MARCH 2

KURT WEILL + KAREN CARPENTER

1900  Kurt Julian Weill (March 2, 1900 – April 3, 1950) was a German-Jewish composer, active from the 1920s, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was most well known for his fruitful collaborations with Bertolt Brecht. With Brecht, he developed productions such as his most well known work The Threepenny Opera, a Marxist critique of capitalism, which included the ballad "Mack the Knife". Weill was a socialist who held the ideal of writing music that served a socially useful purpose. He also wrote a number of works for the concert hall, as well as several Judaism themed pieces. Search Amazon.com for Kurt Weill

Wikipedia

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1950  Karen Anne Carpenter (March 2, 1950 – February 4, 1983) was an American singer and drummer. She and her brother, Richard, formed the 1970s duo The Carpenters. She was a drummer of exceptional skill, but she is best remembered for her vocal performances. She suffered from anorexia nervosa, a little known eating disorder at the time, and died at the age of 32 from heart failure, later attributed to complications related to her illness. In April 1969 A&M Records signed the Carpenters to a recording contract. Karen Carpenter sang most of the songs on the band's first album, Offering (later retitled Ticket to Ride). The issued single (later the title track), which was a cover of a Beatles song, became their first single: it reached #54 on the Billboard Hot 100 Charts. Their next album, 1970's Close to You, featured two massive hit singles: "(They Long to Be) Close to You" and "We've Only Just Begun." They peaked at #1 and #2, respectively, on the Hot 100.

  Wikipedia | Search Amazon.com for The Carpenters

OCTOBER 15

1946

Richard Carpenter, born in New Haven, Connecticut, is a composer, pianist, vocalist. He is an American pop musician, best known as one half of the brother/sister duo The Carpenters, along with his sister Karen Carpenter. He was also a backup singer for her. Richard began studying classical piano at age nine and continued while attending Yale. The Carpenter family moved to Downey, CA, in 1963, and Richard continued his studies at the USC. Search Amazon.com for Richard Carpenter | Wikipedia Bio