{"id":631493,"date":"2026-10-15T15:22:14","date_gmt":"2026-10-15T15:22:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/631493\/"},"modified":"2026-10-15T15:22:14","modified_gmt":"2026-10-15T15:22:14","slug":"the-carpenters-hot-100-hits-ranked","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/631493\/","title":{"rendered":"The Carpenters’ Hot 100 Hits, Ranked"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tThe Carpenters<\/a> may have been the most polarizing pop music act of the 1970s. Karen<\/a> and Richard had millions of fans worldwide, but also their share of detractors who took delight in mocking their squeaky-clean image. (One jibe, \u201cGoody-four-shoes,\u201d was so clever that Richard got a kick out of it.)<\/p>\n

\n\tThey also personified AM pop music at a time when rock, as well as FM radio, was coming to dominate the music business. They were seen by some as uncool and even corny. And, yes, they released a few singles, \u201cSing\u201d chief among them, that almost defied their critics to go on the attack. But image considerations fade over time. You have to be of a certain age to even remember when the Carpenters stirred such passions \u2014 on both sides of these divides.<\/p>\n

\n\tKaren and Richard could do no wrong on the pop charts in the first half of the 1970s. They had 16 consecutive top 20 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 at a time when you had to earn each hit one single at a time \u2014 unlike in the streaming era, when superstar acts frequently flood\u00a0the top 20 with multiple hits upon the release of a new album. And they were big around the world: Their greatest hits album The Singles 1969-1973 topped the Official U.K. Albums Chart for 17 weeks, a record equaled by just two other groups or duos (The Beatles<\/a> and Simon & Garfunkel<\/a>) in the chart\u2019s 70-year history.<\/p>\n

\n\tBut cracks started to appear in the latter months of 1975. Richard, who produced the duo\u2019s long string of hit, started to wear out. (Jack Daugherty was officially credited as producer in the early years, but Richard made the creative decisions.) Karen developed anorexia nervosa \u2014 a then-little-known eating disorder. Nowadays, someone with a similar problem could promptly seek help and feel the love and support of friends and fans. Then, it was held almost as a shameful secret. Karen died from complications from the disorder in 1983 at age 32.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Carpenters\u2019 reputation has grown immeasurably in the years since her death. Karen is now widely regarded as one of the best female singers of her time. And Richard is increasingly given credit for knowing how to frame that singular voice. Since Karen was so young when she died, it\u2019s nice that Richard has had a good, long life. He turns 80 on Thursday (Oct. 15).<\/p>\n

\n\tTo mark the occasion, here are the Carpenters\u2019 27 Hot 100 hits, fearlessly ranked from worst to best by an OG Carpenters fan. We show \u201cSuperstar\u201d and \u201cBless the Beasts and Children\u201d as one double-sided single because that it how it\u2019s listed for part of its run on the Hot 100. <\/p>\n

\n\tWe also included one non-Hot 100 hit, \u201cMerry Christmas Darling.\u201d Were we cheating just to get it on the list? Not really. The only reason it didn\u2019t make the Hot 100 when it was released in 1970 is that holiday songs weren\u2019t eligible for that chart back then. (Perhaps it will chart yet, given the annual takeover of holiday hits of all eras under the Hot 100\u2019s current methodology.)<\/p>\n

\n\tHere\u2019s our ranking. There were only a couple of clunkers destined for the bottom spots, and many classics vying for the top spots.<\/p>\n

\n\tGrein drew on his liner notes for the 1999 compilation The Singles 1969-1981, as well as fresh research and analysis, in writing this feature.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cBeechwood 4-5789\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHot 100 peak: No. 74 (two weeks)<\/p>\n

\n\tPeak date: May 8, 1982<\/p>\n

\n\tSongwriters: Marvin Gaye, George Gordy, William Stevenson<\/p>\n

\n\tNotes: The duo\u2019s last Hot 100 hit \u2014 Karen died nine months later \u2014 was its least-inspired. This song was initially recorded by The Marvelettes, who took it to No. 17 in 1962. The Motown girl group had also introduced \u201cPlease Mr. Postman,\u201d which the Carpenters just happened to cover for their last No. 1 hit. The duo\u2019s version of \u201cBeechwood\u201d is cloying and insipid. One insurmountable problem: Karen was 31 when this song was released on their Made in America album, way too old for such frivolous teenage concerns.<\/p>\n

\n\tListen here<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\u201cSolitaire\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHot 100 peak: No. 17 (one week)<\/p>\n

\n\tPeak date: Sept. 20, 1975<\/p>\n

\n\tSongwriters: Phil Cody, Neil Sedaka<\/p>\n

\n\tNotes: This was airbrushed perfectionism, minus the warmth of the best Carpenters hits. And the dirge was out of step with the quickening tempo of the hits of the time. In the year of the exuberant \u201cLove Will Keep Us Together\u201d (another Sedaka song, which Captain & Tennille turned into the biggest hit of 1975), this was simply the wrong record at the wrong time. Immaculate but dull. And endless: At 4:40, this was the Carpenters\u2019 longest single to make the Hot 100.<\/p>\n

\n\tFun Fact: American Idol runner-up Clay Aiken took the song to No. 4 on the Hot 100 in 2004.<\/p>\n

\n\tListen here<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\u201c(Want You) Back in My Life Again\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHot 100 peak: No. 72 (two weeks)<\/p>\n

\n\tPeak date: Oct. 17, 1981<\/p>\n

\n\tSongwriters: Kerry Chater, Chris Christian<\/p>\n

\n\tNotes: This zesty single has a certain appeal, but it represents the Carpenters hopping on a trend \u2014 the synth pop sound of the early \u201980s that gave us such hits as Robbie Dupree\u2019s \u201cSteal Away\u201d<\/a> \u2014 rather than doing their own thing. Daryl Dragon, the male half of Captain & Tennille, helped program the synthesizer.<\/p>\n

