1976 Soft Rock Hit Became a Timeless Love Song, Even Though the Singers Wish They Never Recorded It

"There's a Kind of Hush," which was written by Les Reed and Geoff Stephens, was originally recorded by The New Vaudeville Band in the 1960s. Although the song was a hit in Australia and South Africa, a more popular version was released in the US a few years later by The Carpenters.

When The Carpenters remade this song in 1976, they titled it "There's a Kind of Hush (All Over the World)." This was a track on their seventh album, A Kind of Hush. The song rose to No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100. It also reached No. 1 on the easy listening chart.

However, Richard and Karen were not huge fans of their remake. In the liner notes in one of their compilation albums, Gold, Richard said, "One of Karen's and my favorite songs from the '60s. In hindsight, however, even though our version was a hit, I wish we'd never recorded it. Here are three reasons why: (1) The original was, and is, perfectly fine. (2) Our foray into the oldies should have ended with the medley featured on side 2 of Now & Then, 1973. (3) The use of a synthesizer in some of our recordings has not worn well with me, on this track, or just about any other track on which I used it."

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Karen died in 1983 when she was only 32, due to heart failure caused by her struggle with anorexia. In a 2021 interview with Closer Weekly, Richard said, "Karen was silenced way too soon. She'd be 71 now, and I'm certain she'd be absolutely fabulous. We would have had hundreds of recordings we'd already done, and we'd still be making more. That's what I miss."

When speaking about her struggles, he added, "It had gotten so bad that she had to lie down between shows. Nonetheless, she continued to sing as beautifully as ever."

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This story was originally published June 11, 2026 at 8:22 AM.