Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast - 270. Neil Sedaka

Episode Date: July 29, 2019

Gilbert and Frank are thrilled to welcome rock 'n' roll icon Neil Sedaka, who discusses growing up in Brooklyn, his apprenticeship at the famed Brill Building, his chart-topping collaborations with lyricist Howard Greenfield and his memories of Bobby Darin, Elvis Presley, Carole King, Richard Rodgers and Paul McCartney (among others). Also, Bob Dylan offers praise, John Lennon provides inspiration, Mick Jagger buys a Sedaka record and Neil remembers his cousin Eydie Gorme. PLUS: The Captain & Tennille! Elton John to the rescue! The late, great Len Maxwell! Billy Joel "borrows" a melody! And Neil demonstrates his songwriting process! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Baseball is finally back. Get in on Major League action and swing for the fences with BetMGM, the king of sportsbooks. Log in or sign up to play along as BetMGM brings the real-time action. Embrace a season's worth of swings with BetMGM, your one-stop shop for all things baseball. BetMGM.com for Ts and Cs. 19 plus to wager.

Ontario only. Gambling problem? Call Connex Ontario at 1-866-531-2600. BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario. Planning for a summer road trip? Check.

Luggage? Check. Music? Check. Snacks? Drinks? And everything we can win in a new game at Circle K?

Check! With Circle K's summer road trip game, you can win over a million delicious instant prizes and a grand prize of $25,000. Play at games.circlek.com or at participating Circle K

stores. Hi everybody, this is Billy West and I do a lot of cartoon voices. And you're listening to Gilbert Gottfried's Colossal Amazing Podcast. You're one stop for that sort's Colossal Amazing Podcast. You're one stop for that sort of thing. Hi, this is Gilbert Gottfried, and this is Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast with my co-host, Frank Santopadre, and our our engineer Frank Furtarosa. Our guest this week is a singer,

composer, Grammy-nominated recording artist, classically trained pianist, one of the most gifted and prolific and frequently covered songwriters of the century, a genuine rock and roll pioneer. His iconic, instantly recognized songs have filled our ears for decades. Oh, Carol, Breaking Up is Hard to Do, Calendar Girl, Happy Birthday, Sweet Sixteen, Bad Blood, Should Have Never Have Let You Go, Laughter in the Rain, Love in the Shadow, Should've Never Have Let You Go, Laughter in the Rain, Love in the Shadow, Solitaire, and The Hungry Years. He's also written dozens of hits for other recording artists, including Connie Francis' hit Where the Boys Are, and the Captain and Tennille smash, Love Will Keep Us Together. In a career spanning more than 60 years, he's written an astonishing 700 songs, and many have been covered by some of the greatest musical artists of the century, including Frank Sinatra, Johnny Mathis, The Carpenters, Andy Williams, Frankie

Valli and the Four Seasons, ABBA, Shirley Bassey, Patsy Cline, Bobby Darin, Barry Manilow, Tom Jones, and Elvis Presley, just to name a few. You want more from the man? He's also written children's songs and classical works, performed to sold-out theaters and arenas all over the world. And in 1983, he was inducted into the prestigious Songwriters Hall of Fame, inducted into the prestigious Songwriters Hall of Fame, and after seven decades in showbiz, he's still writing and performing with upcoming concert dates booked in Canada, California, and Hawaii.

Frank and I are genuinely thrilled to welcome to the podcast a living legend and a man who Billy Joel calls the Davy Rocket of rock and roll. The pride of Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, Neil Sadaka. What an introduction. How do I follow that? My goodness. Thank you, Gilbert. Thank you, Frank. You're welcome, Neil.

You've done a lot. And I'm here as a guest, a fellow Brooklyn Jew. That's right. I was born in Brighton Beach, right on the water. As a matter of fact, I had the honor of having a street named after me right on the boardwalk, Coney Island Avenue in Brighton Beach. And I went on the cyclone in your neck of the woods. And I had Nathan's frankfurters and the greasy French fries.

They were delicious. And that's a wonderful way to grow up on the water. It is beautiful. I heard you say you were so Jewish you would go months without seeing a wasp. I thought the whole world was Jewish. And it was strange. In Brooklyn, it was me, Barbara Streisand,

Barry Manilow, Neil Diamond lived across the street, Carole King I dated, and it was kind of in the egg creams, I think, in the egg creams. I remember my parents, we lived in Brooklyn, and once we decided as an exotic vacation to rent a bungalow in Brighton Beach, which is like five minutes away from Coney Island. That's right. Brighton Beach Baths. They had the private pools and the paddle tennis.

And you had to stamp your hand to go into the public beach so you can come back into the private beach. It was a great way to grow up and can can we well like frank always uh tells our guests we jump around can you tell us uh well when you were a child the very strange uh thing your mother confessed to you? My mother confessed? Oh, you did your research. First time a guest has ever said that to me. That's the first time he's done his research, Neil.

You should be honored. Shall I say it all? Yes, yes. You can tell it if you want. My mother had a lover, and she asked my sister and I if it was okay. I was 19 years old. I said, Mom, if you're happy, go right ahead.

Why not? My father was a darling, sweet as sugar, but very cheap. He was Maxie the taxi. He was a taxi driver. And he said, Oh, if this guy buys you presents and takes you to dinners, wonderful. So my mother had his okay, and she had a lover. Unfortunately, as the years went on, I was a mama's boy.

Whatever my mother said, I did. She said, I think we should make Benny your manager. And Benny was an air conditioning salesman. He knew nothing, nothing, nothing about show business. And the career went down the hill and all the furs and the jewels that my mother, I thought he was buying, I was buying. And after about four years, I said we had a long enough relationship, and I let him go. My mother took an overdose of sleeping pills. It's in the book, wild. Yeah, she was, you know, very upset. Her lover and her son were at odds.

But we made up, you know, my mother's my mother she was great sure sure you know i was one of my favorite parts of the book is how idyllic you describe growing up in brooklyn which you guys were just touching upon with the egg creams and then the doo-wop groups and and the way you describe brighton beach i mean it really it sounds like a wonderful getaway stoop ball and stick ball and fireworks and and the town turned into an ocean resort. And you had the Dodgers. Your dad would take you to the Ebbets Field to see the Dodgers. Ebbets Field, 60 cents. Ebbets Field and the Bleaches.

