By MICHAEL BOYLAN
Weekend Editor

There are some songs that are timeless, spanning generations and uniting them with their message. Neil Sedaka, performing this weekend at the Frederick Brown Jr. Amphitheater, has written thousands of songs in his career, many of which are such monstrous hits they continue to entertain almost 40 years after they were originally written.

Classics like “Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen,” “Breaking Up is Hard To Do,” “Calendar Girl” and “Oh Carol” have made Sedaka a pop music pioneer.

Sedaka grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y. He started playing the piano at the age of 8 and was in the Juliard Prep School at age 9. Sometimes working more than five hours a day on the piano, Sedaka dedicated himself to the pursuit of being a classical pianist. At the age of 13, Sedaka was voted one of the finest high school pianists in the New York State high school system by renowned pianist Arthur Rubinstein.

It was the same year that a lifelong friendship with neighbor Howard Greenfield was forged. Sedaka's mother introduced the two boys and they began a song writing career that made both of them stars in the song writing and pop music worlds.

In 1956, Sedaka formed a band called The Tokens with some friends from high school. The band was “discovered” by Marty Craft and released two songs that became regional hits. Neil quit the band the following year and signed with the Decca label. He released two songs, “Showtime” and “Ring -A- Rockin,” and both failed to make a dent in the charts. Sedaka was already showing his vision and promise. He studied what was popular in music and started using chord changes and multi-tracking his lyrics.

The breakthrough year was 1958 for both Sedaka and Greenfield. They started working in the famous Brill Building, during what is now referred to as the “Tin Pan Alley” days. Also part of that scene at the time were artists Carole King and Paul Simon. King was later the subject of one of Sedaka's biggest hits, “Oh Carol.” Connie Francis recorded Sedaka's song “Stupid Cupid” in 1958 while he played piano on the track. It was the first bona fide hit with Sedaka's name attached to it, but it was far from the last.

Over the next four years Sedaka sold over 25 million albums. The two albums recorded during that time were “Neil Sedaka” and “Circulate.” Things began to slow down, however, in 1963 when the British Invasion started. Sedaka continued to succeed, though, as he toured the world and recorded his classic hits in several different languages. He emerged back into the mainstream in the 1970s when he was inspired by King's album, “Tapestry.”

Sedaka recorded two albums for Elton John's Rocket label, and both “Sedaka's Back” and “The Hungry Years” were commercial successes. The albums produced two more number one hits for Sedaka, “Bad Blood” and “Laughter in the Rain.”

The 1970s were good for Sedaka and good for artists that were lucky enough to record his songs. The Carpenters recorded his song “Solitaire” and Captain and Tenille recorded “Love will Keep Us Together” which won Record of the Year at the Grammy Awards that year. Sedaka hit gold once again when he recorded a duet with his daughter, Dara, a top ten hit called “Should've Never Let You Go.”

Sedaka has won numerous awards and recorded several platinum albums. He has a street named after him in Brooklyn, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and an induction into the Song Writer's Hall Of Fame. He has performed with the New York Pops and the Royal Festival Hall in London and has played almost every stellar venue in the world. This year, Sedaka has recorded an album with a jazz trio called “Tales of Love” and released an autobiography called “Laughter in the Rain.”

Neil Sedaka will perform at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the Fred. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased at the box office or by calling 770-631-0630. Stand-up comedian Frank King will open the show. King has toured the country extensively and been a writer for Dennis Miller and “The Tonight Show” with Jay Leno.

Back to the Top of the PageBack to the Weekend Home Page