The Foote Files: The Carpenters
(CBS 11) - During the summer of 1970, a brother and sister pop music duo came on to the scene and right out of the box with a #1 hit.
Carpenters (brother and sister Richard and Karen) enjoyed a successful run through the 1970s, especially between 1970 and 1975.
All told, they charted 20 times with 12 songs in the top 10 and three #1 hits.
They hailed from New Haven, Connecticut but moved to California later. Richard (born October 15, 1946) and Karen (born March 2, 1950 and passed away on February 4, 1983) spent the bulk of the career recoding for A&M Records (Herb Alpert).
"(They Long To Be) Close To You" was released on May 15, 1970. By the time summer hit, it rose all the way to #1 for four consecutive weeks and stayed on the Hot 100 for 15 weeks. It was the #1 adult contemporary song for six weeks.
Written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, produced by Jack Daugherty, running 3:40 on the A&M label, the lyrics go like this:
Why do birds suddenly appear
Every time you are near?
Just like me,
They long to be
Close to you.
Why do stars fall down from the sky
Every time you walk by?
Just like me,
They long to be
Close to you.
On the day that you were born the angels got together
And decided to create a dream come true.
So, they sprinkled moon dust in your hair of gold
And star light in your eyes of blue.
That is why all the girls in town
Follow you all around.
Just like me,
They long to be
Close to you.
The song was also #1 in Australia and Canada. Just a beautiful song that you can hear on SIRIUS XM 70s On 7!
Happy Fourth everyone!!
