Reviews
 Keep It Simple
Van Morrison
Roger McGuinn @ the Huntington IMAC, Long Island, NY - April 4, 2008
Emily Saxe @ the Allen Room/Jazz at Lincoln Center - April 5, 2008
Another Country
Tift Merritt
Be Your Own Pet
Get Awkward
Paul McCartney – The McCartney Years (DVD)
Juno – Music from the Motion Picture
Various Artists
Yes - Their Definitive Story
Day and Night Driving
Seven Mary Three
InterMedia Arts Center 2/2/08
Huntington, NY
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You know, this is kind of embarrassing, for two reasons. First, I never could imagine why I would bother to write a review about Neil Sedaka, especially in the year 2007. Second - and I can’t believe I’m saying this - I cannot bring myself to say much that is bad about this collection. I expected to hate it, so much so that I avoided listening for weeks. Finally, I broke down, and then my preconceptions followed. In my lifetime, it was never cool to like Neil Sedaka, and it was rather easy to disdain him; his watery tenor voice, his juvenile topicality, his melodic redundancy and the sheer ‘pop-ness’ of his music rendered him dismissive, and I never bothered to take him seriously. As far as I was concerned, he was a schlock-meister, and I’ve been holding this opinion for my entire life. “The Definitive Collection” has forced my hand, and I lose.
I never thought I’d be saying this – but Neil Sedaka is worthy of his reputation as a songwriter, and yes, even as a performer. His sheer survival is enough reason to pay respect, but hearing these twenty-two songs back to back has altered my opinion entirely. Six songs represent the early years. Each of the latter five employs a clever variation on his first huge hit, “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do.” One is just as sappy sweet as the other, but taken as a group, they are a perfect representation of fifties innocence. However, old fans must beware: if you are a fan of the original singles, you’ll be disappointed to discover that there has been some historical revisionism here, as each of these early songs appear in re-recorded versions.
It appears as though the Beatle years sidetracked his career, but in the early seventies he returned to the pop charts with a vengeance. I forgot all about “Laughter in the Rain,” but I enjoyed hearing it again after all these years. The melody is exquisite, especially on the transition to the chorus. His melodic talent is driven home by the inclusion of “Solitaire” and “Love Will Keep Us Together,” two songs made famous by the Carpenters and The Captain and Tennille respectively. I never cared for these songs before, but Sedaka’s versions are infallible, and perhaps even superior to the hit versions.
The trend continues, but less convincingly, as the disk progresses. The faux-funk duet with Elton John on “Bad Blood” still causes me to shiver in a bad way, and his duet with his daughter (“I Should Have Never Let You Go”) is even more cringe-worthy. The ‘bonus’ tracks add some spice, but not much else. Still in all, this collection holds up infinitely better than I had supposed. If it was uncool to like Sedaka in the fifties and sixties, it was even less cool in the seventies. In the new millennium, his ‘hip’ factor probably falls somewhere between Barry Manilow and Liberace, and yet I enjoyed this collection. God, I hope my friends don’t read this.
Editors' Note: Your're so busted!
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