Yeah. Jackie Robinson and Roy Campanella. Sure. Gil Hodges. It sounds like a wonderful way to grow up. Now, when I was growing up in Crown Heights, that was after Coney Island. that was after Coney Island. To me, Ebbets Field, it was so weird.

Whenever they say, oh, the great baseball place, Ebbets Field, and to me it was like this scrappy housing development. I know, but it was a historical place. Yes. That was the project. It was, it was. Yes. That was the project. It was. It was. You grew up with women. You grew up with, let's just say in the book, seven women taking care of you. I lived in a two-bedroom apartment in Brighton Beach with 11 people.

Yeah. My mother, my father, my sister, my grandparents, and my father's five sisters. One bathroom. parents and my father's five sisters uh one bathroom one by one they the sisters got married and it was me and my sister who i adored and um my mother and father and it was a i i was babied and you know i was the special kid right right, right. You described it as happy years. Very happy. Yeah. And you said, I think in the second grade, it was a very observant teacher.

Yes. Mrs. Glantz. Oh, Mrs. Glantz. Evelyn Glantz. I have her here. I was in second grade, and she conducted the choir. And for some reason or other, she saw that I had some musical ability at eight years old and she put me in front of the choir

and I conducted the choir. And she convinced my parents to buy a piano. And we couldn't afford a piano. So my mother took a job at A&S Department Store as a sales lady. And after she made $500, she bought me a secondhand upright piano. And I studied with Murray Newman, who was a teacher in Brighton Beach for one year. And he said, I can't teach him anymore. He's a genius.

Let's, you know, try out for the juilliard prep school so i got a scholarship for the prep school as a pianist and went there for from nine years old to 17 and then two years to the juilliard college studying to be a concert pianist but there was no money in it there was no i was going to ask you that question later if that was something you ever entertained. My mother said, you're going to be a rock and roller? And after the first hit, she got used to it.

I bought her the Ming Stole. She called it the Hadassah Talis. And she said, I think you should continue with this rock and roll. I like it. You got used to it fast. I like it. When you first heard music, which I found fascinating too in your story, was your grandma's Turkish records, which you had absolutely no interest in?

My grandparents came from Istanbul, Turkey, moved to Lower East Side in New York. And when they had friends over over they played these weird Turkish music and it scared the shit out of me. I locked myself in the bathroom because I heard this crazy music and my mother tells me that when I was an infant I wouldn't eat

until the radio was playing music. Wow. So, Neil Sedak, his introduction to music, his first reaction was to run and lock himself in the bathroom. In the bathroom. Yeah, that's good press. Would you remember enough to play any segment of the Turkish music? Oh, my

God. That's all I can remember. Wow! Wow! That's all I can remember. Not bad. Not bad. 75 years later. Too high.

So your aunt started bringing home American records. Yes. And everything changed. Placas. My Aunt Molly used to take me to the movies, Oceana Theater. And Doris Day, my God, my favorite. And she bought Placas because they spoke Spanish. The Sephardic Jews spoke Spanish.

So I can speak many words in Spanish. And she introduced me to American records, Les Paul and Mary Ford. I listened to, what's his name, Martin Block's hits of Make Believe Ballroom. I heard Les Paul and Mary Ford, Doris Day. I heard Rosemary Clooney. Patty Page. Patty Page. All that stuff.

Yes. And the multiple voices. I loved when they sang with themselves. I loved harmony singing. Because I started a group in Lincoln called the Tokens, which was a doo-wop group. Yep. And I loved harmony singing. I learned it from listening to those people.

How many languages do you speak? I can only speak Spanish and English, but I sang in six languages. I was the first American rock and roller to go to all of the foreign countries because Elvis didn't go there. And I went to Japan. They thought I was Japanese because of the name Sad there. And I went to Japan. They thought I was Japanese

because of the name Sadaka. Love that. And there was a big poster of me on the Ginza Strip with slanted eyes. Oh, jeez. Unbelievable. Because the people didn't see me. They heard the name

and they thought I was American-born Japanese. Okay, I have to put you on the spot again. Can you sing anything in Japanese right now? Oh,. Okay, I have to put you on the spot again. Can you sing anything in Japanese right now? Oh my God, I can't. Can you, Gilbert? I can't. You stumped me. Oh my God.

Gilbert. Gilbert will love this. You auditioned for Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts? I did. And they said there were thousands of kids with the show business mothers. And I went to three auditions. I got to the end.

There were five people, but they only had four. Godfrey used to have a Christmas show with children. And there were four left. And they said, they called up my mother and said, he's very good, but can he play with his elbows? Because we want something unusual, gimmicky. Something gimmicky. I played.

And they said, very good, but can he play with his elbows? My God. And thank God I was eliminated because I would have shit in my pants. And they said, very good, but can he play with his elbows? And thank God I was eliminated because I would have shit in my pants to be on the Arthur Godfrey show. I was so glad I was eliminated. That's hilarious. Neil, your first public singing performance, and Gilbert will appreciate this as well, your bar mitzvah. I remember my Haftorah. Your bar mitzvah. Oh.

I remember my Haftorah. Oh, please say so. You've got a great memory. V'yehi devar elmo, emay lelo, benadom, beis yisoreel, yoshevi, meladmosom. The cantors were crying. They said to my mother, he's going to be a cantor. Oh, no, oh, no.

He's going to be a concert pianist. That's what I want. That's what she wanted. Wow. So we have your aunt to thank and Mrs. Glantz. That's right. Two turning points. That's right.

That's an amazing teacher to have that could spot that. Yes. Yeah. Evelyn Glantz. And it's sweet that your mom went and got a job so she could buy you a piano you pay for the music lessons yeah it's very touching and i uh you know i started to write uh i wrote stupid cupid as you said connie francis where the boys are and the teachers of juilliard said we're losing you we're losing you to rock and roll they knew it they knew it

yeah yeah tell us about meeting howard, because that's another turning point. I was at the Catskill Mountains. Howard Greenfield. Howard Greenfield lived in the same building. I was 13. He was 16. And his mother, Ella Greenfield, heard me playing at the Kenmore Lake Hotel. I was practicing my Beethoven.

