Do you remember when Neil Sedaka revived his career in the mid-70s?

He did it in this red hat.

Did his daughter ever have much of a career on her own?

I don't remember him as much as I remember Captain and Tennille's "Love Will Keep Us Together" written by Neil and a huge, captivating smash. Tennille starts singing "Sedaka is back" as it fades out. Wasn't "Laughter in the Rain" his biggest comeback hit? When was his last?

The lyrics to the Captain and Tennille's Love Will Keep Us Together included the line, "Sedaka is back."

That old closet queen was CHEESY.

His songs sound like bad Carole King imitations.

[quote]Wasn't "Laughter in the Rain" his biggest comeback hit? When was his last?

I suspect that the dreadful closet queen had a bigger hit with "Breaking Up is Hard to Do"

I only knew Sedaka in the 70s and never realized he had a career before that.

Yeah, Sedaka was before my time too. What were his biggest hits when he was young?

Looks like he was inspired by Elton (who sang back-up on his "Bad Blood").

The comeback was really an amazing feat when you think about it; how many late 50's - early 60s acts were able to survive? Beyond oldies shows, that is.

In fact it's not quite clear why he decided to start singing his own songs in the first place. It's not like he was a sex symbol. More like in the Liberace category.

I was just thinking he was basically an earlier version of Elton.

I love the clips like R10's.

They are just like the ones when Connie Francis appeared on American Bandstand: An audience of appallingly unattractive teenagers, chomping gum and looking bored out of their fucking minds.

[quote]I was just thinking he was basically an earlier version of Elton.

The difference is that Elton John was a MUCH bigger star.

Sedaka had success writing songs for others (which Elton didn't do) and limited success as a singer. Elton was HUGE.

Paging Shawn Mendes: This is your future. Embrace it.

I agree Elton was a better singer and maybe a somewhat better songwriter too.

Fun fact - just as he was about to release" Laughter In The Rain" as his great comeback song - someone else covered it (see link). So they had to RUSH RELEASE his version to beat her off.

[quote]That old closet queen was CHEESY.

He's been married to the same woman since 1962

R16 That just shows that that pushy closet queen should have let the better singer have the song.

[quote]He's been married to the same woman since 1962

Bless your heart.

Did anyone BOTHER to look at the video I posted with the red hat? It looks like something Bea Arthur would have worn in 1975.

R16 like Quincy Jones rush releasing "It's My Party" because Phil Spector told him it was going to be his next big smash. Quincy rush released the demo, with a few glaring flaws, and before they had a chance to give Leslie Gore a new fame-friendly name. Leslie heard it on the radio a few weeks later driving to high school.

The Rolling Stones had recorded a rough version of Satisfaction (in London, I think) - then went to tour America. While they were there they suddenly heard it on the radio. The record company had gone ahead and released it in its rough form. The rest is history.

He recorded his comeback songs in England with the future 10CC - they were studio musicians and had a recording studio in Manchester where he was working the clubs. They say that the work they did on his records brought them together as a group.

Thank God the revival was short. Presumably he's been able live off his royalties and not try another comeback. Horrible tripe.

I remember finding out the woman singing "Laughter in the Rain" was a guy and thinking whaa??

Then I saw him on Merv Griffin and this falsetto queen mentioned his wife, an was thinking whaa????

It was the thing to do back then, wasn't it Merv?

[quote]Presumably he's been able live off his royalties and not try another comeback. Horrible tripe.

He was in England just last year promoting his NEW album.

[quote]I remember finding out the woman singing "Laughter in the Rain" was a guy and thinking whaa??

He had his comeback around the same time as Better Midler appeared on the scene and my mother had tapes in the car by both of them and for years I got them mixed up - I'd hear his songs and think "That's Bette Midler!"

[quote]Did anyone BOTHER to look at the video I posted with the red hat? It looks like something Bea Arthur would have worn in 1975.

How right I am! Just googled and found this.

We're gonna need a special locker for the hat

I didn't care for Neil Sedaka's first go round in the early 60's, but "Laughter In The Rain" was a good song. I believe it went to number one for a week.

"Bad Blood" is still a very good song.

Neil and Elton giving advice about women is a riot.

Guys (and gals?), please remember that Elton did not write the lyrics to his big hits up to through the Captain Fantastic album. Bernie Taupin wrote the lyrics, Elton set them to music.

I think the first time Elton wrote lyrics was for his Rock of the Westies album (which is awful).

Upthread, I always heard the Captain and Tenile lyric was "Sedaka is dead" because they had some major rift.

he's had a good run / more deserving than many / one of the last of the brill building artists /

I guess if he was a female DL would be all over this thread...zillions of posts.

