Wow, thank you everyone for the kind words! I enjoyed reading them as much as I enjoyed writing the piece, and I am truly glad y’all appreciated it.
Let me start this Omnibus reply post with…
I don’t know the date, but it’s the 1977-1980 period judging by the hair and outfits.
I had an authorial decision about what to do with that specific photograph - chronologically, the image comes later in the story, but story-wise, it was the best photograph to highlight the point I was making earlier, and I surely didn’t want to introduce the family dynamics 15 years after they started making an impact… so a decision was made to sacrifice a bit of accuracy to enhance the narrative.
This is what I get for not checking primary sources on such a basic fact. The official ruling was heart failure, the Ipecac was a possibly contributing factor.
Oh well, I am my own author, fact checker, and editor. All mistakes are mine, unless I can reasonably palm them off.
Speaking of which… 
To the point above, this was sloppy research on my part - I misread my citation as saying that Richard didn’t sing on any of the songs, and I also didn’t even bother to check out the track list to confirm the songwriting credits, assuming he wrote at least the “Interplanetary Craft” song. But, to your point, yes, he didn’t write any of the songs on this album. Completely blew that one. See above about author/fact-checker/editor.
But he did produce and arrange the album, probably had decision-making authority on song selection, and while it may not have been his “Magnum Opus” (sorry, but I was feeling it!), the album was a reflection of the artistic drift suffered by them in the late 1970s.
(He says, gamely trying to save his argument. 
)
This probably explains the Times piece. Either a bit of promotion for the book, or a newspaper writer trying to jump in on something he sees coming.
Very true - you never had to rewind Karen saying “what was that last?”
Glad we got some Richard stans in here. I feel I may have been a bit too rough on him as to build the ‘Emily Dickinson’ theme, so balance is definitely needed. Thanks!
Cool. If you see fit to send her the link, I would be interested in her reaction. If not, no big deal. 
Well, Karen didn’t want to be the front person for the act, so her calling herself a drummer first was her way of stating this. Barbara always dreamed of being a Broadway/movie star and preferred to market herself that way. So, I don’t know if it is common, but the two women did so for very different psychological reasons - Karen wanting to shrink from the spotlight, Babs wanting every spotlight pointing towards her.
OK, so please, watch this seven minute video. It’s a young African-American woman who loves the Luther Vandross version of this song, has never heard Karen before… and in this reaction video, she completely loses it. Fascinating watching her compare the Luther V version to Karen.
Thanks for bringing this one up again as I wanted to say some more about it.
For starters, I think the 2 things which make this the #1 in my book is:
- No double-tracking of Karen’s voice
- Minimal harmonies and flourishes, and those that are in the song work.
I also dug up the original movie clip which featured this song. It’s dated, but effective. I don’t think the film version is strong enough to win an Oscar, but like I said, the Carpenters version was hitting the top of the charts during the Academy voting period.
Lastly, the Carpenters would do the occasional “Reprise” on some of Karen’s ballads. The one for For All We Know has a more 1930s-40s period orchestration and is an interesting peek of Karen in an earlier era.
Thank you! If someone does read the Times piece, let me know - I’ll be interested in what it says.
I also took the time to reach out to the author of the Times article with a link here…
He doesn’t have an active Twitter account, so is likely craving any sort of attention… wait. Hi! Welcome to the Dope, Will! 
Ignore that last, please.
Yes, this is a big issue with 60s and 70s songs, the overwhelming desire to tinker. To be fair, if Richard wants to give us three different versions of Karen singing Rainy Days and Mondays in three different styles over the course of three differing decades, and I have access to all three, who are we to refuse this gift?
Tombstone material!