And she said to Howie, you should try to write songs with him. And Howie was a little heavy, obese to be exact, and we called him Fat Howie. It was terrible. It was

disgusting of us. We were kids, you know. And he rang my bell in, I remember the date, October the 11th, 1952. He rang my bell. And I said, Howie, what do you want? He said, my mother heard you playing classical music. Would you like to write a song? I said, I don't know how to write songs. I'm starting to be a concert pianist.

And he convinced me to write this terrible song. My life's devotion is loving you only. And my heart says to you, I'll always be true. You'll never be lonely. It was like an Xavier Cougat in my head. Xavier Cougat. And Howie Loved rhymed, My life is madness, it's sadness, it burns with desire.

Yearning, just burning, my soul is on fire. Dear, I'm a slave and you're just a sire of love. And we wrote the song, and I heard my voice on his tape recorder. He had a wire recorder. It was before tape. Wow. A wire recorder, and I heard my voice on his tape recorder. He had a wire recorder. It was before tape. Wow. A wire recorder. And I heard my voice. I said, hmm, not bad.

But the song stinks. The song stinks. And my sister said, that's the worst song I ever heard. She was honest. She was honest. There's a million people who could write and sing songs. Forget it. Go back to your classical music.

So you were not collaborators for a while. We did start writing. He came back and the songs got a little better, a little better. And kids in school, there was a ballet who shows. They would sing our first songs. And they got a little bit better not much but then i went to atlantic records i rode the subway from brighton beach to 57th street and ahmed erdogan and jerry wexler were the presidents of atlantic records and i sold three songs to the Cardinals, the Clovers, the Cookies. I had two R&B hits at 16 years old. I had Clyde McFadden, Since You've Been Gone, and I Waited Too Long by Laverne Baker.

So I was a full-fledged songwriter. I said, what about my voice? Why don't you record my voice? They said, it's a little weird. Who said it was a little weird? Jerry Wexler. He did. But God rest his soul, before he died, he called me up. He said, I kicked myself in the shins for not signing you as a singer. I like that. Wow. Wow, wow, wow.

And how did you wind up in the Brill building? I went to school with Mort Schumann, who was a great writer for Elvis and the Drifters. He wrote with Doc Pommas. And Howie and I were trying to sell songs to Hill and Range Music at 1619, which was the older writers. And we were turned down. And Mort Schumann said,

oh, across the street are young publishers looking for young writers. So we went in, Alan Evans and Don Kirshner, Alden Music. Alden Music, sure. And we went in

and we played our songs. They said, where did you steal these songs? Because we were pizzalas we were little kids I played stupid Cupid you're a real mean guy likes a clip you and Donnie Kirchner said I know Connie Francis said honey Francis she had the number one record who sorry? And he took me to her house, and I played all my best ballads, and she was bored to death.

And then I played Stupid Cupid, eight bars. She said, that's my next record. Because at that time in 1958, a girl didn't sing rock and roll. So she took Stupid Cupid and went to the top 15. Now, the Brill Building, I heard that, that wasn't a place where you waited

for your muse to hit or woke up with a melody in your head. It was like, you know, if you want to get paid, we want this many hit songs a week.

We were, it was a great training. We had an office with a piano and a desk. And we went in five days a week. You and Howie. Me and Howie. Ten in the morning till five in the afternoon, five days a week.

It was a great way to learn the craft. And the next room was Carol and Jerry, Carol King and Jerry Goffin, and then Barry Mann man and cynthia while and uh oh my god and it was keller and jack keller hank hunter um and it was great competition the the best song won and you got the righteous brothers or the chiffons and uh you know it was great it was great but it was great. But it was good competition. Did you guys meet during the day and schmooze and talk?

What are you working on? Exchange ideas? Absolutely. Just like the Carol show. Absolutely. And at the end of the day, we went into the red piano. Al Nevins had a beautiful red piano. And we would play our songs.

And the chiffons were up for a new record. They had just had He's So Fine and I played mine. The kids are singing now. Happy birthday sweet 16 and so I smile and say. I thought it was great. And then Carol came up

and sang on the red piano. Let me think. What was that song? She won it anyway. She won the, she got the follow-up to He's So Fine. I think it was called One Fine Day. One fine day. Not as good as mine.

But you weren't always trying to write hits, if I understand this correctly. As a classical trained musician, you said you were trying to write hits, if I understand this correctly. As a classical trained musician, you said you were trying to write something a little deeper than Bubblegum. Songs that had a little bit more complexity to them. Yes, and as a matter of fact, Bob Dylan in his book said, I loved the Brill Building and I loved Neil Sedaka because he was the first one to sing his own songs. to sing his own songs. And I considered Callan's A Girl and Breaking Up Is Hard To Do and Stairway To Heaven

as Balabatish songs. They were not bubblegum songs. Sure, sure, sure. They were well-written. Howie Greenfield was a marvelous lyricist. He was absolutely great. And it took me a while to get the confidence to write my own lyrics. And Johnny Mercer said the most smart thing. He said, it takes great talent to write

a melody, but it takes great courage to write a lyric. And he was so right. It took me a couple of years to get the courage. And to make sure you wrote hit songs, you actually studied songs. Like every song that was a hit, you figured out. Donnie Kershaw said, write another Little Darling. You got to write a Little Darling. No problem. Without stealing it. And we know Little Darling. Little darling. No problem. Without stealing it. And we know little darling.

Little darling. Oh, Carol. I am but a fool. And I was dating Carol King, so it was very meaningful to me. And RCA was dropping me. After the diary, my first hit, I had two flops. And they said, we're letting you go. I said, oh, give me another chance.

Give me another chance. And I wrote O'Carroll, which sold three million records. Yeah. Yeah. Nice bounce back. Nice bounce back. I knew Len Maxwell, by the way, a name that turned up in your book. You're kidding.

Yeah, I knew him. Yeah. I was working at the Lake Tarleton Club in New Hampshire. He was a great comedian. Do you know Len Maxwell, Gil? Oh, yeah. He's a comedian. Wait a minute. He heard me playing. Was he you know Len Maxwell, Gil? Oh, yeah. He's a comedian. Wait a minute.

