LISTENING IN: Remembering Neil Sedaka

Lost in the fog of war was the loss late last month of Neil Sedaka, the singer-songwriter whose boyish soprano and bright melodies made him a top act in the early years of rock ‘n’ roll and led to a second run of success in the 1970s with hits that included hits like “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do” and “Laughter in the Rain.” He was 86.

A key member of the Brill Building songwriting factory, Sedaka teamed with lyricist and boyhood neighbour Howard Greenfield on songs that reflected the teen innocence of the post-Elvis, pre-Beatles era of the late 1950 and early 1960s, including “Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen,” “Calendar Girl” and “Oh! Carol,” a lament for his high school sweetheart, Carole King.

After a long dry spell, he reemerged with such smashes as “Laughter in the Rain” and “Bad Blood.” The Captain & Tennille’s cover of his “Love Will Keep Us Together” was a chart-topper in 1975.

Short and dark-haired, with a big smile and high-pitched voice, he was a Juilliard-trained, Brooklyn-born son of a Jewish taxi driver who began performing as a teen and kept at it for decades, performing dozens of concerts a year well into his 80s.

Sedaka’s songs sold millions worldwide and have been covered by a range of performers, from Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra to The 5th Dimension and Nickelback. Sedaka helped propel the career of Connie Francis with “Stupid Cupid” and “Where the Boys Are,” the latter for the soundtrack of the movie with the same name. The Captain & Tennille received a best-album Grammy thanks largely to “Love Will Keep Us Together” and included a nod to Sedaka at the end of the song, when Toni Tennille exclaimed “Sedaka’s back!”

From 1959 to 1962, Sedaka had 10 records in the Top 10, including “Calendar Girl,” “Oh! Carol,” “Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen” and “Next Door to an Angel.” But in the mid-1960s, the Brill Building sound, influenced by the doo-wop groups of the New York City streets, was pushed off the charts by the Beatles-led British Invasion and the psychedelic and protest music that followed. Sedaka would endure 13 years “in the wilderness.”

Unlikely comeback, with help from Elton John

Sedaka was among the lucky, however, enjoying a renaissance that began in the mid-’70s thanks to the patronage of Elton John, whom he met at a party after Sedaka moved his wife and two kids to England to take advantage of his lingering popularity there. John signed him to his fledgling, U.S.-based Rocket Records label, providing him a chance at more hits with the album “Sedaka’s Back.”

At Rocket, Sedaka and a new writing partner, Philip Cody, topped charts with “Bad Blood” (helped by Elton John) and the joyous “Laughter in the Rain.” He also achieved a rare feat with “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do” – his original up-tempo version went No. 1 in 1962 and again in 1975 after being recorded as a slow ballad.

Naturally, that is our song of the week.

Sedaka was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, but the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame eluded him despite a fan petition drive.