It was refreshing even to read a book on them that ONLY focused on their humble beginnings and rise to fame and how their music broke the mold in a time when what this duo was doing wasn't quite common, nor cool, they were really different, but in the best and most beautiful way. Karen Carpenter's velvet voice charmed millions in the 70s… but behind the wholesome image she was in turmoil. The autopsy report listed the cause of death as "emetine cardiotoxicity due to or as a consequence of anorexia nervosa. Carpenter’s ear for finding hits, often in unlikely places, was as essential as his ear for making them. In a radio interview taped shortly after Karen's death, Levenkron discussed the autopsy findings: "According to the LA coroner, she discovered ipecac… and started taking it every day.

And if you get as caught up in happy memories of amazing friends as I do and those friends happen to love The Carpenters, this should be at the top of your hit list. Richard turns out to be a strong critic of his own work, though the minutiae of the many remixes he's done are probably of interest to only the most obsessed Carpenters fan. They were shocked to see how she could be flat on her back one minute and on stage singing the next.Leaving behind the pieces of her broken marriage, she set out on a year-long recovery mission, relocating to New York City's Regency Hotel in January 1982. Mike Cidoni Lennox has logged forty years as an entertainment journalist, with bylines appearing in dozens of outlets including "Billboard," "Variety," "The Washington Post," and "USA Today. Coffee table sized, close to 400 pages, littered with previously unseen photographs (the majority in color), ephemera, it's a design super-show. The therapist agreed that Karen seemed extra tired and was not responding as quickly as he had hoped, and vowed to try another approach. Levenkron suggested to the family that Karen was in need of a more tactile, demonstrative kind of love.

He went downstairs, and lo and behold, he brought up Karen’s itinerary, and in they were in [her] handwriting. The interviewer's continued efforts to pinpoint a reason for Karen's skeletal appearance prompted Richard to come to his sister's defence. The fact that she was anorexic was discussed innumerable times… There was every attempt to get her to seek professional help, but I believe her family was the kind of family where the mother would say, 'We can take care of ourselves. We don't like to eat before a show because I can't stand singing with a full stomach… You never get to dinner until, like, midnight, and if you eat heavy you're not going to sleep, and you're going to be a balloon. Learning of her plan to leave, Levenkron reminded Karen she was abandoning the program much too soon, and that treatment takes at least three years.He relates in the introduction/preface that he learned his lesson regarding the 'hands off' approach from a previous Carpenters bio titled "Little Girl Blue" - which he now wishes he had never given his permission for. I'm sure that given time, the right material, and had Karen made a full recovery, they would have come back strongly, perhaps even taking 80's music in a whole different direction. I have no idea what 'six stone in weight' is," Karen replied, becoming noticeably uncomfortable and increasingly agitated. Very eye opening as they go from a live concert to a studio to record to doing a TV special many times. By using the Web site, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by the Terms and Conditions.