Neil Sedaka is an American pop singer, pianist, composer and record producer. Since his music career began in 1957 as a short-lived founding member of the Tokens, he has sold millions of records as a performer and has written or co-written over 500 songs for himself and others, collaborating mostly with lyricists Howard "Howie" Greenfield and Phil Cody.
Festival Records was an Australian recording and publishing company founded in Sydney, Australia, in 1952 and operated until 2005.
William Patrick Aulton was an Irish Australian record producer, musician, arranger, and songwriter. He is best known for the successful pop and rock singles and albums he produced for Australian and New Zealand artists in the 1960s and early 1970s on the Sunshine and Spin Records labels and as the lead vocalist of The Clefs. He also became a successful composer of commercial jingles and TV themes and was a vocal coach. He created many jingles that we still use today, such as "Oh what a feeling, Toyota" and "Aussie kids are Weetbix kids", he also helped in the writing and production of "The Lion King" themes song, "Hakuna Matata". He had five children in the meantime; Kerry, Samantha, Chelsea, Bridget, and Alexander, which led to having many grandchildren, Lydia, Taj, Maggie, Hanna, Jordyn, Ruby, Parker, Riley, Cooper, Charlie, Dakota, Stevie, Harley, Oliver, Declan, Carter and Jaycie.
"Love Will Keep Us Together" is a song written by Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield. It was first recorded by Sedaka in 1973. American pop duo Captain & Tennille covered the song in 1975, with instrumental backing almost entirely by “Captain” Daryl Dragon, with the exception of drums played by Hal Blaine; their version became a worldwide hit.
Ayers Rock were an Australian rock band which formed in August 1973. Ray Burton, Mark Kennedy (drums), and Duncan McGuire (bass), members of Leo de Castro and Friends, left to form the eponymous trio of Burton, McGuire & Kennedy. They added a guitarist, Jimmy Doyle, changed their name to Ayers Rock and invited Col Loughnan to join. The group signed with independent label Mushroom Records in December 1973. Burton left the following March, and was replaced by Chris Brown. With live appearances, coverage in print media and word of mouth the group had a high national profile despite little radio airplay, and journalists praised their musicianship, music, and live energy.
Sedaka's Back is a compilation album by American singer-songwriter Neil Sedaka. The record, composed of selections from his previous three albums, which had been released only in the UK, was released on Elton John's label, The Rocket Record Company, in 1974. Three singles were released from this album: "Laughter in the Rain", "The Immigrant" and "That's When The Music Takes Me." The latter two songs were both Top 40 hits. Also included were songs that were turned into hits by other artists: "Solitaire" and "Love Will Keep Us Together". The album reached No. 23 on the US Billboard album charts and was certified Gold for shipping half a million sales.
If Not for You is the debut studio album by British-Australian singer-songwriter Olivia Newton-John, released in November 1971 by Festival Records. The album was released on the Pye International label in the UK as Olivia Newton-John, with a slightly different cover. As a covers album, If Not for You features mostly songs previously recorded from contemporary artists of the 1960s and early 1970s. She made several performances to promote If Not for You and her follow-up album, Olivia, including an international tour with British singer Cliff Richard. It was her first album released by Festival Records, which would release all her albums in Australia until its dissolution in 2005. It also has Newton-John's first works with her long-time musical partner, John Farrar.
Tully (1968–1978) was an Australian progressive rock group of the late 1960s and 1970s which had a close association with the Sydney-based film/lightshow collective Ubu and with psychedelic light show artist Roger Foley aka Ellis D Fogg.
Gregory Raymond Quill was an Australian-born musician, singer-songwriter and journalist. He lived in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, and was an entertainment columnist at the Toronto Star newspaper from the mid-1980s until his death in May 2013. In Australia he came to popular fame as a singer-songwriter for the country rock band Country Radio (1970–73). Their biggest hit, "Gypsy Queen", co-written by Quill with bandmate Kerryn Tolhurst, was released in August 1972 and peaked at No. 12 on the Go-Set National Top 40. After getting an arts grant, Quill travelled to Toronto in 1974 and by the mid-1980s had become a journalist with the Toronto Star. By 1983 he was married to Ellen Davidson, a public relations executive. Greg Quill died on 5 May 2013, at the age of 66, from "complications due to pneumonia".
