Early Neil Sedaka: criminally underrated sassy SUPERPOP?

Just listening to Neil Sedakas early hits and yet again and being blown away once more about how they just ATTACK you with relentless hooks and shameless super pop catchiness. I've argued Neil's case on here before (on the battleground of his R'N'Roll Hall of Fame thread) to be met with a lot of pooh poohing about how he's an MOR singer songwriter or twee teen idol with 'nothing to do with rock and roll': that might have been the way he rolled by the 70s, even by the mid 60s. But Dammit, the SOUND of those early late 50s early 60s hits are really something else. In a way I think it's a shame his later comeback eclipsed what he had going on back then. It is just to me prime ultra catchy, ultra melodic, perfect SUPERPOP, I put it up there with the best relentless ultra-catchy Beatles numbers such as 'It Won't Be Long' and 'From Me To You' that just hit you with the ultrapop hooks and never up.

I mean for example, just listen to this lesser known hit from 1962 ish.. it just GRABS you with the (I'll say it again) RELENTLESS steam train of the 'Doobiedadoo' backing vox and doesn't let go until it's over. It's brilliant. Total nonsense, total pop brilliance



Anyone else feel similarly?

 

Neil Sedaka may not have the gravitas of Paul Simon at his best, but he does have some of the playfullness. And he does have an excellent ear for intersting melodies, and some of his songs deserve to remain on the playlists for decades to come.

 

Well, Sedaka has just gone up in my estimation for that barrage of catchiness, so put me on team Neil!

 

Definitely. I really stand by the pure pop perfection of many of Sedakas early hits, and I really can't fathom why that's considered such an outre stance.

Here's another good un:

 

I agree with your premise (up to a point...see below). And as it happens, Next Door to an Angel is my favorite early Sedaka. And far from a “lesser-known hit”...it reached #5.

While I remaking Breaking Up...as a supper club ballad was an aesthetic mistake, most of the rest of Neil’s 70s output stands tall with his earlier work. Laughter in the Rain is exquisite pop, Bad Blood actually does rock...and while the hit version of Love Will Keep Us Together by the duo who shall not be named is execrable, seek out Mac and Katie Kissoon’s version to learn what a great pop song it really is. I feel the same way about Solitaire.

And finally, there’s The Immigrant, which transcends all categories and is just a great song, period.

 

His lyricist from the early days, Howard Greenfield, was also underrated. Greenfield came up with some classic ideas. I think they're easily taken for granted, since they've been played on oldies radio so much. But things like "Stupid Cupid" and "Next Door To An Angel" really cut to the heart of teen romance and used wordplay in a way that blended perfectly with the music.

I also hear deeper things going on with Greenfield. "Bad Girl," Sedaka's final big hit of the early 1960s, has allegorical overtones and seems to speak to anyone involved in a relationship that's frowned upon by society. Considering Sedaka's melancholy melody and Greenfield's own life, I think this song was a message song in disguise, but the message had to be played down because of the time period. Hint: Change the gender. I think this is what they really had in mind. If so, it's profoundly sad. But it's definitely one of their best.

 

SONY/RCA/LEGACY have yet to find a MONO singles set worthy yet, but one of two things COULD change that for those of us that really would love that CD set.

#1. They wait too long and all of those early songs go into EU public domain and as with so many other artists, the EU companies put out that complete mono singles set for super cheap (of course, quality of recording sources would be in question).

#2. T.J., (the guy who has been putting together those wonderful "singles" sets for those PBS pledge drives) gets Neil involved (since Neil is clearly still very much alive and probably very approachable) and not only get a "singles" set of those great MONO RCA hits, but to make it a more complete set, by doing a separate CD of his later ROCKET & ELEKTRA hits, (which Neil owns the masters of), much like T.J.'s recent Dionne Warwick SCEPTER singles in MONO and then a separate CD with her ARISTA hits and rarities. Naturally, that way T.J. could also get Neil to appear during the PBS pledge drive and we fans (who probably are willing to pay the $150 to PBS to get such a package, since RCA can't seem to handle the job on their own?)

Trust me, I have fellow radio friends in the radio business always telling me that artists like Neil Sedaka don't matter anymore and that's why they have abandoned the '50's, 60's and even much of the '70's music on the air anymore. I say that's a LOT of B.S., because these goofy radio company owners have paid listeners come in for "song/artist evaluation" group research. They sit these paid (and fed) listeners down to listen to short snippets of hundreds of songs, which used to sound like a great idea to me, but now, I know that they would never throw in an oldie by someone by the likes of Neil Sedaka, because to the people in charge of these research groups, they have already deemed artists like Neil, dead and over. I'm telling you this for a FACT and that is, these big radio station companies and even the smaller local radio station owners can't think past quarter hour ratings. They always live by the "it HAS to be familiar to be worthy" rule of thinking and then they proceed to jam those same 200 songs down your throat, each and every day, with some of the most popular songs played once every three hours. As a long time radio personality, I never had any interest in being a radio programmer or music director, because I can't do that to listeners. When I used to do my radio program full-time I NEVER used to think "gee, I wonder if I'm connecting with my listeners for 15 or twenty minutes?" NO, I tried to keep the show interesting and always forward moving and I prayed that the listeners would listen for hours, not minutes. I knew that I must have been doing something right when one day I took the time at a live remote to stop by and introduce myself to the #1 local radio personality at a different station and when I said who I was, he immediately noted one of my own shows staples, which I did every afternoon in the 5 o'clock hour, which was very humbling, as I said, "what, you listen to me???" Love that great memory, especially since I have never been one of those huge ego tripping radio guys, which I have always been proud of. Anyways, I told that long winded story just to say that NEIL SEDAKA still matters, even if radio and the rest of the world out there, don't still say his name out loud.

