"Sedaka got his breakthrough as a performer with 1958's The Diary—inspired when Connie Francis refused to let him and songwriting partner Howard Greenfield scour her diary for inspiration. Oh! Carol, meanwhile, was a paean to Sedaka's ex-girlfriend Carol Klein—the irrepressibility of the melody at odds with the misery in the lyrics (I am but a fool!). Klein was impressed enough to write an answer song, Oh! Neil, which she recorded under her new pen name: Carole King."
"Sedaka's late 50s and early 60s hits are occasionally dismissed as the kind of poppy fluff that predominated in the charts between the waning of rock'n'roll and the rise of the Beatles. But that's not strictly fair: despite the exuberance of the rhythm and for all the canny lyrical references to other rock'n'roll hits—Heartbreak Hotel, Lonesome Town—there's an impressive minor-key darkness about One Way Ticket (To the Blues), amplified by the ghostly backing vocals."
"Calendar Girl, a song that somehow makes an adolescent boy ogling a pin-up sound curiously wholesome: maybe if I ask your dad and mom, they'd let me take you to the junior prom. One suspects the song's backing-vocals-counting-down-the-months structure pricked the interest of a young Brian Wilson."
Neil Sedaka emerged as a songwriter and performer in the late 1950s, initially gaining recognition through hits written for Connie Francis, including 'Stupid Cupid,' which Francis enthusiastically embraced despite Sedaka's initial doubts about its silliness. His breakthrough as a performer came with 'The Diary' in 1958, inspired by Francis's refusal to share her diary. 'Oh! Carol,' written about his ex-girlfriend Carol Klein, prompted her to record an answer song under her new professional name, Carole King. Songs like 'One Way Ticket (To the Blues)' demonstrated unexpected musical depth beneath their pop exteriors, featuring minor-key darkness and ghostly vocals. 'Calendar Girl' showcased Sedaka's ability to craft wholesome teen-pop novelties with clever structural elements that influenced later artists like Brian Wilson.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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