JJ-216

Neil Sedaka: I might do a standard...[singing Moonlight in Vermont]

Pete Fornatale: My staff got a printout of Bridge Over Troubled Water...I have this list and and where they're going to be placed I just tell you when we get there keep going. I could give you the list that we decided on if you want it as a reference point but laughter in the rain will be in that second segment love wikk keep us together....I'm sorry there's another one that I was going to ask you to do. The Immigrant in the in the third segment the immigrant yes also where I will ask you to do a cover

Pete Fornatale: I will confess during the show. But I I somehow missed the immigrant the first time around so that when I heard it, I didn't connect it with John Lennon. I connected it to today's headlines.

Neil Sedaka: Yes. Yes. I know what you mean...[playing piano] this pedal doesn't work

Pete Fornatale: We can break at any point and certianly we will break between the segments

Neil Sedaka: different then WNEW was

Pete Fornatale: well, you know, those were such great days, and we thought they would go on forever. And of course, they just don't do that. You learn that you learn that lesson, but it was a good run, you know, I was there. I was there from 69 to 89. And then moved to K-rock for seven, where I followed Howard Stern, which I thought was punishment for sins in a past life or something like that. But, you know, it all went away. It all went away. And, you know, the the original staff there that drew me to the place, with the exception of Jonathan Schwartz, who's still doing his thing, they're all gone. Alison Steele, the nightbird Roscoe and Scott Muni. Whom I guess you met him in both of his life, the am days and the fm days...Okay, I'm going to do my standard intro and Neil is going to start with the diary. Are we ready?

Pete Fornatale: Well, you are here today for among other reasons, celebrating a number of milestones, and projects, including a DVD recorded at Royal Albert Hall, the Definitive Collection of your career spanning hits. But to me, the most staggering of all is 50 successful years in the music business. I'm I'm guessing that it seems to you like at this point, a blink of the eye, is that accurate?

Neil Sedaka: Very slow. There was so many countries and so many languages and so many trips, that it seems ages and ages ago, that I began as, as a kid. You know, I was very fortunate. I sang in five languages, Nevins and Kirshner, who were not only my publishers, but they were my managers. And they were afraid to book me in America because I was not a seasoned performer. I was just a kid. And so as a as a result, they booked me in Japan, Italy, Australia, South America. And it was good because I I became a success in those countries.

Pete Fornatale: Because you are and started out as a keyboard man. who were the keyboard men in rock and roll that that that you thought had something?

Neil Sedaka: Well, certainly. Jerry Lee Lewis, Fats Domino and his simple little stuff I loved his songs. In those days, who else played the piano? Carole King and her old demo...I brought Carole King up to the Brill Building in 58. And her demo was with her piano playing...I dated Carol for about two minutes. We were teenagers. I had a group called the tokens. And then Carol had a group called the cosigns. And we used to hang out on the beach in Brighton or street corners or hallways for good echoes. And we would sing doo wop songs and I wrote a song for her called Oh, Carol, and she had a follow up record called Oh Neil. Which didn't do as well...the Brill Building had very thin walls. After a while all the songs started sounding the same. But I always thought she was a genius. And I will take credit for bringing her to Don Kirshner and Alan Evans. And, unfortunately, we've gone our separate ways. And I don't want to go into it. We had a parting of the ways, but I hope we can patch it up one day...when I heard tapestry, I got to tell you, Pete. I hadn't had a hit for 12 years. And I said, you know, I heard tapestry. I said, That's Carol Klein, I could do that. And that inspired me to start writing new new style.

Pete Fornatale: She had a flirtation with the movies. And one was a huge success sort of a I it wasn't a beach party movie per se, but it certainly was. What do you call that a spring break movie?

Neil Sedaka: She told me that she was doing a movie called where the boys are. And she was trying to talk Joe Pasternak into using non Hollywood writers, young New York, real building writers to write the theme. And I wrote two songs with the title where the boys are, she chose that, that one. And Joe Pasternak said, Oh, I assure you an Academy Award song, you have the biggest seller of the year from a motion picture. Not only was I not nominated, I lost to some Greek pieces. I had the biggest song from a movie and we weren't even nominated.

