aving dominated the 1970s with their own hits, The Carpenters decided to take a look back on their fifth album, Now & Then, to pay tribute to the hits of the 1960s. A song they wrote in tribute to those songs became the duo's fifth, and final, #2 single.

"Richard was always more addicted to old records than I was," producer John Bettis recalled in The Carpenters: The Untold Story, "and he told me he was going to do a whole side of an album of oldies and he wanted an anthem for it."

"Yesterday Once More" was The Carpenters' second Top 5 single (after "Sing") from their 1973 album, Now & Then, and their tenth U.S. Top 40 hit. Entering the Top 40 on June 16, 1973, "Yesterday Once More" peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and remained on the chart for 12 weeks. Now & Then first charted on June 2, 1973, also peaking at #2, and remained on the chart for 41 weeks. It was certified gold by the R.I.A.A. on June 7, 1973.

The plan for the album would be that one side would be a medley of popular oldies, including "Da Do Ron Ron," "Deadman's Curve," "The End Of The World," "Fun, Fun, Fun" "Johnny Angel," "Night Has A Thousand Eyes," "One Fine Day," and "Our Day Will Come." The other side would contain new material.

One of the new songs was called "Yesterday Once More." Richard Carpenter revealed that the oldies were directly responsible for the new song. As he stated in the duo's anthology, From The Top, "The oldies were enjoying a resurgence in popularity during the early 1970s, much to Karen's and my delight. I thought it would be nice to write a song about this and use the piece to 'bookend' the oldies medley we were planning to record." The song, co-written by Richard and John Bettis, showed that Richard was taking a more active role in the group's career. It marked the second time he had released one of his own songs as a single, following 1972's #7 hit "Goodbye To Love." The track also bore a producing credit for the group.

"Yesterday Once More" was the highest debut the week of June 2, 1973, entering at #79. In its ninth chart week, the song became The Carpenters' fifth #2 single, placing them in a three-way tie with Creedence Clearwater Revival and Elvis Presley for the chart record of most #2 hits in chart history. The song also topped the Billboard Adult Contemporary charts, which added to an incredible run. Between 1970's "(They Long To Be) Close To You" and 1976's "I Need To Be In Love," every one of the 17 singles they released, not counting flip sides, peaked at either #1 or #2 on the Adult Contemporary charts, a streak that nobody has come close to beating.

Thanks to the group's five #2 hits, along with several other Top 10 songs, The Carpenters' next album, The Singles 1969-1973, became their first and only #1 album. Their next LP, Horizon, spun off another #1 hit, a remake of The Marvelettes' "Please Mr. Postman," after which they turned to the idea of yesterday once more with "Only Yesterday." It climbed to #4 in 1975, becoming their final Top 10 hit. The duo continued to chart for a number of years, ending with 1982's #74 "Beechwood 4-5789," but tragedy soon ended their career. Karen Carpenter, who had been suffering from anorexia nervosa, died of heart failure on February 4, 1983.

- Christopher G. Feldman, The Billboard Book of No. 2 Singles, Billboard, 2000.

 

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