1. Welcome to SportsJournalists.com, a friendly forum for discussing all things sports and journalism.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register for a free account to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Access to private conversations with other members.
    • Fewer ads.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

I'm not mean enough to run a "he's not 'Stayin' Alive'" joke here...

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by TigerVols, Apr 14, 2012.

  1. dooley_womack1

    dooley_womack1 Well-Known Member

    I was joking not. Let me explain:

    With the Carpenters long irrelevant by then and Richard Carpenter trying to kick ludes, Karen Carpenter got out from her brother's thumb long enough to put together a disco album with Phil Ramone, known mainly for being a producer for Billy Joel and Chicago. She loved her work on it a lot more than she had anything in years, and she was actually happy and eating normally. Then Richard declined to release the album, citing some of the suggestive lyrics as not being appropriate for a Carpenter. That led to Karen again falling into the clutches of anorexia, and she eventually had to be hospitalized in 1982. Doctors bumped her weight up by 30 pounds via IV fluids; the extra weight was too big a strain on Karen's ravaged system, and her heart eventually gave out early in 1983.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 15, 2014
  2. Johnny Dangerously

    Johnny Dangerously Well-Known Member

    Not to mention the ham sandwich story is an urban legend.
     
  3. dooley_womack1

    dooley_womack1 Well-Known Member

    All the same, everyone's getting fat except Mama Cass
     
  4. Versatile

    Versatile Active Member

    I know, I know. I just thought that poster was funny. The real stories:

    [​IMG] died because she was too skinny.

    [​IMG] died because she was too fat.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 15, 2014
  5. sgreenwell

    sgreenwell Well-Known Member

    Although it was Barry's talk show, I loved Robin on it as well: http://www.hulu.com/playlist/300680
     
  6. farmerjerome

    farmerjerome Active Member

    I have a skinny friend who went all exercise crazy last summer and lost more weight.

    Her dad calls her Karen Carpenter. I just call her Skeletor.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 15, 2014
  7. Blitz

    Blitz Active Member

    Children of the World was one of the first albums I remember my brother getting, along with all the Richard Pryor stuff, Van Halen I, Johnny "Guitar" Watson, Elton John - Caribou, Queen's Night at the Opera. Earth, Wid and Fire, and a few more that he had when he was in 9th grade.

    But Children of the World was awesome for me, as a 7th and 8th grader, to enjoy ... from arriiiiival, to surviiival ..... Wow, those were some pipes on those guys.
    Great stuff, along with another song on that album "Know you can't keep a good man down, when you got a good woman, to keep him uuuuup."
    Those guys were masters at mixing perfect-sounding music.
    Sad to see Robin's demise.
     
  8. crimsonace

    crimsonace Well-Known Member

    Sad to see Robin's demise, too. Barry will be the only one of the three left.

    "Words" is a terribly underrated pre-disco Bee Gees song, but they hit a bunch of stuff out of the park in the 70s, and even though the Bee Gees were a bridge between disco and mainstream pop (true disco was a four-on-the-floor beat and meaningless/no lyrics, the Bee Gees actually had well-written songs), their stuff holds up really, really well.

    Nights on Broadway is great stuff. Another very underrated song is "If I Can't Have You" -- made popular by Yvonne Elliman on SNF, but Robin's falsetto on the Bee Gees version is gold. Much like Bubs and "Night Fever," I could listen to it all day.

    I'm the PA guy for the baseball team at the high school where I work. Night Fever (of course, after the lights take full effect), Jive Talkin (for a trip to the pitchers mound) and Stayin' Alive (for extra-inning games) are in my regular rotation -- and had to pull all 3 out last night before I even knew about this news. Had more comments about me "playing the Bee Gees" than anything else, but the stuff holds up really, really well.
     
  9. old_tony

    old_tony Well-Known Member

    I loved that album, which came out my junior year in high school. I bought two songs of that album on iTunes -- Love Me and The Way It Was. Played them in the car tonight on the way home from a game I covered. Children of the World was another favorite that I'll have to eventually buy.

    Also, I have to give kudos to their 1974 album Mr. Natural. Some of their best work that not many people at all have heard. I bought that whole album on iTunes. Was playing that also on the way home tonight.

    It's hard to say they were under rated because they've gotten a lot of due. But I will always insist most people never understood and probably never will understand how great they truly were.
     
  10. westcoastvol

    westcoastvol Active Member

  11. Double J

    Double J Active Member

    I'm pretty sure it's Barry's falsetto on "Tragedy" and most if not all of the other disco-era hits.

    Strange to note that if Robin does die from this latest health challenge, the four brothers will die in reverse order of birth, because Robin was 35 minutes older than Maurice.
     
  12. WriteThinking

    WriteThinking Well-Known Member

    No, per Barry Gibb (in an interview I heard), most of the falsetto was always provided by Robin. Barry raved about it -- even sounded a bit envious (in a postitive, kind of awestruck way) of his brother's voice/talent.
     
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page