page_title: (They Long to Be) Close to You
section_title: Carpenters version
hierarchical_section_title: (They Long to Be) Close to You / Carpenters version
caption_attribution_description: Richard Nixon (edited out of the photo) meeting with Karen and Richard Carpenter, 08/01/1972
context_page_description: "(They Long to Be) Close to You" is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. The most well-known version is that recorded by US-American duo The Carpenters for their second studio album Close to You and produced by Jack Daugherty. Released on May 14, 1970, the single topped both the US Billboard Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts. It also reached the top of the Canadian and Australian charts, and peaked at number six on the charts of both the UK and Ireland. The record was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America in August 1970.
context_section_description: In 1970, "(They Long To Be) Close To You" was released by the Carpenters on their album Close to You (1970), and became their breakthrough hit. The song stayed at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks.
  Bacharach and David gave Herb Alpert the song after he scored a number one hit in 1968 with "This Guy's in Love with You", which the duo had also written. Alpert recorded the song, but was displeased with the recording and did not release it. After The Carpenters achieved their first chart success with "Ticket to Ride" in 1969, Alpert convinced them to record their version of the song, believing it was well-suited for them.
  Carpenter and Alpert collaborated on the song, and the finished product was a 4-minute, 36-second long song. When A&M Records decided to remove the extended coda and release it as a 3-minute, 40-second long single in May 1970, it became A&M's biggest hit since Alpert's "This Guy's in Love with You" from 1968. Billboard ranked it as the number two song for 1970.
  "(They Long to Be) Close to You" earned the Carpenters a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus in 1971. It became the first of three Grammy Awards they would win during their careers. The song was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on August 12, 1970. Reaching number six in the UK Singles Chart in 1970, in a UK television special on ITV in  2016 it was voted fourth in The Nation's Favourite Carpenters Song.
caption: Karen and Richard Carpenter recorded the most commercially successful version of the song
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