Karen Goes Solo
It was during a late night garage session when producer Joe Osborn fell for Karen’s contralto vocals after she sang before him. He immediately signed a record deal with her through his label Magic Lamp Records. Afterward, he also signed Richard to Lightup Music, the publishing branch. Karen was able to release a single with the Richard Carpenter Trio as backup. Sadly, it was a flop, and she had to be dropped by the label.
Karen Goes Solo
New Band
In 1967, Richard and Karen formed a bigger band with other musicians from the Long Beach State. They named themselves, “Spectrum.” The band sent demos to several labels in Los Angeles, yet not one label responded positively. At that moment, the popular genre was Psychedelic rock, and labels thought that the band’s music was too mellow. In the same way, clubs said no to playing Spectrum’s music because it wasn’t something that people could dance to. Eventually, Spectrum disbanded only one year after it was formed.
New Band