Carpenters: All The Top 40 Hits

3rd Edition: up-dated to June 2019.Richard and Karen Carpenter, as the Carpenters, are one of the best-selling music acts of all-time.Richard and Karen made their breakthrough in 1969 when, on 22nd April, they signed to A&M Records. They agreed they would be known as ‘Carpenters’, as opposed to ‘The Carpenters’. Richard composed ten of the 13 songs on the duo’s debut album, OFFERING, but their debut single was a ballad version of the Beatles’ Ticket To Ride, which was a minor hit on the Hot 100 in the USA.It wasn’t until they released their second album, CLOSE TO YOU, that Richard and Karen’s career really took off. The lead single from the album, (They Long To Be) Close To You, went all the way to no.1 in the USA, and broke the duo internationally. The follow-up, We’ve Only Just Begun, hit no.2 in the USA.For the purposes of this book, to qualify as a Top 40 hit, a single or album must have entered the Top 40 singles/albums chart in at least one of eighteen featured countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland (singles only), Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. For both singles and albums, the main listing is followed by ‘The Almost Top 40 Singles/Albums’, which gives an honorable mention to Carpenters singles/albums that peaked between no.41 and no.50 in one or more countries. There is also a points-based list of the Top 20 Carpenters Singles and Albums, plus a fascinating ‘Trivia’ section at the end of each section which looks at the most successful Carpenters singles and albums in each of the featured countries.