| "Oh! Carol" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Side A of U.S. single | ||||
| Single by Neil Sedaka | ||||
| from the album Neil Sedaka Sings Little Devil and His Other Hits | ||||
| B-side | "One Way Ticket (To the Blues)" | |||
| Released | September 1959 | |||
| Recorded | July 31, 1959 [1] | |||
| Studio | RCA Victor Studio A, New York City [2] | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 2:15 | |||
| Label | RCA Victor | |||
| Songwriter(s) | ||||
| Producer(s) | Al Nevins | |||
| Neil Sedaka singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Oh! Carol" is an international hit written by American singer, songwriter and pianist Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield in early 1959, and recorded by Sedaka.
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The song is noted for Sedaka's spoken recitation of the verse, the second time around. It was written explicitly as a sound-alike to other popular hit records of the era, after his previous single had sold so poorly that his record label threatened to drop him if his next record was not a hit. [3]
It spent 18 weeks on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 pop chart, reaching #9 on December 6, 1959, [4] while reaching #3 on the UK's New Musical Express chart. [5] It also earned Sedaka his first #1 ranking when it went to #1 in the Netherlands and Wallonia. [6] After its release as a single, it was included in the 1961 album Neil Sedaka Sings Little Devil and His Other Hits .
On October 7, 1972, it entered the UK chart again at #49 and charted for 14 weeks, peaking at #19 on December 2, 1972. [7]
"Carol" was a reference to Carol Klein, Sedaka's ex-girlfriend from high school and a fellow songwriter at the Brill Building. She had since married Gerry Goffin, who took the tune, and wrote the playful response "Oh! Neil", which she recorded and released as an unsuccessful single the same year (1959) under the stage name Carole King. [8] [9] [10] [11]
The B-side song, "One Way Ticket", also earned Sedaka a No. 1 ranking in Japan for several months in 1960.
