Make Your Own Kind Of Music

"(They Long To Be) Close To You"
Lyrics by Hal David - Music by Burt Bacharach
© 1970 A&M/Universal Music Group

The Carpenters

This site is dedicated to the Carpenters' summer replacement series on NBC-TV that aired Tuesday nights at 8:00 to 9:00 pm. Pacific time in 1971 in lieu of "The Don Knotts Show."

"Make Your Own Kind of Music" ran for eight weeks featuring the Carpenters and their guests singing, introduced by the use of a letter of the alphabet.  The Carpenters also performed with their guests in comedy sketches and in song.  Guests featured were Herb Alpert, Al Hirt, Tom Patchett, Jay Tarses, Mark Lindsay, Jack Jones, Dusty Springfield, Jose Feliciano, Kenny Rogers and the First Edition, B.J. Thomas, Anne Murray, Mac Davis, Helen Reddy, and the 5th Dimension.

What else was on television during that time slot?  "Green Acres," a situation comedy starring Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor was on CBS from 8:00 to 8:30 followed by the 90 minute epic western series "Cimarron Strip" starring Stuart Whitman.  ABC offered "Mod Squad" starring Peggy Lipton, Clarence Williams III, and Michael Cole as three ex-juvenile delinquents turned undercover cops.  "Mod Squad" started at 7:30 followed by the ABC Movie of the Week at 8:30 pm.

 

Grammy Awards and Nominations

Throughout the 1970s, Richard and Karen Carpenter were nominated numerous times for Grammy Awards.  Richard Carpenter was also nominated for a Grammy Award for their instrumental song, "Flat Baroque" in 1972.

The Carpenters won three Grammy Awards, "We've Only Just Begun" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998 and "(They Long To Be) Close To You" was inducted in 2000.

Awards

Carpenters (Karen Carpenter, Richard Carpenter), artist.	Pop	Best Pop Vocal Performance By A Duo Or Group	1971 - 14th Annual GRAMMY Awards	Carpenters	Carpenters
Carpenters (Karen Carpenter, Richard Carpenter), artist.	General	Best New Artist Of The Year	1970 - 13th Annual GRAMMY Awards	Close To You	Carpenters
Carpenters (Karen Carpenter, Richard Carpenter), artist.	Pop	Best Contemporary Vocal Performance By A Duo, Group Or Chorus	1970 - 13th Annual GRAMMY Awards	Close To You	Carpenters

The audience composition for "Make Your Own Kind of Music" as reported by Nielsen Media Research report for July 1971 was 27% men, 48% women, 11% teens aged 12-17, and 14% children aged 6-11.

Click on the television screen above to hear a medley of songs from the show.