Neil Sedaka dead at 86 - another shining beacon of my youth gone.

 

Composer and performer, his talent loomed large in my life during the 1960s and (slightly) beyond - especially when I myself was aiming at becoming a songwriter, even though didn't manage to get any of my own admittedly feeble attempts published.

Above - his appearance 20 years ago at London's Royal Albert Hall.

But I held his ability in awe around that time - his hit songs like 'Oh Carol', 'Breaking Up Is Hard To Do' 'Calendar Girl' 'Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen' and so many more. (I only found out this morning that he'd penned the Connie Francis hit 'Stupid Cupid' when  he was still in his teens!)

Then in following decades my respect for him dwindled, starting with his seemingly vehement (to me at that time) denial at rumours that he was gay. He had in fact been married to the same woman all his life since 1962, having with her a son and a daughter - and, though the rumours persisted there's been no  significant evidence that he actually is gay, those stories perhaps fuelled that he at an early time composed collaborations with an 'out' gay man, though nothing of substance other than that, so I now accept that he highly likely was hetero after all, despite my then annoyance at his apparent over-reaction to the possibility of his being 'other'.

However, and more importantly, in his composing work, he later became an enthusiastic advocate for something that I just CANNOT abide - specifically, putting his own words to themes written by the great classical composers. Luckily, as far as I know, none of his 'creations' of this type became well-known and maybe just as well that I cannot name any of such - though I most definitely could point to a myriad of songs from other songwriters that do do just that, some of which became popular, both down the last half-century or more as well as quite recent 'hits'. I suppose one of the 'best' examples of these travesties is the filmed musical 'Kismet, using the music of Borodin, some of which is so sublime, yet now with added words so at odds with the (pre-word) music's emotions that poor Alexander B. must yet be turning in his grave!  (They've also done the same thing with Grieg's music in at least two films). And one further illustration - the film and stage musical of 'Carmen Jones' where Oscar Hammerstein took Bizet's music (whose 'Carmen' has been one of my own favourite of all operas my entire life) and grafted on his own words to involving the 'sport' of boxing - though admittedly the original opera's bull-fighting is hardly anything 'better'.

In all such cases, once one hears what may formerly have been incredibly inspiring music, after words have been added all its original beauty has been utterly lost! And what's even worse - if such a thing is possible! - it often becomes an earworm!

I shan't offer further examples because it might well make others unfamiliar with them curious enough to investigate and so to risk having a like experience of what for me, as an avid classical music lover, a bane imposed over that most valuable part of my life.

So back to the late Neil Sedaka - a fond(ish) farewell to someone who absolutely was a giant of talent in my pre-20s years. Thank you, Sir!