A R T I C L E
	Unscientific Polling Results by Dan We came, we saw, we opined Several dozen visitors to the Karen Carpenter Remembrance Page have been kind enough over the last year or so to respond to its five ongoing polls and surveys. They have expressed what their favorite Carpenters album is, which song either having the same album-track position or ending with the word "Love" they like best, and what they think of Karen and the release of her solo album.       As for favorite album, most picked (in order) A Song For You, Carpenters, and one of the following three: Horizon, Voice Of The Heart, and As Time Goes By. The album Now & Then, followed by Ticket To Ride, Close To You, A Kind Of Hush, and Christmas Portrait, also received votes. Both live albums, Passage, Made In America, An Old-Fashioned Christmas, and Lovelines didn't receive any votes. All votes are tabulated below. Which is your favorite Carpenters album? (27 responses as of December 18, 2003) A Song For You (8) 29% Carpenters (4) 14% Horizon (3) 11% Voice Of The Heart (3) 11% As Time Goes By (3) 11% Now and Then (2) 7% Ticket To Ride [Offering] (1) 3% Close To You (1) 3% A Kind Of Hush (1) 3% Christmas Portrait (1) 3% Live In Japan or Live At The Palladium 0% Passage Made In America An Old-Fashioned Chistmas Lovelines URL: http://pub.alxnet.com/poll?id=2295346&q=view       The next survey looked at songs from the original Carpenters albums. Unlike the more common overall-favorites type of polling, visitors were asked to pick theirs out of each set of songs that have the same album-track position.       Of those albums' opening tracks, the songs that respondents like most are "A Song For You" from the A Song For You album, followed by "We've Only Just Begun" from Close To You and "Rainy Days And Mondays" from Carpenters. Among songs appearing at the second-track position on a Carpenters album, the majority favored "Only Yesterday" (Horizon) and "Top Of The World" (A Song For You). The third-track songs that received half the votes are "Hurting Each Other" (A Song For You), "Maybe It's You" (Close To You), and either "Desperado" (Horizon) or "Nowhere Man" (As Time Goes By). Similarly, no song in any of the other track positions (besides the 14th, which had only two songs) received a majority of votes.       Most fourth-track votes went to "Please Mr. Postman" (Horizon), "(A Place To) Hideaway" (Carpenters), and "Make Believe It's Your First Time" (Voice Of The Heart). At the fifth-track position, 48% of the vote was a tossup between "For All We Know" (Carpenters) and "Goodbye To Love" (A Song For You). A near majority selected sixth-track songs "Superstar" (Carpenters) and "Two Sides" (Passage). Over half chose "Bless The Beasts And Children" (A Song For You) and either "Ticket To Ride" (Ticket To Ride) or "One More Time" (A Kind Of Hush) as their favorite seventh-track song.       Among songs in the eighth-track position, "One Love" (Carpenters), "The End Of The World" (Now & Then), and "Calling Occupants Of Interplanetary Craft" (Passage) were the majority's picks. In the next track, half chose "Tryin' To Get The Feeling Again" (Interpretations), "Bacharach/David Medley" (Carpenters), and "Honolulu City Lights" (Lovelines). Over half selected "I Won't Last A Day Without You" (A Song For You) and "Leave Yesterday Behind" (As Time Goes By) for their tenth-track favorites; while 48% went with "Johnny Angel" (Now & Then) and "Eve" (Ticket To Ride) for their eleventh-track ones. In the twelfth-track poll, a majority liked "The Night Has A Thousand Eyes" (Now & Then) and "Road Ode" (A Song For You) the best, and in the next, half chose "The Rainbow Connection" (As Time Goes By) over the other two there. Finally, "One Fine Day" (Now & Then) won the 14th-track poll by just one vote.       When you take only those songs that received the first- and second-highest votes in each position, an interesting representation of Carpenters music emerges. These songs are arranged in the table below. Carpenters Tracks Survey (First- and second-place results as of December 2, 2003. Any tie went to the song from the earliest album.) 