Carpenters Fan Club Newsletter #84 - July, 1985

Hello Friends,

Ev here once again at the helm of the Fan Club due to Rosina's retirement. It is a great feeling to open Fan letters and find that many of the signatures are familiar names from long ago Richard, his family and his staff truly appreciate the continued support and devotion that you have shown throughout these many years. We all send our thanks to you.

Richard and Mary wish to express their thanks for the numerous Beautiful cards they received to celebrate their first Wedding Anniversary.

Richard has been extremely busy this year. Since the release of the Carpenters' video, he has toured different cities, including Mew York, Atlanta, Baltimore/Washington and Minneapolis, appearing on both radio and TV to promote both the Yesterday Once More video and two record album which are now available.

He will be performing at EPCOT Center in Orlando, Florida on July 19th, 20th and 21st. Included in the program will be an all new 15 minute Carpenters' medley scored for piano and orchestra.

Recording sessions began on June 26th for Richard's debut album for A & M Records for which he has written several new songs.

Some Fan Club members who are night owls may have seen Richard perform on the Children's Miracle Network Telethon. The event was broadcast from the Osmond Studios in Orem, Utah on June 1st and 2nd. Richard performed Star Wars / Close Encounters and Slaughter on Tenth Avenue in to performances approximately 12:50 a.m. and 1:50 A.M. PST. The telethon raised approximately $21 million.

Richard participated in other fund raising activities. He appeared at a "Mardi Gras" June 15th to help raise money for the Children's Cancer Center at Long Beach Memorial Hospital and on the March of Dimes Telethon the evening of June 29th.

On April 9th, Richard and Mary hosted a lovely dinner/dance to honor Mom and Dad who celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversary. The celebration was held in the Garden Room of the Disneyland Motel in Anaheim. During gift opening, Mom and Dad were surprised and delighted with an 1985 Cadillac Coupe Deville given to them by Mary and Richard.

In response to questions concerning the release of the Yesterday Once More video in ENGLAND, Richard was apprised by A & M Video that the compilation will be released in the fall of 1935. It will be released in SPAIN in December and should now be available in JAPAN and AUSTRALIA.

Mavens of both the Carpenters and the Compact Disc will be happy to know that within the following ten months, the entire Carpenters' catalog will be released in the CD format.

"Don't believe everything you read" is an adage that still proves to be true... at least when applied to recent articles concerning the TV movie on The Carpenters. Here are the facts at the present time as told to me by Richard.

A) Executive producers Jerry Weintraub and Richard Carpenter have entered into a developmental pact with CBS for a TV "movie of the week" based on the career of the CARPENTERS.

B) Jerry and Richard have hired screenwriter Barry Morrow (of Bill and Bill: On His Own fame) to write the teleplay. Barry has spent many hours interviewing the Carpenter Family and friends in research for the script which he will be writing shortly.

C) Although Richard is a "fan" of Stephanie Zimbalist and Remington Steele, he has never mentioned using Stephanie to portray Karen.

D) Jerry and Richard will non attempt to "gloss-over" Karen's tragic battle with Anorexia Nervosa. Both parties feel that the Carpenters' "docu-drama" should deal with both,, the "Ups and down" of the Carpenters' career.

E) Since the project is in its embryonic stages, little thought has been given to casting. As a result, it is not known at this juncture whether "knowns" or "unknowns" will be playing the parts of the principal characters.

We have had numerous requests for one of the pictures of Karen and Richard which appears on the video. It is a 1981 picture where Karen is leaning over Richard's shoulder. This picture is now available to Fan Club Members. Also available is a lovely color picture of Richard and his beautiful wife, Mary, taken in 1984. Both pictures sell for $X.XX each. Also, a limited number of Song For You posters have teen discovered in our storage room. They will be sold on a "first come, first served" basis. The price of the poster is $X.XX each for USA, Canada and Mexico, and $X.XX each for all other countries.

You might be interested to know, that all of the lovely anniversary cards that you thoughtfully sent to both Richard and Mary and Mom and Dad Carpenter have been lovingly placed in Books of Memories. Mom and Dad received three beautiful photo albums as anniversary gifts and they are all filled to capacity with greeting cards and numerous pictures taken at their celebration.

Work is in progress on a new keepsakes list which will feature photos of each keepsake which is now for sale.

FLASH!! I have just been informed that 3 more colored photographs are now available, one is a full length picture of Karen and Richard sitting back to back on two boxes. An other picture is of Richard and Mary with Mom and Dad Carpenter which was taken on the eve of Mom and Dad's Golden Wedding Anniversary. The third one is of Richard seated at a piano in the Garden Room of the Disneyland Hotel on the eve of Mom and Dad's Anniversary where Richard obligingly entertained the guests.

Q. Will any of the TV Specials be available on Video Tape for purchase in stores?
A. At this juncture, no plans are being made to release any of the ABC Carpenters Specials.
Q. Are there any more track's recorded by K & R which may yet be released?
A. Yes, and they will be released sometime in the future.
Q. Are there further unreleased Christmas songs?
A. No. All remaining Christmas recordings were included in An Old Fashioned Christmas.
Q. During the ending credits on the video, who does the Close To You instrumental music.
A. It is Burt Bacharach's version from his A & M album Close To You. (1971)
Q. Was the Carpenters' Bless the Beasts and Children the same one used for the movie? Also, was it ever on the charts?
A. Karen and Richard's version was used for the movie. It was the "flip" side of Superstar and after Superstar peaked at number 1, Beasts was programmed by certain stations. This resulted in the song reaching the national "Top 40" charts, ultimately peaking at 67. (This was before the "trade" magazines charted "B" sides being played at the same numerical position as the "A" side.)
Q. What is it that Karen is saying on the Voice of the Heart album before Make Believe It's Your First Time?
A. "Uh, I have to get into a serious mood here."
Q. Can I still purchase a Carpenters watch?
A. Sorry, they are no longer available.
Q. Is the Voice of the Heart poster (no. F.) the inside cover or the outside cover of the album?
A. The outside cover.
Q. On Calling Occupants who did the voice of the space creature over the telephone while talking to the DJ?
A. Richard's voice was used with the help of an "Outboard" piece of equipment called a harmonizer.
Q. Will Richard's solo album feature him on vocals, instrumentals, or both?
A. Richard will handle production, arranging, instrumental and vocal chores.

It is good to be rapping with you again. EV.

Previous   Newsletters   Next

Last changed: Thu Sep 15 15:00:33 EDT 2005