Only Yesterday (song) explained

Only Yesterday
Cover:CarpsOnlyYesterday.jpg
Caption:Cover to the single "Only Yesterday"
Type:single
Artist:the Carpenters
Album:Horizon
B-Side:Happy
Released:March 14, 1975
Recorded:January 1975
Label:A&M
1677
Producer:Richard Carpenter
Prev Title:Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town
Prev Year:1974
Next Title:Solitaire
Next Year:1975

"Only Yesterday" is a song recorded by the Carpenters. Released on March 14, 1975, the song was composed by Richard Carpenter and John Bettis. "Only Yesterday" peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Adult Contemporary (AC) charts,[1] The Carpenters' eleventh number one on that chart.

Cash Box called it a "ballad with its infectious beat" and that "Karen's dulcet, multi-tracked vocals soar over a dynamic arrangement which should be buzzing over the airwaves for a long time."[2]

The song was The Carpenters' last top-ten single on the Billboard Hot 100 - though they would have nine more top-ten singles on the AC charts, ending with AC number seven "Make Believe It's Your First Time", a few months after Karen's death in 1983.

The music video features some footage of Karen and Richard at work in the studio. After Karen sang the line, "the promise of morning light", it faded from the studio to a fountain in Huntington Library Gardens in San Marino, California. It then featured some footage of a red moon bridge, which was roped off to the general public, in the Japanese Garden at Huntington Library.

Personnel

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1975)Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[3] 16
Canada RPM Top Singles 2
Canada RPM Adult Contemporary[4] 2
Oricon International Singles Chart1
Oricon (Japanese) Singles Chart12
New Zealand[5] 10
UK Singles Chart[6] 7
US Billboard Hot 100[7] 4
US Billboard Adult Contemporary[8] 1
US Cash Box Top 100 [9] 8

Year-end charts

Chart (1975)Rank
Canada RPM Top Singles[10] 59
Canada RPM Adult Contemporary[11] 15
New Zealand[12] 33
US Billboard Hot 100[13] 94

See also

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. Book: Whitburn, Joel . Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Joel Whitburn . 2002 . Record Research . 47.
  2. News: CashBox Record Reviews. March 29, 1975. 22. 2021-12-11. Cash Box.
  3. Book: Kent, David. Australian Chart Book 1970-1992. David Kent (historian). Australian Chart Book. St Ives, N.S.W.. 1993. 0-646-11917-6.
  4. Web site: Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada . Collectionscanada.gc.ca . 1975-05-17 . 2018-03-10.
  5. Web site: NZ Top 40 Singles Chart | The Official New Zealand Music Chart . Nztop40.co.nz . 1975-07-07 . 2017-03-29.
  6. Web site: The Carpenters full Official Chart History. Official Charts Company. December 10, 2020.
  7. Carpenters Chart History: Hot 100. Billboard. December 10, 2020.
  8. Adult Contemporary Music Chart . Billboard . 1975-05-03 . 2016-10-10.
  9. Web site: Cash Box. Worldradiohistory.com. 1975-05-31. 2023-08-17.
  10. Web site: Top Singles – Volume 24, No. 14, December 27, 1975 . . . 28 March 2017 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20170329050316/http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?&file_num=nlc008388.4057a&type=1&interval=20&PHPSESSID=u9874ano8k0c5b6bkp4r8qrbp3 . 29 March 2017 .
  11. Web site: Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada. collectionscanada.gc.ca. 17 July 2013 .
  12. Web site: Top Selling Singles of 1975 | The Official New Zealand Music Chart . Nztop40.co.nz . 1975-12-31 . 2016-10-10.
  13. Web site: Top 100 Hits of 1975/Top 100 Songs of 1975 . Musicoutfitters.com . 2016-10-10.