Pete Fornatale: There's so many stories like that. But there are also some great stories about hit records. And one of them for me, involves you. if you date the rock era, back to Bill Haley and Rock Around the Clock right up to this moment that we're talking. There have only been about six to 700 number one songs in the United States. That's that makes it very special. That makes it a very special moment. And the first one for you was breaking up is hard to do. Yes, in and of itself, that alone would make it special. But then over a decade later, you bring it back, not as the jaunty hit as it was earlier. But as a ballad that again, touched an audience and in some places became number one again, one of the few artists who have accomplished that.

Neil Sedaka: I was fooling around at the piano Pete and I noticed that breaking up is hard to do worked as a gin mill song. And Lenny Welch had since I fell for you, right? And he said, I love it. I played it for him as a ballad, and he recorded it, it was a top 30 record. And then I put it in my act as a encore. And then a clever producer had me record it as a ballad, and lo and behold 13 years later, it was number one again.

Pete Fornatale: We are going to continue to have some fun today. with Neil Sedaka Pete fornatale on mixed bag radio more in just one minute.

Pete Fornatale: as much as as much as the Beatles changed music. I think Bob Dylan changed songwriting. Did you feel that way as well

Neil Sedaka: great poetry. Bob Dylan was great. And I loved I love him even more, because he mentioned me in one of his recent books, said that he was not a fan of the Brill Building writers. But he likes Neil sedaka because he he was the first to sing his own songs. And recently, my assistant Rob set up tickets for me to see him at Mohegan Sun. I was working on one side and he was working on the other side. And it's It's legendary. Poetry is marvelous.

Pete Fornatale: Yeah. And certainly represented a different kind of songwriting then then you. -Here's one detour that we're going to take today. How dates can the how the meaning of dates can change? February 9 was when the Beatles were on on Solomon, but that's also Carole King's birthday. This is really, but it gets overshadowed by the Beatles happening. There's a date in your life that has taken on new significance. Not professionally, but personally I have to ask you about it. You got married in 1962 On September 11.

Neil Sedaka: that is correct. So 45 years of marriage, and the date is a stab in your heart whenever you've mentioned September 11.

Pete Fornatale: did it change for you. Obviously, you were celebrating, you must have had it in mind to celebrate that day. And suddenly, here's this tragedy on such a scale

Neil Sedaka: It was mixed emotions, absolutely mixed emotions. But I'm very happy that Libra and I have had a very successful marriage. She's been my manager for the last 30 years. And we can keep things separate. And we have two wonderful children and three delicious grandchildren.

Pete Fornatale: That's very good. I'm gonna jump back to one of your early hits, because my partner, Chris Hall, who has a beautiful daughter, and they both can enjoy and be happy about calendar girl, you can't hear that song, and not have it put a smile on your face.

Neil Sedaka: And I'll tell you something that nobody knows. I'm writing a children's album. And I've changed the words to all of my original hits for children, and I call it I love I love I love my dinosaur pet. And in the background, I'm off my four year old twin granddaughters singing the months of the year. So it goes on generation after generation

Pete Fornatale: all in the family. I love it. I love it. Something else is about calendar girl. There's a video before there were videos. There's a performance video of you with these attractive women representing each of the months expressed

Neil Sedaka: scopitone I did it in Australia. That was something years ago called scopitone it was a jukebox with a screen. You put the coin in and you saw the artist singing on the screen. Okay, so it was an it's to this day I use it in the act. And the color is vibrant. And it's a terrific, probably the first ever music video

Pete Fornatale: the roots of music video you know, some people obviously point to MTV, but you know the Beatles of course can be considered to have done music videos for their movies. Rick Nelson on his parents show traveling man had a whole travel log for the song and then right in the middle of all of that there's yes you with calendar girl.

