Chapter One
NEIL SEDAKA
âThatâs When the Music Takes Meâ
This legendary singer-songwriterâs career spans over 60 yearsâevery major decade of pop and rock music. A Grammy Award winner, he has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His track record of close to 1,000 songs composed and millions of albums sold has earned him a spot in the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Hit Parade Hall of Fame. His songs have been covered by the greats, including Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, the Monkees, Frankie Valli, Connie Francis, The Carpenters and even American Idol runner-up Clay Aiken.
Needless to say, this pop icon has earned his chops as one of the worldâs leading composers and lyricists. Whether or not you were born by the time âLaughter in the Rain,â âOh! Carol,â or âCalendar Girlâ were hits, youâd recognize any of his songs within the first bar. His tunes are an essential part of the American landscape.
And yet he remains strikingly humble about his success. When we caught up with Mr. Sedaka in early 2010, heâd just released his first new studio album in over a decade, The Music of My Life, to rave reviews. He was thrilled to share his insights with us and displayed a keen interest in mentoring the next generation in the music business.
Mr. Sedaka is old-school, in the best possible way. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, to humble beginnings (his father was a taxi driver), he was trained as a classical pianist, and his mother had dreams of him becoming a maestro and playing at Carnegie Hall. But pop music was already calling him.
When he completed his studies at Juilliard, he became one of the composers of the Brill Building on Broadway, where he worked alongside some of the worldâs greatest composers of the century, including Carole King, Bobby Darin, Paul Simon, Ben E. King and Neil Diamond, to name a handful. They were all there because they had a job to doâcreating catchy tunes that you couldnât get out of your head. It wasnât about them, it was about writing something that anyone could sing and enjoy. These were true pros with an abundance of talent.
We put in a call to his manager and within days heâd agreed to speak with us and the interview was set. We had a date of 10 a.m. on a cold day in February, and Mr. Sedaka was punctual to the second (which almost never happens with artists). He was suering from a bad case of the flu, but nothing was going to stop him from speaking with us. Music is what he lives for, and he could speak on the subject for hours. No topic was o limits. Mr. Sedaka opened himself up for us with complete candor. He is a class act, and it was a privilege to learn from one of the greats.
Photo: Neil Sedaka
Editorial credit: Neil Sedaka
Some aspiring musicians are under the impression that American Idol and making Lady Gaga-type songs is the only way to make it in the music business today...
Oh, no, I disagree. There have been many number ones this year that are not in that style. Michael BublĂ©, Barbra Streisand, Sade, Susan Boyle and Neil Diamond have all had hits. Adults seem to be buying these records, where the melody and the lyrics are more important. Theyâre becoming more of a standard type of evergreen song.
We understand that you always try to focus on melodic writing and intelligible lyrics.
Yes, Iâm writing 57 years and I have a new one out at the moment called Music Of My Life, which features 12 new songs, music and lyrics. I am very proud of being part of that history of rock ânâ roll from the Brill Building in New York City. : So, if anyone can give you a long perspective of songwriting, I can.
Do you recall how many songs you have actually written in those 57 years?
Over a thousand. Not all good, but a great many of them are.
Would you say that the songwriting itself has changed in those six decades?
Well, you know itâs a very trendy and fickle business. There are dierent styles that come and go. In the Brill Building, we were taught to write the hooks, very sing-able, memorable songs. We had to tell the story in two-and-a-half minutes because in those days the 45 rpm was about two-and-a-half minutes. Unfortunately, many of the things we hear today are productions. There are very solid productions and the poetry is good, but the songs themselves in many instances are not memorable. They cannot be covered by other artists. That was the criteria when I was writing. I was fortunate that some of the great artists have mineâElvis, Frank Sinatra, Bobby Darin.
