Content deleted Content added
→Personal life: Actually Enten is Sedaka's nephew, not his nephew-in-law (Enten's wife would be Sedaka's niece-in-law, but Enten is his nephew). |
GreenC bot (talk | contribs) Rescued 1 archive link. Wayback Medic 2.5 per WP:URLREQ#prweb.com |
||
| (40 intermediate revisions by 27 users not shown) | |||
Line 1:
{{Short description|American singer and songwriter (born 1939)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=
{{Infobox musical artist
| name
| image
| caption
| image_upright
| birth_name
| alias
| birth_date
| birth_place
| origin
| instrument
| genre
* [[Pop music|Pop]] * [[Brill Building (genre)|Brill Building]]
* [[
*[[
| occupation = {{hlist|Singer|songwriter|pianist}}▼
| years_active = 1957–present▼
| label = [[RCA Victor]], [[MGM Records]], [[Polydor Records]], [[The Rocket Record Company|Rocket]], [[Elektra Records]], Neil Sedaka Music, [[Razor & Tie Records]]▼
| website = {{URL|neilsedaka.com}}▼
}}
'''Neil Sedaka''' ({{IPAc-en|s|ə|ˈ|d|æ|k|ə}}; born March 13, 1939)<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e72tG80LmsU | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211107/e72tG80LmsU| archive-date=2021-11-07 | url-status=live|title=Saturday Night Beech-Nut Show (December 5, 1959) Neil Sedaka "Oh Carol" |date=December 5, 1959 |publisher=NRRArchives |access-date=September 7, 2020}}{{cbignore}}</ref> is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. Since his music career began in 1957, he has sold millions of records worldwide and has written or co-written over 500 songs for himself and other artists, collaborating mostly with lyricists [[Howard Greenfield|Howard "Howie" Greenfield]] and Phil Cody.▼
▲| label
}}
▲'''Neil Sedaka''' ({{IPAc-en|s|ə|ˈ|d|æ|k|ə}}; born March 13, 1939)<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e72tG80LmsU | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211107/e72tG80LmsU| archive-date=November 7, 2021
After a short-lived tenure as a founding member of the [[doo-wop]] group [[the Tokens]], Sedaka achieved a string of hit singles over the late 1950s and early 1960s, including "[[Oh! Carol]]" (1959), "[[Calendar Girl (song)|Calendar Girl]]" (1960), "[[Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen]]" (1961) and "[[Breaking Up Is Hard to Do]]" (1962). His popularity declined by the mid-1960s, but was revived in the mid-1970s, solidified by the 1975 US [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]] number ones "[[Laughter in the Rain]]" and "[[Bad Blood (Neil Sedaka song)|Bad Blood]]". Sedaka maintained a successful career as a songwriter, penning hits for other artists including "[[Stupid Cupid]]" ([[Connie Francis]]), "[[(Is This the Way to) Amarillo]]" ([[Tony Christie]]) and "[[Love Will Keep Us Together]]" ([[Captain & Tennille]]). He was inducted into the [[Songwriters Hall of Fame]] in 1983 and continues to perform, mounting mini-concerts on social media during the [[COVID-19 pandemic]].
==Early life: Juilliard and the Brill Building==
Sedaka was born in [[Brooklyn]], [[New York City|New York]]. His father, Mordechai "Mac" Sedaka, was a taxi driver of
Sedaka demonstrated musical aptitude in his second-grade choral class and, when his teacher sent a note home suggesting he take piano lessons, his mother took a part-time job in an [[Abraham & Straus]] department store for six months to pay for a second-hand upright. In 1947, he auditioned successfully for a piano scholarship to the [[Juilliard School of Music]]'s Preparatory Division for Children, which he attended on Saturdays. His mother had wanted him to become a classical pianist like his contemporary [[Van Cliburn]], and Sedaka continued to show fondness for (and capacity to play) classical music throughout his life.
Line 34:
At the same time, to his mother's dismay, Sedaka was discovering pop music; his mother eventually acquiesced when Sedaka received a five-figure royalty check for his hit "[[Calendar Girl (song)|Calendar Girl]]" in 1961. When Sedaka was 13, a neighbor heard him playing and introduced him to her 16-year-old son, [[Howard Greenfield]], an aspiring poet and lyricist. They became two of the [[Brill Building]]'s composers.