He heard me playing. Wait, was he the voiceover guy? Yes. Yes, absolutely. He was my first manager. How about a great Hawaiian... How would you like a Hawaiian punch? He was the voice of the Hawaiian punch. Yes. He was the voice in the Woody Allen picture. Yeah, yeah. What's up, Tiger Lily? Very talented. A lovely man.

I was working in Lake Tarleton Club with a band I was 16, 17 years old and he heard me he said you could be a star you're writing these songs and he took me on the Milt Grant show in Baltimore

he took me on the Buddy Dean show in Baltimore and he was my first manager very clever I used to see him at the improv all the time he'd hang out. And he was one of those guys who, he did a zillion character voices. He did. Great voice guy. And I said, do you ever talk in your own voice?

And he says, I have about 10 my own voices. So I'd have like 10 voices that sounded perfectly normal. And he was that good at it. He was marvelous. He introduced you to Phil Ramone? He introduced me to Phil Ramone. I did some demos and Phil Ramone added instruments to them.

Two non-hits, but it was a thrill. He came to my house with a deck of records and I had a record called Laura Lee on deck of records. And he had put all the instruments over my piano demo. Nice. And then he wanted money. He called my mother and he said, Neil has a record, a hit, the diary. Where's my money? And my mother said, what? Who? Who are you?

I love that you're still doing Diary in Concert. My wife and I, as I told you, saw you Sunday. How I'd like to look into that little book. That's great to have the first hit record, yeah. It still sounds great. And you said that you had this thing, the way you would write your own hits, was like the sandwich.

It was a sandwich song. Howie and I would start with a little introduction, then the meat of the song, and end with the same riff. So, I love, I love, I love, I love my calendar girl. Each and every day of the year. That was the beginning. And then the meat, January.

You start the year off fine. And it ended, I love, I love, I love my calendar girl. We did that with eight hits in a row. We overdid it. I love how you were playing the other night. You said, I have no ending for this, so I faded out the record. We had no ending. We could tell a whole story in two and a half minutes.

And in those days, that's all the disc jockeys would play, two and a half minutes. And I had no ending, so we faded out the record. all the disc jockeys would play, two and a half minutes. And I had no ending, so we faded out the record. We will return to Gilbert Gottfried's amazing, colossal podcast. But first, a word from our sponsor. Baseball is finally back. Get in on Major League action and swing for the fences with BetMGM,

the king of sportsbooks. Log in or sign up to play along as BetMGM brings the real-time action. Embrace a season's worth of swings with BetMGM, your one-stop shop for all things baseball. BetMGM.com for T's and C's. 19 plus to wager. Ontario only. Gambling problem? Call Connex Ontario at 1-866-531-2600. BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario. Nope. But a box fan? Happily, yes. A day of sunshine? No. A box of fine wines? Yes. Uber Eats can definitely get you that. Get almost, almost anything delivered with Uber Eats.

Order now. Alcohol in select markets. Product availability may vary by Regency app for details. And you said one time Billy Joel was saying that he came up with a great melody. Yes. Let's see. I was in a restaurant in the Hamptons, and he came over.

He was a little high. And he said, I wrote a melody a couple of months ago, and I called my band in the middle of the night. He said, you've got to come over. The greatest melody I ever wrote. And he middle of the night. He said, you've got to come over. The greatest melody I ever wrote. And he played this melody, and they said, Billy, it's great, but it's Neil Sedaka's melody.

Mrs. O'Leary's grocery store Worked at an hour for a penny They said, it's great, but it's Neil Sedaka strolling along country roads with my baby. And then, Mrs. O'Leary's grocery store

for a penny. He had to change the melody. Otherwise, I would have sued him. Hilarious. That's great, Neil.

We had, as I told you, we had Ron Danteante we had tony orlando here we're talking about those brill building days oh great and it's just and your book paints such a vivid picture you know cat you described carol king's carrying her baby yes in a harness and you could hear you could hear other other composers from down the hallway it just it must have been such a you taking the train from from from brooklyn every day and punching that clock and it was a marvelous time great the song sounded alike because the walls were very thin so after a while the song sounded alike but it was young

people writing for a young market the magic was we would go in write a song have an artist uh sing it and three weeks later it was on the chart amazing was amazing and you hung out at hansen's drugstore which has come up on this show with bobby darren bobby darren may god rest him yes everybody hung out there every comedian we've had old school comedian we've had on this show hung out at hansen's bobby said why are you so attached to your mother? Stop it. Stop it. Don't give money to your mother. And he loved the way I played,

so I played on Dream Lover, and I played on many of his records. He was a great, great artist. And I heard, like they always said, with Bobby Darin, he knew he was going to die young, and he wanted to get everything done

really quick. And he could have been the next, he was on his way young, and he wanted to get everything done really quick. And he could have been the next. He was on his way to be the next Frank Sinatra, no doubt about it. And he dated Connie Francis. Her father didn't like him, and he broke it up. But he knew that he didn't have a long life, unfortunately. I saw him at the Copacabana. I'll never forget it.

One of the great entertainers. He could tell jokes. He could play the drums. He could play the piano. He was marvelous. Gilbert, you never saw him live, did you? No, I wish. I came along too late. We're great admirers. He did imitations, too. Yeah. Did he say to you at Hanson's,

you're a hit songwriter, why are you taking the subway? Yes, he did. He did. I gave it all to my mother. Hilarious. Tell us about your process with Howard before you found the courage years later to write your own lyrics. I would come in with three melodies and I would play all three complete melodies, and it depended on his mood. He would choose the one that that was the one his mood was in.

And he was one of these geniuses where he could tell a whole story, tie it with a ribbon, and Hungry Years, Love Will Keep Us Together, Breaking Up Is Hard To Do. It was a perfect marriage of words and music. And we fought. We had a fight. Change that melody. I won't. I said, change that lyric.

It doesn't work. So that's the process of it. That's healthy, too, change that lyric. It doesn't work. Yeah. So that's the process of it. That's healthy too, in a way. It is. Pushing back against each other, part of the creative process. It is. Yeah. Was Calendar Girl inspired by a TV guide listing?

