{"id":2558,"date":"2024-01-26T20:57:37","date_gmt":"2024-01-26T20:57:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsx48.info\/?p=2558"},"modified":"2024-01-26T20:57:37","modified_gmt":"2024-01-26T20:57:37","slug":"2558","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsx48.info\/?p=2558","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

How could anyone not love Neil Sedaka? He\u2019s given us so much \u2013 the exceptional singer has delighted us with his voice and presence for many years.<\/p>\n

A natural talent, Neil Sedaka \u2013 who\u2019s written and recorded some of the catchiest tunes in pop history \u2013 said that when he was a child, he was embarrassed to sing in front of an audience.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew I had a remarkable voice, but I was embarrassed because it was so high,\u201d\u00a0Sedaka shared<\/a>. \u201cBut when I sang at my bar mitzvah the rabbi was in tears.\u201d<\/p>\n

When he was only 13, the classically trained pianist, who attended a Saturday scholarship program at Julliard\u2019s Preparatory for Children, formed a partnership with 16-year-old Howard Greenfield, and together they composed songs for Sedaka\u2019s school band the Linc-Tones, a band that would later become the Tokens.<\/p>\n

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Flickr \/ Brett Jordan<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Working from New York\u2019s historic Brill Building, the duo went on to write chart-topping hits like Sedaka\u2019s \u201cBreaking up is Hard to Do,\u201d\u00a0Captain & Tenille\u2019<\/a>s \u201cLove will keep us Together\u201d and\u00a0Connie Francis<\/a>\u2019 \u201cStupid Cupid.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a cubicle with a piano and a bench but no window. You only got a room with a window after you\u2019d had a hit song,\u201d\u00a0Sedaka said<\/a>, adding the pair were earning $50 a week. \u201cEvery day from 9 am to 5 pm we\u2019d write and then we\u2019d play what we\u2019d written to people from record labels. It was hard but it was wonderful training.\u201d<\/p>\n

He was the first at the building who recorded his own songs, and also the first to reach the Top 10 with his hit song \u201cOh! Carol\u201d (1959), which was inspired by his high school girlfriend Carole King.<\/p>\n

Greenfield and Sedaka collaborated until the mid-70s, and Greenfield, who was openly gay, died from complications from AIDS in 1986.<\/p>\n

As for Sedaka, at 19 he left The Tokens before the band hit its pinnacle of fame in 1961 with \u201cThe Lion Sleeps Tonight\u201d and \u201cTonight I Fell in Love.\u201d<\/p>\n

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NEW YORK \u2013 CIRCA 1956: The Linc-Tones aka The Tokens (L-R Hank Medress, Cynthia Zolotin, Neil Sedaka, and Eddie Rabkin at top) pose for a portrait circa 1956 in New York City, New York. (Photo by James Kriegsmann\/Michael Ochs Archives\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Performing solo, his first three releases failed to make the charts, but one song did earn him a spot on\u00a0American Bandstand<\/em>\u00a0with Dick Clark, and soon after he landed a recording contract.<\/p>\n

His first hit single was \u201cThe Diary\u201d\u2013a song inspired by Connie Francis\u2019 diary because Sedaka really wanted \u201cto look into that little book\u201d\u2013that peaked at 14 in the Billboard Top 100 in 1958. In 1960, Sedaka released \u201cCalendar Girl,\u201d his sixth hit in two years, and his popularity was reaching massive heights.<\/p>\n

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LOG<\/a><\/div>\n

Neil Sedaka\u00a0is 84 years old and he still looks great<\/a><\/h1>\n
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<\/i> JUN 13, 2023<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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