Sedaka and Greenfield wrote songs together throughout much of their young lives. Before rock and roll became popular, Sedaka and Greenfield found inspiration from [[show tune]]s.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdD7acx99YE |date=July 10, 2020| access-date=November 7, 2021
==Early career==
Line 42:
After graduating from [[Abraham Lincoln High School (Brooklyn)|Abraham Lincoln High School]], Sedaka and some of his classmates formed a band called the Linc-Tones. The band had minor regional hits with songs like "While I Dream", "I Love My Baby", "Come Back, Joe", and "Don't Go", before Sedaka launched his solo career and left the group in 1957. The Linc-Tones, later renamed [[the Tokens]] near the end of Sedaka's tenure with the group, went on to have four top-40 hits of their own without Sedaka. Sedaka's first three solo singles, "Laura Lee", "Ring-a-Rockin'", and "Oh, Delilah!" failed to become hits (although "Ring-a-Rockin'" earned him the first of many appearances on [[Dick Clark]]'s ''[[American Bandstand]]''), but they demonstrated his ability to perform as a solo singer, so [[RCA Victor]] signed him to a recording contract.{{citation needed|date=May 2017}}
His first single for RCA Victor, "[[The Diary (song)|The Diary]]", was inspired by [[Connie Francis]], one of Sedaka and Greenfield's most important clients, while the three were taking a temporary break during their idea-making for a new song. Francis was writing in her diary, Sedaka asked if he could read it, and Connie said no. After [[Little Anthony and the Imperials]] passed on the song, Sedaka recorded it himself, and his debut single hit the Top 15 on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 14 in 1958.<ref name=miniconcert71620>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29aIYGAopao| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211107/29aIYGAopao| archive-date=November 7, 2021
His second single, a novelty tune titled "[[I Go Ape]]", just missed the Top 40, peaking at No. 42, but it became a more successful single in the United Kingdom with a No. 9. The third single, "[[Crying My Heart Out for You]]", was a commercial failure, missing the Hot 100 entirely, peaking at No. 111 but reaching No. 6 on the pop charts in Italy. RCA Victor had lost money on "I Go Ape" and "Crying My Heart Out For You" and was ready to drop Sedaka from their label; Sedaka feared he was headed for [[one-hit wonder]] status. Sedaka and his manager, [[Al Nevins]], persuaded the RCA executives to give him one more chance.<ref name=miniconcert71620/>
Line 57:
When Sedaka was not recording his own songs, he and Howard Greenfield were writing for other performers, most notably in their earliest days [[Connie Francis]]. Francis began searching for a new hit after her 1958 single "[[Who's Sorry Now? (song)|Who's Sorry Now?]]". She was introduced to Sedaka and Greenfield, who played for her every ballad they had written. Francis began writing in her diary while the two played the last of their songs. After they finished, Francis told them they wrote beautiful ballads but that they were too intellectual for the young generation. Greenfield suggested that they play a song they had written for the [[Shepherd Sisters]]. Sedaka protested that Francis would be insulted by being played such a puerile song, but Greenfield reminded him Francis had not accepted their other suggestions and they had nothing to lose. After Sedaka played "[[Stupid Cupid]]", Francis told them they had just played her new hit. Francis' rendition of the song reached No. 14 on the ''Billboard'' charts, while it topped the [[UK Singles Chart]].
While Francis was writing in her diary, Sedaka asked her if he could read what she had written.
====Jimmy Clanton====
Line 73:
Sedaka also recorded an album in Yiddish (''[[Brighton Beach Memories – Neil Sedaka Sings Yiddish]]''), several songs in Spanish including "Mi Vecinita" ("Next Door to an Angel"), a handful of songs in German, and one single apiece in Hebrew, Japanese, and Canadian French. His English-language recordings were also quite popular internationally; "One-Way Ticket to the Blues" and "Calendar Girl" reached No. 1 on the Japanese pop charts in 1959 and 1961. He also enjoyed popularity in Latin America for his Spanish-language recordings. Many of these were pressed onto 78 rpm discs.