We saw an old movie and TV guide called Calendar Girl. I don't remember who was in it. Cary Grant? I'm not sure. And Howie and I said, oh, that'll be a great idea for a pop song going from January through December. And I played it on the piano and his mother, Howard Greenfield's mother, Ella, said, that's a hit. Even before you get in the studio, it's a hit. But you never knew because on the piano it was one thing

but when you got into the studio with the musicians they had to feel it they had to feel it and that one took about three hours to record and i was a real pushy jew i i went i went to the uh to the i went into the uh balancing i went into the uh production i went into the balancing. I went into the production. I went into the... You were all hands-on. Yeah. Hands-on. I said, I can't hear the months of the year.

I can't hear the months. And it was every step of the way, yeah. I have to share with our listeners, Neil, too, that I was saying before, my wife and I saw you Sunday night at Westbury Music Fair. You were wonderful. Thank you. But when you played Calendar Girl and you took a break, you, that I was saying before, my wife and I saw you Sunday night at Westbury Music Fair. You were wonderful. Thank you.

But when you played Calendar Girl and you took a break, you left the stage for a minute, you put up that wonderful video, which is possibly the first music video. Yes. Of you in all of those changing outfits. You're like Cher, by the way.

You changed outfits about 12 times. I know. In that video. Did your mom really compare you to Cary Grant? Yes. Or did you just speak for her? Yes. I love that.

And the story is true. I was having lunch in Los Angeles, and this gal walked up to me and said, I was Miss January in your video. This was just a few months ago. And I said, oh, really? And she said, yes. I said to the audience, she looked like an old, old woman, an old, old woman, but I look the same. Can you play a little bit more of Calendar Girl for us?

Can we put you in the pose? I love, I love, I love my calendar girl each and every day of the year. January is not the year off fine You're my little Valentine I'm going to march you down the aisle You're the Easter Bunny when you smile Yeah, yeah My heart's in a whirl

Love, love, love, love my little calendar girl Every day And so on and so on and so on Wow, wonderful. Wow. What a treat. What's in the world? Love, I love, I love my little calendar girl every day. And so on and so on and so on. Wow, wonderful. Wow. What a treat. Now, you said something, and you're proving it on the show. You said something Pavarotti said to you.

I met Pavarotti in Hawaii several years ago. He said, once you're 70, the voice goes. Well, he was wrong. I still have a voice. It sounded great, Sunday. And you baby it. I mean, I was reading interviews with you. You do the honey and the tea and the lemon and you really take care of it.

No air conditioning in my face. And no loud rooms where you have to shout to be heard. Absolutely. No ice drinks. Wow. You got a whole process. Yeah. Tell us a little bit more about Carol Klein.

Because I love, too, that you guys used to go uptown to find the original versions, the black versions of white cover. You guys would go record hunting to find these rarities. We did. But they weren't being played on the radio. That's right. And the first rock and roll record Carol and I heard was Earth Angel by the Penguins.

We went to Andrea's Pizza Parlor on Brighton Beach Avenue. And I said to Howie, we're writing in the style of Richard Rogers and George Gershwin. I like rock and roll. It's young. It's spontaneous. And he said, oh, it's off key.

It's off key. It's not good. And I convinced him. But Carol and I used to go looking for records. We used to go to the Apollo Theater. We saw, oh my God, Sarah Vaughan and Ray Charles and so many greats. Yeah. And you guys became high school celebrities too. We always got up and sang in Brighton Beach on the boardwalk. Always sang in bar mitzvahs and weddings and Lakewood, New Jersey

and up in the Catskills. Yeah, we always sang together. It really wasn't just a matter of I'm not going to become a classical musician because there's no money in it. I mean, this music was inside of you. I wanted to be famous. No shame in it, Neil.

I wanted to be famous because I was teased as a kid. I wasn't a jock in school. And every time the film broke in the auditorium, and now Neil will get up and play. And everybody went so I said I'm going to write rock and roll and I wrote

a song called Mr. Moon and I did it in the first show at the Ballyhoo in Lincoln High School and Abe Lass he was the principal said you cannot do that in the second show it's rock and roll it's bumping and grinding and the kids wrote a petition it's like a movie

wow those kids wrote a petition we want neil sadaka to sing mr moon again and i did yeah and and you said you're like one of the hey the we've had a few guests like this like I think it was Bruce Stern was on the show and he says he still wants to be a better actor well Neil says he still hasn't written his greatest song yeah you'd have to develop

and grow you have to raise the bar you have to reinvent Neil Sedaka I wrote over 700 songs and I don't think I wrote the greatest one ever I really don't but now there's no incentive unfortunately you know the billboard

and hearing it on the radio and getting the royalties now there's really no record system anymore so Now there's really no record system anymore. So I just did my 50th studio album called I Do It For Applause. I did it that night. It was great.

Thank you. Yeah, really wonderful. So let's talk about that string of hits leading up to 63, the dreaded 1963. But you had a run of hits. The Diary, Stairway to Heaven before Led Zeppelin that's right, not Led Zeppelin, Stairway to Heaven

right next door to an angel next door to an angel, Calendar Girl Little Devil Stupid Cupid it was a great run a really wonderful run, Breaking Up is Hard to Do obviously and then 63, The Beatles came in and I was finished.

They didn't want any more solo American singers. And people would say, didn't you used to be Neil Sedaka? Whatever happened to you? And I waited. I knew there were more hits in me. And I waited for the 70s. Cat Stevens, Joni Mitchell. The singer-songwriter era.

Singer-songwriter. Yeah. And Carol had tapestry. I said, I can do that. And I went to Elton John. Actually, I was touring in England and Elton John was a fan and he said, I'm going to make you a star again. And he had Rocket Records.

He was starting in New new york and um another turning point he said uh what do you have and i played him country roads but he said i'm gonna make that number one and he did thanks to him yeah and and it seemed like america had given up on the American singers but England still wanted to hear them. That's right. They were very faithful to the American original rock and rollers. They loved the... And appreciation for those guys,

for Chubby Checker and Chuck Berry and all of those people. Absolutely. And yourself. Little Richard. Yeah. Paul McCartney said to me, we used to want to write

like the Brill Building. We wanted to write like Neil and Howie and Carol and Jerry. That's what they were raised that way. Elton John. I met Mick Jagger. He said, the first record I bought was I Go Ape.

I go ape every time I see you smile. I'm a ding dong gorilla. Carry on, K-Man style. Funny, funny. We had those 45s in the house, Neil. Yeah. So you had dealings with the Beatles later on. Later on, we had parties.

