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There are some more well-known numbers on here (including his versions of hits for Connie Francis and Little Anthony) but mostly this is a useful corrective to all the recycled greatest hits compilations - most of these 60s numbers (familiar to me from 70s reissues on LP and cassette) do not seem to be available elsewhere on CD (pace Bear Family whose comprehensive box set is rather more than the average punter needs).
Being reacquainted with these songs, showing a Sedaka in transation, has been a delight: no longer the teen idol but not yet rediscovered (with a little help from Elton) in the seventies, he's trying out various styles. Is it too fanciful to say that some numbers could almost pass muster as Northern Soul without too much tinkering? After all, Little Anthony made the transition from doo wop to soul with a not dissimilar voice.
It has to be admitted, however, that enjoyable though this compilation is, hip these recordings ain't - not a complaint but an observation. The voice and the arrangements are what they are: well-crafted pop, and the sentimentality quotient is high at times. If, like me, that floats your boat and you want to hear some lesser-known songs by Neil Sedaka, this is probably the cheapest way to do so. Incidentally, the Sedaka-Greenfield partnership, and the decline of the appeal of Brill Building writers, is explored in Always Magic in the Air by Ken Emerson, which is highly recommended.
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Pismotality
Fascinating portrait of Sedaka in transition
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 21, 2007