Karen Goes Solo
Joe Osborn discovered Karen’s potential when the young woman sang in front of him one late-night garage session. He signed her to Magic Lamp Records, his own label. He also gave Richard an opportunity by signing him to Lightup Music. During this period, Karen was able to drop a single with backup music provided by the Richard Carpenter trio. Sadly, it ended up becoming a flop and Osborn had to fire her.
Karen Goes Solo
New Band
Richard and Karen launched a bigger band together with other Long Beach State alumni in the year 1967. They decided to call themselves “Spectrum” and the group recorded demos to send to record labels in L.A. It is important to remember that psychedelic rock and dance music were popular at that point in history. For this very reason, labels did not entertain them nor did clubs want to play their music. After just one year, Spectrum ended up disbanding and the members went their own ways.
New Band
