History Music / Carpenters

* ChristmasSongs: Their 1970 single "Merry Christmas Darling" is still an annual radio staple. There are also two full albums of Christmas music, one released in Karen's lifetime (''Christmas Portrait'', 1978) and the other following her death (''An Old-Fashioned Christmas'', 1984). Their 1978 ''Christmas Portrait'' TV special was also a ratings success.
* CoverVersion: Several, including "Ticket to Ride" (Music/TheBeatles), "Please Mr. Postman" ([[Creator/{{Motown}} The Marvelettes]]), "There's a Kind of Hush" (Music/HermansHermits), "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft" (Music/{{Klaatu}}), and "Sing" (''Series/SesameStreet''). Some of them - namely "Close to You", "Superstar," "Hurting Each Other," and "Touch Me When We're Dancing" - outfamed the original versions.

* IntercourseWithYou: Karen got flak for some of the more mature themes on her solo album, likely from critics who were unaware that she and Richard had already covered the minor Dorothy Moore hit "I Believe You", with lyrics like: "I believe you when you say you'll fill my body with your soul/And love will grow into a freckled little girl who looks like we do."

* CoverVersion: Several, including "Ticket to Ride" (Music/TheBeatles), "Please Mr. Postman" ([[Creator/{{Motown}} The Marvelettes]]), "There's a Kind of Hush" (Music/HermansHermits), "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft" (Music/{{Klaatu}}), and "Sing" (''Series/SesameStreet'').
** They also did a cover of "The Rainbow Connection" from ''Film/TheMuppetMovie'', but it was kept unreleased, as Karen [[OrSoIHeard reportedly]] didn't care for the song or their performance of it. It wasn't even given a full recording, just a demo. It eventually was released, but not until long after the world lost Karen.

** Same with "(They Long to Be) Close to You:" After they say "Close to You" one last time, the song plays out slowly to end and you think it's over, until BAM! The last few lines of the chorus play again until fade. Notorious for catching disc jockeys off guard when the song started back up a few seconds into whatever was coming after it.

** Some early listeners assumed Richard and Karen were husband and wife rather than siblings, due to the romantic nature of most of their big hits and the way in which they were posed on their early album covers. Richard even angrily ended one radio interview in Toronto after the deejay suggested that the duo's music featured an IncestSubtext since he was writing romantic melodies for his sister to sing (never mind that Richard wrote the music while John Bettis wrote the lyrics, or that most of their early hits were covers).

* HiddenDepths: Karen and Richard's wholesome image, which always frustrated them and which they felt kept them from being taken seriously as musicians, wasn't evident in early press interviews in which they weren't afraid to speak their minds about controversial issues: they both favored the legalization of marijuana (Karen never smoked, but because she didn't like it, not because she disapproved of it), opposed the Vietnam War, admitted neither of them was a virgin, and took a dim view of organized religion. Thereafter, their handlers insisted they adhere strictly to the "Goody-Four-Shoes" persona they had created for the duo. Karen would later complain that the image she and her brother had would be impossible for even Franchise/MickeyMouse to live up to.

** They also did a cover of [[Film/TheMuppetMovie "The Rainbow Connection"]] (another Muppet song), but it was kept unreleased, as Karen [[OrSoIHeard reportedly]] didn't care for the song or their performance of it. It wasn't even given a full recording, just a demo. It eventually was released, but not until long after the world lost Karen.

** Some early listeners assumed Richard and Karen were husband and wife rather than siblings, which

* ChristmasSongs: Their 1970 single "Merry Christmas Darling" is still an annual radio staple. There are also two full albums of Christmas music, one released in Karen's lifetime (''Christmas Portrait'', 1978) and the other following her death (''An Old-Fashioned Christmas'', 1984).

* RealLifeWritesThePlot: After Karen broke up with him, songwriter Tom Bahler wrote what would eventually become a Music/MichaelJackson hit, "She's Out of My Life."

May or may not be related to Sabrina Carpenter of ''Series/GirlMeetsWorld'' and her older sister Sarah, despite the fact that both sets of Carpenters have the same roles in music. (Karen and Sabrina sing while Richard and Sarah do the behind-the-scenes work; in Sarah's case, she plays with her sister when Sabrina performs live on instruments.)

