Neil Sedaka defined a micro-era in American pop music, the brief period between the explosion of rock ’n’ roll and the onset of the British Invasion.
He wrote and recorded teenage dreams, eschewing big backbeat for showbiz pizazz, a combination he perfected at the Brill Building with his songwriting partner Howard Greenfield. They penned hits for Connie Francis, including “Stupid Cupid” and “Where the Boys Are,” then wrote a clutch of bright, irrepressible songs for Sedaka as a singer: “Oh! Carol,” “Calendar Girl,” “Happy Birthday, Sweet Sixteen” and “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do,” a song that kept him at the top of the charts during the early days of the 1960s.
Remarkably, Sedaka, who died on Friday at 86, figured out how to segue into middle age, relying on hustle and showbiz instincts. After 10 long years in the wilderness, he resurfaced in England, where he collaborated with a group of professional pop merchants who would soon become known as 10cc. With these studio musicians, Sedaka recorded the original version of “Love Will Keep Us Together,” a song Captain & Tennille took to No. 1 in 1975, the same year his silky “Laughter in the Rain” did the same. It was one of the first dramatic comebacks in pop/rock history, one in which a seeming relic of an earlier era used his canny craftsmanship not only to return to the top of the charts, but to carve out an enduring third act as a performer.
The hits dried up relatively quickly after “Sedaka’s Back” — the compilation album that included “Laughter” — re-established his stardom, but it didn’t matter. The comeback cemented his reputation as a pop songwriter and performer, allowing him to keep performing well into the 2010s, when he found audiences eager to hear once again the songs of adolescent love and middle-aged melancholy.
Here are 14 songs that form his essential songbook. (Listen on Spotify or Apple Music.)
‘The Diary’ (1958)
Tasked with writing tunes for Francis, Sedaka and Greenfield asked the teen idol if they could take a peek at her diary, hoping to discover raw material for a hit single. When Francis denied the songwriters access, Sedaka and Greenfield wound up with an idea for a song. “The Diary” is written from the perspective of a lovesick teenager wondering if his crush writes his name in the pages of her journal. The music is suitably overwrought, pairing a swaying rhythm with a keening melody that sounds particularly pining when delivered in Sedaka’s adenoidal voice.
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‘Oh! Carol’ (1959)
Nearly a year after “The Diary” gave Sedaka his breakthrough single as a performer, it was beginning to look like a fluke. Anxious for another hit, he found inspiration in his fellow Brill Building songwriter — and former high school girlfriend — Carole Klein, writing an exuberant declaration of love in “Oh! Carol.” As in “The Diary,” Sedaka’s love isn’t reciprocated here, but “Oh! Carol” boasts such a bright arrangement and his performance is so eager, it feels as if the romance is a two-way street. There was certainly some affection on the part of Klein, who cut an answer song called “Oh Neil,” which she released under the name fans would come to know her by: Carole King.
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‘Stairway to Heaven’ (1960)
“Stairway to Heaven” offers a bustling orchestral arrangement filled with clever details like booming timpani acting as a bridge from chorus to verse. Sedaka is again pledging his love, this time to a girl he believes is as perfect as a heavenly angel. There’s not a hint of self-doubt here, no trace of adolescent angst: It’s the candied rush of a teenage crush.
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‘You Mean Everything to Me’ (1960)
An unusually moody ballad from Sedaka, “You Mean Everything to Me” treats his overheated testament of devotion as a matter of grave importance. It’s a marked shift in tone from his earliest hits, and as the rhythm crawls along, he’s cradled by reverb and buoyed by strings.
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‘Calendar Girl’ (1961)
Sedaka appears to be singing to a pinup in “Calender Girl,” ticking off how his object of affection changes with the seasons. His good cheer, as evident in the bright beat as it is in the sunny melody, keeps the single’s spirits high, diluting any suggestion that he’s leering at a picture on the wall.
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‘Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen’ (1961)
This hit is an artifact of an era when much of pop music was directly targeted at teenagers. But heard through contemporary ears, “Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen” may make a listener cringe: Sedaka tells the birthday girl, “Tonight’s the night I’ve waited for, because you’re not a baby anymore.”
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‘Breaking Up Is Hard to Do’ (1962)
His first single to top the Billboard charts, “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do” is also the definitive Sedaka song, the one where his showmanship is evident in its very construction. The doo-wop hook disguises the heartbreak at the core of the song, turning the tune into a rallying cry for giving fading love another try. The song works equally well without its singsong refrain, as demonstrated by his 1975 revision, which turned it into a ballad of resignation.
