Neil Sedaka, again.

[Ron]

All this talk about the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame that's popped up with MCA's untimely death has me thinking of Neil Sedaka again.  I think it's a travesty that this guy isn't in the hall of fame.  If anybody wants to take a trip down memory lane, here's a fantastic live video of him from the early 80's.  He still sounds (and looks) about the same.  I think he's such a nice guy that he's easily overlooked, but this guy is a really classy dude with a real gift for songwriting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HKaWq7IvmI



If you're interested in singing the petition to send to the hall of fame asking for him to be inducted, here you go:

http://www.sedaka.be/neil_sedaka_petition/entry.htm

[EgoHanger1966]

Love his stuff.
I have his 8 CD (!) box set on Bear Family. It has all the stuff he recorded for RCA in the 50s and 60s.

[Ron]

I'm going to have to buy that.  I've loved his stuff all my life but lately I've been really getting back into it.  This guy had such a formula for hits.  I agree with the 'youtube' comments on that above link, just the modulation alone in that song makes it incredible. 

He also has the coolest Scopitone ever recorded. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-V03f74P4_o

[LetHimRun]

I'm going to have to buy that.  I've loved his stuff all my life but lately I've been really getting back into it.  This guy had such a formula for hits.  I agree with the 'youtube' comments on that above link, just the modulation alone in that song makes it incredible. 

He also has the coolest Scopitone ever recorded. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-V03f74P4_o

Wow, that is stunning footage.

[Ron]

Supposedly one of the four is his wife (He's been married for 50 years).  If you watch really close when the one girl's dancing on the piano, his eyes wonder a little bit too, lol. 

The dancing is just unbelievably great , though, and then the girls really can't dance any better.  AND THEN THEY CHARGED YOU TO WATCH IT in the machine! 


I would go watch it again but I've already watched it about 200 times. 

[I. Spaceman]

If ya'll like Neil Sedaka, don't miss his acting effort in the insane 1966 Canadian proto-slasher film Playgirl Killer.

[Ron]

I've never heard of it, but it appears to have everything.

A. hot chick by the pool

B. somewhat effiminate Neil Sedaka physically touching said girl... tentatively.  Is he?  Isn't he? 

C. Cool 60's off-color video because the celephane is old

D. I'ts described as "Insane" when I first am introduced to it

E. It's from '66.  Cooler than '67 because everybody talks about '67, but close enough to '67 to still be really cool.

F. It's Canadian.  As an American, I find Canadian stuff strange... it's almost like America, although I've never been there so it must not be anything like America

G. The name is great.  Playgirl killer... what the hell is that? 

[EgoHanger1966]

Supposedly one of the four is his wife (He's been married for 50 years).  If you watch really close when the one girl's dancing on the piano, his eyes wonder a little bit too, lol. 

The dancing is just unbelievably great , though, and then the girls really can't dance any better.  AND THEN THEY CHARGED YOU TO WATCH IT in the machine! 


I would go watch it again but I've already watched it about 200 times. 

None of those are his wife.
I think it's THE most famous Scopitone.
You need to hear some of his flop singles like "The Dreamer", "The Closest Thing To Heaven" and "I Hope He Breaks Your Heart". Every bit as good as the hits.

[Ron]

I like the '5 card stud' Scopitone a lot too, but yeah I'd say his is the best.  And that web one, what the hell was that?  Oh, well... time for another Scopitone topic, lol.

I'll check out that box set so I can catch up on his flops, I think he had a really clever way of writing.  All the stuff I'm familiar with (and have been since a kid) just had an interesting, strange sometimes way about them.  Even minor things like the way the lyrics work in "Right Next Door to an Angel".

"Since I Saw Her This Morning, I'm On Cloud Number Nine
Found a Garden Of Eden, At the House Next Door To Mine
I Took A Look, and Oh What A Shock
To Find a Little Bit Of Heaven Right On My Block"

Very well done.... not the greatest lyrics ever, nothing groundbreaking.... but something about the way they're phrased strikes me as interesting.  All his stuff is like that.  Maybe it's just the chord changes and things. 

[I. Spaceman]

I've never heard of it, but it appears to have everything.