\n\tFun Fact: The chord near the end of the song features more harmony overdubs than appear on any other Carpenters single.<\/p>\n

\n\tListen here<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\u201cGoofus\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHot 100 peak: No. 56 (two weeks)<\/p>\n

\n\tPeak date: Sept. 25, 1976<\/p>\n

\n\tSongwriters: William Harold, Gus Kahn, Wayne King<\/p>\n

\n\tNotes: After watching a couple of traditional-sounding Carpenters singles face resistance at pop radio, the duo rolled the dice on a remake of this novelty song, which was a 1931 instrumental hit<\/a> for its co-writer, bandleader Wayne King. The song\u2019s storyline mirrored the pair\u2019s origin story to a degree \u2014 the Carpenters also defied the norms with a unique sound. But the song became their first flop on the Hot 100, not even making the top 40.<\/p>\n

\n\tFlip It Over: The superior B-side was Jackie DeShannon\u2019s \u201cBoat To Sail,\u201d<\/a> which had first appeared on the 1960s star\u2019s 1975 album New Arrangement. That was the same album that included her co-write \u201cBette Davis Eyes,\u201d which Kim Carnes turned into the biggest Hot 100 hit of 1981.<\/p>\n

\n\tListen here<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\u201cSing\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHot 100 peak: No. 3 (two weeks)<\/p>\n

\n\tHot 100 peak: April 21, 1973<\/p>\n

\n\tSongwriter: Joe Raposo<\/p>\n

\n\tNotes: It\u2019s nearly impossible to objectively assess this song from Sesame Street. It was a million-selling smash (after the Carpenters\u2019 two previous releases had stopped a little short of the million-sales mark). It brought the duo its third Grammy nod for best pop performance by a duo or group with vocal and Richard his third Grammy nod for best arrangement, instruments and vocals. And it\u2019s a very enjoyable listen \u2014 for the most part. But the presence of the resolutely chipper children\u2019s chorus (the Jimmy Joyce Children\u2019s Choir) amounted to throwing gasoline on the fire that was the long-running pop-culture debate about the Carpenters. Were they hopelessly uncool? When you put out a record as defiantly unhip as \u201cSing,\u201d you make yourself a target.<\/p>\n

\n\tKaren and Richard first heard the song in 1972 on the set of the ABC-TV special, Robert Young With the Young. (Young was the star of TV\u2019s top-rated Marcus Welby, M.D.; Karen and Richard were \u201cthe young,\u201d along with sitcom star Sandy Duncan and Laugh-In\u2019s Arte Johnson.) The Carpenters wasted no time in recording the song. Credit to Richard for maximizing the song\u2019s hit potential. (Barbra Streisand, no less, had stalled at No. 94 on the Hot 100 in November 1972 with a live version, in which she coupled the song<\/a> with \u201cMake Your Own Kind of Music\u201d). But I would have preferred a duet recording by Karen and oh, let\u2019s say, Ray Charles (who excelled on another Sesame Street song, \u201cBein\u2019 Green\u201d<\/a>). They could have sent the children\u2019s chorus packing.<\/p>\n

\n\tFun Fact: Arte Johnson sang \u201cSing\u201d<\/a> on the aforementioned TV special, with the Carpenters, Duncan and Young seen watching him and cheering him on. The Carpenters hadn\u2019t yet recorded the song at the time of the TV taping. The long-delayed special finally aired on May 6, 1973, when their rendition of \u201cSing\u201d was in its sixth week in the top 10 on the Hot 100.<\/p>\n

\n\tListen here<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\u201cPlease Mr. Postman\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHot 100 peak: No. 1 (one week)<\/p>\n

\n\tPeak date: Jan. 25, 1975<\/p>\n

\n\tSongwriters: Robert Bateman, Georgia Dobbins, William Garrett, Brian Holland<\/p>\n

\n\tNotes: Richard\u2019s taut, propulsive arrangement helped to update the Marvelettes classic. Karen\u2019s playful pout and spirited drumming added to it appeal. \u201cPostman\u201d became the duo\u2019s 10th Gold single in the U.S. It also became its top-selling international hit. It hit No. 1 on the Hot 100 in January 1975, displacing Barry Manilow\u2019s \u201cMandy.\u201d Manilow was to the second half of the 1970s what the Carpenters had been to the first: The hottest pop\/adult contemporary act in the business.<\/p>\n

\n\tFun Fact: When the Carpenters\u2019 remake hit No. 1, this became just the third song in Hot 100 history to reach No. 1 for two different artists, following a pair of Goffin & King classics, \u201cGo Away Little Girl\u201d and \u201cThe Loco-Motion.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tFlip It Over: The far superior (if perhaps not as commercial) B-side was a classy rendition of the Leon Russell ballad \u201cThis Masquerade,\u201d <\/a>which first appeared on Russell\u2019s 1972 album Carney (which reached No. 2 on the Billboard 200) and which the Carpenters covered on their 1973 album Now & Then (which also hit No. 2 on the Billboard 200). It was the third song written by the future Rock & Roll Hall of Famer that the Carpenters cut, following \u201cSuperstar\u201d and \u201cA Song for You.\u201d Richard was concerned that their version of \u201cThis Masquerade,\u201d which ran 4:50, was too long for single release. In that case, they should have trimmed it or recut a single version. Their initial instincts that the song had the potential to be a classic were correct: George Benson\u2019s version made the top 10 on the Hot 100 in August 1976 and won a Grammy for record of the year in February 1977.<\/p>\n

