In 1990, the Carpenters finally achieved that hipster cred with Sonic Youth's 'Tunic (Song for Karen),' sung by Kim Gordon, who was unashamed to call herself a fan. In the 1970s, when laid-back aesthetics and hipster cred could coexist (hello, James Taylor!), they just weren't considered acceptable to like. During their commercial height, however, they seemed to be throwbacks to an earlier, mellower, squarer era. At their best, they balanced these aspects superbly. Richard and Karen Carpenter stepped into the gulf between cool and square, mellow and edgy. Meanwhile, Barbra Streisand, who was the same age as King, had abandoned Broadway to sing 'Stoney End' and work with the all-female rock band Fanny. Carole King, one of the architects of the early rock songbook, sidestepped the 'oldies' trap with Tapestry, which sounded light years away from the Brill Building but fit in with the singer-songwriter ethos. By the early 1970's, pre-Beatles rock and roll was considered 'oldies' even though it was at most a decade and a half old. The Beach Boys, meanwhile, predated the British Invasion, and they were in an odd spot. This would explain the easy-listening cover versions (by Brasil '66 among others) as well as attempts by prerock 'squares' to tackle the Fab Four's material, with varying results. The Beatles, meanwhile, were a rarity-a rock band whose influence extended beyond the generation gap. But then, 'The Look of Love' was a hit for the decidedly unsquare Dusty Springfield before Brasil '66 took it to the Top 10. Burt Bacharach's name might be synonymous with 'square,' 'standard pop,' and 'uncool nonrock' to those bending over backwards to be hip. The juxtaposition of those three names shows how fluid the line between genres truly was in the prepsychedelic 1960s. 'The Beatles, the Beach Boys, and Bacharach.' Richard Carpenter allegedly claimed these were the Carpenters' influences. Two Rock Stars: An Appreciation of Now & Then

Perfect Sound Forever: The Carpenters, Now and Then Karen and Richard Carpenter

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