang" and shares the same style, and some of the same phrases, as the more traditional rhyming slang.

[edit]
Examples
Apples = apples and pears = stairs ?- e.g. "Get up them apples!"
Barnet = Barnet Fair = hair ?- e.g. "What's a matter with yer Barnet."
Frog = frog and toad = road ?- e.g. "I was crossing the frog…"
Rosie = Rosie Lee = tea ?- e.g. "'ave a cup of rosie."
[edit]
See also
Wiktionary:Cockney rhyming slang
[edit]
External links
Collection of Cockney slang
Online dictionary of rhyming slang
Collection of disability rhyming slang
Rockney Rhyming Slang, rhyming slang related to rock music
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cockney_rhyming_slang"

Well, listeners. That one liner by our hawkman signals the end of his bio's. I know most of 'em, Boston, but Lou Reed was a mystery, so I went to the archives to find this song:


Song: Walk on the wild side
Album: Transformer


Holly came from Miami F.L.A.
hitch-hiked her way across the U.S.A.

Plucked her eyebrows on the way
shaved her leg and then he was a she
She says, hey babe, take a walk on the wild side
said, hey honey, take a walk on the wild side

Candy came from out on the island
in the backroom she was everybody's darling

But she never lost her head
even when she was given head
She says, hey babe, take a walk on the wild side
said, hey babe, take a walk on the wild side
and the coloured girls go

Doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo
doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo
doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo
doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo
(Doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo)
(doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo)
(doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo)
(doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo)
(Doo)

Little Joe never once gave it away
everybody had to pay and pay

A hustle here and a hustle there
New York city is the place where they said
Hey babe, take a walk on the wild side
I Said hey Joe, take a walk on the wild side

Sugar Plum Fairy came and hit the streets
lookin' for soul food and a place to eat

Went to the Apollo
you should have seen him go go go
They said, hey Sugar, take a walk on the wild side
I said, hey babe, take a walk on the wild side
all right, huh

Jackie is just speeding away
thought she was James Dean for a day

Then I guess she had to crash
valium would have helped that dash
She said, hey babe, take a walk on the wild side
I said, hey honey, take a walk on the wild side
and the coloured girls say

Doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo
doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo
doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo
doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo
(Doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo)
(doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo)
(doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo)
(doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo)
(Doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo)
(doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo)
(doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo)
(doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo)
(Doo)

Odd song.

Hey, OAK that cockney rhyming gets more difficult every time I try to figure it out.

Back later with a picture of Karen Carpenter.

Poor little girl. What a price we pay to be skinny

Well, fancy this, listeners. I just got a call from some lady with a Spanish accent that wanted me to dedicate the following song to our Bob:

(altered lyrics)


I'm wild again, beguiled again
A simpering, whimpering child again
Bewitched, bothered and bewildered - am I

Couldn't sleep and wouldn't sleep
When love came and told me, I shouldn't sleep
Bewitched, bothered and bewildered - am I

Lost my heart, but what of it
He is bold I agree
He can laugh, and I love it
When he laughs with me.

I'll sing to him, each spring to him
And long, for the day when I'll cling to him
Bewitched, bothered and bewildered - am I

Ain't love grand, folks?

Dear Letty:

I'm touched! Pass this message on to the lady, please.

Bob

Words and music by neil diamond

The story of my life is very plain to read
It starts the day you came
And ends the day you leave
The story of my life begins and ends with you
The names are still the same
And the story's still the truth

I was alone.
You found me waiting and made me your own
I was afraid
That somehow I never could be a man that you wanted of me

You're the story of my life, and every word is true
Each chapter sings your name
Each page begins with you
It's the story of our times and never letting go
If I die today, I wannted yo to know

Stay with me here
Share with me, care with me
Stay and be near
And when it began I'd lie awake every night
Just knowing somewhere deep inside
That our affair just might write

The story of my life is very plain to read
It starts the day you came
It ends the day you leave

ah, Boston, that is beautiful. What a lucky lady she is, too.

How about this groupie song by the Carpenters, listeners:
Superstar

Long ago and oh so far away
I fell in love with you before the second show
Your guitar, it sounds so sweet and clear
But you're not really here
It's just the radio

[Chorus:]
Don't you remember you told me you loved me baby
You said you'd be coming back this way again baby
Baby, baby, baby, baby, oh, baby, I love you I really do

Loneliness is a such a sad affair
And I can hardly wait to be with you again

What to say to make you come again
Come back to me again
And play your sad guitar

Karen Carpenter had such a divine voice. Flawless.

Well, there's our McTag, listeners. Yes, she did, and her brother, Ken, is also good, and if I remember correctly, has a formal background in music.

I need to check out some of his songs, folks.

Back in a few after another rummage through the archives.

Well, I found this, folks, but it is totally unfamiliar to me. I had no idea that Richard and Ken were the same person.

