Lovelines
Studio album by
Carpenters
ReleasedOctober 31, 1989
Recorded1978–1980
Studio
GenrePop
Length46:24
LabelA&M[1]
ProducerPhil Ramone, Richard Carpenter[2]
Carpenters chronology
An Old-Fashioned Christmas
(1984) 		Lovelines
(1989) 		As Time Goes By
(2004)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[4]
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide[1]
Rolling Stone[5]

Lovelines is the posthumous thirteenth studio album by the American music duo Carpenters, the third Carpenters album released after the death of Karen Carpenter. It was released in 1989 and is a compilation album assembled by Richard Carpenter from unreleased Carpenters tracks along with selected solo tracks by Karen from her then-unreleased solo album.[6]

Background

The songs on Lovelines were primarily gleaned from Carpenters television specials. "When I Fall in Love" was originally recorded in 1978 for their TV special, Space Encounters. However, they chose "Little Girl Blue" for that special instead, and later used "When I Fall in Love" in their Music, Music, Music! TV special in 1980. Other outtakes included "Kiss Me the Way You Did Last Night" and "The Uninvited Guest" from Made in America, the studio album released in 1981 and the last completed during Karen's lifetime.

Between 1989 and 2019, Lovelines was also the last Carpenters album to be issued in the vinyl LP format; in 2019 Carpenters with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra was released on LP.

Critical reception

Rolling Stone wrote that "as Karen's cozy contralto pulses through the come-hither 'Lovelines', the hearth-warm 'If We Try' ... and the saltier 'If I Had You', her vocals come damn close to soulful."[5]

Track listing

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Lovelines"Rod Temperton4:28
2."Where Do I Go from Here?"Parker McGee4:24
3."The Uninvited Guest"
4:24
4."If We Try"Temperton3:42
5."When I Fall in Love"
3:08
6."Kiss Me the Way You Did Last Night"
  • Margaret Dorn
  • Lynda Lee Lawley
4:03
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
7."Remember When Lovin' Took All Night"
3:47
8."You're the One"Steve Ferguson4:13
9."Honolulu City Lights"Keola Beamer3:19
10."Slow Dance"
3:35
11."If I Had You"
3:57
12."Little Girl Blue"
3:24

Singles

"Honolulu City Lights"

  1. "Honolulu City Lights"
  2. "I Just Fall in Love Again"

"Honolulu City Lights"

  1. "Honolulu City Lights"
  2. "Slow Dance"

"If I Had You" (issued as a Karen Carpenter solo)

  1. "If I Had You"
  2. "The Uninvited Guest"
  1. ”If I Had You” (no B-side)
  1. "If I Had You"
  2. "Lovelines"

"When I Fall in Love"

  1. "When I Fall in Love"
  2. "Remember When Lovin' Took All Night"

EPs

Four selections from Carpenters: The 12 Compact Disc Collection

  1. "You're the One"
  2. "(They Long to Be) Close to You"
  3. "Goodbye to Love"
  4. "Merry Christmas Darling"

Charts

Chart performance for Lovelines
Chart (1990) Peak
position
UK Albums (OCC)[7] 73

References

  1. ^ a b MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1999. p. 200.
  2. ^ "Karen Carpenter: She Had Only Just Begun : Pop: New Carpenters' album features four songs from Karen's ill-fated solo collection. The album suggests she might have had a career as a soloist". Los Angeles Times. November 7, 1989.
  3. ^ "Lovelines - Carpenters | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic" – via www.allmusic.com.
  4. ^ Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 2. MUZE. p. 204.
  5. ^ a b "Rolling Stone : The Carpenters: Lovelines : Music Reviews". February 13, 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-02-13.
  6. ^ The Rock Who's who - Page 92 Brock Helander - 1996 The posthumously released album Lovelines contained 10 unreleased songs, including 4 by Karen from a never-completed solo album.
  7. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
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