The 1981 Listening Post - Neil Sedaka - Now

 Reviewed by Paul J Zickler

Released: 1981 Neil Sedaka Now Genre: Schlocky Pop Rating: 2.75 out of 5 Highlights: The Big Parade Neil Sedaka had his first hit record in 1957 at age 18. By 1962, he was on top of the schlocky division of the teeny bopper league, scoring number ones left and right. Two years later, as he tells it, the Beatles came along and ruined it all. He spent the following decade toiling in relative obscurity, until schlock came back in fashion, and he once again ascended to the top, scoring number ones with Captain & Tennille, Elton John, and on his own. I don’t know who came along to ruin it all in the late ‘70’s – Johnny Rotten maybe? - but by the dawn of the ‘80’s, Sedaka had once again plunged into the cutouts bin, where he remains to this day. The cover of this album tells the story: Neil perches on a stereotypical wooden cane chair, blue silk shirt unbuttoned to the navel. He was 42 when this came out, well and truly washed up. Most of the songs evaporate instantly upon listening, but I’ll give a few examples anyway. What Have They Done to My Town trots out every cliché to make a *big statement* without much success. On the Road Again has that mid-’70’s AM radio ballad thing happening, inoffensive but paper thin. Summertime Madness has a fun sort of fake Caribbean feel, like Spyro Gyra lite, if that’s even possible. My World Keeps Slipping Away might have been written for the Everly Brothers, but here it comes off more like Lawrence Welk. Love Is Spreading Over the World aspires for the same territory as What the World Needs Now, Everything is Beautiful, and Let’s Get Together. I appreciate the intention, and I can almost imagine an audience of senior citizens clapping and singing along, but it feels like that would only happen ironically in some hip cartoon made in the 2010’s, and maybe it did. The last song on the album is called The Big Parade. It would fit really nicely into an obscure Broadway musical – not one of those epic spectacles, but something small and unassuming, like Sondheim without all the fancy extra notes. “Life is like a happy song / and you’re a fool if you don’t sing along / Spring is over much too soon / for those who hum a different tune. / The big parade passes by your window / there’s joy and laughter ringing in the street below. / Come on, come on / The big parade is passing. / What good is living in a world you’ll never know?” All of this over snare rolls and bouncy piano chords, with some muted trumpet accents. It’s actually quite effective and transcends the rest of the record to stand on its own. I will absolutely admit to having a soft spot for songs like Calendar Girl, Breakin’ Up is Hard to Do, Love Will Keep Us Together and Bad Blood. Those are great songs. With the possible exception of Big Parade, these are not. Mr. Sedaka’s brand of schlock has a special place in pop music history, but by 1981, that ship had sailed. Bon voyage, Neil.Reviewed by Rob Slater Released: January 7 1981 Madcats Streetgame Genre: Canadian Rock Rating: 2.75 out of 5 Highlights: Summer In The City Street Game - Nice start. Ah, that Canadian sound. Vocally, sounds kinda like Warren Zevon. Call It Quits - Not a bad song. Some nice harmonies. The second singer has a mellower, higher voice. Sounds like somebody I can't think of right now. On the second listening (kind of just skipping through the songs) I think it's better than I thought it was. Long Distance Callin' - Nice. Almost R&B. Really repetitious lyrics, though. Ooh, an incidental note. :-) Save Me - Decent song. I think the drummer is actually pretty good. And so is the guitarist. Probably they're all pretty good, but I don't like much of the keyboard sound and choices. Young Man's World - Pretty sure they stole the intro from Manfred Mann's Blinded by the Light. They're trying to be tricky and chang time signatures temporarily. It almost works. These guys are the Canadian Styx. Most of their songs, sadly, are copying Styx's earlier stuff, which in my opinion wasn't as good. And too much Dennis DeYoung and not enough of John Young's guitar. More You Than Me - Yup, Styx. Brown Baggin' - Okay, this song is the best so far. A 50s honky tonk piano song, well, only for a little bit. But I really find that I don't like the synth stuff from the '80s. I'm assuming the title is some sort of sexual reference. Execution - Well executed. :-) The guitar work is really nice, and the song works really well until the second break. But it doesn't totally kill the song. I Like It - I don't especially. But it's better than about half the stuff we've heard so far. Actually it's pretty good, but I wouldn't put it on a playlist. Damn it, there comes the synth after doing perfectly fine on the piano. If I had a quarter for every time they said, "I like it," I could probably buy a six pack of beer, and drown my sorrows from the worst of these songs. Summer in the City - Requisite '80s cover. What's the point? Actually, I know the point - it's a better song than all the ones they wrote themselves. And finally a song where the synth organ actually sounds pretty good and appropriate. They do a nice job on this. Not very original, but listenable. Harder Rock than the original. A highlight. Can't help but think their better songs, at least the ones that stuck with me, are on side 2.

The 1980 Listening Post - Neil Sedaka - In the Pocket

 Reviewed by Geo Rule

Released: 1980 Neil Sedaka In The Pocket Genre: The Silky Smooth Musical Stylings Of The Incomparable Neil Sedaka Rating: 3.75 out of 5 Highlights: Junkie For Your Love My Friend Should’ve Never Let You Go “Down, doobie-do, down down, comma, comma. . . “ You KNOW you heard Sedaka in your head reading those words. “Junkie For Your Love” is jazzy, smooth, upbeat, and with a decent hook. IMO, it should have been the lead single from the album instead of “Letting Go”, which disappeared without a chart ripple. I have no idea what Neil was thinking with “You Better Leave That Girl Alone” which belongs in the “Johnny Get Angry” genre of the early 60’s. A peppy, upbeat jingle about a subject that even as early as 1980 shouldn’t have been on an album like this. . . certainly not a Sedaka one. “My Friend” is just a classic Sedaka ballad, that if you have an urgent need to feel warm and fuzzy, queue it up, stat! “You” is half a step behind, but same idea. In The Pocket would provide Sedaka’s last Hot 100 appearance on the singles chart, in a duet with daughter Dara, which charted at #19. “Should’ve Never Let You Go” is actually a remake of a ’78 Sedaka solo tune, turned into an “Awwww!” duet with his daughter. Yeah, it’s sweet and sappy. Just like Neil. If you can’t stand having honey poured over your metaphorical head, what are you doing listening to Sedaka in the first place? The album ends with the obligatory retro cover, this time of the 1934 classic “What a Difference a Day Makes” (made popular in the US in 1959 by Dinah Washington) in jazzy Neil form. You can practically smell the smoke in the club. For the most part, if you like Sedaka, you’ll find multiple tracks to like on In The Pocket. I did.