Sedaka Mentions Clay on NPR Radio

Neil Sedaka mentioned Clay in his interview with National Public Radio (NPR) today. The CB's gerwhisp has already uploaded a cap to SendSpace for you to download.

Clay is scheduled to perform at a 50th anniversary concert for Neil Sedaka in New York in October.

Here's a recap/transcript from stripedshirts at Clayversity:

here is a little hidden treat from NPR that I found from their 'FRESH AIR' program.

I'm not sure if it's been presented here before, but ...... it's dated 4 months back, but a goodie for those of you who may even have a mild interest in Neil Sedaka. He was promoting his new cd, "The Definitive Collection". It's a rather enjoyable interview, about a good 10 -15 minutes of meaty material - and yes, there is a Clay mention. Takes a while to get there, but it's a pleasurable listen along the way. After you hear this interview, you'll learn more about why/how Neil & Clay's lives as a teen growing up & as a singer parallel eachother pretty close. I scanned the interview kind of quickly to get to the good Clay part - but did hear that Neil was a misfit in high school & was raised by a bunch of women....sound familiar?

Quote:

Q: "Now of course in American Idol a few years ago, Ruben sang a slow version of "Breaking Up is Hard to Do", and Clay recorded "Solitaire". And you were a guest judge. What kind of advice did they ask you...did they tell you to be nice, or take the gloves off and be tough?"

A: "....I wanted to be tough, but my son said, "Dad, there are 30 million people watching...be careful of what you say.....I think these kids are front of millions of people, it's a difficult thing. But I must tell you how I got on. Everyone was saying "Neil, you must be a celebrity judge" and I thought it's so difficult, so many people trying to get on! I think these kids are front of millions of people, it's a difficult thing. But I must tell you how I got on. my publicist said perhaps if you called personally to the show, you'd have a better chance. I picked up the phone, spoke to a Susan Slaymer of the staff, and I said, "Hi, this is Neil Sedaka, I would love to come on as a celebrity judge...I watch the show, I'd love to come on as a celebrity judge" And she said, "Are you kidding? Who is this?" & I said, "this is Neil Sedaka" she said "sit there, we're having a meeting" She called me back in an hour, and said "you'll be on in 2 wks & the 5 finalists will be singing Neil Sedaka songs". I was over the moon.

Q: "What impact did that have on your career"?

A: "The catalog went through the roof. All of the old records started to sell. Amazon went through the wall, & "Solitaire" by Clay was the biggest, I think the 2nd biggest seller of that year".

---

NEIL SEDAKA: STILL KEEPING IT TOGETHER

click on the LISTEN button for the interview. The Clay mention comes almost 7-8 mins. into the recording. I rather found it an enjoyable interview. Neil is one of very few out there who GETS Clay.

** Cute plug about Neil doing a children's songs cd, parodying his own hits from the years...I remember from an m&g report that Clay mentioned wanting to do something for kids - was it a book or a cd? I can't remember!

This is great segue towards Neil's tribute event coming up in Oct. I personally WISH Neil would work on something just for Clay & his new cd.....

My request: Can someone here w/ the best sophisticated tech skills PLEASE convert this interview into an MP3 file???