\n\tListen here<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\u201cThere\u2019s a Kind of Hush (All Over the World)\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHot 100 peak: No. 12 (one week)<\/p>\n

\n\tPeak date: April 24, 1976<\/p>\n

\n\tSongwriters: Les Reed, Geoff Stephens<\/p>\n

\n\tNotes: This was the third remake of a 1960s smash that Karen and Richard released as a single, following The Beatles\u2019 \u201cTicket To Ride\u201d and The Marvelettes\u2019 \u201cPlease Mr. Postman.\u201d Herman\u2019s Hermits had a No. 4 hit on the Hot 100 with the sprightly song<\/a> in 1967. With the benefit of 20\/20 hindsight, Karen and Richard should have pocketed their No. 1 hit with \u201cPostman\u201d and said, \u201cLet\u2019s not go to the well too many times: No more oldies.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tFun Fact: Herman\u2019s Hermits\u2019 recording was also a cover version. The song was first recorded by the New Vaudeville Band, which was organized by the song\u2019s co-writer Geoff Stephens. It was featured<\/a> on their hit 1966 album, Winchester Cathedral.<\/p>\n

\n\tListen here<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\u201cSweet, Sweet Smile\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHot 100 peak: No. 44 (one week)<\/p>\n

\n\tPeak date: April 15, 1978<\/p>\n

\n\tSongwriters: Juice Newton, Otha Young<\/p>\n

\n\tNotes: Karen and Richard had a pleasant surprise in April 1978 when this became a top 10 hit on Billboard\u2019s Hot Country Songs chart. Karen\u2019s flip, off-handed approach is just right for the sassy square dance. Richard\u2019s arrangement, which features fiddle, banjo and tack piano, has the spirit of an old-time country jam. Juice Newton, who co-wrote the song, went on to have a string of pop, country and adult contemporary hits as an artist in the early 1980s, including \u201cQueen of Hearts\u201d and \u201cAngel of the Morning.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tListen here<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\u201cTouch Me When We\u2019re Dancing\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHot 100 peak: No. 16 (four weeks)<\/p>\n

\n\tPeak date: Aug. 8, 1981<\/p>\n

\n\tSongwriters: Ken Bell, Terry Skinner, J.L. Wallace<\/p>\n

\n\tNotes: Karen and Richard ended a long hiatus in 1981 with this sultry ballad. For a few weeks, it teetered on the edge of becoming a major hit, as is suggested by its four-week run at No. 16. The sleek single features Tom Scott on tenor sax. Richard\u2019s arrangement and production are excellent, but Karen wasn\u2019t at her best. She probably shouldn\u2019t have been recording at all at that point. Ideally, her focus would have been on getting well.<\/p>\n

\n\tFun Fact: This song had reached No. 86 on the Hot 100 in 1979 for Bama, a session group <\/a>from Muscle Shoals, Ala., that was headed by two of the song\u2019s writers. Country supergroup Alabama<\/a> (no relation to Bama) had a No. 1 hit on Hot Country Songs with this song in November 1986.<\/p>\n

\n\tListen here<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\u201cI Believe You\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHot 100 peak: No. 68 (two weeks)<\/p>\n

\n\tPeak date: Dec. 23, 1978<\/p>\n

\n\tSongwriters: Dick Addrisi, Don Addrissi<\/p>\n

\n\tNotes: The Carpenters recorded this lush ballad during a break from their Christmas Portrait sessions, which may explain its old-fashioned sensibility. The song had been a major R&B hit in 1977 for Dorothy Moore, who is best known for the soulful 1976 ballad \u201cMisty Blue.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tFun Facts: The song was written by another pair of pop siblings, The Addrisi Brothers, who wrote The Association\u2019s 1967 smash \u201cNever My Love\u201d (No. 2 on the Hot 100) and had a pair of top 30 hits on the Hot 100 as recording artists, \u201cWe\u2019ve Got To Get it on Again\u201d (No. 25 in 1972) and \u201cSlow Dancin\u2019 Don\u2019t Turn Me On\u201d (No. 20 in 1977). How many songs that were written by one pair of siblings have become Hot 100 hits for another pair of siblings? Somewhere, a Chart Beat reader is digging into this right now.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe song was arranged by Gene Page, who won a Grammy for his work on The Temptations\u2019 1972 classic \u201cPapa Was a Rollin\u2019 Stone\u201d and was nominated for another for co-arranging Stevie Wonder\u2019s marvelous, jazz-tinged 1982 hit \u201cDo I Do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tFlip It Over: The B-side was a gender-flipped version of Michael Franks\u2019 \u201cB\u2019wana-He No Home.\u201d<\/a> The smooth jazz artist had landed his only Hot 100 hit as an artist in 1976 with \u201cPopsicle Toes.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tListen here<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\u201cThose Good Old Dreams\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHot 100 peak: No. 63 (one week)<\/p>\n

\n\tPeak date: Jan. 16, 1982<\/p>\n

\n\tSongwriters: John Bettis, Richard Carpenter<\/p>\n

\n\tNotes: This was the sixth Carpenter\/Bettis song to be released as a single. Here, they fuse elements of two of their biggest hits \u2014 the nostalgic theme of \u201cYesterday Once More\u201d and the cozy, country-tinged accessibility of \u201cTop of the World.\u201d Karen sings in her alluring lower register. Many of the duo\u2019s hits feature her lower contralto singing, which led her to dryly quip, \u201cThe\u00a0money\u2019s in the basement.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tListen here<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\u201cTop of the World\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHot 100 peak: No. 1 (two weeks)<\/p>\n

