Neil Sedaka

[kushiro]

What was the first record you ever bought?

 

Mine was in December 1976, the month the Sex Pistols released Anarchy In the UK. But my first record wasn't that. It was Neil Sedaka's Make Your Own Sunshine, bought in Boots on Bell Street in Wigston. I used to tell that story as a form of self-deprecation.  As the excitement of punk kicked off, I was busy listening to a washed up middle of the road singer-songwriter from the States.

 

But as I got older I realised that I hadn't made such a bad choice after all. Sedaka was a very good songwriter, whose back cataloge you can spend ages on youtube exploring. One of his best was Love Will Keep Us Together, a title Ian Curtis reworked for a track that's become a staple of football crowds.

 

Sedaka died yesterday, aged 86.

 

One of his very best was an American number one from 1975 that didn't even make the charts in the UK. Bad Blood featured stunning but uncredited backing vocals from Elton John, and it's a track with a bite in the music and the lyrics. Here's a fairly poor quality recording of a great performance, and a better quality version of the same song.:

 

 

 

Just listening to Make Your Own Sunshine again now, and it has a very 'When You're Smiling' feel - 'before you walk in the sun, you've gotta laugh in the rain'.  

 

I've just looked if he ever played in  Leicester and he did so twice in the seventies - at Baileys in 1973 and the De Mont in 1975.

 

 

Any memories?

 

 

 

 

Edited 28 February by kushiro

[davieG]

4 hours ago, kushiro said:

What was the first record you ever bought?

 

Mine was in December 1976, the month the Sex Pistols released Anarchy In the UK. But my first record wasn't that. It was Neil Sedaka's Make Your Own Sunshine, bought in Boots on Bell Street in Wigston. I used to tell that story as a form of self-deprecation.  As the excitement of punk kicked off, I was busy listening to a washed up middle of the road singer-songwriter from the States.

 

But as I got older I realised that I hadn't made such a bad choice after all. Sedaka was a very good songwriter, whose back cataloge you can spend ages on youtube exploring. One of his best was Love Will Keep Us Together, a title Ian Curtis reworked for a track that's become a staple of football crowds.

 

Sedaka died yesterday, aged 86.

 

One of his very best was an American number one from 1975 that didn't even make the charts in the UK. Bad Blood featured stunning but uncredited backing vocals from Elton John, and it's a track with a bite in the music and the lyrics. Here's a fairly poor quality recording of a great performance, and a better quality version of the same song.:

 

 

 

Just listening to Make Your Own Sunshine again now, and it has a very 'When You're Smiling' feel - 'before you walk in the sun, you've gotta laugh in the rain'.  

 

I've just looked if he ever played in  Leicester and he did so twice in the seventies - at Baileys in 1973 and the De Mont in 1975.

 

 

Any memories?

 

 

 

 

I posted some info about his career in the 60's thread  - https://www.foxestalk.co.uk/topic/82462-the-best-of-the-60s/page/42/#comment-8050309https://www.foxestalk.co.uk/topic/82462-the-best-of-the-60s/page/42/#comment-8050309https://www.foxestalk.co.uk/topic/82462-the-best-of-the-60s/page/42/#comment-8050309

 

My first awareness of him was Breaking Up is hard to do in 62 which led me to Oh Carol  that he released in 59.

 

 

Always liked his songs.

 

 

 

[Foxdiamond]

Imagine those Brill Buildings songwriters working away in the tiny offices trying to come up with another hit song

[davieG]

From the BBC

 

• 27 February 2026

American singer-songwriter Neil Sedaka, who wrote and performed hits through the 1950s and 60s, including Oh! Carol, Breaking Up Is Hard To Do, Bad Blood, Laughter in the Rain and Calendar Girl, has died at the age of 86.

"Our family is devastated by the sudden passing of our beloved husband, father and grandfather," his family confirmed in a statement.

"A true rock and roll legend, an inspiration to millions, but most importantly, at least to those of us who were lucky enough to know him, an incredible human being who will be deeply missed."

Sedaka, a skilled pianist nominated for five Grammy awards, also wrote hits for several other famous musicians in his six-decades-long career.

His family did not disclose his cause of death or where he died.

The Brooklyn native and student of the famed Julliard School in New York was a founder of the doo-wop group The Tokens in the late 1950s.

After producing several hits through the early 1960s, he later returned to Billboard's Top 10 chart in 1975 after writing the song Love Will Keep Us Together for duo Captain & Tennille. He also recorded several albums for Elton John's record label in the 1970s.

He wrote his first hit song with his neighbour while still a teenager. Connie Francis recorded and released "Stupid Cupid" in 1958.

Sedaka's popular music faded from the spotlight later in the 1960s, as the British Invasion era took hold of the US.

Speaking to the BBC in 2012 during a London trip to perform a piano concerto at Royal Albert Hall, he said he planned to give a show to people "who are not used to going to a serious concert".

"It's wonderful for the soul to be able to play classical music," he said.

"But to travel around, playing your own lyrics and music is a very rewarding feeling and I chose that, and I have no regrets."

[Foxdiamond]

5 hours ago, kushiro said:

What was the first record you ever bought?

 

Mine was in December 1976, the month the Sex Pistols released Anarchy In the UK. But my first record wasn't that. It was Neil Sedaka's Make Your Own Sunshine, bought in Boots on Bell Street in Wigston. I used to tell that story as a form of self-deprecation.  As the excitement of punk kicked off, I was busy listening to a washed up middle of the road singer-songwriter from the States.

 

But as I got older I realised that I hadn't made such a bad choice after all. Sedaka was a very good songwriter, whose back cataloge you can spend ages on youtube exploring. One of his best was Love Will Keep Us Together, a title Ian Curtis reworked for a track that's become a staple of football crowds.

 

Sedaka died yesterday, aged 86.

 

One of his very best was an American number one from 1975 that didn't even make the charts in the UK. Bad Blood featured stunning but uncredited backing vocals from Elton John, and it's a track with a bite in the music and the lyrics. Here's a fairly poor quality recording of a great performance, and a better quality version of the same song.:

 

 

 

Just listening to Make Your Own Sunshine again now, and it has a very 'When You're Smiling' feel - 'before you walk in the sun, you've gotta laugh in the rain'.  

 

I've just looked if he ever played in  Leicester and he did so twice in the seventies - at Baileys in 1973 and the De Mont in 1975.

 

 

Any memories?

 

 

 

 

Buying singles was a way I would explore an artist or band further. Buy the a side cos I liked it. Try the b side. Yep like that too. Next step buy an album.