Neil Sedaka in Morristown: Showing how it’s done

HIT MAN: Neil Sedaka says he has written 600 songs; many landed on pop charts here and abroad. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
HIT MAN: Neil Sedaka says he has written 600 songs; many landed on pop charts here and abroad. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
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Anyone who can hear laughter in the rain is worthy of admiration.

Which is what rained down on Neil Sedaka on Friday from an appreciative audience at the Mayo Performing Arts Center in Morristown.

ALL SMILES: Neil Sedaka in Morristown, April 21, 2017. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
ALL SMILES: Neil Sedaka in Morristown, April 21, 2017. Photo by Kevin Coughlin

This was one of those bucket-list shows for me.  My introduction to Sedaka came in the ’70s.

He was all over the radio dial, with Laughter in the Rain; Breaking Up Is Hard to Do, a remake of his early hit;  Bad Blood, a duet with Elton John; and the Captain and Tennille’s cover of Love Will Keep Us Together.

Infectious pop confections all, from a guy who once spit them out like a human gumball machine. 

Between 1958 and 1963, he sold 40 million records while part of the famed Brill Building team of composers that included Burt Bacharach, Neil Diamond, Gerry Goffin and Carole King.

Friday’s show opened with many of Sedaka’s early hits: Oh! Carol (inspired by Carole King, his former girlfriend), The Diary (written for Connie Francis), Calendar Girl, Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen and Next Door to an Angel.

Feeling blue was not an option during this peppy set.  And that came as a relief.

Neil Sedaka at MPAC, April 21, 2017. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Neil Sedaka at MPAC, April 21, 2017. Photo by Kevin Coughlin

Depending where you are on the rock and roll timeline, MPAC’s calendar either looks like a golden drive down Memory Lane or a risky visit to Jurassic Park.

Sedaka, 78, shuffled onstage resembling your favorite jowly grandpa. Hmmm…what are we in for tonight?

As soon as he sat down at the Steinway and started to sing, however, any trepidation was dispelled. His Juilliard-schooled fingers still dance across the keyboard (he even dusted off some Chopin), and his voice remains expressive and elastic.

For his bossa nova-flavored Do You Remember? Sedaka danced across the stage.

The Brooklyn native joked about needing time to recover after that number, and he had fun with a couple of video clips from his teen idol years. 

While dining out recently, he recounted, a woman approached him to say that she had appeared as “Miss January” in his 1961 Calendar Girl promo film.

“Old,” he deadpanned to the audience. “Very old.” 

Of course, he added, “I haven’t changed.”

Neil Sedaka shares a laugh at MPAC, April 21, 2017. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Neil Sedaka shares a laugh at MPAC, April 21, 2017. Photo by Kevin Coughlin

Sedaka has been writing songs since age 13, and he gave the Morristown crowd a mini-clinic in the craft. Often, he explained, he tried to tailor compositions for his favorite voices on the radio.

Love Will Keep Us Together, co-written with longtime collaborator Howard Greenfield, was intended for Diana Ross, he said, with a Beach Boys-style rhythm and chords akin to Al Green’s.

“So I put together Diana Ross, the Beach Boys and Al Green, stirred it in a pot, and at the end, Howie Greenfield and I wrote the lyrics,” he said, launching into a bouncy rendition with his five-piece band.

Clay Aiken, Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Tom Jones and the Monkees, among many others, have recorded Sedaka tunes. But on Friday I found myself partial to his versions–which is not always the case with hit songwriters.

Wistful ballads such as The Hungry Years and Solitaire are especially poignant sung by Sedaka at this point in his life.

They also serve as reminders of his depth; this is one of America’s great songsmiths. Make that, one of the world’s great songsmiths. He has enjoyed commercial success releasing his songs in Italian, Spanish, German, French, Hebrew and Japanese.

Though Sedaka’s best known works were composed decades ago, some remain timely as well as timeless

Neil Sedaka at the keyboard in Morristown, April 21, 2017. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Neil Sedaka at the keyboard in Morristown, April 21, 2017. Photo by Kevin Coughlin

The Immigrant, from 1975, was about ex-Beatle John Lennon and his immigration battle with the Nixon administration.

That tribute seems pretty magnanimous, considering the Beatles unleashed a musical tidal wave that left Sedaka high and dry for more than a decade.

Turns out Sedaka and Lennon shared a common friend, Elton John, who revived both of their solo careers in the ’70s.

Sedaka closed Friday’s show with The Immigrant.  Co-written with Phil Cody, its lyrics could have been ripped from the morning headlines:

There was a time when strangers were welcome here
Music would play, they tell me the days were sweet and clear
It was a sweeter tune and there was so much room that people could come from everywhere
There was a time when strangers were welcome here

Neil Sedaka greets large crowd at MPAC, April 21, 2017. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Neil Sedaka greets a large crowd at MPAC, April 21, 2017. Photo by Kevin Coughlin

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