CDA: Lee and Sedaka
- ladiesvoices
- Mar 2
- 2 min read
I read online about the death of Sondra Lee (age 97) who originated important supporting roles in Peter Pan and Hello, Dolly! I was intrigued to see that she worked at the Metropolitan Opera as an acting coach, "including how to perform a convincing death onstage" (thank you, NY Times obits). She appeared as a ballerina in La Dolce Vita. And how ironic because just the week before I had just watched this little film she did for my beloved Film Forum:
My brother Howard alerted me to death of Neil Sedaka (age 86). He was a big deal in the 70s as a singer songwriter and had been a super successful songwriter in the 50s and 60s, specializing in bubblegum pop. The New York Times came up with a list of his fourteen essential songs:
"The Diary"
"Oh! Carol"
"Stairway to Heaven" (a previous stairway, FYI)
"You Mean Everything to Me"
"Calendar Girl"
"Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen"
"Breaking Up Is Hard to Do"
"That's When the Music Takes Me"
"Solitaire"
"Love Will Keep Us Together"
"Laughter In the Rain"
"The Immigrant"
"Bad Blood"
"Amarillo"
My favorite is "Laughter In the Rain," such a magical song. I love how the rhythms are absolutely straight, no looseness, yet not rigid. Brazilian pop music sometimes does this - - it falls into the slots rather than between them but because of the groove it sounds perfect and never confined. I also love the key change at the chorus, "Oo! I hear laughter in the rain," and wow, the long note on "Oo!" Delicious.
Here he is doing the song on The Midnight Special. Love his hat.
Can I tell a snarky story about Sedaka? I read this in a biography of The Carpenters. He was opening for them in Las Vegas when they were at the peak of their fame and he was on the rise in the 70s. They were advised to let go of him because he was stealing a bit of their thunder. He was too splashy, too much of a hit. The opening act is there to warm up the room, not to be the main event. The Carpenters, being nice young people from the suburbs, didn't feel right firing him because he was too entertaining, that didn't feel right to them. Well, one night he introduced someone famous in the audience, something you always do in Vegas. But it's the headliner who does that, not the opening act! Major break of protocol. The Carpenters were relieved - - they fired him with a clean conscience.
Comments