To me, there are two kinds of writing. There is the studio songâSade, for instance, is marvelous. But when you take the song itself, I donât think anybody else can perform it or that it will go on in years to come. It wonât be remembered, but certainly the production is there. With Sade, there is the voice, the instruments, the playing, the musicianship, the poetry...But the songs covered will not be remembered. I am from the school of Frank Loesser, Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Richard Rodgers, Johnny Mercerâa dierent kind of writing.
You have a theory that there are three dierent kinds of songwriting?
It is only my theory, but after so many years, I found that it might be true. I have written intellectually where the songs are in my subconsciousâold songs and I rewrite them intellectually. Then there is the spiritual process, where I am being channeled and it comes from a higher power. It passes through me and Iâm chosen at that moment. And then the emotional is when you go through a trauma. You get it o your chest and you weep and you say goodbye. Thatâs just my theory, but itâs an interesting theory.
We certainly agree. Is it important to set the creative mood when writing a song? What can be done to enhance creativity?
I have to have a project. Iâm working on two projects now: Sedaka Sings Doo Wop because I started in Doo Wop. Iâm also doing a second childrenâs CD. My first was Waking Up Is Hard To Do, which was number one on Amazon.com for many weeks this last year. I write when I have a project in mind and Iâm inspired. And then what really inspires me is listening to other voices, other creative people, because I think we bounce o each other. It raises the level of your writing. If youâve written so many songs, you try to do something thatâs dierent, something that excites youânew chord changes, new poetry, new imagery, new forms, new harmonic rhythms. When I wrote âLove Will Keep Us Togetherâ with Howard Greenfield, I put together three vocal styles: Beach Boys, Al Green and Diana Ross. You might ask: âHow could you do that, why?â But thatâs how I begin. I approach the song at the piano or Iâll say âIâm going to write a specific kind of a song.â Styles and voices inspire me.
You somehow managed to bridge the gap between evergreen standards, rock ânâ roll and pop...
Iâm one of the few who can do that. I try to reach a large demographic in between pop, rock and standard. Yes, Iâve lived long enough so I can mesh the three.
We heard that your new album was written in two-and-a-half months. How much time do you usually spend writing a song?
Well, Iâve been writing feverishly the last few weeks. Some of them take a day or two. I leave it and I polish it the next day. I polish the melody or lyrics until
Iâm satisfied because it takes more to satisfy me today, so some of them take a couple of days.
What are the main elements that go into a timeless hit record?
Thatâs a good question. If I knew that, Iâd be having number ones again (laughs). But, you know, itâs nice after so many years to still be around, still write and still be someone to be reckoned with. There are two approaches: one is with the market, something that sounds like it should be on the radio today; and, the other is against the market. It is so dierent that you have no competition whatsoever in terms of the song or the sound of the record. Iâve done both. To me, if you write a song thatâs great and you think itâs great, it doesnât matter if you donât reach the public, if they donât agree with you. Itâs not so great if you donât reach the culture of the time, if they donât think that you are doing the right thing at that time. Those records stay in your living room and you play them for yourself or your friends.
The ideal for me, being a record person, being a song person for so many years, is when you write something that you love and the public loves. That is my definition of a great song. Because when I write them, I have to bring some people into my living room and see how I feel singing it to them. If Iâm a little ashamed and squeamish and shy, I know immediately that itâs not good.
How can aspiring songwriters improve their songwriting?
Itâs a gift; itâs very hard. You canât study it. Itâs an improvisation. Itâs like a great horn player who does an improvisation around a harmonic structure. You just have to keep doing it. The more you do it, the better you become. Itâs a part of the brain, that one side of the brain. My son once asked me, âWhat makes the chill come up your spine in a song?â Itâs the marriage of a certain sentiment, certain words with the tune, with the chord. And if those three are married perfectly, that chill comes up your spine.
Have you ever written for other artists?
I never wrote for another artist. I was just covered; I wrote for my own voice. I was fortunate because the vocal range I wrote for is very comfortable and Iâm given a couple of notes maybe. So I got a lot of cover records. Today itâs very hard for a new writer to break in and get a cover record by Alicia Keys or Norah Jones or one of the current singers. First, they write their own, or they have writers who are very close to them. Itâs very hard. I always wrote for my own voice.