Sedaka stated in 2020 that he was talked into focusing on the international markets because [[Elvis Presley]], the biggest rock star in America, never toured overseas (largely because of [[Colonel Tom Parker]]'s desire to avoid immigration officials), and because his publishers and managers considered it a much lower risk for a new performer
==Mid-1960s==
Line 99:
In 1971, Sedaka reunited with RCA and released the ''[[Emergence (Neil Sedaka album)|Emergence]]'' album. Singles from that album included "I'm A Song (Sing Me)", "Silent Movies", "Superbird", and "Rosemary Blue". Good friend and New York music impresario [[Don Kirshner]] attempted to make the U.S. release of "Emergence" a comeback for Sedaka, but the album and single releases had no appreciable success, and RCA showed little interest in promoting the album. After the failure of "Emergence" in the US market, Sedaka left New York and moved to the UK.<ref name=miniconcert71620/>
In 1972, Sedaka embarked on a successful British tour and was introduced by [[Harvey Lisberg]] to the four future members of [[10cc]] (best known to American audiences for "[[I'm Not in Love]]" and "[[The Things We Do for Love (song)|The Things We Do for Love]]") with whom he recorded the ''[[Solitaire (Neil Sedaka album)|Solitaire]]'' album at their [[Strawberry Studios]] in [[Stockport]]<ref name="Manchester Evening News">{{cite news|title=Neil Sedaka is back and ready to mix old and new music on autumn tour|url=http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/whats-on/music-nightlife-news/neil-sedaka-back-ready-mix-6902993|website=Manchestereveningnews.co.uk|access-date=April 1, 2014}}</ref> issued by RCA in 1972. As well as the title track, "[[Solitaire (Neil Sedaka song)|Solitaire]]", which was successfully covered by [[Andy Williams]] (UK Top 5 singles chart) and [[the Carpenters]] (US Top 20), it included two UK Top 40 singles, one of which ("Beautiful You") also charted briefly in America, Sedaka's first US chart appearance in ten years. "Solitaire" was the first collaboration between Sedaka and Phil Cody, whom Sedaka felt was an ideal lyricist for writing music in the singer-songwriter period; Sedaka and Cody "clicked" as songwriters and began a prolonged collaboration between the two. Sedaka took a different approach to songwriting with Cody compared to Greenfield, with whom he was arguing frequently near the end of their collaboration; whereas he allowed Greenfield in the studio during recording, he met with Cody off-site to write songs. Cody did not consider Sedaka to be a personal friend; he mainly saw his work with Sedaka as a work project to bring the singer into the modern era.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Songfacts|title=Philip Cody : Songwriter Interviews|url=https://www.songfacts.com/blog/interviews/philip-cody|access-date=November 7, 2021
==Return to success in the mid-1970s==
Line 105:
[[File:Neil Sedaka - TopPop 1974 1.png|thumb|Sedaka on [[TopPop]] in 1974]]
A year later he reconvened with the Strawberry team, who had by then charted with their own debut ''10cc'' album, to record ''[[The Tra-La Days Are Over]]'' for [[MGM Records]], which started the second phase of his career and included his original version of the hit song "[[Love Will Keep Us Together]]" (also a US No. 1 hit two years later for [[Captain & Tennille]]). This album also marked the effective end of his writing partnership with Greenfield, commemorated by the track "Our Last Song Together" (later the last hit song for [[Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods]], whose version hit No. 95). They reunited, however, and composed together again, before Greenfield's death in 1986. From 1974 onward, Sedaka's records were issued in Europe and around the world on the [[Polydor Records|Polydor]] label. His first album of new material with Polydor was ''[[Laughter in the Rain (1974 Neil Sedaka album)|Laughter in the Rain]]'' (1974).
