Opinion: The enduring enigma of Karen Carpenter

ctpost ^ | Feb. 4, 2023 | Joel Samberg

[RckyRaCoCo]

This (day) marks the 40th anniversary of the untimely passing of Karen Carpenter. The singer, whose worldwide popularity has not waned for 53 years, was a month shy of her 33rd birthday when her heart stopped beating the morning of Feb. 4, 1983. Her death was attributed to the effects of anorexia nervosa, from which she had suffered for several years.

[RckyRaCoCo]

I haven't read the entire piece, just a reminder that we lost one of the greatest female singers 40 years ago today.

[NewJerseyJoe]

My all-time favorite female singing voice.

Ella Fitzgerald and Dusty Springfield, respectively, in second and third places.

[Fledermaus]

In high-school all you had to do was play “Close To You” on a date and you’d get lucky.

[dfwgator]

A no slouch on the drums.

[redshawk]

one of my favs.
We only just begun
https://youtu.be/__VQX2Xn7tI

[G Larry]

No mention of somebody in her orbit commenting that she was 'a bit chubby' for the optimal stage presence. (and that lead to her weight self-consciousness)

I think one biopic suggested it was Richard.??

[Governor Dinwiddie]

The diametrically opposite of jungle music.

[llevrok]

I agree. She had a tone that had so much depth.

Her version of “Superstar”, that starts in a lower register, still nails me 50 years later.

[RckyRaCoCo]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FzHvXQHXhI

[odawg]

A surprisingly dumb article.

[chrisinoc]

The Carpenters grew up a couple of miles from my neighborhood but never knew them. A couple of classmates of mine said they did noon concerts at Long Beach State during the late 1960s before they started to play professionally.

[dfwgator]

Calling Occupants Of Interplanetary Craft
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teBV0EoJJY8

[Glad2bnuts]

If she had her prime today, she could have had her family, and recorded too. The only reason to tour is for the feedback from the crowd, and ticket sales which make a lot of money for the owners of singers and groups. I mean Managers and radio execs...NO, owners fit better. Her voice could have been recorded at home, and she could have worked on herself which really happens when you are a parent.

Just a theory.

[fso301]

Terrible when viewed in isolation but within context of the music industry, it was just another premature death of what pop society tells us was a person on top of the world.

[Clutch Martin]

There’s a few pop vocalists that I like Karen Carpenter is one, Tony Tennille is another and Tom Jones. Great pipes.

[Migraine]

I like your runner ups, too. Mine are (after Karen) Linda Ronastadt, Anne Murray, Patsy Cline and Annie Lennox.

[RckyRaCoCo]

I was running late to get to my work (2nd shift/aerospace company), but needed to stop off at a local AAA of SoCal office to pay my insurance bill. I got stuck behind a large funeral procession...was told by someone at AAA it was hers, have no idea if that was true/false.

[telescope115]

Thanks for the reminder. There were a lot of good ones, but she was the best.

[MayflowerMadam]

“My all-time favorite female singing voice.”

Mine, too. I cried when I heard that she had died when I was riding in the car.

After her, Patsy Cline.

[MayflowerMadam]

Her mother was a piece of work, by all accounts.