Elton had parties for us, and Paul McCartney was there, John Lennon. And I wrote a song dedicated to John Lennon called The Immigrant. Which was a top 20 hit. It's strange. I wrote it with Phil Cody in 1976 and it's more relevant today

than it has ever been. It really is. Can I bother you for that? Oh, it's beautiful. Harbors open their arms to the young searching foreigner. Come

to live in the light of the beacon of liberty. The chorus says, there was a time when strangers were welcome here. Music would play There was a time when strangers were welcome here Music would play, they'd tell me The days were sweet, sweet and clear

It was a sweeter tune and there was so much room that people could come from everywhere. It's on this wonderful DVD. Yes. The show goes on. John was flattered that you dedicated that to him. Yes, we were on WNEW. We did an interview together.

He said, people always called me to ask for a favor. And he said, Neil Sedaka, you called me and said you dedicated a song to me. He was having trouble getting a green card because of the drugs. Sure. I remember those days, too. I remember when EJ the DJ, when Elton would DJ on local stations, and he played the hell out of your records. Yeah.

But I want to go back to 63, too, and I was saying this to Gilbert. You're very funny on stage. And when you introduced the Beatle thing, when you introduced 1963, you said, and then the Beatles came. And then your face dropped and you went, not good. The crash to the bottom, as you call it in the book. But I like a lot of the songs that you were writing. You were using that time to write for other people.

Puppet Man. Yes. Working on a groovy thing. Yeah. Rainy Jane. Some of my favorite Neil Sedaka songs you wrote during that period. Thank you. So you were certainly making the best of a difficult situation.

Peggy Lee, Andy Williams. Amarillo. Amarillo, which was the biggest single in English history. It's a great song. It wasn't even a hit in Amarillo, Texas. And you've kept up on, like, current songwriters and singers. I think you have to bounce off each other. Talented people get inspiration from others.

You bounce off each other when you hear a great piece of work. Absolutely. One of the things that's fascinating about the book obviously is the journey is is all of this wonderful success followed by what you describe i said there's a chapter in the book you call the crash to the bottom and then you know your ambition it's inspiring how you are determined you are hell-bent to get back to that mountaintop every anyone else would have quit. I was off the charts 11, 12 years. Anybody else would have quit. But I knew that there were more stuff in me. I knew that I could emulate the culture of the time. As you said, Gilbert, you hear people, well, I could be like Gordon Lightfoot or Cat Stevens

and you emulate it. Yeah. I mean, and I have to ask you about the first comeback album, if I may, Emergence. My favorite. Yeah. Which is a terrific record. And shows your love of the movies, I might add. Silent movies. Yeah. There's a song,

Gilbert, which is a tribute to Chaplin and Keaton. Oh, jeez. And Laurel and Hardy. Okay, okay. I can't play it now. But it was inspiring to see that. Howie Greenfield, he was great. Wow. Yeah, it's an unusual record.

I can't remember it offhand. What are your memories of going to the movies as a child? I loved the Lana Turner, Betty Grable, Betty Davis, Joan Crawford. I loved the sad movies, the romantic movies. Tearjerkers. Tearjerkers.

A Good Cry. A good Douglas Sirk movie. Imitation of Life. Oh, cry. A good Douglas Sirk movie. Imitation of Life. Imitation. Oh, did I cry. I saw it five times. I cried. That's a good one.

Mahalia Jackson sang at the funeral. I cried. That's a weeper. Oh, my God. Did you meet the great Richard Rogers right around this period? I was a friend of Mary Rogers, Richard Rogers' daughter. We had homes up in Marywell Park. And she said, when she heard the Emergence album,

she said, you have to meet my father, Richard Rogers. And I was very nervous. I got my best suit on. He had an office on Madison Avenue in the 50s. And I went in and I played songs. He said, get away from the piano. That's too easy for you. Bring me a project.

Bring me a story. And we'll write a show together. And I said, oh, my God. And I was very involved in my career, doing concerts. I didn't know theater. Were you tempted at least? I was a schmuck. I was a real schmuck.

I should have come up with a project. Yeah. How about that? Yeah. What a guy to be a fan of. What a thrill. To be a fan of yours. What a thrill.

Yeah. And now you've won loads of awards over the years, but you don't really look too highly on awards. Well, you know, it's nice to get them, but you have to look forward. I have a star in the Hollywood Walk of Fame and I'm in the Songwriters Hall of Fame and I have

a street named after me. You just got an honorary doctorate? I did. I wore the cap and the gown. Moravian College. Very impressive. In Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. I was very, very excited. Because I really never finished Juilliard. I only went three years to the college.

But I went back to my roots. I started writing again, for the first time, classical music. I wrote a piano concerto called Manhattan in Temezzo. classical music. I wrote a piano concerto called Manhattan in Temezzo, and it was just recorded by Jeffrey Beagle, a great concert pianist. And I wrote my first symphony called Joie de Vivre, Joy of Life. My piano concerto is... And so on and so on. It's a 20-minute piece with the symphony. I listened last night. It's a little Gershwin-esque,

where it starts to pick up and change tempo. Yeah. Yeah. Very ambitious. I did it. I recorded it in London with the London Symphony. And I did it in Hyde Park for 45,000 people. I played in Hyde Park with the symphony.

It was great. When you met McCartney, didn't he start singing a Neil Sedaka song? That's when the music takes me. Yes, yes. How flattering. And he invited me, my son, and my grandson to his show a few years ago at the MGM Grand in Vegas. Wow. And we went backstage.

My grandson is a big fan. And he was about eight years old at the time. He had pictures of Paul McCartney on the wall, and I said, Michael, when you go in, he's a little bit older. He looks a little older than the photos you have on your wall, so don't say anything. And afterwards he said, Papa, my heart was going boop, boop, boop, boop, boop. Paul McCartney, I. Paul McCartney.

I met Paul McCartney. And Paul couldn't be sweeter. He was just lovely. Just a lovely guy. Are you willing to forgive him now, Neil? Yes. Yes. For 63?

Yes. It's interesting that the Beatles kind of ended your career for a while. And they were influenced by you. I think so. The DACA fans. Well, you know, we were the pioneers. Who was it? Elvis and Buddy Holly and Roy Orbison.