A. hot chick by the pool

B. somewhat effiminate Neil Sedaka physically touching said girl... tentatively.  Is he?  Isn't he? 

C. Cool 60's off-color video because the celephane is old

D. I'ts described as "Insane" when I first am introduced to it

E. It's from '66.  Cooler than '67 because everybody talks about '67, but close enough to '67 to still be really cool.

F. It's Canadian.  As an American, I find Canadian stuff strange... it's almost like America, although I've never been there so it must not be anything like America

G. The name is great.  Playgirl killer... what the hell is that? 

You got it. I saw that film several times on local LA television when I was young (under the alternate title Decoy For Terror, in other markets it had yet another title Portrait Of Fear), and I have found Sedaka to be creepy ever since. Not that he is the killer in the film, he isn't, but just his presence , singing and bad acting in an exploito trash horror film gave me that vibe.

[Ron]

I can see why he would come off as creepy even without the movie... he's so tragically nice that it's easy to mistrust that it's genuine.  I think he's the rare case though where he really is just that nice of a guy. 

[sparkydog1725]

He looks naked in the screen cap. 

[I. Spaceman]

He looks naked in the screen cap. 

So you're saying you really need to see this film, right?

[endofposts]

Every time I see Neil Sedaka, it reminds me of Eugene Levy's excellent impression of him, blowing up real good on the SCTV Farm Report.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bda_eIX3J2Y

[Ron]

I've never seen that one.... I used to watch SCTV a lot as a kid, I think that's why I ended up so.... so.... so strange. 

[Seaside Woman]

I've been lucky enough to see him live a number of times and he really delivers the goods, he's one of a handful of artists that sound as good live as on the record ...

[Manchini]

Thanks for this thread. His is a name I've seen pop up for years now, and after reading this I was finally inspired to pick up a small collection of his songs on CD the other day. Turns out I've heard a couple of his songs on the AM station and just never knew it was him, but who couldn't recognize such a unique and strong voice? I'm sure this will lead to me gathering as much of his work as I can.

[Ron]

Yeah man, do it. 

I almost feel like, though, that I'm starting to 'reach' for classic artists from the 50's and early 60's that I loved as a kid in the 80's... and since so many of them are either dead or over the hill, I've now moved down the list and landed on Neil Sedaka.  Maybe that's just the way it works, though... maybe now is the time for Neil to get his respect. 

[EgoHanger1966]

Yeah man, do it. 

I almost feel like, though, that I'm starting to 'reach' for classic artists from the 50's and early 60's that I loved as a kid in the 80's... and since so many of them are either dead or over the hill, I've now moved down the list and landed on Neil Sedaka.  Maybe that's just the way it works, though... maybe now is the time for Neil to get his respect. 

Let me know when you get to Bobby Vee!
The man is a pop genius.

[Ron]

I'm working on it... I'm one of those annoying people who walks around humming things all the time.  So I get songs stuck in my head, literally, some times for years.  For the past couple months, I find myself humming "Come Back When You Grow Up Girl" at least once a day.  I always really liked "The Night Has A Thousand Eyes", too. 

[Sheriff John Stone]

Yeah man, do it. 

I almost feel like, though, that I'm starting to 'reach' for classic artists from the 50's and early 60's that I loved as a kid in the 80's... and since so many of them are either dead or over the hill, I've now moved down the list and landed on Neil Sedaka.  Maybe that's just the way it works, though... maybe now is the time for Neil to get his respect. 

Let me know when you get to Bobby Vee!
The man is a pop genius.

Sadly, about two weeks ago, Bobby Vee disclosed that he is in the early stages of Alzheimer's Disease.

[Ron]

Does anybody who's good with music theory have the ability to explain to me what's so special about that "chord" in "Laughter in the Rain" ? 

he explains about it live on this clip

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HKaWq7IvmI

But I'm not versed enough to tell what he's doing that makes that chord so great.  Is it an Augmented 7th, or just some weird out of place note like you hear every once in awhile, or is he just switching to a strange key, or what? 

It's so strange, that it's actually hard to even sing along with, it breaks the whole thing up. 

[Ron]

I found a webpage suggesting that he's going from I to a flatted III, and they do the same thing in Lady Madonna, Pretty Woman, Here There & Everywhere, Free As A Bird, Birthday, and Another Girl.  

Still though, In Free As A Bird, it sounds like it does it going into the bridge... and in Pretty Woman it sounds like it does it going into the bridge... Here There & Everywhere going into the bridge, Lady Madonna going into the bridge... Birthday does it going into the bridge and Another Girl I know but can't remember the bridge to.

So maybe what makes it sound so strange in "Laughter in the Rain" is because he uses it going into the Chorus.  

[Seaside Woman]

One of my favourite Sedaka albums was 'A Song'. It was produced by George Martin and didn't do all that well in that no ones heard of it even though it spawned Amarillo. This song was the gem from it in opinion and has been very overlooked.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adJN0FOsvXA