1 s t   P l a c e A Song For You (7) 21% Only Yesterday (11) 35% Hurting Each Other (6) 20% Please Mr. Postman (9) 30% For All We Know (7) 24% Superstar (8) 28% Bless The Beasts And Children (8) 27% One Love (6) 21% Tryin' To Get The Feeling Again (6) 21% I Won't Last A Day Without You (9) 31% Johnny Angel (7) 26% The Night Has A Thousand Eyes (8) 28% The Rainbow Connection (14) 50% One Fine Day (16) 52% 2 n d   P l a c e We've Only Just Begun (6) 18% Top Of The World (8) 26% Maybe It's You (5) 17% (A Place To) Hideaway (5) 17% Goodbye To Love (7) 24% Two Sides (6) 21% Ticket To Ride (4) 13% The End Of The World (6) 21% Bacharach/David Medley (4) 14% Leave Yesterday Behind (7) 24% Eve (6) 22% Road Ode (7) 24% Our Day Will Come (12) 43% Karen Medley/And When He Smiles (live) (15) 48% URL: http://www.ballot-box.net/users9/poll.php?boxid=9440       Carpenters music includes many kinds of love songs. In love, out of love, or falling either way. Quite a few of these songs use the very word in their titles, with at least ten concluding with it. This last group is the subject of the site's Love Song Poll.       Of those Carpenters songs whose titles end with the word "Love," a majority of respondents chose "I Need To Be In Love," "Goodbye To Love," and "One Love" as their favorites. The full results are given below. Love Song Poll (songs whose titles end with "Love") I Need To Be In Love (9) 25% Goodbye To Love (8) 22% One Love (6) 17% Can't Buy Me Love * (3) 8% I Do It For Your Love ** (3) 8% You're Just In Love (2) 5% Because We Are In Love (1) 2% Prime Time Love (1) 2% When I Fall In Love (1) 2% Looking For Love (1) 2% * from 1970 Your Navy Presents radio show ** from 1979-80 solo sessions (outtake) URL: http://htmlgear.tripod.com/poll/ control.poll?u=karencarpenter&i=1&a=vote       Another survey asked visitors about how they and others remember Karen Carpenter. So far, there have been between 32 and 45 responses to each question.       Just over half said the first time they heard Karen sing was on the radio, while about two-fifths said it was on TV or in a film, and another two-fifths on either a vinyl record or a compact disc. Nearly three-quarters said they consider Karen's singing voice the best they've ever heard, with everyone else considering it "among the best."       The most unexpected thing that a majority of respondents ever discovered about Karen was she suffered from an eating disorder and the number of unreleased recordings she made. However, over two-thirds believe that others remember Karen mostly for her music rather than her eating disorder. Specifically regarding Ray Coleman's authorized biography, The Untold Story, nearly 40% think it's "a fair, accurate, balanced account of Karen and Richard's lives" while an equal number haven't read it yet but would like to one day. The most significant occurrence in Karen's life, a majority believes, was either her and Richard's first hit single "(They Long To Be) Close To You" or her decision to seek therapy in New York for her eating disorder.       "Air" is the element most respondents believe best describes Karen, while 29% believe it's "earth." As a person, over three-quarters generally have a "highly favorable" impression of Karen, and 19% have a "favorable" one. Around two-thirds regard themselves more a Karen fan than a Carpenters one. As for Karen's musical talents, nearly two-thirds believe they're generally underrated, while everyone else believes they're "rated about right."       Regarding Karen's recordings, a quarter of respondents said they own much that is or was available; slightly less than that said they own practically every album and video; and a fifth said they own everything ever released "and more." Of the Carpenters' three Number One singles, 59% think Karen's best performance is on the first one, "(They Long To Be) Close To You," while 32% think it's on the next, "Top Of The World." Close to half think Karen's unreleased solo recordings should all be released now or very soon; 22% haven't heard them all yet; and 16% think those recordings should all be released "eventually."       The complete results of this survey are listed in the following table. How I Remember Karen 1. The first time I heard Karen sing was - on the radio (24) 53% - on screen, TV, VHS tape, or DVD (film/soundtrack) (8) 18% - on a vinyl record (LP or single) (5) 11% - on Compact Disc (5) 11% - live on stage or in concert (1) 2% - on a cassette tape or reel-to-reel(1) 2% - on the internet (1) 2% 2. I consider Karen's singing voice - the best I've ever heard (33) 73% - among the best I ever heard (11) 24% - real good (1) 2% - O.K. (0) 0% - not as good as most singer's (0) 0% - among the worst I've ever heard (0) 0% - the worst I've ever heard (0) 0% 3. As far as Karen's recordings go, I own - much of what is/was available (10) 24% - practically every album and video (9) 22% - everything ever released...and more (8) 20% - just 1 or 2 items (7) 17% - more than a couple of albums, singles and/or videos (6) 15% - zilch (1) 2% 4. I think the most significant occurrence in Karen's life was her - and Richard's first hit single (They Long To Be) Close To You (15) 38% - decision to