Stills and video footage of Karen in the early-to-mid-eighties as Ramones’s “Blitzkrieg Bop (Hey Ho Let’s Go)” plays.
Narrator: Karen Carpenter was feeling better than she had in months. The brief stand-in for D.H. Peligro on
Late Night had reawakened her passion for performance. Her Manager Sherwin Bash was eager to get her back on tour and recording a solo album, hoping to capitalize on the flash of publicity that the controversial set with Dead Kennedys had generated. But while Bash wanted more of the same, a return to the sweet innocent Karen of before, she wanted to branch out in a new, “freer” direction. The argument got heated, and at one point Bash stated that she was going to play a Carpenters set on
Good Morning America and one of his assistants suggested that she get hair extensions and lose a few pounds while she was at it. Karen’s friend Cherry Boone, an anorexia survivor herself, was present for the exchange and dragged Karen away from the meeting. On Boone’s advice, Karen fired Bash, who in response threatened that Karen would never work in the music industry again.
Title Card:
Make Your Own Kind of Music
Clip: Karen speaking with Larry King. “Blitzkrieg Bop” plays in the background.
Karen: Of course I internalized the comment [from Bash’s assistant]. You don’t just shed an addiction, which is what anorexia is. An addiction and an illness. I hadn’t stopped seeing myself as a fat pig, I’d just resigned myself to being one. I wasn’t, of course, I was a hundred and twelve pounds, but when the disease grabs you, you’re incapable of recognizing that. Cherry swore that she’d find me a new producer. It turned out that one found me.
[Cut To…]
Clip: Video for Prince’s “Kiss”
Music fades in volume for the Narrator.
Narrator: For many, the set with Dead Kennedys had been a stunt. But one drummer took it very seriously. Sheila Escovedo, better known by her stage name Sheila E., had watched and admired Karen for her stick skills for a long time, and the
Late Night gig was just the latest thing for her to admire.
Sheila E. and Prince c1984 (Image: EW)
Narrator: Sheila E. in turn approached her local NBC affiliate and secured a copy of the VTR tape and brought the tape to Prince, her longtime friend and occasional collaborator. Prince had just recorded his
1999 album with The Revolution, which would propel him to fame upon its release that October. He and Sheila reached out to Karen that September right before the start of the
1999 Tour. They met, and Prince offered to pull some strings at Warner Brothers to get her an album and tour, “in any style that you want.” Sheila offered to manage and help produce. At first, Karen was hesitant. Prince had already garnered a reputation as a ladies’ man, and Dionne Warwick in particular warned Karen that he might take advantage of her vulnerability. But while Prince did indeed live up to his reputation, he was also a man who was respectful of women and frequently worked to boost the careers of talented women without seeking anything in return. He also encouraged her to find the beauty in herself. Despite rumors to the contrary, their relationship remained one of mutual respect rather than romance.
Clip: Prince in an interview
Prince: She was struggling to see the beauty in herself. The Machine had made her feel ugly. She longed to be beautiful. I told her she
is beautiful. Because she
is. And always will be.
[Cut To…]
Clip: Karen with Larry King
Karen: Yeah, he told me that I was beautiful, and I could tell that he meant it. Here’s this man surrounded by all these drop-dead gorgeous women, a guy who dated supermodels. And he looks me square in the eyes and tells me I’m beautiful. It sounds crazy, but that little compliment meant a lot. It’s one thing when your friends say it. It’s another when a sex god does.
[Clip Ends]
Images from the production and tour of
Karen Carpenter: Demolition
Narrator: While Prince exploded onto the scene with his seminal
1999, Karen and Sheila set to work on what would be her first new album since her brother’s passing. Consisting mostly of Punk covers with two original songs, including the title track,
Karen Carpenter: Demolition promised to show the world a new side of Karen Carpenter. And it surely did. Her melodic contralto took on a harder edge while retaining its range and richness in a style sometimes compared to Freddie Mercury. Her drumming, masterful as ever, was more frantic, energetic, and passionate. Krupa meets Peligro. Her image, meanwhile, went through a transformation. Black leather replaced silk dresses. Her hair became shorter, more feathered. The safe Girl Next Door was replaced by a little rebel.
Karen in a publicity still for the Demolition album (Image generated by
@nick_crenshaw82)
Narrator: To kick off the tour, they went back to where it had all started:
Late Night with David Letterman. Dave was ecstatic to follow through with this, knowing the publicity that this would generate, be it a success or a laughable failure. Artist Andy Warhol recalled the event in an interview.
Clip: Andy Warhol in an interview with MTV
Andy: So, Prince calls me up and says that I need to tune in to Letterman, something that I rarely ever did. “You really need to see Karen Carpenter’s new set,” he said. I was skeptical to say the least. But when Prince tells you to check out Karen Carpenter, you check out Karen Carpenter. “Andy,” he said, “brother, this is going to be revolutionary.” He was not exaggerating.
[Cut To…]
Clip: Karen Carpenter on
Late Night.
Dave (wry look in his eye): Ladies and Gentlemen, Karen Carpenter like you’ve never heard her!
Pans to Karen and her new band. She’s behind a massive drum kit. She starts quietly, like in her old act, using her signature dulcet contralto, keeping a simple, quiet symbol and tom beat.
