Solitaire Cover Mentioned In Neil Sedeka Article

Clay's cover of Solitaire, Neil Sedeka's classic 70's song was mentioned in this article posted by Scripps Howard News Service (this article will be syndicated through the news service's various affiliates)

Sedaka still singing
And other artists are scoring big hits with his songs
By Wayne Bledsoe
Scripps Howard News Service

Neil Sedaka is best-known for his hits from the late 1950s and early '60s – and his comeback in the mid-1970s. But, while the only radio airwaves that his voice is currently gracing are oldies stations', Sedaka's songs continue to find new life.
Clay Aiken recently revived Sedaka's song "Solitaire."A 1971 Tony Christie recording of Sedaka's "Amarillo"was recently revived to become a No. 1 hit in the United Kingdom. A new musical comedy called "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do: The Neil Sedaka Musical"recently closed after two months of sold-out performances in Albany, N.Y., and a new production of the play is scheduled to open in Coral Gables, Fla., in early 2006.

One thing that bothers Sedaka is that his music is referred to as "bubblegum music."
"I find that very offensive,"he says in a telephone call. "I thought my songs were a step above that. I thought my singing was a step above."

Sedaka was, in fact, training as a classical pianist long before he was a singer or a songwriter. The son of a New York taxi driver and a housewife, Sedaka was enrolled in piano studies at the Juilliard School of Music at age 8. His non-classical experience began when he was 13.

"Howard Greenfield was a 19-year-old poet,"Sedaka says. "His mother (Sedaka's neighbor) had heard me playing classical piano downstairs. One day she knocked on the door and when I opened it she said, 'Did I want to write songs with her son?'

"I had no idea how to write pop songs!"

Sedaka and Greenfield soon learned together.

In 1958, Connie Francis recorded the Sedaka-Greenfield number "Stupid Cupid"and had a hit. (The duo's "Where the Boys Are"was another Francis hit two years later.) It was also 1958 when Sedaka signed a recording contract with RCA and began an eight-year string of his own hits that included "Calendar Girl,""Stairway to Heaven,""Happy Birthday, Sweet Sixteen,""Next Door to An Angel"and "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do."

Sedaka says a doctor once told him that one of his vocal cords is slightly paralyzed, which might be the key to his distinctive sound.

"I can go in a taxicab and the driver won't even turn around and he'll say, 'You're Neil Sedaka. I can tell by your voice,'"Sedaka says.

By the mid-1960s, Sedaka's style was out of vogue in the United States, but continued to sell in Europe. In 1973, Sedaka fan Elton John signed the pop icon to his Rocket Records. The resulting album, "Sedaka's Back,"contained "Laughter in the Rain"– a song that would become Sedaka's first No. 1 hit in the United States since 1962.

"I wanted it vehemently,"Sedaka says. "I had heard Carole King's 'Tapestry,' and I said, 'I could do that.'"

Suddenly, it seemed as if he was everywhere. Elton John sang backup on Sedaka's hit "Bad Blood,"which went to No. 1. The Captain and Tennille recorded the "Sedaka's Back"track "Love Will Keep Us Together"and went to No. 1. He and Phil Cody wrote English lyrics for the song "Ring Ring"by the Swedish group Abba. The Sedaka-Cody song "Solitaire"was a hit for the Carpenters in 1975 and became a pop standard.
"Elvis did 'Solitaire' very poorly,"Sedaka says. "He changed the beat and the melody. But, of course, it was an Elvis record, so I was thrilled. Sheryl Crow did it beautifully, though."

"I'd like another hit album," Sedaka says. "I still feel like there's one more in me. If Carlos Santana can do it..."