Nowadays, the band isn't really well-remembered for their music so much as they're known for their behind the scenes tragedy, specifically Karen's. Karen developed [[WeightWoe anorexia nervosa]] in her mid-twenties after years on a restrictive diet, and as a result her health rapidly deteriorated, culminating in her death from heart failure at the age of 32. Anorexia was a little-known condition at the time, with Karen's death being the primary catalyst in it becoming more widely publicized; as a result, she tends to be viewed as the public's unofficial patient zero for anorexia, though the disorder was already known and documented in the medical community.

* OneTakeWonder: Karen had her vocals down to such a fine point that she'd often nail a recording in a single take.

* SelfBackingVocalist: A major component of their fame. Most of their singles involve Richard and Karen overdubbed numerous times on backing vocals, often using chords most [[ThreeChordsAndTheTruth rock bands]] have never even heard of.

* HatingOnMonday: "Rainy Days and Mondays".
* RadioSong: "Yesterday Once More.'

May or may not be related to Sabrina Carpenter of ''Series/GirlMeetsWorld'' and her older sister Sarah, despite the fact that both sets of Carpenters have the same roles in their music. (Karen and Sabrina sing while Richard and Sarah do the behind-the-scenes work (In Sarah's case, she plays with her sister when Sabrina performs live on instruments).)

May or may not be related to Sabrina Carpenter of ''Series/GirlMeetsWorld'' and her older sister Sarah, despite the fact both sets of Carpenters have the same roles in music. (Karen and Sabrina sing while Richard and Sarah does the behind the scenes work (In Sarah's case, she plays with her sister when Sabrina performs live on instruments).)

* SesameStreetCred: And without appearing on the show, no less. As mentioned above, they recorded a cover version of "Sing", which was originally written for the show.

* SesameStreetCred: And without appearing on the show, no less. As mentioned under cover version, they had done a cover of "Sing", which was originally written for the show.

* TheTheTitleConfusion: Karen and Richard as individuals are (some of) the Carpenters in the same way that you and your immediate family are (some of) the <Your Last Name>s, but the name of the ''duo'' is specifically and deliberately "Carpenters" without a definite article because Richard thought it was cooler that way.

** They also did a cover of [[Film/TheMuppetMovie "The Rainbow Connection"]] (another Muppet song), but it was kept unreleased, as Karen [[OrSoIHeard reportedly]] didn't care for the song or at least their performance of it. It wasn't even given a full recording, just a demo. It eventually was released, but not until long after the world lost Karen.

** They also did a cover of [[Film/TheMuppetMovie "The Rainbow Connection"]] (another Muppet song), but it was kept unreleased, as Karen [[OrSoIHeard reportedly]] didn't care for the song. It wasn't even given a full recording, just a demo. It eventually was released, but not until long after the world lost Karen.

Carpenters (absolutely ''not'' "The Carpenters") were [[BandOfRelatives a brother and sister pop duo]] consisting of Richard (born 1946) and Karen (1950–1983) Carpenter. Karen started out as the drummer but was gradually phased off the instrument once it became clear she had a superlative singing voice; Richard wrote the material, played piano, and provided backing vocals.

* ShaveAndAHairCut: At the end of "Piano Picker."

-->--"Yesterday Once More"

* TopTenJingle: The song "We've Only Just Begun" was originally written for a TV commercial jingle in 1971 for what is now Wells Fargo.

* CoverVersion: Several, including "Ticket to Ride" (Music/TheBeatles), "Please Mr. Postman" ([[Creator/{{Motown}} The Marvelettes]]), "There's a Kind of Hush" (Music/HermansHermits), "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft" (Music/{{Klaatu}}), and "Sing" (Series/SesameStreet).
** They also did a cover of [[Film/TheMuppetMovie The Rainbow Connection]] (another Muppet song), but was originally unreleased, as Karen [[OrSoIHeard reportedly]] didn't like the song. It wasn't even given a full recording. It eventually was released, but not until long after the world lost Karen.

* IJustWantToBeLoved: "I Need to Be in Love".

* HatingOnMonday: "Rainy Days and Mondays."

Carpenters (absolutely ''not'' "The Carpenters") were a brother and sister pop duo consisting of Richard (born 1946) and Karen (1950–1983) Carpenter. Karen started out as the drummer but was gradually phased off the instrument once it became clear she had a superlative singing voice; Richard wrote the material, played piano, and provided backing vocals.

* BasementDweller : Karen lived at home until 1976, several years into her fame.