[[Darby Crash]] referred to Sedaka as "the real godfather of punk" due to his unaffected, simple chord progressions and unpretentious lyrics, saying that [[Calendar Girl (song)|Calendar Girl]] "had all of punk right there-you just had to get high and play that pure rock and roll just like that."<ref>{{Cite web|date=2007-06-22|title=Resurrecting legacy of doomed punker Darby Crash|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-jun-22-et-secret22-story.html|url-status=live|access-date=2021-12-08|website=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200203050251/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-jun-22-et-secret22-story.html |archive-date=February 3, 2020 }}</ref>
===Career with The Rocket Record Company===
Line 111 ⟶ 113:
John said he had "always been a Sedaka fan anyway".<ref name=elton /> He went on to say:
<blockquote>So the basic plan was as simple as finding out what he wanted to have on his
===''Sedaka's Back''===
Line 124 ⟶ 126:
In late 1975, Sedaka's most successful year of his career continued as he earned yet more chart success with the release of his second Rocket Records album, ''[[The Hungry Years]]''. This album was an American edition of Sedaka's British Polydor album ''[[Overnight Success (Neil Sedaka album)|Overnight Success]]''. The first single, "[[Bad Blood (Neil Sedaka song)|Bad Blood]]", hit No. 1 on the Billboard 100 and stayed there for three weeks (October 11, 18 and 25, 1975), was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and was the most commercially successful individual single of his career. Elton John provided uncredited backing vocals for "Bad Blood". Despite their later falling out that resulted in Sedaka moving from Elton's Rocket Records to Elektra, Sedaka has credited John as being responsible for his successful return to the U.S. pop music scene.<ref>"Neil Sedaka: The Music of My Life" – interview with Johnnie Walker for [[BBC Radio 2]], broadcast December 28, 2010</ref> John has stated, "I only appear on the records of people I really know or like."<ref name="elton" />
Another highlight from ''The Hungry Years'' was Sedaka's new version of "[[Breaking Up Is Hard to Do (song)|Breaking Up Is Hard to Do]]". His 1962 original, a No. 1 hit single, was upbeat; the remake was a slow [[ballad]], which Sedaka had arranged for [[Lenny Welch]] five years prior.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PJgeCVWUX8| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211107/9PJgeCVWUX8| archive-date=November 7, 2021
===''Steppin' Out''===
Line 195 ⟶ 197:
On September 11, 2010, Sedaka performed to a TV audience at the Hyde Park, London, venue of the "Proms in the Park" for the BBC.
In early 2011, Sedaka recorded two duets ("Brighton" and "[[The Immigrant (Neil Sedaka song)|The Immigrant]]") with singer Jim Van Slyke for Van Slyke's Neil Sedaka tribute album, ''The Sedaka Sessions''. LML Records released this album in August 2011.<ref>{{cite
In 2010, Sedaka duetted with West End (London) and Broadway theatre legend [[Elaine Paige]], on their cover of "[[Make It With You]]", from Ms. Paige's UK CD release ''[[Elaine Paige and Friends]]''. The track was originally a No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 pop charts for the soft-rock group [[Bread (band)|Bread]] in 1970.<ref>Source: Billboard.com/charts. Retrieved August 31, 2016.</ref> In 2014, Sedaka duetted with [[Engelbert Humperdinck (singer)|Engelbert Humperdinck]]. The pair recorded the title song from Sedaka's 1975 album ''[[The Hungry Years]]''. The track is from Engelbert's UK/USA CD release ''Engelbert Calling''.
Line 203 ⟶ 205:
On February 1, 2016, Sedaka performed to a sold-out audience in [[The Villages]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Neil Sedaka brings back memories by playing from his rich songbook|date=February 2, 2016|url=http://www.villages-news.com/neil-sedaka-brings-back-memories-by-playing-from-his-rich-songbook/|publisher=Villages-News.com|access-date=February 24, 2016}}</ref> Then, on August 12, 2016, Sedaka released his new acoustic album, ''I Do It for Applause'', which includes 11 new tracks and a bonus of his first symphony that was debuted in Australia in 2008, "Joie de Vivre (Joy of Life)"; the recording features the [[London Philharmonia Orchestra]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://neilsedaka.com/|title=Neil Sedaka|website=Neilsedaka.com|date=April 13, 2013|access-date=June 14, 2021}}</ref>
