'Rainy Days and Mondays'

(The following article was in the paper 10 years ago. I am rerunning it on this rainy Monday, April 11. Everyone has been wanting a good rain for several weeks, and it's finally arrived. As in the old country song, "The world needs a washin ... so why doesn't it rain? We are getting our wish. I love spring rains, and I hope this story brings back some nostalgic memories for you.)

The weatherman is predicting rain for late tonight (Nov. 14, 2006). It is actually, Tuesday not Monday. The feeling one gets on a rainy day has never been more appropriately expressed, that it was in the song of the same title, by the Carpenters in their 1971 hit record.

I always felt rather close to that group. I moved to California for a summer job in the spring of 1970 just as the group was beginning to make their splash, on to the hit charts of pop radio. Remember, that's the thing we used to listen to all the time on AM radio.

My affinity with the Carpenters was rooted in more than just the last name. The brother in the group, shared with me, the same first name, Richard. He was just a little older than me, and his sister Karen, was barely a year younger. So it was easy for me, to regard them as almost family, rather than just contemporaries.

As if those similarities were not strange enough, their dad had the same name as my father, Harold. I never got to meet any of the members of the band, although they lived close to me, amongst the other 15 million Southern Californians!

The music of the Carpenters was by no means just my thing. Their special soft rock, mixed within love ballads, was popular in every country. In the decade of the '70s, no other group outsold the Carpenters in worldwide record sales. In fact, during their career, which by the way still manages to attain new record sales each year, they have sold more than 100 million records. Most of these were full-length albums.

During that span, they garnered eight gold albums, five platinum albums, and 10 gold singles. In their first year, they had four top five hits, twice the number of any other artist during that era. They were also second on the list of number two hits with five total. Only Elvis Presley had more number twos, with six.

The brother and sister act was about as popular as a group could be. Anyone listening to a radio station heard their wonderful songs everyday. These were not just good songs, but most of them were of a quality that still endures. Later, when I list their hits titles, many of you readers will remember not only the songs, but also many of the lines from the songs. They were so familiar, you didn't just know the words invariably you would sing along with the record.

That is the greatest form of flattery I think, when your songs become like anthems, to those who love your music. People simply cannot hear them, without singing along. John Denver and Simon and Garfunkel recordings, were like that too.

The story of their act's career came to a tragic end, so similar to other rock n roll musicians. Karen, with such a legendary voice, suffered from the eating disorder, (anorexia). She battled it for many years, but finally in 1983 at the still young age of 32, she died from complications of the disease. Her tortured time on earth passed, but she left behind a legacy of music that will endure for as long as there are songwriters, musicians, singers, and people who want to soothe their souls, with a good love song.

In the early days when I saw them perform on TV in California, Karen still played the drums, accompanying her brother, a virtuoso on the piano. They appeared so happy, and were tremendously talented professional performers. Why is it that so many of the truly great ones, seem destined for tragedy?

Here is a list of some of their early hits. Most of you will remember them and smile when you recollect the times and places of first hearing them.

I was on a freeway in Long Beach, Calif., the first time I heard "They Long to Be"... Close to You." The radio continued playing this number one hit, at least once every hour. They followed later that year with "Ticket To Ride," and "We've Only Just Begun." They closed out 1970, with a special holiday album and single titled, "Merry Christmas Darling." That last one is a standard on every Christmas album today, regardless of the artist.

They did not slow down during the next two years. A string of hits such as "For All We Know," "Rainy Days and Mondays," "Superstar," "Hurting Each Other," "It's Going to Take Some Time," "Goodbye to Love," "Sing," "Yesterday Once More," "Top of The World," "I Won't Last Another Day Without You," "Please Mr. Postman," and "I need You to Be in Love." How's that for a greatest hits list?

As I look back on this rainy day, I realize just how great these two siblings were. Just the song tiles say so much to us. I keep trying to pick my favorite, but I just can't. Each of them will forever be a part of me. They remain comfortable year after year, and seem to weather the changes in musical styles.

Yes, Karen left us too soon, but like all the great ones, she left us with a body of work that will last, long after we are gone. Maybe because it's a rainy Tuesday evening, but for me "Rainy Days and Mondays," offers me a tinge of sadness, but when I hear "Top of the World" I'm right back up. Sort of makes you want to download a Carpenter's greatest hits CD doesn't it?