\n\tPeak date: Dec. 1, 1973<\/p>\n

\n\tSongwriters: John Bettis, Richard Carpenter<\/p>\n

\n\tNotes: This was the No. 1 smash that almost got away. Richard and John Bettis wrote the lilting ballad for the A Song for You album in 1972, but the consensus at A&M and in the Carpenters camp was that it wasn\u2019t quite strong enough for single release. When Karen and Richard moved on to their next album (and its hits \u201cSing\u201d and \u201cYesterday Once More\u201d), Lynn Anderson recorded the song and landed a No. 2 hit<\/a> on Billboard\u2019s Hot Country Songs chart (No. 74 on the Hot 100). There were other signs the Carpenters had underrated the song: It made radio station playlists on request alone; it went Gold in Japan. <\/p>\n

\n\tThe Carpenters finally got the message and put out a modestly retooled version of the song to coincide with the release of their greatest hits compilation, The Singles 1969-1973. The smash reached No. 1 and went Gold in December 1973 \u2013 18 months after it had first appeared on A Song for You. It was their first No. 1 since \u201c(They Long To Be) Close to You\u201d \u2013 after five (five!) subsequent singles had stalled at No. 2.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn 2023, accepting a best original song Oscar for \u201cNaatu Naatu\u201d from RRR, the song\u2019s co-writer M.M. Keeravaani said<\/a>: \u201cThank you, Academy. I grew up listening to the Carpenters, and now here I am with the Oscars.\u201d He sang the rest of his acceptance speech to the tune of \u201cTop of the World.\u201d Fifty years after the song was a hit, the audience at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood immediately knew the song and was charmed by the moment.<\/p>\n

\n\tListen here<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\u201cIt\u2019s Going to Take Some Time\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHot 100 peak: No. 12 (two weeks)<\/p>\n

\n\tPeak date: June 10, 1972<\/p>\n

\n\tSongwriters: Carole King, Toni Stern<\/p>\n

\n\tNotes: The Carpenters\u2019 stylish rendition of Carole King and Toni Stern\u2019s \u201cIt\u2019s Going to Take Some Time\u201d was released just four months after King introduced the song on her Billboard 200-topping Music album. As the singer-songwriter graciously noted in congratulating the Carpenters on their recording: \u201cYou make my version<\/a> sound like a demo!\u201d\u00a0The song stalled at No. 12, breaking a string of six consecutive top three hits. Richard now wishes the song had remained what it was probably always meant to be \u2014 a nice album cut.<\/p>\n

\n\tKing and Stern\u2019s most famous collaboration was \u201cIt\u2019s Too Late,\u201d the song that kept \u201cRainy Days and Mondays\u201d out of the No. 1 spot. We\u2019ll get to that.<\/p>\n

\n\tFlip It Over: The B-side was an instrumental titled \u201cFlat Baroque.\u201d <\/a>It brought Richard a Grammy nod for best arrangement, instrumental or a cappella. Incredibly, it was the only nomination that the duo\u2019s hit-studded A Song for You album received.\u00a0 Each of the duo\u2019s two previous studio albums had received multiple nominations, including album of the year. Why did this album get so little Grammy love? That\u2019s still a mystery.<\/p>\n

\n\tListen here<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\u201cCalling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHot 100 peak: No. 32 (one week)<\/p>\n

\n\tPeak date: Nov. 26, 1977<\/p>\n

\n\tSongwriters: Terry Draper, Dee Long, John Woloschuck<\/p>\n

\n\tNotes: The Carpenters did some of their most imaginative work on their mad, majestic recording of a song by Klaatu, a group of Canadian studio musicians who were heavily influenced by The Beatles and named after the alien in the sci-fi thriller The Day the Earth Stood Still. If, at the time, the space fantasy came across as a clever stunt, it now seems like a grand pop extravaganza. The fun was hearing an act that was usually understated go so completely over-the-top.<\/p>\n

\n\tRichard, a long-time sci-fi fan, heard this song on Klaatu\u2019s debut album, which reached No. 164 on the Billboard 200 in 1976. Klaatu\u2019s version made the Hot 100 as the B-side of \u201cSub-rosa Subway\u201d (No. 62 in April 1977). The Carpenters\u2019 opus, which utilized 160 musicians and singers, is the biggest single recording they ever attempted. Richard teamed with Peter Knight, best known for his work on The Moody Blues\u2019 \u201cNights in White Satin,\u201d to arrange this track. The track brought Richard a Grammy nod for best arrangement, instruments and vocals. (Why was Knight not nominated? Another Grammy mystery.) This was the only Grammy nod the duo\u2019s adventurous Passage album received.<\/p>\n

\n\tBritish fans showed \u201cOccupants\u201d more love than American fans did. The song became the act\u2019s seventh top 10 hit on the Official U.K. Singles Chart. It was the duo\u2019s only top 10 U.K. hit that didn\u2019t also make the top 10 in their home country.<\/p>\n

\n\tFlip It Over: The B-side was a mellow version of \u201cCan\u2019t Smile Without You,\u201d<\/a> which Barry Manilow would cover in 1978 and turn into a No. 3 Hot 100 smash. Manilow found the key<\/a> to landing a pop hit with the song. \u201cI decided that I would treat it with a big smile; like a vaudeville piece, with lots of key changes, a whistle in the intro and a real take-home ending,\u201d he wrote in the liner notes for his 1992 box set\u00a0A Complete Collection and Then Some\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tFun Fact: \u201cCalling Occupants\u201d ran 7:09 on Passage. The single edit brought it down to 3:59.<\/p>\n

\n\tListen here<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\u201cAll You Get From Love Is a Love Song\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHot 100 peak: No. 35 (one week)<\/p>\n

\n\tPeak date: July 2, 1977<\/p>\n

\n\tSongwriter: Steve Eaton<\/p>\n

\n\tNotes: This vibrant single has traces of big-band, Latin and dance music. Richard\u2019s production is sleek and assured; Karen\u2019s vocal is warm and inviting. Tom Scott played the tenor sax solo.<\/p>\n

\n\tListen here<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\u201cTicket to Ride\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHot 100 peak: No. 54<\/p>\n

\n\tPeak date: May 9, 1970 (one week)<\/p>\n

\n\tSongwriters: John Lennon, Paul McCartney<\/p>\n

\n\tNotes: It\u2019s fitting that the Carpenters, who were big Beatles fans, chose a Lennon\/McCartney song as their first single. It\u2019s also characteristic of them that they didn\u2019t just record a soundalike version to get a quick hit. Instead, Richard transformed the song from an up-tempo rocker <\/a>to a melancholy ballad. His baroque piano introduction adds to the listener\u2019s surprise upon realizing it\u2019s a Beatles tune.<\/p>\n

\n\tFun Fact: The single initially peaked at No. 66 on the Hot 100 in March 1970 and dropped off the chart two weeks later following a respectable seven-week run. It came back stronger than ever following the April 10 announcement of The Beatles\u2019 breakup. It reentered the chart at No. 81, earning a bullet for the first time. The duo\u2019s melancholy interpretation of the Fab Four fave seemed to set just the right mood for bummed-out Beatlemaniacs. The song laid the groundwork for the Carpenters\u2019 breakthrough: Just 11 weeks after this sleeper near-hit peaked at No. 54 in May, they were sitting at No. 1 with \u201c(They Long To Be) Close to You.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tListen here<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\u201cFor All We Know\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHot 100 peak: No. 3 (two weeks)<\/p>\n

\n\tPeak date: March 13, 1971<\/p>\n

\n\tSongwriters: James Griffin, Fred Karlin, Robb Wilson (Robb Royer)<\/p>\n

\n\tNotes: The Carpenters followed \u201cWe\u2019ve Only Just Begun\u201d with another wedding song, but there was a difference: Where \u201cBegun\u201d expresses romantic certainty, \u201cFor All We Know\u201d conveys some ambivalence. Karen\u2019s reading captures both the devotion and the doubt. Richard wrote the descending bass line which was played by legendary studio musician Joe Osborn.<\/p>\n

\n\tThis was the Carpenters\u2019 shortest single, running just 2:33. \u201cFor All We Know\u201d was in the top five when the song (from the film Lovers and Other Strangers) won an Oscar for best original song in March 1971. The Carpenters weren\u2019t invited to perform it on the telecast because they weren\u2019t film personalities. Petula Clark performed it in their stead. (The rule was relaxed the following year and they were allowed to perform their next film song hit, \u201cBless the Beasts and Children.\u201d) <\/p>\n

\n\tFred Karlin, one of the writers of \u201cFor All We Know,\u201d acknowledged them in his acceptance speech<\/a>. \u201cI also would like to thank two other very special friends, Karen and Richard Carpenter, for their very moving interpretation of \u2018For All We Know.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tFun Fact: James Griffin and Robb Wilson (the latter a pseudonym used by Robb Royer), the song\u2019s other co-writers, were founding members of Bread. That soft-rock group\u2019s \u201cMake It With You\u201d<\/a> displaced \u201c(They Long To Be) Close to You\u201d from the No. 1 spot on the Hot 100 in August 1970.<\/p>\n

\n\tListen here<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\u201cGoodbye to Love\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHot 100 peak: No. 7 (two weeks)<\/p>\n

\n\tPeak date: Aug. 26, 1972<\/p>\n

\n\tSongwriters: John Bettis, Richard Carpenter<\/p>\n

\n\tNotes: Tony Peluso\u2019s fuzz-guitar solo turned a lot of heads in the summer of \u201972. It also brought the Carpenters some irate letters from easy-listening traditionalists who accused them of going \u201chard rock.\u201d (They needn\u2019t have worried.) The long guitar-and-vocals fade gives \u201cGoodbye to Love\u201d an epic quality \u2014 making it the \u201cHey Jude\u201d of unrequited love songs.<\/p>\n

\n\tThis was the first Richard Carpenter-John Bettis original to be released as a single. The lyric is maudlin in spots, but no moreso than Gilbert O\u2019Sullivan\u2019s \u201cAlone Again (Naturally),\u201d which opens with lyrics about suicidal ideation and still wound up as Billboard\u2019s No. 1 song of the summer that year. This was Karen\u2019s favorite of the duo\u2019s first dozen hits.<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd who is this John Bettis whose name keeps popping up here? In addition to co-writing four top 10 hits for Carpenters, Bettis went on to co-write top 10 hits for three of the foremost pop icons of the 1980s: Michael Jackson (\u201cHuman Nature\u201d), Madonna (\u201cCrazy for You\u201d) and Whitney Houston (\u201cOne Moment in Time\u201d). He also co-wrote \u201cSlow Hand,\u201d which became a No. 2 Hot 100 hit for The Pointer Sisters and a No. 1 Hot Country Songs hit when covered by Conway Twitty. <\/p>\n

\n\tHe also did extensive work for TV, which includes the theme to the hit ABC sitcom Growing Pains; the song, which he co-wrote with Steve Dorff, reached No. 7 on Adult Contemporary in 1989. In 1991, Bettis received an Oscar nod for co-writing a song from The Godfather Part III. In 2011, he was inducted into both the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n

\n\tListen here<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\u201cI Won\u2019t Last a Day Without You\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHot 100 peak: No. 11 (one week)<\/p>\n

\n\tPeak date: May 25, 1974<\/p>\n

\n\tSongwriters: Roger Nichols, Paul Williams<\/p>\n

\n\tNotes: Though nearly two years had gone by since Karen and Richard introduced this ballad on their A Song for You album, their single release of the song became a big hit in the spring of 1974. The poignant pop hymn was ideal for Karen\u2019s style and persona. And Paul Williams\u2019 lyrics are first-rate: \u201cIf all my friends have forgotten half their promises\/ They\u2019re not unkind, just hard to find.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAs with \u201cTop of the World,\u201d the Carpenters had probably underrated the song. Diana Ross and Barbra Streisand also recorded it on hit albums in 1973 and 1974, respectively.<\/p>\n

\n\tThis was the Carpenters\u2019 third major hit that was written by Paul Williams and Roger Nichols. The combination of the Carpenters and Williams\/Nichols was in some ways to the early \u201970s what the Dionne Warwick\/Bacharach\/David tandem had been to the \u201960s \u2014\u00a0in quality, if not in quantity, of hits. <\/p>\n

\n\tListen here<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\u201cHurting Each Other\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHot 100 peak: No. 2 (two weeks)<\/p>\n

\n\tPeak date: Feb. 26, 1972<\/p>\n

\n\tSongwriters: Gary Geld, Peter Udell<\/p>\n

\n\tNotes: Though \u201cHurting Each Other\u201d was one of the Carpenters\u2019 shortest singles (at just 2:47) it has a big dynamic range. After a cold opening of just Karen and piano, the single builds to a big chorus, only to drop back down and repeat the process. Richard modeled the recording after the hyper-emotional 1960s hits of Little Anthony & the Imperials.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cHurting Each Other\u201d was a remake of a 1969 release by Ruby and the Romantics. Karen and Richard went on to record two other songs that had been introduced by that Ohio-based R&B quintet: the Hot 100-topping 1963 classic \u201cOur Day Will Come\u201d<\/a> and a 1965 release, \u201cYour Baby Doesn\u2019t Love You Anymore.\u201d (Ruby and the Romantics had bubbled under the Hot 100 with \u201cYour Baby\u2026\u201d and \u201cHurting Each Other.\u201d)<\/p>\n

\n\tNo. 2 Blues: As noted, the Carpenters had five No. 2 hits in between their first and second No. 1 hits. This one was kept out of the top spot by Nilsson\u2019s power ballad \u201cWithout You.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tListen here<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\u201cI Need to Be in Love\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHot 100 peak: No. 25 (two weeks)<\/p>\n

\n\tPeak date: July 24, 1976<\/p>\n

\n\tSongwriters: John Bettis, Richard Carpenter, Albert Hammond<\/p>\n

\n\tNotes: This was Karen\u2019s favorite of all the Carpenters\u2019 hits. Richard and John Bettis co-wrote the soul-searching ballad with Albert Hammond. The song\u2019s hymn-like quality is accentuated by the choir and harp. Karen teeters between disillusionment and hope on the 1976 release, which was the closest thing to \u201cIn the Wee Small Hours of the Morning\u201d in the year of \u201cMore, More, More.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tFun Fact: Hammond had a top five hit on the Hot 100 as an artist in 1972 with the bouncy, but bittersweet<\/a> \u201cIt Never Rains in Southern California.\u201d He has also co-written many hits for others, including two that reached No. 1: Leo Sayer\u2019s \u201cWhen I Need You\u201d and Starship\u2019s \u201cNothing\u2019s Gonna Stop Us Now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tNot So Fun Fact: This broke the Carpenters\u2019 string of 16 consecutive top 20 hits on the Hot 100.<\/p>\n

\n\tListen here<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\u201cYesterday Once More\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHot 100 peak: No. 2 (one week)<\/p>\n

\n\tPeak date: July 28, 1973<\/p>\n

\n\tSongwriters: John Bettis, Richard Carpenter<\/p>\n

\n\tNotes: Richard and John Bettis wrote this wistful ballad to set up an oldies medley that filled out side two of the Now & Then album. It wound up being a higher-charting hit than all but a few of the songs in that medley. The Spinners covered it in 1981 and took it to No. 52 on the Hot 100 in a coupling with \u201cNothing Remains the Same,\u201d a new song written by Michael Zager. A double-disc Carpenters hits compilation titled Yesterday Once More rode the Billboard 200 for two months in 1985.<\/p>\n

\n\tNo. 2 blues: This No. 2 hit was kept out of the top spot by Jim Croce\u2019s \u201cBad, Bad Leroy Brown.\u201d Tragically, Croce died in a plane crash three months later. The two acts would meet on the charts \u201conce more\u201d: In February 1974, his You Don\u2019t Mess Around With Jim displaced the Carpenters\u2019 The Singles: 1969-73 from the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200.<\/p>\n

\n\tListen here<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\u201cOnly Yesterday\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHot 100 peak: No. 4 (two weeks)<\/p>\n

\n\tPeak date: May 24, 1975<\/p>\n

\n\tSongwriters: John Bettis, Richard Carpenter<\/p>\n

\n\tNotes: This is really two songs in one, with a poignant opening verse giving way to a densely-arranged, uptempo chorus. The sleek single became the Carpenters\u2019 12th and last top 10 hit in May 1975. A compilation titled Only Yesterday: Richard and Karen Carpenter\u2019s Greatest Hits topped the Official U.K. Albums Chart for seven weeks in 1990.<\/p>\n

\n\tListen here<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\u201c(They Long to Be) Close to You\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHot 100 peak: No. 1 (four weeks)<\/p>\n

\n\tPeak date: July 25, 1970<\/p>\n

\n\tSongwriters: Burt Bacharach, Hal David<\/p>\n

\n\tNotes: You may think of this as one of Burt Bacharach and Hal David\u2019s most famous compositions. It is, but it certainly wasn\u2019t in 1970 when the Carpenters covered it. Richard Chamberlain (TV\u2019s Doctor Kildare) was the first to record it (Bacharach conducted<\/a>). Dionne Warwick and Dusty Springfield each took a stab at it, but nothing much happened. <\/p>\n

\n\tAfter Herb Alpert topped the Hot 100 in 1968 with Bacharach and David\u2019s \u201cThis Guy\u2019s in Love With You,\u201d<\/a> the trumpeter and sometime vocalist asked David if they had any songs that hadn\u2019t quite gotten the right recording that he might revisit. David suggested \u201c(They Long to Be) Close to You.\u201d Alpert decided he wouldn\u2019t be comfortable singing the line \u201cso they sprinkled moondust in your hair of gold,\u201d but he thought it might be right for the Carpenters, who he had signed to his (and Jerry Moss\u2019) A&M Records in April 1969.<\/p>\n

\n\tRichard, a longtime Bacharach devotee, didn\u2019t even know the song when Alpert suggested it for a medley of Bacharach songs the duo was working up for a performance at a benefit at which Bacharach was being honored in February 1970. Richard didn\u2019t think the song was right for the medley, but Alpert had a feeling about this tune and wouldn\u2019t let it go. He urged them to record the song for their next album. Alpert was on to something. The Carpenters\u2019 light touch on \u201cClose to You\u201d was just right for the romantic creampuff. Karen\u2019s lead vocal is engagingly coquettish. Richard\u2019 slow-shuffle arrangement features a warm trumpet solo and a splash of mellow California harmonies.<\/p>\n

\n\tBacharach, who arranged Warwick\u2019s 1964 recording<\/a> of the song, was impressed. \u201cI think Richard Carpenter really nailed the essence of the song,\u201d the pop titan once said. \u201cI never had it. We do that song (in concert) and I\u2019m very aware as we do it, \u2018Boy, I blew this one.\u2019 \u201d The facts speak for themselves: Of the hundreds of outside cover versions of Bacharach songs to be released over the past seven decades, this is the only one to reach No. 1. It was Billboard\u2019s top song of the summer for 1970.The Carpenters won a Grammy for best contemporary vocal performance by a duo, group or chorus for this smash. It was also nominated for record of the year, while Richard received his first nod for best arrangement, instruments and vocals. (The latter two awards both went to Simon & Garfunkel\u2019s power ballad for the ages, \u201cBridge Over Troubled Water.\u201d)<\/p>\n

\n\tListen here<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\u201cMerry Christmas Darling\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHoliday Songs peak: No. 1 (three nonconsecutive weeks)<\/p>\n

\n\tPeak dates: Dec. 19, 1970, Dec. 18, 1971, Dec. 8, 1973<\/p>\n

\n\tSongwriters: Richard Carpenter, Frank Pooler<\/p>\n

\n\tNotes: Richard composed this ballad in 1966, while a student at California State University at Long Beach. Frank Pooler, Richard\u2019s (and later Karen\u2019s) choir director at the school, had written the lyrics in 1946 (when, apparently, \u201cChristmasing\u201d could be used as a verb.) Pooler gave the lyric sheet to his prize pupil, who came up with an appropriately cozy melody. Karen\u2019s voice was deep and husky on the 1970 original. She chose to recut her vocal in 1978, when she sang softer and with greater ease.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe song ranked No. 41 on Billboard\u2019s 2024 ranking \u201cThe 100 Best Christmas Songs<\/a> of All Time: Staff\u00a0List.\u201d Melinda Newman called Karen\u2019s vocal \u201cpure, sublime perfection,\u201d adding, \u201cshe conveys the perfect mix of yearning, sadness and hope since she knows, even though it\u2019s unspoken, they will be joyfully reunited after the holidays.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cMerry Christmas Darling\u201d is a highlight of the Carpenters\u2019 1978 album Christmas Portrait, which has logged 69 weeks on the Billboard 200, second only to Close to You (87 weeks) among Carpenters albums.<\/p>\n

\n\tListen here <\/a>(1970 version)<\/p>\n

\n\tListen here<\/a> (1978 version)<\/p>\n

\t\u201cWe\u2019ve Only Just Begun\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHot 100 peak: No. 2 (four weeks)<\/p>\n

\n\tPeak date: Oct. 31, 1970<\/p>\n

\n\tSongwriters: Roger Nichols, Paul Williams<\/p>\n

\n\tNotes: This quickly supplanted \u201c(They Long to Be) Close to You\u201d as the Carpenters\u2019 signature song \u2014 no small feat. The idyllic ballad could have easily seemed precious, but the Carpenters gave it blood and guts. Karen\u2019s lead vocal conveys strength, optimism and a deep contentment. Richard\u2019s arrangement blends the romanticism of easy listening with the pulse of pop\/rock. Richard had spotted the song on Los Angeles television \u2014 as a bank commercial<\/a>. The Carpenters\u2019 recording turned it from a jingle into a standard. It received Grammy nominations for song of the year and best contemporary song, both won by \u201cBridge Over Troubled Water.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tNo. 2 blues: It took two No. 1 hits to keep this out of the top spot. \u201cBegun\u201d trailed the Jackson Five\u2019s \u201cI\u2019ll Be There\u201d for three weeks and then The Partridge Family\u2019s \u201cI Think I Love You\u201d for one.<\/p>\n