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‘That’s When the Music Takes Me’ (1972)
The British Invasion hit Sedaka harder than most, so it’s with no small degree of irony that he needed to head to Britain to mount a comeback. Envious of the makeover his friend Carole King had with “Tapestry,” he first took a stab at his own sepia-toned singer-songwriter album with “Emergence.” But he ultimately found the right collaborators when he teamed with Eric Stewart, Graham Gouldman, Lol Creme and Kevin Godley, a gang of British pop veterans who churned out clever bubble gum from their Strawberry Studios. This quartet, who’d soon find fame as 10cc, applied their studio acumen to Sedaka’s new material. The irrepressible “That’s When the Music Takes Me,” the first of these collaborations, shows that 10cc didn’t try to give Sedaka a hip makeover. Instead, it dressed his essential enthusiasm in sharp sounds suited to AM radio.
Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
‘Solitaire’ (1972)
Perhaps the saddest ballad Sedaka ever wrote, “Solitaire” is about a brokenhearted man whose only solace is playing cards alone into the wee hours. It provided the center of — and the title — of the 1972 album Sedaka made with 10cc, but the singer didn’t take the song into the charts. Both Andy Williams and the Carpenters were attracted to its showstopping melancholy, bringing their iterations to radio right around the time Sedaka himself started having hits again. Despite this twin success, the author’s rendition may be the best version of the song, thanks to Sedaka’s nicely modulated performance and the sumptuous support of 10cc.
Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
‘Love Will Keep Us Together’ (1973)
Another ’70s Sedaka original became a standard in the hands of another artist: “Love Will Keep Us Together” is a deft update of Sedaka’s patented Brill Building bounce. Where so many of his early hits revolved around teenage crushes, “Love Will Keep Us Together” is about a long-term love; the middle eight begins with the acknowledgment “Young and beautiful, someday your looks will be gone” and ends on a note of enduring devotion. Co-produced with 10cc, Sedaka’s original retains the gangly quirks that Captain & Tennille ironed out of their smash hit cover, and in some ways his version is superior: His eagerness lends the song an endearing sincerity.
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‘Laughter in the Rain’ (1974)
Sedaka’s British hits were big enough to earn the attention of Elton John, who signed the songwriter to Rocket, his newly established label. Rocket in turn gave Sedaka’s fortunes in the United States a boost, helping to send “Laughter in the Rain” to the top of the Billboard charts — the last time had been with “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do.” In its own way, “Laughter in the Rain” is as definitive as that earlier hit, epitomizing the gorgeous, glistening sound of ’70s soft rock.
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‘The Immigrant’ (1975)
Witnessing John Lennon’s extensive battles with the American government, Sedaka decided to write an anthem for “The Immigrant.” Lennon’s troubles aren’t necessarily apparent in the lyric, which focuses on the dreams and potential of the Land of the Free. The chorus coalesces on the idea that “There was a time when strangers were welcome here,” a notion slathered in schmaltz that’s nevertheless curiously poignant from a modern vantage.
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‘Bad Blood’ (1975)
The second of Sedaka’s big comeback hits, “Bad Blood” plays as a homage to his benefactor John, a single with a chipper funk that’s as much of a hook as its nagging chorus. Elton is naturally in on the joke, lending his drummer Nigel Olsson and providing uncredited vocals so prominent, they almost amount to a duet. There’s a certain tackiness in the production’s satin pastels but that’s also the single’s appeal: It’s a quintessential document of the heady mid-70s.
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‘Amarillo’ (1977)
Sedaka wrote “Amarillo” with his old songwriting partner Greenfield while he was still struggling to find a footing for his comeback. He followed a formula that had worked in the past: He used the hits of the time as inspiration, patterning the insistent travelogue after the frothy sounds fueling the AM airwaves in the early 1970s. The British singer Tony Christie recognized the potential in its incessant bounce, cutting a version that wound up in the British Top 10 in 1972. With the assistance of George Martin, Sedaka cut his own rendition in ’77, slowing the rhythm slightly and delivering the chorus with a big, bright punch. His efforts were for naught. Christie reclaimed the song in 2005, when its appearance in “Comic Relief” improbably sent the record to the top of the charts.
Listen on Spotify, Apple Music or YouTube
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