seek therapy in New York for her eating disorder (9) 23% - signing a recording contract at age 16 (6) 15% - move to California at age 13 (3) 8% - (something else) (2) 5% - hospitalization in 1975 (1) 3% - move to her own private residence (1) 3% - decision to record a solo album (1) 3% - decision to seek a divorce (1) 3% - first television special (0) 0% - becoming associate producer of a Carpenters record (0) 0% - and Richard's move to their own residence (0) 0% - marriage to Tom Burris (0) 0% 5. I believe that others remember Karen mostly for her - music (26) 70% - eating disorder (11) 30% 6. Of the Carpenters' no. 1 hits, Karen's best performance is on - (They Long To Be) Close To You (22) 59% - Top Of The World (12) 32% - Please Mr. Postman (3) 8% 7. Ray Coleman's biography The Untold Story is, in my opinion, - a fair, accurate, balanced account of Karen and Richard's lives (12) 38% - something I'd like to read from start to finish one day (12) 38% - such an account, but with a few embellishments by the author (2) 6% - an "in the best possible light" account (2) 6% - something I wouldn't be interested in reading (2) 6% - superficially accurate, but the "untold" parts are mostly made-up (1) 3% - a work of fiction (1) 3% 8. From what I know, my overall impression of Karen as a person is - highly favorable (25) 78% - favorable (6) 19% - somewhat favorable (1) 3% - unfavorable (0) 0% - very unfavorable (0) 0% 9. As far as being a fan, I am - more a Karen fan than a Carpenters one (25) 69% - more a Carpenters fan than a Karen one (11) 31% - not a fan of either Karen or the Carpenters (0) 0% - not a fan of any music group or performer (0) 0% 10. I believe that Karen's musical talents are generally - underrated (24) 67% - rated about right (12) 33% - overrated (0) 0% 11. Regarding Karen's unreleased solo recordings - all should be released now or very soon (18) 49% - I have not heard them all yet (8) 22% - all should be released eventually (6) 16% - all but a few songs should be released (3) 8% - only a few songs should be released (1) 3% - none should ever be released (1) 3% 12. The most unexpected thing I ever discovered about Karen was - that she suffered from an eating disorder (11) 31% - the number of unreleased recordings she made (8) 23% - her speaking voice (5) 14% - that she read for the part of Matty Ross in the movie "True Grit" (3) 9% - that she sang in the White House (3) 9% - that she played drums (2) 6% - something else entirely (2) 6% - that she was only 20 years old when she recorded (They Long To Be) Close To You (1) 3% - that Richard and her were siblings, not husband and wife (0) 0% 13. The element that I believe best describes Karen is - air (20) 59% - earth (10) 29% - water (2) 6% - fire (2) 6% 14. If I had written this survey, I would have asked - most of them (20) 61% - only a couple of them (7) 21% - the exact same questions (5) 15% - none of them (1) 3% URL: http://vote.sparklit.com/survey?ID=557663 &ns=15&qID1=191558&qID2=191559       The last poll asked visitors when they think Karen's solo album should have been released. Over two-thirds of the respondents said in 1980, right after she completed it. A quarter said it should've been released later, but before Karen's death in 1983. One respondent thought the actual release date in 1996 was the right choice. The vote totals are shown below. Karen's Solo Album When should it have been released? right after she completed it (1980) (15) 71% after 1980 but before Karen's death in 1983 (5) 24% when it actually was released (1996) (1) 5% it should've never been released (0) 0% URL: http://scripts.cgispy.com/poll.cgi?u=rockduos       With less than fifty votes cast in each, these polls and surveys are very unscientific in terms of gauging wide public opinion. They are a measure of what visitors who respond to them think about the various matters they raise. In that regard those responses have been very helpful in offering the author a general view of the opinions and interests of visitors who take the time to not only explore this site but interact with it by answering one or more of its polls. Because of this, your answers are much appreciated and will be kept in mind whenever new additions and improvements to it are contemplated and made. This will hopefully make the site more useful to you--which is the best way to better promote its sole purpose, that of honoring the memory of Karen Carpenter.       Everyone is welcome to respond to any and all of the polls. Please click the URL referenced below if you wish to do so.       source:       "View," Karen Carpenter Remembrance Page, http://bb.bbboy.net/karencarpenter-viewforum?forum=7.