Karen really hoped to fall in love, get married, and have a family, like many young women.
So, it might not be too much of a surprise to find that her favorite Carpenters song was their 1976 ballad, “I Need to Be in Love.”
A Domineering Mother
Karen and Richard’s upbringing seemed perfect. They came from a wholesome, close-knit family with conservative values and traditional appearance. It looked very loving, but for some reason, Karen felt unloved. Agnes was a domineering matriarch who caused Karen frustration and emptiness where the love she craved should have been.
She was often described as being stressed-out, controlling, and uptight with an inability to express love to Karen. A new book by Randy Schmidt, 'Little Girl Blue: The Life of Karen Carpenter', claims the mother-daughter relationship led to Karen’s death.
Superstar
One of the Carpenters’ greatest hits, permeating the airwaves then and conjuring up nostalgia now, is 'Superstar'. The gentle ballad is about a girl falling for a rock star she rendezvouses with and never sees again but waits in hopeful delusion for his return. It was written by Leon Russell and Bonnie Bramlett who released it in 1969. They called it “Groupie (Superstar).” It didn’t catch Richard’s attention until Bette Midler performed it on 'The Tonight Show'. He altered lyrics like, “And I can hardly wait to sleep with you again” to “. . . be with you again.”
Karen, for her part, didn’t like the song at first. In a 1981 interview, she said, “For some reason, that tune didn’t hit me in the beginning,” adding, “It’s the only one. Richard looked at me like I had three heads. He said: ‘Are you out of your mind?’. Karen went on to say that once she'd heard Richard's arrangements, the song actually became one of her favorites.
Richard’s Addiction
It was during Richard’s recovery that Karen decided to try out a solo effort. His addiction started in the late ’70s with an affliction of insomnia, worsened by panic attacks and depression. He used Quaaludes to combat his suffering. Apparently, it was Agnes who offered him his first pill.
He took a year off to go to rehab. He made a full recovery and was back on the job by 1979. As if fame had taken its toll on the two, Karen’s anorexia nervosa was at its worst during the time of her brother’s affliction.
A Typical 1950s American Family
Agnes kept the house like an SS officer, and she never hid her bigoted opinions. Karen craved her affection and feared to upset her. In 1996, journalist Rob Hoerburger incisively summed things up: "If anorexia has classically been defined as a young woman’s struggle for control, then Karen was a prime candidate, for the two things she valued most in the world – her voice and her mother’s love – were exclusively the property of her brother Richard. At least she would control the size of her own body."
When Karen tried out a solo act, her brother forced her to drop the project with his efforts to control her. He admits being threatened and afraid she would not come back to the Carpenters.