An Album/Song A Week: Carpenters - "Rainy Days and Mondays"

You had to be there, and I was.  AM Top 40 radio was a beautiful thing in the early 70's.  The playlists were diverse and whatever was charting got played.  Of course, "serious" Rock critics despised most of what got played on there.  Too soft, too Pop.  Oh, the rockism!  And that attitude earned most of the early 70's Pop artists a critical beating.  At least until those of us who loved that music grew up.  So, I never apologize for my love of Barry Manilow, Bread, John Denver or the Carpenters.

Of the names I mentioned, the Carpenters stock has risen the most over the years.  Even Indie/Alternative artists, who no doubt are around my age now, have professed their love for them.  It wasn't Rock, nor did they ever pretend to be.  But the Carpenters crafted some of the best AM radio hits of the early 70's.

"Rainy Days and Mondays", released in 1971 was my favorite.  With "We've Only Just Begun" and "Superstar" right behind.  But "Rainy Days and Mondays" reminds me of moving to Germany in the Summer of '71.  That's when it peaked on the charts and I heard it often.  But I also loved the sadness of the song.  The imagery jumped out at me even at the age of seven.  The song comes from the same pen as "We've Only Just Begun", Paul Williams and Roger Nichols.  Karen Carpenter's vocals are sublimely beautiful.  She was also living many of the sad songs she was singing.  But at their peak no one noticed her personal problems.  And we can look back and feel her loneliness on a Carpenters song like the one.

"Rainy Days and Mondays" ended up peaking at #2.  It's proof that many Rock critics got it wrong in the early 70's.  I will never apologize for liking the most uncool artists of that era.