How do you come up with strong song concepts?
You need a sentiment that is universal, so that people can say, âOh, that relates to me. Iâve been through that, I can believe it, I can feel it emotionally.â Melody-wise, itâs more elusive. I was a classical musician, so I listened to Gustav Mahler and Brahms. I think the fact that Iâve had an extensive musical background has rubbed o in the pop writing. Of course, itâs much easier to write a pop song. I recently wrote my first symphony, âJoie de Vivre,â which has been performed all over the world. Iâm in the middle of a piano concerto called Manhattan Intermezzo. The point being that you have much more freedom writing a serious classical piece. With pop music, youâre more limited.
Is there a particular song of yours that you are the most proud of?
Oh my goodness, I just completed it this week. I feel that an artist has to develop and grow. I just finished a new song that, I think, is the best of my career. And that wonât be the last. Iâll write to the end because Iâm always trying to prove myself. A creative person is never satisfied. The greatest song of my life was written this week. For me to say that is quite something. Itâs very exciting. When I sit and play it, itâs like âWho wrote this?â I hear it and I marvel at the fact that I wrote it.
Do you write with the music in the background or do you write the lyrics first and then compose the music?
Iâve written tunes on a plane and Iâve written poetry on a napkin in a car. I had very good teachers. You know, I wrote with Howard Greenfield, Phil Cody and Carole Bayer Sager. But for the last 35 years, Iâve been writing the lyrics, which, I think, is more rewarding because the songs come from my soul and my gut, rather than people putting words in my mouth. And I think the audience can feel that. They can almost sense that itâs coming from you. I mean, Elton pulls it off and heâs wonderful, but Bernie Taupin is the poet. Even though the tunes are wonderful, they need the Bernie Taupin poetry.
How did some of your most popular songs like âLaughter in the Rainâ, âBreaking Up is Hard To Doâ, âCalendar Girlâ and your biggest selling record, âBad Bloodâ (with Elton John) came about?
The picture that Phil Cody painted in âLaughter in the Rainâ was beautifulâ about lovers getting soaked without an umbrella, but yet theyâre very much in love and theyâre laughing in the rain. On that one the tune came first and then Phil put the words to it. We wrote three songs that day, but I called Phil later that night and said, âOf the three songs we wrote, âLaughter in the Rainâ is the magic number one.â He asked me, âHow do you know?â and I said, âI have a sixth sense about songs.â
âBad Bloodâ was a combination of many. I strived to do something very dierent, to challenge myself. After he heard that song, even the Godfather of Soul, James Brown, came to me and said, âWell, now youâre in my territory.â It was a little Bo Diddley, a little James Brown, a little Gordon Lightfoot, it was a combination. I like to mix and match, like a fashion designer whoâll go out and look at dierent fabrics and put together dierent mixtures and dierent patterns that perhaps no one has mixed before.
Would you say certain parts of the song have a certain percentage? Like, for example, the chorus accounts for 50 per cent of the song?
No, sometimes, there could be no chorus. It could just be a form where the title comes at the end of the song. Thereâs no verse and chorus really. Iâve written all kinds of songs. There is no one particular form.
In terms of the songwriting itself, what is the single most important piece of advice you would you give aspiring songwriters? Do they have to be able to predict trends in songwriting and analyze contemporary music?
They have to write from a personal point of view and express what theyâre going through, what they feel. That Taylor Swift girl is very good. You have to write what youâre going through, but the melody has to have some surprises. You know, you have to have those chilling moments, the chilling chord; the chilling phrase that touches the ear. Not predictable, with turns and twists in the road. Simple and easy is the most dicult thing to write. Simple songs, however, have to have some kind of element of surprise.
What is the most important songwriting lesson that you have learned over the years?
Be true to yourself. Do it as much as you can because that part of the bra...