Neil Sedaka The Very Best Of Neil Sedaka (CD)

Neil Sedaka

Neil Sedaka was one of the last great melodists of the twentieth century: a classically trained pianist equally at home with the works of Debussy, Chopin and Prokofiev and with the exuberant rock 'n' roll of his generation. Born on 13 March 1939 in Brooklyn, he grew up in modest circumstances in Brighton Beach. At the age of eight he was already attending a preparatory class at the Juilliard School and immersing himself in Bach.

He found his decisive partner in Howard Greenfield, whom he met in 1952 in the Catskills. Together they wrote countless songs and soon belonged to the circle around Al Nevins and Don Kirshner's Aldon Music, near the legendary Brill Building. With his childhood friend Carole King he dissected the hits of the day, and with schoolmates he formed the vocal group The Linc-Tones, which later became The Tokens.

As a recording artist for RCA Victor, Sedaka blended overdubbed vocal harmonies, sophisticated chord changes and a clear, inviting voice into an unmistakable sound. The result was worldwide hits such as Oh! Carol, Calendar Girl and Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen. With Breaking Up Is Hard To Do he reached number one in the United States in 1962, and in 1975 he turned the ballad version of the same song into a hit all over again – a rare feat in pop history.

After a slump in the mid-1960s, Sedaka showed his mettle: in the seventies he staged an internationally acclaimed comeback, and as composer of the Grammy-winning Love Will Keep Us Together he proved that his melodies would outlast generations. Neil Sedaka died on 27 February 2026 at the age of 86. His songs, composed with melody, structure and discipline, remain.

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