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The Carpenters
St. James Encyclopedia of Pop Culture by Jeff Merron
The Carpenters experienced a new surge of popularity in the late 1980s and 1990s as their catalog was re-released on compact disk, most notably the four-disk set From the Top. In 1994, a compilation of their songs entitled If I Were a Carpenter, performed by some of the most popular "alternative" music groups, became a top-selling record.
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Many of these rock stars, including Sonic Youth, Cracker, and the Cranberries, said that they had been strongly influenced by the Carpenters' sound. Jeff McDonald of Redd Kross, one of the bands featured on the CD, echoed the beliefs of many musicians and critics who had reassessed their music almost twenty years after their peak popularity. "I'd always been a huge fan of the Carpenters, and an admirer of their songs. The quality of their songs was so wonderful, they were lyrically very sophisticated, not this teenybop fare ... Most bands just want to write perfect pop songs. And these are perfect pop songs."
Richard Carpenter's music career continued on a considerably reduced basis after his sister's death, although he continues to tour and produce. Most notably, he produced his sister's last solo album, Karen Carpenter, released in 1996, and his own album, Pianist--Arranger--Composer -Conductor, came out in 1998.
St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture, 2002 Gale Group.
