![]() ![]() This month marks 25 years since the release of If I Were A Carpenter, providing a nice echo of its origins, as the tribute album was initially conceived as a commemoration of the 25th anniversary of The Carpenters' debut album, Offering. With its roster of 1990s alternative music rabble-rousers celebrating the 1970s clean-cut, musical prodigy duo The Carpenters, the left-of-center tribute album If I Were A Carpenter wonderfully delivers on these concepts in spades. A tribute album’s chances of hitting that sonic sweet spot are also enhanced when it follows the loosely structured (and hotly debated) 20-year nostalgia cycle-the idea that one’s generational fads of music, fashion, technology, books, slang and other cultural touchstones resurface after a couple decades (give or take) of mainstream dormancy. Tonight it proves one of many highlights with awkward chorography and earnest delivery.Ī show that was both musically exceptional and hysterically funny, well deserving of the standing ovation at the end.In popular culture, the cyclical adage "Everything old is new again" is often embodied in the form of the tribute album-an unwieldy vehicle of veneration whose success lies as much with the source material as with those interpreting it. Calling Occupants Of Interplanetary Craft, a song originally by mysterious ‘could-it-be-the-Beatles’ outfit Klaatu (it wasn’t) was covered by The Carpenters only a year after the original was release but the new version was a massive global hit. While most of the set is Carpenters gold like There’s A Kind Of Hush, Rainy Days And Mondays, Superstar, Sing and We’ve Only Just Begun, there are some curve balls and surprises were they apply some advanced Carpentry to songs by John Denver, Jimmy Barnes and Kenny Rogers. They nail those harmonies and the whole sound of the originals with skill and precision. But musically, boy howdy – they are a cracker. Sharon and Darren throw barbs at each other, introduce sax solos from the unseen Uncle Bruce (allegedly off stage) and Sharon’s ‘drumming’ made me laugh very hard indeed. The Carpenters From Kempsey are all of these things. Yes there were wigs and satin flairs, and gags about divorcing each other but the music of the super Swedes was recreated so meticulously, with such attention to detail and respect and admiration for the perfect pop creations that people could go for a laugh AND be carried away by the reconstruction of music they love from a band they will never see. They squabble like siblings and they celebrate the kitsch aspects of the Carpenters image with brilliant comic accuracy.Īnd then they sing! I am instantly reminded of seeing Bjorn Again for the first time decades ago. Sharon & Darren Carpenter (Debora Krizak and Darren Mapes) are from Kempsey (Mid North Coast, New South Wales) and like the other Carpenters they dress in 100% non-natural fibre clothing, and may go to the same hair stylist as Ken and Barbie. Essentially The Carpenters were cool again if indeed they were ever ‘cool’ in the first place. In the 1994 a tribute album called If I Were A Carpenter featuring a mess of super cool bands like Sonic Youth, Shonen Knife, The Cranberries and Sheryl Crow, reignited interest in the band’s music and refocused discussion of the duo’s work and legacy. Complications from her condition lead to a fatal heart attack in 1983. Richard got addicted to Quaaludes and Karen was suffering from Anorexia Nervosa way before anybody knew what that was. Karen’s incredible voice pared with Richard’s masterful skill as a harmoniser and record producer made gorgeous sounding music.īehind the scenes things were kind of dark. They were the squeakiest clean, goody two shoes, safe pop act around, loved by kids, parents…grandparents. Karen and Richard Carpenter had a brand of non-threatening, honey harmony-ed, soft pop proved wildly popular and turned them into middle of the road superstars with several bags full of hits and touring around the world. In the 1970s there was a brother and sister outfit called The Carpenters.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |