AlexdeParis said:

Ooooooh, someone's going to hell for that one!! May God be with you!

dancerella said:

well, i have a carpenters box set, and a bunch of alternative artists got together in the mid '90s to do a tribute album...some folks actually DO listen to the carpenters. they had a delicious sound that, if you slow yourself down enough, was undeniable. don't dismiss what they gave to music, from bubblegum pop to grunge to punk to whatever.

AlexdeParis said:

BlaqueKnight said:

Is there any doubt it was the Carpenters' version of "Superstar" that prompted Luther to record it himself?

BlaqueKnight said:

well, it's true. and there's nothing wrong with it.

Anx said:

i'm sure they've inspired many but i find them deeply depressing and boring. their music had no bollocks or soul in my opinion.

dancerella said:

the key is in her voice. even in the chirpiest stuff, there's melancholy. there's more going on than what's on the surface. it's very subtle, and very lush. i understand it sounding like elevator music on the surface. i used to feel the same way about them.

Icicle said:

Oh man, how did i miss this?


Bolton is a big wuss, but u know, he seems proud to be one so i can dig that.

EMINEM.




picking fights with Boy bands.

Imago said:

and hand puppets. remember that?

Anx said:

And moby.

Musically, the same thing as a puppet.

Paddy McAloon (Prefab Sprout) has to be the biggest sissy in pop music.

Anx said:

There's undoubtedly an element of reading things into her tone and delivery at work given how things turned out for her, but I think their best songs (Rainy Days and Sundays, Superstar, and so on...) are genuinely touching and slightly creepy.

damosuzuki said:

Oh, I think her vocals were anything but disingenuous, but even in some of the slightly peppier songs, there's kind of a sadness to her vocals. I used to think it was kind of a still, mannered, creepy delivery; but I hear it completely differently now. Plus, I think the restraint in her vocals is really wonderful. I'm usually all about singers like Bjork and Janis Joplin, but there's a simple clarity and focus to Karen's singing that is exactly what hits the spot for me sometimes.

how ya all gonna be debating this shit seriously?

sosgemini said:

The biggust wuss rpize is very important. And michael bolton ain't no wuss.

Anx said:

Yes, absolutely, this is exactly what I would have said if I'd been thinking when I wrote my post above: her delivery was always understated, and she sings with the song, which heightens the impact, at least in my world. It's all the more refreshing to my ears since these days seems every female vocalist I hear seems to insist on wailing and undulating to the nth degree over top of the song.

I'm still trying to figure out what BlaqueKnight meant...

AlexdeParis said:

? either. From what i gather, maybe blaque interpretated that the carpenters has something to do with him being gay? Iam pretty dim, but anyway.....

Ja Rule


[Edited 7/12/06 20:16pm]

BSB

Keith Sweat

Even THIS guy a wuss one in a while:

TonyVanDam said:

John Denver

AlexdeParis said:

There you go telling me no again
There you go
There you go.....

TonyVanDam said:

What about "why me"? That was just as wussy. I love both songs though.

thesexofit said:

LL Cool J out wiss Keith on the original mix.

TonyVanDam said:

haha, yeah he did. LL sounded quite realistic though. Maybe he was talking (not rapping) from experience.


yeah, the remix was uptempo. I like both.


"why, why me baby"

The Keith starts spitting out his song titles...so corny, but fun.


"theres a right and a wrong way to love baby, i gave all my love 2 uuuuu" etc....


Keith speaks to brokenhearted brothers like.me

Anx said:

The Carpenters bashing now is the same it was in the 1970s. People simply do not want to look past the fact that a geeky/creepy brother/sister duo made good music. Yes, they were a mess due in no small part to their parents. The fact remains that they made great pop music.

Richard was an excellent arranger, and they were both great students of jazz. Karen (as Anx already stated) was a drummer, and a pretty damn good one at that. Richard was a wiz on the keys and had a real ear for appealing pop melodies and hooks. On top of it all, Karen's voice was one of the very best in pop music. I'd say next to Dionne Warwick, nobody did heartache as well as she did. There was also a dreamy quality to her voice that elevated the best of their upbeat numbers. Yes, they came across as naive little do-gooders in a music scene full of hippies, edgy rock performers and socially conscience rock and soul, but had they hit just five years earlier we wouldn't even be having this debate. They made unabashed, brilliant pop music.

I am a student of the song Superstar; it's probably my favorite pop song. I could give a whole class on it. If you ask me (and you did by allowing me to ever post here ) Luther's version of it isn't that great. I love his songs, song writing, production and what he brought to R&B, but his take on it is hard for me to wrap my ear around. He made a smooth R&B ballad out of a song about groupies. Had that arrangement been attached to different lyrics, I might have liked it more, but it just didn't work with the mood of the song. The Carpenters' take on it was likely the best version but it wasn't the first. It had already been recorded at least two times by the time they released it.

And Luther's version of it was, without a doubt, inspired by The Carpenters' rendition. He uses the lyrics for their version, which are slightly different than the others - "and I can hardly wait to be with you again," rather than "and I can hardly wait to sleep with you again."

End of Carpenters defense for the jury.