Alan Lawrence Turnbull, was an Australian jazz drummer and freelance professional musician.
"Calendar Girl" is a song by Neil Sedaka. The music was composed by Sedaka and the lyrics by Howard Greenfield. Recorded in 1959 and released in December 1960 as a single, it was a Top-5 hit single for Sedaka, peaking at #4 on the US charts, #3 in Australia, and #1 on the Canadian and Japanese charts.
Rock with Neil Sedaka or just Neil Sedaka is the first major solo album of Neil Sedaka released in 1959 after two 1958 albums under the titles Neil Sedaka and The Tokens and Neil Sedaka and The Tokens and Coins. The album was released by RCA Victor and was produced by Al Nevins. The album contains 12 songs, all of them co-written by Sedaka and his friend Howard Greenfield. Two of the songs became successful singles for Sedaka from the album, namely "The Diary", his debut single that was a hit, reaching No. 14 on the US Billboard charts, and "I Go Ape", a single that was relatively successful in the United States reaching No. 42, but did far better in the UK Singles Chart, making it up to No. 9 and his debut single in the United Kingdom.
The following is a comprehensive discography of Neil Sedaka, the American singer.
Neil Sedaka On Stage is a 1974 live-in-concert album recorded by Neil Sedaka during one of his tours to Sydney, Australia at the South Sydney Junior Leagues Club. The concert itself took place in 1971, though it was not released for another three years. The album contains mostly cover versions of rock and pop standards from previous decades. It was released on the RCA International label in Australia and the United Kingdom.
A Song is an in-studio album containing the works of American pop star Neil Sedaka. It was produced by George Martin and released in 1977 on the Elektra label in the US, marking the beginning of Sedaka's association with Elektra, which would run through 1981. Outside of the US, A Song was released on the Polydor label.
"It Hurts to Be in Love" is a song written by Howard Greenfield and Helen Miller which was a Top Ten hit in 1964 for Gene Pitney. The song was one in a long line of successful "Brill Building Sound" hits created by composers and arrangers working in New York City's Brill Building at 1619 Broadway.
The Rocket Record Company was a record label founded by Elton John, along with Bernie Taupin, Gus Dudgeon, Steve Brown and others, in 1973. The company was named after the hit song "Rocket Man". The label was originally distributed in the UK by Island and in the US by MCA Records, both of which Elton John was also signed to.
Colin John Loughnan is an Australian jazz saxophonist, teacher, and composer, best known as a member of the Delltones, Ayers Rock, Judy Bailey quartet, and as a teacher of saxophone at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Although Loughnan has long been associated with jazz music, the first nine years of his career were spent as a non-instrumental vocalist with vocal harmony groups The Crescents, and The Delltones starting in 1958. In the 60s, he learnt to play the saxophone, performing as an instrumentalist with Col Nolan and The Soul Syndicate, and as a founding member of the Daly-Wilson Big Band. At this time Loughnan was proficient in saxophones, flutes, and clarinet.
The Black Diamonds were an Australian garage rock band from Lithgow, New South Wales, which were active under different names from 1959 to 1971. By 1965 the line-up was Glenn Bland on vocals and harmonica, Allen Keogh on bass guitar, Colin McAuley on drums, Alan "Olly" Oloman on lead guitar and vocals, and his younger brother Neil Oloman on rhythm guitar. They signed with Festival Records, where they released two singles. The B-side track, "I Want, Need, Love You", appeared on their first single in 1968. It has a desperate vocal over a pounding rhythm section, along with fast guitar breaks, and became a regional hit. The band toured in support of the Easybeats. In 1967 their second single, "Outside Looking In", was a hit in the Sydney area. In 1968 the group changed their name to Tymepiece and evolved into a more eclectic and progressive act. Briefly changing their name to Love Machine they released a cover version of the Tokens' single, "Lion Sleeps Tonight" (1968). They reverted to Tymepiece and issued an album, Sweet Release, in February 1971 but broke up soon after. According to Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, "[they] will be remembered as one of the most ferocious garage/punk outfits Australia ever produced in the 1960s."
"Summer Symphony" is a song written by Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield. It was arranged by John Farrar and produced by Pat Aulton. The song was used on the album Sounds Of Sedaka, a UK issue of the 1969 album, Workin' On A Groovy Thing recorded for Festival Records of Australia.
