“Good morning, this is Neil from New York!”

So began our 2012 phone conversation with the triple-threat native Brooklynite whose prodigious musical gifts took him from a Juilliard scholarship to international pop stardom, via a glittering tenure at the Brill Building. When the ‘British Invasion’ arrived to shake things up in the mid 60s – and his wholesome image was rendered terminally unfashionable almost overnight – he took it on the chin, pivoting to session work and songwriting for hire. By the dawn of the next decade, he was in England, singing for his supper on the working men’s club circuit.

Sodajerker On Songwriting, Episode 25 with Neil Sedaka

Still, he ploughed on, and his reward was a triumphant second act, an artistic reinvention which begat some of his finest material, much of it to be found on elegant 70s albums like Emergence, Solitaire, and our personal favourite, The Hungry Years. He’d taken a prolonged kicking but come back even stronger. The Neil Sedaka story is nothing if not a lesson in resilience.

So while we lament the passing of a first-rate songwriter, musician and performer, we also celebrate the man and his work. His crystalline, impossibly agile voice, equally expressive piano playing and lovingly crafted melodies will live forever on record. And for us, another of our episodes becomes more than a mere audio document – it’s now a cherished keepsake.

So long, “Neil from New York”. Thanks for taking our call.