Tag: Carpenters

Canadian performer Michelle Berting Brett was born on July 8, 1964, at 9:32 am in Humboldt, Saskatchewan. The Water element is very strong in her chart, with Sun, Moon, Mercury and Saturn in Water signs. The Sun, too, is trine Neptune, and the Moon is in the Balsamic phase. It seems that Michelle can operate very much from a place of feeling, sensitivity, and intuition. Pluto on the Ascendant adds an intensity to the way in which Michelle perceives the world; she likely has some very strong research and detective skills. Combined with the Virgo Ascendant, I imagine Michelle is very thorough in attending to the details of her show.

1970 was a pivotal year for the Carpenters. A study of that year’s astrological cycles will shed some light on important facets of Karen’s chart, which later, as you’ll see, resonate with points in the chart of Michelle Berting Brett. Three songs did extremely well in 1970, propelling the Carpenters to fame. In July 1970, (They Long To Be) Close To You ranked #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100. We’ve Only Just Begun made it to #1 on Billboard’s Easy Listening in October and #2 on the Hot 100. A couple months later, Merry Christmas Darling was a hit on the seasonal music chart.

It has been wonderful to watch the career progress of Michelle Berting Brett. In the last year or so, she has been on tour starring in the successful show, We’ve Only Just Begun: Carpenters Remembered. Having worked with her before in our early theatre days, I am familiar with Michelle’s voice; she is skilled at producing a dark and rich timbre that, yes, could remind us of the contralto range of Karen Carpenter from the 1970s. But why specifically is Michelle drawn to the Carpenters? She could explore other avenues of singing, but this style, this sound, really seems to click with her. In We’ve Only Just Begun, Michelle and her band recreate the nostalgic sounds of that famous brother-sister duo. And the astrology of it is quite remarkable.