Question: How long had A&M Records been in business at the time the Carpenters signed a contract with them? Passage 1:The siblings were born in New Haven, Connecticut, and moved to Downey, California, in 1963. Richard took piano lessons as a child, progressing to California State University, Long Beach, while Karen learned the drums. They first performed together as a duo in 1965 and formed the jazz-oriented Richard Carpenter Trio followed by the middle-of-the-road group Spectrum. Signing as Carpenters to A&M Records in 1969, they achieved major success the following year with the hit singles "(They Long to Be) Close to You" and "We've Only Just Begun". Subsequently, the duo's brand of melodic pop produced a record-breaking run of hit recordings on the American Top 40 and Adult Contemporary charts, and they became leading sellers in the soft rock, easy listening and adult contemporary music genres. The Carpenters had three number-one singles and five number-two singles on the Billboard Hot 100 and fifteen number-one hits on the Adult Contemporary chart, in addition to twelve top-10 singles. They have sold more than 90 million records worldwide, making them one of the best-selling music artists of all time. The duo toured continually during the 1970s, which put them under increased strain; Richard took a year off in 1979 after he had become addicted to Quaaludes, while Karen suffered from anorexia nervosa.
 Passage 2:The 1966 NASCAR season opened at Augusta Speedway on November 14, 1965, with Richard Petty winning the season opening event in a 1965 Plymouth. NASCAR then ventured to Riverside International Raceway where Dan Gurney took the checkered flag in a 1965 Ford. After the January 23rd Riverside event, the drivers and teams traveled to Daytona International Speedway in Florida for the 1966 Daytona 500. Paul Goldsmith and Early Balmer took the qualifying events, while Richard Petty notched his first and only Daytona 500 pole position. Petty came from two laps down during the competition to win by more than a full lap when the race was halted 2 laps shy of scheduled event due to thunderstorms. In March Paul Goldsmith won at Rockingham Speedway, Dick Hutcherson at Bristol, and Jim Hurtubise captured the checkered flag at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Hutcherson's victory at Bristol was by more than 4 laps over the closest competitor, Paul Lewis, when crashes and attrition left only seven cars of the 38 starters running at the end of the Southeastern 500 (now known as Food City 500). On April 3, Pearson finally found his way to victory lane in the first of four consecutive victories at Hickory Motor Speedway. He followed up with wins at Columbia Speedway, Greenville, and Winston-Salem, before Jim Paschal broke his streak at North Wilksboro and repeated at Martinsville Speedway. On May 7, Richard Petty started a string of three consecutive wins at Darlington Raceway, Hampton, and Macon. After Ford's announcement of their boycott of NASCAR on April 7, only 2.500 fans attend the May 13th event in which Darel Dieringer captures the win at Monroe in a contest.
 Passage 3:Born in Lichfield, Staffordshire, Leadbitter was a successful grasstrack racer before taking up speedway in 1966 at the training school at Long Eaton. After a single match for Glasgow Tigers in 1966 he rode in four matches for Long Eaton Archers in 1967. In 1968 he was signed by newly formed Leicester Lions, but only made one appearance for the team that season, spending most of it on loan to Middlesbrough Teessiders. In 1969 he progressed with Middlesbrough, averaging close to nine points per match, and had rode in four matches in the top division as a guest for Newcastle Diamonds. In 1970 he stayed with Middlesbrough as well as riding in several matches for his parent club Leicester, and was recalled to a full team place for the Lions in 1971. He competed in the Second Division Riders Championship in 1970, finishing in fifth place. At the end of the season he transferred to Wolverhampton Wolves where he spent four seasons, establishing himself as a solid scorer, although in 1975 his rides for Wolves were limited and he returned to Teesside in the National League where he averaged over nine points and recorded five full maximum and three paid maximum scores in 33 matches. After a second season back with Teesside in 1976 he moved on to Bristol Bulldogs in 1977, his final season before retiring.

Output: 1