Karen (singing slowly): I used to be such a sweet, sweet thing, ‘till they…got a hold of me. I’d hold the door for little old ladies. I taught the blind to see. I got no friends ‘cause they read the papers…they can't be seen…with me. (voice gets rougher, taking on a slight growl) And I'm gettin' real shot down, and I'm…feeling meeeaaaannn……
Karen breaks into an insane, blistering drum solo that goes on for near ten seconds. It settles into a steady rhythm and the band joins in with shredding punk guitars. The band jumps and head bangs. The audience, stunned at first, starts to shriek. She breaks into the chorus, singing higher, louder, rougher than her typical easy listening style while still drumming wildly and not missing a single sixteenth note.
Karen (singing loudly): No more, Li’l Miss Nice Girl! No more, Beauty Quee-ee-eeen! No more, Li’l Miss Nice Girl! They say, “She’s sick, she’s obsce-e-e-eeen!”
For reference, the Original
Drums and guitar continue, fading into the background for the Narrator.
Narrator: The set, a personalized cover of Alice Cooper’s “No More Mr. Nice Guy,” sent shockwaves through the music scene. It became the lead single for her new
Demolition album. It got discussed, often incredulously, by the media and critics and public alike. The controversy drove publicity. Radio stations played it, at first for the novelty, and then increasingly by request. The single went Platinum. The Album followed suit. The Tour Dates began to sell out.
Clip: Kurt Loder on
MTV News
Kurt: It’s a bold new direction for her, but will audiences accept it?
[Clip Ends]
Footage of Karen on the 1983 Demolition Tour.
Narrator: But the success would be fleeting. Audiences and critics took it as a novelty, something to be enjoyed with tongue-in-cheek and a healthy dose of irony.
Clip: A Man on street interview after a concert
Man: Sure, she rocked it, but come on, it’s the chick who sang “Muskrat Love,” right?
[Clip Ends]
More Tour footage and stills, ending with footage of Karen sitting back against a wall, looking frustrated. Music ends suddenly on a dull B-flat.
Narrator: By the end of the Tour, audiences were becoming anemic as the novelty wore off. Warner Brothers canceled the option for a second studio album. Karen’s Punk rebirth was, it seemed, stillborn.
[Fade to Black]
The insane drum riff from “Demolition” plays in the background.
Title Card:
Call Me…
Fade in on footage of Karen drumming on a stage in a small club.
Narrator: But while mainstream success would prove fleeting, with audiences unable to buy into Karen Carpenter as a Punk, actual Punk musicians, once they could set aside any preconceptions, began to recognize her as legit.
Clip: Tommy Ramone in an interview
Tommy: Sure, it felt like a joke at first. But then I heard the track on “Demolition” and I flipped instantly. I couldn’t duplicate that track if I tried, and trust me, I tried.
[Clip Ends]
Images of Joan Jett with Karen Carpenter.
Narrator: Enter Joan Jett, one of Karen’s influences. Jett had initially scoffed at the new Karen, noting that “she lifted my look wholesale,” a charge that Karen confessed to, blaming the studio stylist. But upon hearing first the actual performances and second the dismissive, often misogynistic response from critics and audiences, she decided to approach Karen.
Joan Jett in the early 1980s (Image: Wikimedia)
Clip: Joan Jett in an interview, Karen beside her
Joan: Kari is legit punk. I hadn’t believed it at first, but she was and she is. When I heard the dismissive shit fuckin’ [Robert] Hilburn spewed about her, I got pissed. More, I grabbed the phone.
Volume drops for the Narrator.
Narrator: Music critic Robert Hillburn later reversed his initial skepticism and became a fervent supporter of Karen’s work.
Clip: Video of The Blackhearts cover of “I Love Rock & Roll”
Music quiets down for the Narrator
Narrator: For Joan and Karen, the timing was near perfect. Blackhearts drummer Lee Crystal had been presented with a solo opportunity [1], and they needed a drummer. Karen would replace Crystal on the new Blackhearts studio album
Glorious Results of a Misspent Youth and the subsequent tour. To avoid any of the dismissive accusations of stunt casting, and not wanting to outshine Joan, Karen adopted the pseudonym Kari Carr, which she would keep even after being later “outed” as Karen Carpenter.
Clip: Live performance of The Blackhearts performing “Push and Stomp”. Karen can be seen in the background wailing on the drums
Volume drops for the Narrator
Narrator: Rebranded as Kari Carr, Karen toured with The Blackhearts throughout the mid-1980s, providing drums and backup vocals. Able to fade into the background behind the bombastic Jett, Karen called the tour “the time of my life and the terror of my life,” enjoying the raw energy of the performances and given total freedom to innovate on the drums, but overwhelmed by the rollicking backstage Punk life with its sex, drugs, and rock & roll attitude. Joan and Ricky Bird and Gary Ryan had to intervene on numerous occasions to protect her from aggressive men or jealous women, and she slowly began to adopt a more aggressive, Punk attitude simply out of self-defense. Yet after two years of touring, she was spent. The last straw came when a fanatical fan threw a cup of semen at her and Joan, thankfully missing. Bird broke the man’s nose, but the foul deed was done, and so was Karen. Plus, by this point Punk was fading out of the public eye, with more pop-influenced Punks like Billy Idol pushing aside the more hard-core original acts. Karen left The Blackhearts on amicable terms in 1987, replaced by Thommy Price. Instead, a new collaboration awaited.
[1] Crystal wouldn’t leave the band until 1987 in our timeline. Here, butterflies have presented him an earlier opportunity.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/Prince-Shelia-E-013124-1-20f523d3f35b4a14b7f7a4dc545f5920.jpg)