\n\tFun Fact: The Partridge Family\u2019s Shirley Jones and David Cassidy presented the Carpenters<\/a> with a Grammy on the first live Grammy telecast in March 1971. That\u2019s the least they could do after blocking them from No. 1.<\/p>\n

\n\tListen here<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\u201cSuperstar\u201d\/\u201cBless the Beasts and Children\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t
Hot 100 peaks: \u201cSuperstar\u201d No. 2 (two weeks); \u201cBless the Beasts and Children\u201d No. 16 (one week)
Peak dates: \u201cSuperstar\u201d Oct. 16, 1971; \u201cBless\u201d Nov. 20, 1971
Songwriters: Bonnie Bramlett, Leon Russell (\u201cSuperstar\u201d); Perry Botkin Jr., Barry DeVorzon (\u201cBless\u201d)
(On the Hot 100, \u201cSuperstar\u201d was listed by itself during its first 11 weeks; and was double-sided with \u201cBless\u201d in its next two weeks, including the week we show \u201cBless\u201d peaking at No. 16. \u201cBless\u201d was listed by itself during the next eight weeks.)<\/p>\n

\n\tSongwriters: Bonnie Bramlett, Leon Russell (\u201cSuperstar\u201d); Perry Botkin Jr., Barry DeVorzon (\u201cBless the Beasts and Children\u201d)<\/p>\n

\n\tNotes: If the Carpenters\u2019 version of \u201cClose to You\u201d is a sunny day at the beach, their rendition of \u201cSuperstar\u201d is a cold, dark night. Karen\u2019s husky vocal exudes power. Richard\u2019s haunting arrangement creates a chilling sense of foreboding. Richard\u2019s arrangement brought him a second consecutive Grammy nomination for best arrangement, instruments and vocals.<\/p>\n

\n\tThis song first appeared, under the title \u201cGroupie (Superstar),\u201d as the B-side of \u201cComin\u2019 Home\u201d by Delaney & Bonnie and Friends featuring Eric Clapton, which reached No. 84 on the Hot 100 in February 1970. Rita Coolidge sang the song on Joe Cocker\u2019s Mad Dogs and Englishmen, which reached No. 2 on the Billboard 200 in October 1970. The Carpenters first heard it when Bette Midler sang it on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, about 18 months before she included it on her debut album, The Divine Miss M. It has since been recorded by artists as diverse as Luther Vandross and Sonic Youth (on the 1994 tribute album If I Were a Carpenter), but the Carpenters\u2019 version has never been topped.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Carpenters had such a wealth of great material to choose from in this time frame that \u201cBless the Beasts and Children\u201d was relegated to the B-side of \u201cSuperstar.\u201d Karen and Richard performed the ballad, from the Stanley Kramer film of the same name, on the Oscar telecast in April 1972, where it was nominated for best original song. It lost to Isaac Hayes\u2019 eternally funky \u201cTheme From Shaft,\u201d which made history as the first song written by a Black songwriter to win an Oscar. Barry DeVorzon and Perry Botkin Jr., the writers of \u201cBless the Beasts,\u201d went on to land a top 10 hit of their own in 1976 with \u201cNadia\u2019s Theme.\u201d That instrumental had first appeared on the Bless the Beasts soundtrack under a different title, \u201cCotton\u2019s Dream.\u201d DeVorzon and Botkin followed that smash with a cover of \u201cBless the Beasts,\u201d which also made the Hot 100 at No. 82.<\/p>\n

\n\tFun Fact: One side or the other (or both) of this smash was listed on the Hot 100 for 21 consecutive weeks, the longest chart run of any Carpenters single. \u201cTop of the World\u201d is in second place, with \u00a020 weeks on the chart.<\/p>\n

\n\tNo. 2 Blues: This No. 2 hit was kept out of the top spot by Rod Stewart\u2019s rock classic \u201cMaggie May.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tListen here<\/a> (\u201cSuperstar\u201d)<\/p>\n

\n\tListen here (\u201cBless the Beasts and Children<\/a>\u201c)<\/p>\n

\t\u201cRainy Days and Mondays\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHot 100 peak: No. 2 (two weeks)<\/p>\n

\n\tPeak date: June 19, 1971<\/p>\n

\n\tSongwriters: Roger Nichols, Paul Williams<\/p>\n

\n\tNotes: This is one of the most nakedly emotional ballads ever to become a pop hit. Karen\u2019s bluesy vocal is a study in control, as she builds effortlessly from a conversational opening to a searing finish. Bob Messenger\u2019s sax solo enhances the recording\u2019s jazz-tinged sophistication. \u201cRainy Days and Mondays\u201d is the opening track on the Carpenters album, which brought Karen and Richard their second straight Grammy Award for best pop performance by a group. The album was also nominated for album of the year but lost to Carole King\u2019s era-defining Tapestry.<\/p>\n

\n\tNo. 2 blues: This classy ballad had everything going for it except timing: It rose from No. 3 to No. 2 the week that King\u2019s \u201cIt\u2019s Too Late\u201d\/ \u201cI Feel the Earth Move\u201d soared from No. 6 to No. 1, where it reigned for five straight weeks.<\/p>\n

\n\tFun Fact: John Bettis made a sly allusion to \u201cRainy Days\u201d in his lyric for \u201cSandy,\u201d<\/a> a 1976 Carpenters album track: \u201cYou know how rainy weather gets me down when I\u2019m alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tListen here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Carpenters may have been the most polarizing pop music act of the 1970s. Karen and Richard had…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":631494,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[309518,156,3295,157,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-631493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-billboard-features","tag-entertainment","tag-genre-pop","tag-music","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631493","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=631493"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631493\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/631494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=631493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=631493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=631493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}