The music of Richard and Karen Carpenter has endured now for more than 50 years. We lost Karen in 1983 but we've never lost their music.
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The Carpenters' career is now on display in a new book called "Carpenters: The Musical Legacy."
You might call it a Carpenters encyclopedia, rich with rare photos from Richard's archives to help document their musical journey. Entertainment journalist Mike Cidoni Lennox and Carpenters' historian Chris May are lifelong Carpenters fans; they convinced Richard it was a great idea and then got him involved in this lengthy labor of love.
"It's very gratifying to have fans and people truly interested in music that Karen and I produced all those many years ago," said Carpenter.
Their catalog of popular music has sold more than 120 million records worldwide. "Close To You" is one of his favorites.
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"As a record, as total production, 'Close To You,' I don't think it's one of our stronger songs but it's a remarkable performance and production."
"Carpenters: The Musical Legacy" is available now.