I was very lucky to be part of that group. Tell us about meeting Elvis in 76 since you brought it up. He invited Lieber and I to the show. Your wife, Lieber. My wife, Lieber. And we went backstage and he gave Lieber a scarf. He said, I think this will match your outfit. She still has the scarf. And he sat down and played some gospel songs. And he said, I have a record of him singing solitaire with the outtakes. Wow. And one of the outtakes, he said, I can't stand that Sadaka. He has too many high notes.

I can't hit them. I have an outtake of Elvis saying that in the studio. One of my favorite parts of the show Sunday was when you took the audience through the process of writing a song. In particular, Love Will Keep Us Together. Yes, I start with a beat because I was from Dick Clark's American Bandstand.

You had a beat. You had to have a beat to dance to it. You have to dance. I give it a 92. I love it. And then with my voice, I look for a melody. It's kind of a spontaneous improvisation.

And the melody comes from listening to singers. If I hear a singer like Diana Ross, that timbre of that beautiful voice. So I'm inspired. I can write a melody for that. And the Beach Boys, the great Brian Wilson, the genius, he had... Oh, do it again.

I stole it. You stole it. Just the beat, just the beat. And then Al Green used to do augmented chords like this. So I put together Al Green, Diana Ross, and the Beach Boys. Love, love will keep us together. That's how I wrote it. Perfect.

Wow. I love that. I love how you revealed the process. Well, you know, that's it. Yeah. It's great hearing that song. And I must have heard that song how you revealed the process. Well, you know, that's it. Yeah. It's great hearing that song. And I must have heard that song 200 times before I realized. And by the way, we did a live sing-along show.

Did you tell Neil? Dara? We did a live sing-along show, episode of this show, about a week ago. Rob's here, too. For about 70 people. And the whole room, we did a sing-along of Love Will Keep Us Together. Oh, my God. With Gilbert leading. Yes. We'll send you Us Together. Oh, my God. With Gilbert leading.

Yes. We'll send you the tape. Oh, my God. Yeah. I put it in an album, Elton's Rocket Records, Sadaka's Back. Sadaka's Back. And Kip Cohn was a producer on A&M and a new group called The Captain and Tennille were just signed to A&M and Kip Cohn played my record of Love Will Keep Us Together

and Tony Tennille fell off her chair. She said, we're going in tomorrow. We're going in to record this tomorrow. And they sent me the record. I almost fell off my chair because it was such a great record. Yes. God. I was going to say, I heard it

200 times before I heard, Sadak is back. At the end. That Tony Tennille put in. Spontaneously I heard, Sadaka is back. At the end. That Tony Tennille put in. Spontaneously, she's saying, Sadaka is back at the end of that record. Wow. Really great. Yeah. And we will return to Gilbert Gottfried's amazing, colossal podcast after this.

This episode is brought to you by FX's The Bear on Disney+. In season three, Carmi and his crew are aiming for the ultimate restaurant accolade, a Michelin star. With Golden Globe and Emmy wins, the show starring Jeremy Allen White, Io Debrey, and Maddie Matheson is ready to heat up screens once again.

All new episodes of FX's The Bear are streaming June 27, only on Disney+. That's the sound of fried chicken with a spicy history. Thornton Prince was a ladies' man. To get revenge, his girlfriend hid spices in his fried chicken. He loved it so much, he opened Prince's Hot Chicken. Hot chicken in the window. This is one of many sounds in Tennessee with a story to tell.

To hear them in person, plan your trip at tnvacation.com. Tennessee sounds perfect. And now here's something just for me. Uh-oh. Can you and I, even if you don't want to do the whole song, can you and I together sing Breaking Up Is Hard To Do? Why not? Well, why don't you let him start, Gil, and you can take this middle part.

Down, doobie-doo, down, down. I was the king of the tra-la-la's and doobie-doos. What are you going to sing? Which part? Why don't we give him the middle part from Remember When You Held Me Tight. Okay. You can start it. If you start it, that way he'll get on board.

Remember When You Held Me Tight. You start. Remember when. Well, you'll sing the beginning. Oh, he wants you to sing it from the top. And I'll jump. Don't take your love away from me. Don't you leave my heart

in misery if you go then I'll be blue breaking up is hard to do remember when you held me tight and you kissed me

all through the night think of all that we've been through. And breaking up is hard to do. They say that breaking up is hard to do. Now I know, I know that it's true. Don't say that this is the end. Instead of breaking up, I wish that we were making up again. Now you.

I beg of you. Don't quit your job. He begs of you. That was good. That was good. Oh, thank you. Very good. Oh, thanks.

And then I re-recorded it. Don't take your love away from me. I had number one both times. Yeah, it's great. Who came up with the idea? Was it John Reed Elton's manager of putting you in the Godfather getup for the Sadaka's back? Yes, John Reed wanted me in a godfather hat and suit and um it was uh i went through all those years with elton uh the beginning years and the drug years and uh he bought me a

gorgeous diamond watch he's on those spending sprees in those days open He used to open up Cartier on Rodeo Drive at 8 o'clock in the morning. They opened it up just for Elton. And he would buy gifts for people. And he bought me a gorgeous diamond face watch. Beautiful. He was very generous. Very generous. Did you see the Elton John movie? It was marvelous. Yeah. It was marvelous. And the Pavarotti

The Ron Howard documentary. The Ron Howard documentary. I haven't seen it yet. Oh my God. I cried. I cried through it. But the Elton John movie is better than Boh. The Ron Howard documentary. I haven't seen it yet. Oh, my God. I cried. I cried through it. But the Elton John movie is better than Bohemian Rhapsody. I loved it. Better. Here's an odd one, Neil.

You co-hosted the Mike Douglas show with Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire. I did. Jeez. Any memories? They didn't know who the hell I was. I knew them. I saw all their movies. I saw their movies.

But I co-hosted the Mike Douglas show many times. And I think the producer was, who was the Fox guy? Roger Ailes. Roger Ailes produced when I was on the Mike Douglas show. You ain't kidding. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. A couple other things about the, one of my favorite parts of the book, too, is you and

Elton and the Sadaka's Back period and all of these people. I mean, it's an adventure. You're going to these parties and you're meeting Peter Sellers and Rod Stewart. And tell us about that Troubadour show, because that's also a big moment. Yes. Lieber and I were at the Beverly Hills Hotel getting ready for the Troubadour. It was my big comeback show. And we were listening to...

