Sedaka's songwriting skills have always been of a very high calibre, but I think his work for Rocket Records has an extra edge that's missing from his material recorded before and since:

"Laughter in the Rain" is THE song of '75, for my money, my absolute favorite of Sedaka's, and it went to #1 on Billboard. See he's wearing that red hat!

Other good ones from '75

Never can say Goodbye - Gloria Gaynor
Reach out, I'll be There - Gloria Gaynor (I heard this version before I knew about the Four Tops original)

"Bad Blood" is a great pop concoction.

...and it had a little help from Sir Elton too!

Boy, I remember that particular Midnight Special. I had no idea who Neil Sedaka was prior to his Elton John comeback.

Was his Immigrant Song from that period as well? I seem to remember that.

Agreed. Just a wonderful song, and romantic as all get out.

I had Sedaka's Back and The Hungry Years on vinyl and enjoyed them both. I've never seen them on CD, although I'm sure they were available at one point or another. Or were they?

Trivia #1: The members of 10cc played on several of the Sedaka's Back tracks, although at the time I had no idea who they were. I believe Sedaka's Back drew from two or three albums he had put out in England. It was a good collection.

Trivia #2: Most of you may already know this, but The Captain and Tennille sing the words "Sedaka's Back" at the end of "Love Will Keep Us Together." I disliked a lot of the music they went on to do but I still think that was a great single, although like a lot of great singles it was way overplayed.

They were reissued as expanded editions by Varese in 1998:

Sedaka's Back



http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000009CJV/?tag=imwan-20

---

The Hungry Years



http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000009CJW/?tag=imwan-20

Linda, thanks for the tip!

There's that red hat again!

I had a hat just like that in college. I wore it as a joke, but still, same hat.

It's hot pink!

Neil Sedaka on Farm Film Celebrity Blow-Up. Somewhere, Linda is having a laugh as she watches this.

Boy when you watch those videos you realize we will never see the 70's again. Can you imagine this stuff even getting made these days.

I miss the '70s so much it almost hurts. There is no market for something as classy as "Laughter in the Rain" today, I'm afraid.

"Higher! Get your voice up higher!"

A shout out to WLVA am 59 in Lynchburg VA, they played Neil's original album version of Love Will Keep Us Together in regular rotation.

Plus the Carpenters covered his song "Solitaire"...

"Steppin' Out" from '76 was also rereleased with the other two albums. The title track is another duet with Elton.

"The Immigrant" was written about the Nixon administration attempt to deport John Lennon. It was released on "The Hungry Years" in 1975

Actually, it was on the Sedaka's Back album.

Wow.

If it wasn't so cheesy (by today's pop standards) it would be very appropriate to what's going on with our borders.

You are correct, sir:



http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000009CJX/?tag=imwan-20