The first guy I ever masturbated to.

She’s like the Shawn Mendes of her day: Mom Rock by a harmless closet case

Took my Mom and her best friend to see him in concert a few years ago. They loved it! He was very entertaining and in very good voice.

It's not unusual for Jewish guys to be perceived as gay. Have you seen the kids leaving Yeshivas?

He always had such a bizarrely high-pitched, womanish voice. Really unusual.

The record companies wouldn't let him sing at first. He just wrote. But eventually they let have a go and he had a big hit.

Really r36? Then you’ll love Neil in 1968’s “Playgirl Killer”, a super cheap Canadian exploitation movie about a photographer who murders bikini models who irritate him by not sitting still. Neil appears in that in swim trunks in swimming pool scenes. It’s on Amazon Prime and I was curious but only made it about five minutes before turning it off. It’s that bad. Neil’s career must have really hit the skids before his mid-70s revival.

So funny singing with his 13 year old daughter - when he comes in his voice is higher than hers.

I do recall watching late night TV (Carson?) in the late 70s/early 80s, and he came out wearing a tight leather suit, and sang a rendition of "Way Down Yonder in New Orleans". He danced around very gay and then sat down at the piano for a split second, was about to play it, but didn't, and got back up and finished the song. It was the strangest performance, and I wish I could locate it on YouTube.

Anyone else remember this performance?

R44 here. Actually it was a live performance of this recording, a cover of "New Orleans" by Gary U.S. Bonds. 1983.

Anyone remember his bizarre performance?

Maybe Neil’s tight leather pants pinched his gonads so hard when he tried to sit at the piano bench that he had to jump up and finish the song standing up.

He’s been outed at least once in the tabloids.

Years ago rod Stewart’s son Sean was on the Howard stern show and talked about being in rehab. He said Neil Sedaka was there at the same time and groped him in hot tub. The stern show beeped out Sedakas name for the west coast broadcast.

This little clip is a lot of fun.

^^ Blimey, is that Tennille? She sure changed her look.

She looks much sluttier than usual.

His first time around was huge: "Oh Carol", "Stairway To Heaven", "Happy Birthday, Sweet Sixteen" , "Calendar Girl", and of course "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do". His career disappeared for about 10 years, then Elton John relaunched his career in the mid-Seventies, with 2 No. 1 hits "Laughter In The Rain" and "Bad Blood", plus a ballad version of "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do". The huge success of "Love Will Keep Us Together" kept him in the spotlight.

When he made his comeback, he was the opening act for the Carpenters in concert. Sedaka started stealing the show by introducing famous friends of his in the audiences, so Richard Carpenter fired him.

Neil is 79 now. He co-wrote Stupid Cupid for Connie Francis, a very fun song.

Wait... this is a straight person???

Neil Sedaka co-wrote the iconic "Love Will Keep Us Together". The Captain And Tennille recorded it and sent their version of it to Neil to see what he thought of it - he was floored and said that it was one of the best pop songs that he had ever heard. They released it as their first single, it quickly went to #1, earned a gold record, and became the top selling single of 1975.

I totally remember this comeback and bought one of his albums, which must ha e been a greatest hits, because I had choreographed a whole number to Calendar Girl in my bedroom. I can still sing every lyric. I’m 58.

[quote] I totally remember this comeback and bought one of his albums, which must ha e been a greatest hits, because I had choreographed a whole number to Calendar Girl in my bedroom. I can still sing every lyric. I’m 58.

This might be the gayest thing I've ever read on DL and I've been here since 1999.

His first (revival) album had him on the cover in that fucking hat.

Some liar told him he looked good in it - or young or something.

The Captain and Tennille had a second hit with a Sedaka song ..Lonely Nights (Angel Face).

SOMEONE should have had a hit with this. It's a VERY good song.

R58 Lonely NIGHT - no s, making it plural.

early 80s nyc....after his 2nd comeback was over / neil was very supportive to a friend who was experiencing an unexpected chart hit.. i always got the impression neil was in on the joke / no irony / a throwback to an earlier generation of entertainers / and after 50 plus years of trends... / he could get on carpool karaoke and have a 3rd comback ...

It's nice to link songs on a musical thread. People appreciate it.

[quote]I totally remember this comeback and bought one of his albums, which must ha e been a greatest hits, because I had choreographed a whole number to Calendar Girl in my bedroom.

I wish they'd had video cameras then.

Neil also wrote "You Never Done it Like That" for C&T. It went to #10.

