Rock With You (1979) 10/27/20

Reminder: Starting tomorrow, I will begin commemorating 1 FULL YEAR of “Great Songs of the '70s” by revisiting the first 4 songs from a year ago—with more background info and trivia---before heading into a brand new year of highlighted music from the decade! But first: A tale that ends well for one singer...and horribly for another.

In 1979, Karen Carpenter was recording a solo album, and she was proud of the fact that she was working on her own with producer Phil Ramone. (Richard was out of commission with drug related problems at the time.)

Unfortunately, things did NOT go well. A&M Records (and owner Herb Alpert in particular) thought it was terrible, and refused to release it. Herb felt her choice of material did not present her the way he wanted her presented: an ugly case of typecasting that held an artist hostage.

Producer Quincy Jones, on the other hand, heard the album and thought it was well worth releasing, but even he questioned a few decisions. For example, he presented her with a song he felt was a sure-fire hit and may have secured the album's release, but she turned him down. Quincy then offered the song to Michael Jackson for his “Off the Wall” album, who knocked it out of the park and made it a “Great Song of the '70s...and '80s!”

“Rock With You” was released as a single in November of 1979 and quickly shot up the charts. In January of 1980, the song hit #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 and R&B Charts, and #3 on Canada's Top 40. It was also a Top 10 hit in the UK, Australia and New Zealand. It became the 4th best-selling song of 1980.

Music critics, M.J. fans and radio listeners all loved the song for the same reasons: It was smooth, joyful and danceable.

Michael would go on to dominate the charts during the '80s.

Karen, however, was devastated and her fragile health deteriorated. The day before she died in 1983, she called Phil Ramone one last time to complain about her album. It was finally released posthumously in 1996.

From 1979-80, Michael Jackson:

“If I Had You” ( a sample from Karen Carpenter's Album):

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