An interesting compilation which includes Sedaka's obscure early '70s RCA stuff, but stops before his renaissance on the Rocket label. Hey Jimbo, do you have this yet?



2007 double CD set that focuses on Sedaka's early years as a Teen Idol and Pop hitmaker in the late '50s and early '60s. Singer, songwriter, and pianist Neil Sedaka enjoyed two distinct periods of commercial success in two slightly different styles of pop music: first, as a Teen Pop star in the late '50s and early '60s, and then later as a singer of more mature Pop/Rock in the '70s. In both phases, Sedaka, a classically trained pianist, composed the music for his hits, which he sang in a boyish tenor. This compilation gathers his early hits and album favorites including 'Calendar Girl', 'Breaking Up Is Hard To Do', 'Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen' and 'Oh, Carol'. Music Club Deluxe.

Disc: 1
1. Oh Carol (UK No.3, US No.9)
2. Happy Birthday, Sweet Sixteen (UK No.3, US No.6)
3. Stairway To Heaven (UK No.8)
4. Breaking Up Is Hard To Do (UK No.7, US No.1)
5. Calendar Girl (UK No.8, US No.4)
6. Little Devil (UK No.9, US No.11)
7. The Diary (US No.14)
8. Nothing Ever Changes
9. I Go Ape (UK No.9, US No.42)
10. King Of Clowns (UK No.23, US No.45)
11. Bad Girl (US No.33)
12. Next Door To An Angel (UK No.29, US No.5)
13. Let's Go Steady Again (UK No.42)
14. Bess You Is My Woman Now
15. Beautiful You (UK No.43)
16. You Mean Everything To Me (UK No.45, US No.17)
17. Run Samson Run (US No.28)
18. Sweet Little You (US No.59)

Disc: 2
1. Solitaire
2. Express Yourself
3. Home
4. Adventures Of A Boy Child Wonder
5. Better Days Are Coming
6. Trying To Say Goodbye
7. Don't Let It Mess Your Mind
8. Anywhere You're Gonna Be (Leba's Song)
9. I'm A Song (Sing Me)
10. Gone With The Morning
11. Superbird
12. Silent Movies
13. Little Song
14. One More Mountain To Climb
15. Is Anybody Gonna Miss You?
16. God Bless Joanna
17. Circulate
18. I Found My World In You

Amazon USA:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000TJ6ATW/?tag=imwan-20

Amazon UK:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000TJ6ATW/?tag=imwan-21

Not yet, but just wait'll it shows up at 'Rama. It'll go nicely alongside the 5 or 6 other Sedaka comps in the Archives.

Which is your favourite one so far? Which Neil Sedaka era do you like best?

Anybody have any idea as to what label is putting this out? I'm hoping this finally is a legitimate release for the EMERGENCE tracks which have been licensed to numerous cheap CD companies -- "Superbird", "Little Song", "God Bless Joanna", etc. There's a lot of good Sedaka stuff still unreleased on CD including his Elektra/Warner albums, one of which I believe was produced by George Martin. (Judging from the inclusion of a couple tracks on his recent Razor & Tie compilation, I assume Neil himself controls the masters to these.) With clean sound, the second disc of this set would be a must-have for any Neil fans!

When you see a Music Club comp that you like, buy it immediately - good sound and they don't license the music for very long. I regret selling my OOP Harry Belafonte Music Club comp to my brother, the later BMG comp is compressed!

Anyway, I might get this, but we still need a throroughly cross-licensed Sedaka comp. The Bear Family box is only RCA, I think.

A handful of third party dealers at Amazon UK still have copies of the Belafonte Music Club CD in stock at reasonable prices:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000024B2S/?tag=imwan-21

Thanks for the tip!

The thing about Sedaka is, although he wasn't recording much at all in the mid to late sixties (as far as I know). He had to be making demos at least. I'd love to hear demos for songs that he wrote for the Monkees for instance. How come none of those ever turn up on any of these comps?

Jeff

Sedaka's following is probably the sort who don't care about demos, just the full-bodied productions. Demos is a big deal for rock fans, especially for fans of artists with a small output like Gram Parsons, but I don't think pop fans in general have this archeological interest. Also, pop relies more on full-bodied productions for impact than rock does.

The two comps I have are the 2CD set Neil Sedaka Sings The Hits (RCA) and Laughter In The Rain - The Best Of Neil Sedaka 1974-1980 (Varese). Together they cover all of his charted hits except one ("Amarillo"). Sound quality is excellent on both as I recall, though I haven't listened to them in a while.

I have those two too. Probably enough for most collectors.

I also have two early comps from RCA, plus that recent one with some rerecordings, and the all-Italian collection...

There are actually two CDs available of Sedaka demos --

The "grey area"-ish 2002 Brill-Tone release LET THE GOOD TIMES IN is absolutely indispensable to any Sedaka fan, with fully-produced demo versions of songs both recorded and unrecorded, with copious liner notes. This 2-disc set is a collector's dream with Sedaka's original demos of "Workin' On A Groovy Thing", "Rainy Jane", "Make The Music Play" and the title track, not to mention unreleased gems like the "woulda been a hit" entitled "We Gotta Get Back To The Good Times". Most of these tracks originate from the late 1960s when Sedaka was songwriter first, performer second, and are tailored for specific artists. It's amazing stuff!

The second is the less essential (in my humble opinion) THE BROOKLYN DEMOS 1958-1961, a 2003 release on Original Cast Records.

If only Neil would release more of his demos commercially, and get the rest of his back catalog in print...perhaps he just doesn't believe there's enough audience out there who wants to hear more than "Laughter In The Rain" or "Oh! Carol!"

Joe