In April 2020, Sedaka launched a series of free mini-concerts, released through his social media channels, as a method of entertaining his fans during the [[COVID-19 pandemic]]. Each daily concert features three songs from Sedaka's discography. Sedaka paused the series in December due to contracting COVID-19 himself, but resumed on a reduced schedule January 4, 2021, after recovering with no symptoms.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.philstar.com/entertainment/2020/04/17/2007738/rediscovering-neil-sedaka|title=Rediscovering Neil Sedaka|first=Baby A.|last=Gil|website=Philstar.com|access-date=June 14, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0kxMlteS5g| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211107/j0kxMlteS5g| archive-date=November 7, 2021
==Personal life==
Sedaka attended [[Abraham Lincoln High School (Brooklyn, New York)|Abraham Lincoln High School]] in Brooklyn, from which he graduated at the age of 17 in 1956.<ref>Hechinger, Fred M. [https://www.nytimes.com/1980/01/01/archives/about-education-personal-touch-helps-about-education-personal-touch.html "ABOUT EDUCATION; Personal Touch Helps"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', January 1, 1980; accessed September 20, 2009.<br>"Lincoln, an ordinary, unselective New York City high school, is proud of a galaxy of prominent alumni, who include the playwright Arthur Miller, Representative Elizabeth Holtzman, the authors Joseph Heller and Ken Auletta, the producer Mel Brooks, the singer Neil Diamond and the songwriter Neil Sedaka."</ref>
He married Leba Strassberg in 1962. The couple have a daughter (Dara) and a son (Marc). Dara is a recording artist and vocalist for television and radio commercials who sang the female part on the Sedaka Billboard Top 20 hit duet, "Should've Never Let You Go" from 1980, and "Angel Queen" on the ''[[Queen Millennia]]'' soundtrack. Marc is a Los
Sedaka's nephew, through his marriage to Strassberg, is [[CNN|CNN Politics]] writer [[Harry Enten]].<ref>{{cite tweet|user=ForecasterEnten|first=Harry|last=Enten|number=898372160066121728|date=August 18, 2017|title=@kernals12 Yes, which is what makes it funny imho.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Unorthodox Live With FiveThirtyEight's Harry Enten and 'How to Be a Muslim' Author Haroon Moghul|url=http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/241818/unorthodox-episode-99-fivethirtyeight-harry-enten-haroon-moghul-how-to-be-a-muslim|website=Tablet Magazine|access-date=February 21, 2018|language=en}}</ref>
Sedaka underwent a procedure to remove a benign skin tumor from his nose in March 2021.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rw_Y9YK5UyQ| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211107/rw_Y9YK5UyQ| archive-date=November 7, 2021
==Discography==
Line 222 ⟶ 224:
* "[[One Way Ticket (Neil Sedaka song)|One-Way Ticket to the Blues]]" (Japan), 1960
* "[[Calendar Girl (song)|Calendar Girl]]" (Canada & Japan), 1961
* "[[Breaking Up Is Hard to Do]]" (1962 version) – (Canada), US Billboard Hot 100, 1962, Grammy nomination for Best R&R performance<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Grammy Awards: Neil Sedaka|url=https://www.grammy.com/grammys/artists/neil-sedaka/16025
* "[[La terza luna]]" (Italy), 1963
* "[[Star Crossed Lovers]]" (Australia), 1969
Line 237 ⟶ 239:
==Filmography==
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
==Autobiography==
Line 252 ⟶ 254:
==Sources==
* Bloom, Ken. ''American
* Clarke, Donald. ''The Penguin Encyclopedia of Popular Music'', Viking, 1989.
* Ewen, David. ''American Songwriters. An H. W. Wilson Biographical Dictionary'', H. W. Wilson Company, 1987.▼
* diMartino, Dave. ''Singer-Songwriters, Pop Music's Performer-Composers, from A to Zevon'', Billboard Books, 1984.
▲* Ewen, David. ''American Songwriters
* Friedrich, Gary; Brown, Len. ''Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll'', Tower Publications, 1970.
* Lablanc, Michael. ''Contemporary Musicians'', vol. 4, Gale Research, 1991.
* Larkin, Colin. ''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music'', Macmillan, 1992.
* Lyman, Darryl. ''Great Jews in Music'', J. D. Publishers, 1986.
* Sadie, Stanley; Hitchcock, H. Wiley (
* Stambler, Irwin. ''Encyclopedia of Pop, Rock and Soul'', St. Martin's Press, 1974.
* Sumrall, Harry. ''Pioneers of Rock and Roll
* White, Mark. ''You Must Remember This... Popular Songwriters 1900–1980'', Frederick Warner, 1983.
Line 279 ⟶ 281:
[[Category:1939 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:20th-century American
[[Category:21st-century American
[[Category:21st-century
[[Category:Abraham Lincoln High School (Brooklyn) alumni]]
[[Category:American expatriates in the United Kingdom]]
Line 300 ⟶ 302:
[[Category:Jewish singers]]
[[Category:MGM Records artists]]
[[Category:
[[Category:People from Brighton Beach]]
[[Category:Polydor Records artists]]
Line 306 ⟶ 308:
[[Category:RCA Victor artists]]
[[Category:Rocket Records artists]]
[[Category:The Tokens members]]
[[Category:Singer-songwriters from New York (state)]]
[[Category:20th-century American Sephardic Jews]]
| |||