Neil Sedaka: I could never figure out endings to any of these songs. So I faded away. And another story. I used to write what I call the sandwich song sandwich. I started out with a piece of bread. Then the meat of a song was the words January you start the year off fine. And I used to end with another piece of bread. So I called the sandwich song. It became a trademark.

Pete Fornatale: It definitely did. The Beatles put you out of business for a while. Did you think it was over that the world had ended for you? Pete

Neil Sedaka: I always saw there was a natural progression. And that was like a five year. Brenda Lee. Everly Brothers Fats Domino, Connie Francis after about five, six years, it dipped. So I was kind of prepared. When it happened, I took stock of myself I raised the family. I wrote for Screen Gems. Gianni Kirschner, sold all the music and became the president of Screen Gems. And I wrote for many singers, Tom Jones, Peggy Lee, the fifth dimension, the monkees, the archies. And I always, you know, once you get a taste of being on the stage, there's nothing else like that adrenaline rush...For about 18 years I said maybe this is it. And then lo and behold, Carole King, James Taylor, Joni Mitchell Cat Stevens, Gordon Lightfoot, it was the time of the singer, songwriter. And I met a guy named Phil Cody, who was very poetic. And that was the thing then. You know how he was a great lyricist. But it was the time of painting pictures, and being very poetic. And I found Phil Cody, in the office at Screen Gems. And I said, Do you want to write songs together? And he said to somebody, Neil Sedaka, he's a ghost. He's an old ghost, from the 50s. Who is he kidding? I wouldn't write with him. But I started to write different kinds of things. I was listening to the marketplace. You know, there are two ways of writing, if you write for yourself, or you write for the marketplace. And there are some great writers who have some beautiful things that never get out of their living room, you know, they write artistically. But I liked always to write for the marketplace. And if I could fit in to the culture of the time, and the people got what I was writing, that was the accomplishment...I, of course, my bible was the Billboard magazine. And I used to look at the hits of the world. RCA was dropping me in 1959, because I only had the one hit the diary. And I analyzed the number one song and every country in the world looking at the billboard page. And I noticed that the drums had a certain riff, that guitars had a lick. The lyrical content had a girl's name, there was a certain flavor, and I analyzed it, and I wrote Oh Carol.

Pete Fornatale: Another number one song for Neil Sedaka. So some of the questions are the same. Can you give us a little insight into its creation?

Neil Sedaka: Well, I wanted a drop dead chord. I was in the key of F. Very American Indian very Aaron Copland. I wanted to get to this key. so I started writing the song actually from there. I knew if I if I could get to that chord, and then back if I can get back to F I was in. I was on the money.

Pete Fornatale: Neil Sedaka, and a live version of another one of his number one hits laughter in the rain. I'm going to turn the tables on you and say there's somebody in Europe who was analyzing that song to see what made it successful. What what made it successful?

Neil Sedaka: you can't write a laughter in the rain in one day, it took many, many years of writing to develop that. What made us successful is the collaboration of Phil Cody and I , the beautiful imagery of a couple who were very much in love caught in the rain without an umbrella. It's a movie, you can see a picture soaked to the skin and they were laughing and loving each other. It's a beautiful picture. Absolutely. And it's a beautiful melody.

Pete Fornatale: It must be a wonderful thing. I've always admired someone who puts something out into the universe into the popular culture that pleases and lasts. Now some people only have that experience one time, Norman Greenbaum and spirit in the sky, the one hit wonder category and that's not your story at all. You've done this so many times. It's still gratifying.

Neil Sedaka: It's scary. With the blank page in front of you. And you're up at bat again. You have to come up with some thing as good if not better. I have a love hate relationship with the writing I have to be locked in a room. Howie Greenfield used to lock me in a room to write because I I said I can't do it. I I can't do it. I ran out of ideas. And you do, but you have to rejuvenate. How do you rejuvenate by listening to other performers? By being? I mean, there are, I was inspired by listening to voices, different voices. I know we're getting to a song, I'm going to demonstrate it to you. But I am inspired by listening to other artists sing their vocal style. And that's what turns me on.

Pete Fornatale: His song was coming to America was what it was called. And this song that I didn't know by you call the immigrant. The first time I heard it. I said, this could have been written out of today's headlines.

Neil Sedaka: Well, I'm from immigrant grandparents. My father's parents came from Istanbul, Turkey, and moved to New York in 1910. So I related to this subject. Plus Pete, I was a friend of John Lennon's who was having trouble with the immigration department because of some taking some drugs and so forth. He didn't get a green card. And I dedicated the dedicated the song to John Lennon. And there is an interview still in the archives on WNEW. Where we were both interviewed at different times. But he said, Neil Sedaka called me and I was so frightened. People call me and ask me for things. But this is the first time that somebody said, I wrote a song about you, I dedicate the song to you. And I'll never forget it.

Pete Fornatale: Oh, how could you? How could you? But it does. It's in my mind taken on a life and meaning of its own that goes way beyond John and his green card problems would you do the immigrant for us?

Pete Fornatale: I don't know your beliefs about such things. But to me somewhere John is smiling...we could probably do this all day. I know I'm gonna have to let you go at some point. But a leftover question from earlier. You were first generation rock and roll. Did you do those tours? Did you do all of the typical things

Neil Sedaka: no, my idol was Bobby Darin, and a great friend. Matter of fact, he had me playing a lot of his records piano. He was at Supper club, Copacabana. Polished slick, could stand at a microphone and do standards. That's what I wanted to do. So I didn't do the bus tours the Rock and Roll tours. I did. The supper clubs. Finally in 62, the Copacabana, the Brooklyn Paramount with Murray the K and Alan Freed. And Brenda Lee and I and I think it was Bobby Vinton. Yes.

Pete Fornatale: Just a couple of more things, Neil and I promise we'll let you go. breaking up is hard to do might have another life or or does it already?

Neil Sedaka: Well, I'm going to do it as a children's song. Called waking up is hard to do. And it's adorable.


Pete Fornatale: I have to tell you a funny story about Paul Simon. He with Art had a hit called at the zoo. And there were a couple of lines you know, is a lovely song about animals. He anthropomorphized those animals, I guess or whatever that word is. But there are two references in the song One is to the zookeeper who is very fond of rum. And the other is to the hamsters who turn on frequently. And they wanted to use that song for the Bronx Zoo. But then they passed on it because they said, This is not child friendly. No. Several years later, Paul did a book for kids called at the zoo. And the publisher had the same problems. The Rum and the turning on frequently changes. Rum became a squirrel that the zookeeper was fond of. You just gave the character a name. No longer the alcoholic substance. And the hamsters who turned on frequently. Were headlights. Yes, that they turned on frequent. Very good. Problem solved. Book came out...When I mentioned Breaking up is hard to do. I thought there was a musical in the works about it

Neil Sedaka: um, that has played in some regional theaters but I'm not allowed to say this but we're hoping and praying for bigger and better.

Pete Fornatale: You know, Broadway was always in in a prior era, the place for composers and songwriters and songwriting teams, many of whom I'm sure influenced you and and your partners. Rock and roll's success on Broadway has been spotty, you know,

Neil Sedaka: Except for Jersey Boys.

Pete Fornatale: Now, there's an exception. Billy Joel had some success. moving out. But major artists, there was a show about with Dylan's music recently that just tanked there was one about John Lennon, Smokey Robinson -

Neil Sedaka: They don't like to jukebox musicals. The songs have to be an integral part of the story. And they just not shipped in. And that's that's important in theater

Pete Fornatale: Paul Simon failed on a large scale. But I have to think thats an area -

Neil Sedaka: It's the next thing that I would love to do. And you know, you, you have to work towards it takes a long time. It's a lot of people involved, and it's a work in progress.

Pete Fornatale: That'll be the excuse for your next visit here...I started this visit off, Neil by saying what a milestone 50 years in the music business is. I know, on the one hand that it has to be exhilarating. But I'm also sensing that it's a little daunting, because it must force you to confront that nine letter word. Mortality, does it?