I guess love didn't keep them together.

Another great song from Sedaka's 70's comeback era was 'Solitaire' . It was covered by many MOR artists of the day but Sedaka's well produced version was by far the best.

[quote]I guess if he was a female...

Can't fault him for lack of trying.

The Immigrant" is a 1975 single written by Neil Sedaka and Phil Cody and performed by Sedaka. The single was the second release from his album, Sedaka's Back. "The Immigrant" was dedicated to John Lennon and the immigration problems that he faced. The single peaked at number 22 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spent one week at number one on the Easy Listening chart in May 1975.[1]

Neil Sedaka even co-wrote the English lyrics to "Ring, Ring" - Abba's very first single released in the U.S.

R47 I'm not surprised that that old queen groped someone's son in a hot tub, but I wonder what he was in rehab for.

Pills? Coke? Semen?

r30 That was the era of the Horrible Hat I'm not kidding. Just google Bella Abzug You just can't unsee it. The Hell Hat has Rung.

Bad Blood was the shit, as a 6 year old I sang the hell out of that song along with my radio

I had Laughter in the Rain and The Immigrant on 45. I was an easy listening loving grade schooler, The Carpenters and C&T being my favorite artists.

Loved watching him dance in his mom jeans. Fab!

I thought the hat was to hide a big bald spot.

I'm sure he is 100 per cent hetero.

He was just being sexy and with-it, R76.

Actually, those jeans are TERRIBLE - but worse that top and the chains and don't say "gurl, it was the 70s!" even 1975 Bea Arthur would have laughed at them.

I read that Carole King isn't too glad to be eternally linked to him.

(Don't quote me on this)

The 70s were very forgiving to older performers who were trying to be hip and with it.

[quote]I read that Carole King isn't too glad to be eternally linked to him.

Why would she be? It must have been annoying to have a closet queen write a song about how much he "loved" you.

And then he stole her sound.

As a kid in the 70s I confused him with Jim Nabors.

[quote]And then he stole her sound.

You can't say that. Everyone influenced everyone else

R82 Carole King didn't have much of a sound. She was a much better songwriter than a singer. Neil Sedaka had the better voice.

I think he was pretty talented and unique.

You can't denegrate him as just some copycat.

- especially as most the people posting only really know his few hit 45s.

His 1975 ballad version of "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" is my number three favorite song of all-time.

I also confused him with Jim Nabors!

I always thought “Have I the Right” was a Neil Sedaka song & found out last week that it isn’t. It was by a U.K. group headed up by a female drummer

I always thought “Have I the Right” was a Neil Sedaka song and only found out last week that it was by a UK group headed up by a female drummer

[quote]Carole King didn't have much of a sound. She was a much better songwriter than a singer. Neil Sedaka had the better voice.

Sedaka did have a better voice than King, but it was still only adequate.

King, on the other hand, wrote songs that defined a generation. Sedaka never had anything that stuck into the public consciousness like Tapestry.

It still pops up on Billboard every year, 47 years later.

The best rendition of a Neil Sedaka song EVER:

I love, LOVE "Calendar Girl."

So there.

Here's Bad Blood, which I don't think has been linked. It didn't ring a bell, and after hearing it, it still doesn't sound familiar. I don't think I've heard it since the 70s. Elton's clearly singing backup.

surprised no one's linked this yet

[quote]King, on the other hand, wrote songs that defined a generation. Sedaka never had anything that stuck into the public consciousness like Tapestry.

Tapestry was a freak. Period.

& she never came close afterwards. NADA. Nothing.

[R97]

For me, "Been To Canaan" is the only song that approached her "Tapestry" work.

I like his voice, he has a nice vibrator

Thanks for that recommendation, R98 - yes, it's nice.

I like this of her later stuff.

[quote]Tapestry was a freak. Period. & she never came close afterwards. NADA. Nothing.

That is completely besides the point.

Tapestry is is a popular music milestone.

And that kitschy closet queen, Neil Sedaka, never came close to that. NADA. Nothing.

Been to Canaan is a beautiful song.

It was how I learned to play the piano.

And while I think "Wrap Around Joy" was more cheesy, it was a No. 1 Album with a No. 1 song on it.

I prefer the studio version of Been to Canaan.

The piano is beautiful.

I posted Been To Canaan. I'm happy to find other people finding this song now and enjoying it.

from the Fantasy album.

The lyrics are a little sickly sweet - but nice song.

King's follow-up to Tapestry ("Music") had some nice things on it, like "Sweet Seasons" and "It's Going To Take Some Time".