 

Oh and I forgot to add, I could really care less if Neil ever makes it into the R&R Hall of Fame, as I live an hour away from that building and it is nothing but another American cash cow machine, using music as it's prop.

 

I've always thought his original 1962 first version of Breaking Up Is Hard To Do was hands-down classic pop. A fantastic hit. Another one I love is this one from 1959:



I wish he'd focused more on these types of upbeat rockers than the ballads.

 

I remember some of those songs as a kid, and they really were ear worms. I do find them a little annoying these days.

I can imagine Calendar Girl remade by Bobby Rydell, slowing it down as he did with Diana.

As for that 'Doobiedadoo', I do do like it now and then as in some Skeeter Davis' songs

There is no young Neil in my CD collection these days. If there is one that contained B sides and album cuts as well as the hits, I might be interested.

 

At one time I had an album he did with his daughter IIRC, and which featured a cover of Cathie's Clown and other songs of the era.

 

I was introduced to this overlooked hit by 1140AM WJJL Niagara Falls NY,
having not heard it when it was released in 1963, the follow-up to "Next
Door to an Angel":

"Alice in Wonderland" - Neil Sedaka.
I love this song!

 

I like Neil, this one I've always loved:

 

I’m not a Neil Sedaka fan but my Mom is so I heard his early hits all the time as a kid. When he was revived in the ‘70s she played those records too. I concede he has a load of talent and a great pop sensibility. Try and get Calendar Girl out of your head.

 

Thanks for saying this. Although it has to be familiar, it also has to be NOW! It is the disease of presentism, in extremis.

It is the reason I have a hard time finding things for which I would be happy to spend my money. For example, a nice car that still has a cd Player...

 

Ha! 12 months of the year!

 

I agree with every thought posted by Chris C. upthread, and was reminded that every single ingredient brought into the hit records of Neil Sedaka and Dionne Warwick heightened and ennobled the other ones. I recall in the Eighties that Bacharach and the Carpenters in particular were kind of untrendy. Until the Austin Pwers bandwagon took off. But i contend that Sedaka succeeded in updating the old Tin Pan Alley as much as Goffin-King, Mann-Weil and Lieber-Stoller.

 

Neil Sedaka was great at how he would stack his own vocals to make that unique harmony.

 

I have to say that I've always liked "Laughter In The Rain" and "Bad Blood" which were both AM staples in the mid 70's.

Does Sedaka's reputation unfairly precede him? If you played one of his hits, would people tend to like it until you told them it was a Neil Sedaka song?

 

ITA, and Neil had in common with Johnny Tillotson a perswasive high ping in his voice that bespoke the true emotion that underpinned their insistent whoa-whoah-whoa’s, yay-yay-yay’s and even Neil’s tra-la-la’s, which I think wore on some, but I do believe were redeemed and then some by down-dooby-doo,down-down, comma comma, down-dooby-doo, down-down, which I’d count as especially brilliant if it was a sideways takeoff of “Come Softly to Me,” with the Cookies’ churchy harmony and clap-clap,*snap* irresistibly grooving through “Breaking up Is Hard To Do.” Neil’s demo of “It Hurts To Be in Love,” which the great Gene Pitney revoiced and then released as is for a single, is a straight-up raging classic. It’s in there among the hottest stop-time breaks in top 40 history with “Venus” by Shocking Blue, “I Will Follow Him” by Little Peggy March, and “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” by Diana Ross.

 

I still maintain, if “Mr. Bojangles” is respectable pop-rock, so is “Calendar Girl.” Neil used that piano to seduce girls as much as Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard, if differently, and if also to please their moms. I think it’s anything but suspect that Neil was proud his fan mail said he always sounded like he was smiling when he was singing.

 

Being younger I really like Sedaka and the Tillotson guys, but I do find a lot of it a bit too prim and proper sounding
for my liking. They made some great sounding records absolutely, but I find myself limited listening wise.
Some of it sounds, dare I say it 'a bit gay' for my more gritty taste nowadays. I think Sedaka is a great musician
and songwriter, don't get me wrong, and I have quite a few of his releases, even the solo DVD he put out, just
him and a piano..... it's just my preferred taste has changed over the years.

 

Awesome post! I really like that Gene Pitney song, perhaps you've helped me understand why.

 

I never had that problem with Johnny Tillotson, and have several cds of him now, but do only have the mature Neil Sedaka work in my collection.

The only Tillotson song I recall being a bit turned off by was Without you.