And everybody was there. Everybody was there. Andy Williams, James Taylor, Elton, everybody was there. And I was scared stiff. I went up and it was funny, just before, on the radio, going in the car, Casey Kasem said, and now the new number one song is Laughter in the Rain by Neil Sedaka. And Lieber and I cried. It was just so, it was an unbelievable, unbelievable feeling.

It all came back. Yeah. Yeah. Have a number one record again. Do you remember, we've asked this of the musicians that we've had on the show, do you remember hearing one of your songs, either one of your vocals, or a song you wrote for somebody else on the radio for the first time? Because that had to be a life-changing moment.

The Diary. First time. I rode in a 1958 Chevy Impala convertible, a white car with the fins in the back, and I rode down King's Highway in Brooklyn. Yeah. And I turned my top down. I turned the radio all the way up

so everybody can hear me singing. How I'd like to look into that little book. The one that has the lock and key. It was a dream come true. It was a miracle. Did you ever see that movie that Tom Hanks directed about the young group, That Thing You Do? Yes. There's that great scene where they hear their song on on the radio for the first time it's a thrill actually the one before was the cookies

passing time was the first r&b hit i had and i heard it on the radio and that was a great that was a great thrill yeah can you tell me personally I love this song, and my wife and I actually got teary listening to you sing it the other night, and that's The Hungry Years, which is my favorite. And I watched videos of you singing it, and you look like you actually get emotional from singing the song. Is it about, do you care to reveal anything about, is it about you and Howie? No, it's about Sonny and Cher who were breaking up. Wow, never knew that.

Howie and I were inspired by their story. You know, they struggled and when they hit the top, they started to break apart. And there hasn't been any song with that particular subject. Michael Feinstein said he played it for Patty Andrews before she died from the Andrews sisters. And she was crying because she and her sisters didn't talk anymore. Going up to the fame, they were close. And then once they got big, they started to break apart.

And Patty Andrews started to cry on that song. It must touch everybody who went through a similar experience that way. Yes, I remember finishing it with Howie. And he brought in his partner, Tori. And I brought in Lieber into the room. And we sang The Hungry Years. There wasn't a dry eye. his partner, Tori, and I brought in Lieber into the room, and I, we sang The Hungry Years. There wasn't a dry eye. And fair to say that you and Howie also, I mean, it could almost be

about you guys. You had Hungry Years. Oh, yeah. Absolutely. And eventually went your separate ways. And the last song we wrote was called Our Last Song Together. That's another beauty. Yeah. And now, can I put you on the spot for Hungry Years? I'm going to cry.

Girl, we made it to the top. We went so high, we couldn't stop. We climbed the ladder leading us nowhere. Two of us together. Building castles in the air. We spun so fast, we couldn't tell, the gold ring from the carousel. How could we know the ride would turn out bad? Everything we wanted

was everything we had. I miss the hungry years, the once upon a time. Lovely long ago, we didn't have a dime. Those days of me and you, we lost along the way. And so on and so forth and so on and so on. Fantastic. Wow.

You sound wonderful. You sound better than ever. Well, Pavarotti was wrong. He was wrong, damn him. And you underrated as a singer. That song was covered by everybody. By Rita Coolidge, by Engelbert, by Andy Williams, by Johnny Mathis. Peggy Lee.

Beautiful. Now you say, far be it for me to disagree with the maestro, but you say you haven't written your best song. And I think that one's going to be hard to top. Maybe. Maybe. I'm going more now for the classical music because it's more challenging.

You have more creative freedom when you write a classical piece. The changes, the chords, the form. But, you know, there's nothing like this two and a half minute song. Can we ask you one question from a listener who's a rabbi? David Komarovsky, our friend. Does Neil have any fond memories of his cousin, the great Edie Gourmet? My cousin was Edie Gourmet. The original name, Gourmezano, Edie Gormezano, also Sephardic Jew. Her parents came

from Istanbul, Turkey as well. One of the great singers of our time, one of the belters. She's in the class of Streisand. Absolutely. She recorded a couple of my songs. Round and round I go in circles, trying

to be free since you went away the world is closing in on me and my world keeps getting smaller every day Edie Gourmet was one of the great one of the greatest and when she passed away

Steve and I cried and reminisced yes we were very sad to hear the news, the recent news about Steve. We've tried to get him here since we started this damn thing in 2014. Oh, one of the great male voices, absolutely. And a wonderful raconteur. Funny. Great storyteller and funny. Yes, I'm sorry to hear that.

And I think Frank Sinatra admired Steve Lawrence's singing. Absolutely. I think besides Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Victor Moan was the greatest technical singer, and Steve Lawrence was another great technical, beautiful singer. Yeah, he could do anything. Yeah. One last question from a guest. You might enjoy this one.

From Paul Byrne. Given that Neil seems like a very nice perfectly pleasant fellow what's the most rock and roll thing he's ever done well we all took a little drugs in this in the old, we did a little here. Andy Warhol and me and Liza would go into Studio 54. A little toot here and there. Wow. And then I got some grass from... I'm loving this. I got some grass from VG's Barry Gibb. That must have been good grass. Gave me some grass from VG's.

Barry Gibb. That must have been good grass. Gave me some grass. He said, try writing a song on the grass. And he was correct. Because I came up with something great. But the next morning, when you listen to it, it was shit. Perfectly honest answer. We appreciate your honesty Tell us about your life now

You've got grandchildren They call you Papa Neil I have a twin girl, 16 And a boy, 13 I'm Papa Neil And I did an album called Waking Up Is Hard to Do, because they wanted me to change the words

to be child-friendly. Yeah, kids' songs. Kids' songs. They sang the do-up vocals. They were eight, nine years old. And then I said, I'm going to write a book. And I wrote a children's book called Dinosaur Pet, which was number three on the New York Times bestseller.

One and two. I remember, that's the first time we met. You were on the Joy Behar show plugging that book. That's right. Yes. Number one and two with Fifty Shades of Grey. Yes. And can we just sing the comma, comma, down, doobie-doo, down, down part together?

Just that. You're making it work. