What was the first band Neil Sedaka was in?
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Rock with Neil Sedaka or just Neil Sedaka is the first major solo album of Neil Sedaka released in 1959 after two 1958 albums under the titles "Neil Sedaka and The Tokens" and "Neil Sedaka and The Tokens and Coins". The album was released by RCA Victor and was produced by Al Nevins.
The album contains 12 songs, all of them co-written by Sedaka and his friend Howard Greenfield. Two of the songs became successful singles for Sedaka from the album, namely "The Diary", his debut single that was a hit, reaching No. 14 on the US Billboard charts, and "I Go Ape", a single that was relatively successful in the United States reaching No. 42, but did far better in the UK Singles Chart, making it up to No. 9 and his debut single in the United Kingdom.
Rock with Sedaka
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The group was formed in 1955 at Brooklyn's Abraham Lincoln High School, and was known first as The Linc-Tones. Originally featuring members Neil Sedaka, Hank Medress, Eddie Rabkin, and Cynthia Zolotin, Rabkin was replaced by Jay Siegel in 1956, and the band recorded its first single, "While I Dream" that same year. In 1957 Sedaka and Zolotin left the band, leaving only Siegel and Medress, who would recruit two additional band members and record the single "Picture in My Wallet" as Darrell & the Oxfords. Finally establishing its most famous name and crew, the band became known as the Tokens in 1960 after they recruited the 13-year-old multi-instrumentalist and first tenor Mitch Margo and his baritone brother Phil Margo.
The Tokens
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After graduating from Abraham Lincoln High School, Sedaka and some of his classmates formed a band called the Linc-Tones. The band had minor regional hits with songs like "While I Dream", "I Love My Baby", "Come Back, Joe", and "Don't Go", before Sedaka launched his solo career and left the group in 1957. The Linc-Tones, later renamed the Tokens after Sedaka's departure, would go on to have four top-40 hits of their own without Sedaka. Sedaka's first three solo singles, "Laura Lee", "Ring-a-Rockin'", and "Oh, Delilah!" failed to become hits (although "Ring-a-Rockin'" earned him the first of many appearances on Dick Clark's "American Bandstand"), but they demonstrated his ability to perform as a solo singer, so RCA Victor signed him to a recording contract.
Neil Sedaka
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Neil Sedaka: Now is a studio album by American songwriter and pop star Neil Sedaka. It was released in 1981 on the Elektra label, and it was the last Sedaka album to be released on that label. As with other Neil Sedaka albums of that period, it was released in Europe on the Polydor label.
Elektra issued two 45 rpm singles featuring material from this album. The first one featured "My World Keeps Slipping Away" (b/w "Love Is Spreading Over The World"), which reached No. 36 on the US Adult Contemporary Chart. The second single featured "Losing You" (b/w "On The Road Again"), but did not chart. (This single also saw a European release on the Polydor label.)
Neil Sedaka: Now
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This song's writers, Sedaka and Howard Greenfield, had originally written this song for Little Anthony & The Imperials. (It had a very similar sound to that group's first hit, "Tears on My Pillow".) The pair took the song to George Goldner, The Imperials' producer, over at End Records, who, although having the group record and release the song as an End Records single, felt that it wasn't quite done the way they felt it should have been done. The Imperials' version didn't chart, so Sedaka took it and decided that he should record the song himself. "The Diary" was issued on Sedaka's 1959 first solo album "Rock with Sedaka" on RCA. It was reissued on his 1961 record "Neil Sedaka Sings Little Devil and His Other Hits", and again in 1963 on the album "Neil Sedaka Sings His Greatest Hits".
The Diary (song)
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Later in 1976, Sedaka released a third (and final) album with Elton John's label The Rocket Record Company, "Steppin' Out". The first single, "Love in the Shadows," was an uncharacteristically solid rock song featuring a scorching guitar solo. While it peaked at No. 16 on the Hot 100, it was the first of his three "comeback" albums' debut singles not to hit No. 1—or even the Top 10. The second single was the album's title track, once again featuring Elton on uncredited backing vocals. While it cracked the Top 40 (peaking at No. 36), it would also signal the beginning of a slowdown in Sedaka's music sales and radio play not unlike what he experienced in 1964 when The Beatles and the "British Invasion" arrived.
Neil Sedaka
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Neil Sedaka On Stage is a 1974 live-in-concert album recorded by Neil Sedaka during one of his tours to Sydney, Australia at the South Sydney Junior Leagues Club . The concert itself took place in 1971, though it was not released for another three years. The album contains mostly cover versions of rock and pop standards from previous decades. It was released on the RCA International label in Australia and the United Kingdom.In Brazil, the album was released on the RCA Victor label under the title "Neil Sedaka Ao Vivo"
Neil Sedaka On Stage
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The Tra-La Days Are Over is a 1973 album by American singer-songwriter Neil Sedaka. The album was the second to be produced at Strawberry Studios in England in collaboration with Graham Gouldman, Lol Creme, Kevin Godley and Eric Stewart, who had formed the band 10cc since their first joint venture with Sedaka on "Solitaire" (1972).
The Tra-La Days Are Over
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While Francis was writing in her diary, Sedaka asked her if he could read what she had written. As mentioned earlier, Francis said no. This inspired Sedaka to write "The Diary", his own first hit single. Sedaka and Greenfield wrote many of Connie Francis' hits, such as "Fallin'" and the "Theme from "Where the Boys Are"", the film in which she starred. This hit the Top 5 on the "Billboard" pop singles chart and Francis had several No. 1 singles. "Where the Boys Are" eventually became her signature song.
Neil Sedaka
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Appearing on 1972 album releases by both Tony Christie and Petula Clark, "Solitaire" had its first evident single release in February 1973 as recorded by the Searchers; however it was an autumn 1973 single by Andy Williams which would reach number 4 in the UK Singles Chart and afford Williams a number 1 hit in South Africa. The title cut from an album produced by Richard Perry, Williams' "Solitaire" also became a US Easy Listening hit at number 23. In 1974, Neil Sedaka's 1972 recording of "Solitaire" was included on his comeback album "Sedaka's Back". Later in 1975, a live-in-concert version recorded by Sedaka at the Royal Festival Hall was issued as the B-side of "The Queen of 1964". This is the version of "Solitaire" that was released as part of Razor & Tie's 2007 "Definitive Collection" album.
Solitaire (Neil Sedaka song)