There was a certain face
that filled a thousand nights
with all the sweetest dreams and promises
of paradise
But that face was gone



When the dawn would come and steal you
Yet I still could feel you
waiting just a kiss away
I'd surely know your face
when love would cast its spell
I'd recognize each curve and line of you
I knew it well
Now at last you're here and I can tell
Something in your eyes I see
Is all I've ever wanted
(And) Something in your smile for me
is calling out my name
Your eyes it seems
are mirrors of my dreams
in ways I can't explain...
And my heart will never be the same
We never said a word
as if we'd always known
that through the bittersweet of waiting
we were not alone
Now we're close enough
for the touch of love to find us
fantasies designed us
But they never really could
begin to measure you
No pictures ever do
And as I watch you framed in sunlight
And a sky of blue
I know what my life's been leading to
Something in your eyes I see
Is all I've ever wanted
(And) Something in your smile for me
is calling out my name
Your eyes it seems
are mirrors of my dreams
in ways I can't explain...
And my heart will never be the same

this confronts the very nature of bias. I have never listened to any song performed by the Carpenters soley for reasons of my bias against them.

Well, you need to explain that, cowboy. Why should you be biased against The Carpenters?

Of course, listeners, you do realize that dys won't tell us a thing. It's the nature of the man, I guess. <frowns>

Come on, buddy. Listen to the music:

Don't you feel it growin', day by day
People gettin' ready for the news
Some are happy, some are sad
Oh, we got to let the music play
What the people need
Is a way to make 'em smile
It ain't so hard to do if you know how
Gotta get a message
Get it on through
Oh, now mama's go'n' to after 'while
Oh, oh, listen to the music
Oh, oh, listen to the music
Oh, oh, listen to the music
All the time
Well I know, you know better
Everything I say
Meet me in the country for a day
We'll be happy
And we'll dance
Oh, we're gonna dance our blues away
And if I'm feelin' good to you
And you're feelin' good to me
There ain't nothin' we can't do or say
Feelin' good, feeling fine
Oh, baby, let the music play
Oh, oh, listen to the music
Oh, oh, listen to the music
Oh, oh, listen to the music
All the time
Like a lazy flowing river
Surrounding castles in the sky
And the crowd is growing bigger
List'nin' for the happy sounds
And I got to let them fly
Oh, oh, listen to the music
Oh, oh, listen to the music
Oh, oh, listen to the music
All the time

Ms. Letty, it's nice to read about all the celebrity birthdays, but unfortunately, you've left out one that's more important to me than any of them.

My son turns 12 today.

(Proud Mama here.)

Happy B-Day Son-of-Eva!

(12, eh? The fun is only beginning, Mom.)

Hey, Eva, blame it on that Boston brat. He's not thinking straight since he's been smitten and bitten.

Happy Birthday to Eva's little lad, but listen to George and Miss Letty. Prepare youself for the terrible teens. <smile>

For Eva's birthday boy looking ahead:

Human Nature
Teenager In Love

Each time we have a quarrel
It almost breaks my heart
'Cos I am so afraid
That we will have to part
Each night I ask the stars
The stars up above
Why must I be a teenager in love
One day I feel so happy
Next day I feel so sad
I guess I'll learn to take
The good with the bad
Each night I ask the stars up above
(I ask them why)
Why must I be a teenage in love

I cried a tear (I cried a tear)
For nobody but you (Nobody but you)
I'll be the lonely one if you should say we're through

Well if you want to make me cry
That won't be so hard to do
And if you should say goodbye
I'll still go on loving you

Each night I ask the stars up above
(I ask them why)
Why must I be a teenager in love
I cried a tear (I cried a tear)
For nobody but you (For nobody but you)
I'll be the lonely one if you should say we're through

Yeah

Well if you want to make me cry
That won't be so hard to do
And if you should say goodbye
I'll still go on loving you

Each night I ask the stars up above
(I ask them why)
Why must I be a teenager in love
(tell me why)
Why must I be a teenager in love

[repeat last line to finish]

Heart Sisters

Nothing at all

I would walk home every evening
Through the pyramids of light
I would feed myself on silence
Wash it down with empty nights

Then your innocent distraction
Hit me so hard
My emotional reaction
Caught me off guard

It was nothing at all
Like anything I had felt before
And it was nothing at all
Like I thought no, it's so much more
No one else has ever
Made me feel this way
When I asked you how you did it
You just say
It was nothing at all

Now I walk home every evening
And my feet are quick to move
Cause I know my destination
Is a warm and waiting for you

From our first communication
If was clear
Any thought of moderation
Would soon disappear

It was nothing at all
Like anything I had felt before
And it was nothing at all
Like I thought - no, it's so much more
No one else has ever made me feel this way
When I ask you how you did it
You just say
Oh, it was nothing, nothing at all...

Naw, I think I'll make him stop growing right here. I like this age.