Inspired by the November 8 birthdays of Bonnie Raitt, Against Me!’s Laura Jane Grace, Eric B., Rickie Lee Jones, Sam Sparro, Wizzard’s Roy Wood, Minnie Riperton, The Manhattans’ Gerald Alston, Leif Garrett, Khia, J.J. Jackson, Diana King, Patti Page, Icona Pop’s Caroline Hjelt and Glass Tiger’s Alan Frew.
Inspired by the October 29 birthdays of Fleetwood Mac’s Peter Green, Toni Childs, Pilot’s David Paton, Quiet Riot’s Kevin DuBrow, Neal Hefti, and Melba Moore.
Inspired by the October 25 birthday of The Simpsons’ Nancy Cartwright, Yes’ Jon Anderson, Helen Reddy, Arrested Development’s Speech, Ciara, Katy Perry, Chris Norman, Divinyls’ Christina Amphlett, Starland Vocal Band’s Taffy Danoff, Art Brut’s Eddie Argos, and Pablo Picasso.
Inspired by the October 16 birthdays of Nico, Hüsker Dü’s Bob Mould, Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir, Angela Lansbury, Kelly Marie, John Mayer, Aswad’s Brinsley Forde, and Oscar Wilde; and the October 15 birthdays of Richard Carpenter, The Dead Milkmen’s Joe Genaro, The Orb’s Alex Paterson, Ginuwine, Marv Johnson, Barry McGuire and Jessie Ware.
Inspired by the September 13 birthdays of Fiona Apple, Don Was, Chicago’s Peter Cetera, Blood Sweat & Tears’ David Clayton-Thomas, The Church’s Steve Kilbey, Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine, and Swizz Beats.
Inspired by Black Music Month, LGBTQ Pride Month, and the June 17 birthdays of Kendrick Lamar, Barry Manilow, Dead Kennedys’ Jello Biafra, Mike + the Mechanics’ Paul Young, and Ricardo “RikRok” Ducent.
Inspired by Black Music Month, LGBTQ Pride Month, and the June 8 birthdays of Kanye West, Three Dog Night’s Chuck Negron, Boz Scaggs, Nancy Sinatra, Bonnie Tyler, Joan Rivers, Robert Preston, Gang of Four’s Jon King, and James Darren.
Inspired by Earth Day and the April 22 birthdays of Glen Campbell, Ace/Mike + the Mechanics’ Paul Carrack, Peter Frampton, Von Bondies’ Jason Stollsteimer, silverchair’s Daniel Johns, Larry Groce, Jack Nitzsche, Lipps Inc.’s Cynthia Johnson, UTFO’s Mix Master Ice, Moose Jackson and Eddie Albert.
Inspired by the March 2 birthdays of Lou Reed, Wu-Tang Clan’s Method Man, Karen Carpenter, Coldplay’s Chris Martin, Jay Osmond, Boogie Down Productions’ Scott La Rock, Missing Persons’ Dale Bozzio, Musical Youth’s Dennis Seaton, UTFO’s Doctor Ice, the Kooks’ Luke Pritchard, and composer Kurt Weill (“Mack the Knife”).
When I was young I’d listen to the radio waitin’ for my favorite songs
When they played, I’d sing along; it made me smile
One of my favorite songs when I was young(er) was “Please Mr. Postman,” to which I was introduced via the version performed by The Carpenters, as the original hit version by The Marvelettes pre-dated my existence.
The Carpenters’ single entered the Billboard Hot 100 in 1974, the year my Grandpa Abe gave me a radio, entering me on a path of music fandom from which I have yet to stray. It ultimately went to #1, the same position at which The Marvelettes’ version peaked fourteen years earlier (and in doing so, became Motown Records first #1 pop hit). Incidentally, The Carpenters final Hot 100 entry was also a cover of a Marvelettes hit, “Beechwood 4-5789.” It peaked at #82, sixty-five notches below the peak position of the original.
I bought the Carpenters 45, which came with a picture sleeve cleverly replicating an envelope.
Zip codes? We don’t need no stinkin’ zip codes!
I wrote to the address on the sleeve. A few weeks later I received this in the mail:
By the way, the lyrics that open this blog post are taken from “Yesterday Once More,” a #2 hit for The Carpenters. The song was written by Richard Carpenter and John Bettis.
Karen Carpenter, the sibling duo’s singer and drummer, was born on March 2, 1950. She died in 1983 at age 32 from “emetine cardiotoxicity due to or as a consequence of anorexia nervosa.”
Between 1970 and 1981 The Carpenters scored twenty top 40 hits on the Hot 100. Here they are:
Click here to like Tunes du Jour on Facebook!
Follow me on Twitter: @TunesDuJour.