I always liked Carole King's song for the Madonna movie A League of Their Own.

The lens in that video makes the Lucy Mame lens seem like a microscope.

This thread is NOT about the lasting talent Carole King -- it is about the kitschy relic Neil Sedaka, a silly closet queen who wrote pop schlock.

It's not just the cheesy hat in OP's video that is hilarious. It's the white polyester leisure suit, the white pleather shoes -- and the UGLY face on that old queen.

@ R111 . Why be so mean ? It's a lovely song, beautifully written, nicely arranged and well performed. This was during his 70's comeback. of course. He's not the first man to start wearing a hat after his hair started thinning. I think it looks good on him and it fit the times.

Neil is one of those guys who has always looked middle aged. I saw him about a year ago in a local venue and he put on a great show. I'm 66 and there are few things I enjoy more than seeing a performer from the time of my youth and young adulthood performing the old songs.

Is Neil gay ? It would certainly seem possible though I've never read anything about that which struck me as definitive on the subject. When I saw him he did 'Where the Boys Are' and introduced it by saying 'Here's one for the ladies' . It would be understandable to me if a man from his era maintained a stable marriage and family life while enjoying the pleasures of gay life on the side. At his level of income he could probably make that work. I wouldn't judge him harshly if that's the case. I am grateful for the music and the fun.

[quote]I'm 66 and there are few things I enjoy more than seeing a performer from the time of my youth and young adulthood performing the old songs.

You're like my brother. He's always trotting out to see aging rockers and popsters and then saying how great they still sound.

I, personally, can't bear it.

Even in the 80s I saw a few 60s artists and realized it's better to keep these people as memories.

Which song did he write about Carole?

He had a face (hair, fashion choices, dance moves, etc.) for radio.

I was the 5 year old above jamming to Bad Blood, I thought it was naughty when he said "bitch"

Karen Carpenter said she did not like the song "Solitaire."

Karen probably said that because "Solitaire" broke their streak of 14 consecutive top-ten hits. After "Solitaire" , they were never as successful, so they probably subconsciously blamed Sedaka.

Just noticed Brenda Russell singing backup in OP's clip.

R118 The top ten streak had already been broken twice, by It's Going To Take Some Time (#12) & I Won't Last A Day Without You (#11). Also, the next single after Solitaire (#18) charted better. A Kind Of Hush hit #12. Two singles later, Goofus, would be their first 45 since Ticket To Ride to completely miss the top 40.

If you change the gender in Bad Blood it becomes a song about Trump

[quote][R16] That just shows that that pushy closet queen should have let the better singer have the song.

I think her version is cold and horrible. I'm glad Neil beat her off.

[quote]Carole King didn't have much of a sound. She was a much better songwriter than a singer. Neil Sedaka had the better voice.

First time I heard the name Carole King was in elementary school in the 70's in music class and the teacher was bitching about her having a huge album (maybe the biggest of the year?) and that she couldn't sing.

I always liked this Sedaka song. The Fifth Dimension later had a hit with their cover version.

Elton and Neil were joined at the hip for a year or so around 1974. EJ signed Neil to his record label, Rocket Records, and really pushed Sedaka's "comeback" in the US. They were two queens rolling merrily along.

Here is the Miss Thing singing "Love Will Keep Us Together."

It is dreadful.

[quote]It is dreadful.

I don't think so. I prefer it.

I really liked his remake of "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do" as a ballad, it was a pretty song. Merv Griffin, whose personal profile was almost identical to Sedaka's, had him on a lot.

A red hat....sometimes, that's all it takes.

[quote]I really liked his remake of "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do" as a ballad, it was a pretty song.

yes, it was a clever idea and he really pulled it off.

[quote]sometimes, that's all it takes.

Sounds like a '70s Neil Sedaka title.

Adorable tribute to Betty Grable.

Isn't he like one of the the only performers to have a hit twice with the same song..."Breaking Up Is Hard To Do"?

Little Queen stole my act.

R127 That's why his amateurish-sounding singing of the song was the big hit.

[quote][R127] That's why his amateurish-sounding singing of the song was the big hit.

Gurl, he never released it as a single. He didn't plan to have a hit with it. He had other fish to fry.

R136 His version was released as a single in France on the Polydor label.

^ Not exactly an important market.

Was it Rod Stewart's son who said Miss Sedaka pawed at his dick in a hot tub in rehab?

What was Grandma in rehab for?

& not that he must have cared. C&N must have made him a shitload of cash with their version.

[quote]C&N must have made him a shitload of cash with their version.

I don't think the Captain & Norma's version caught on either.

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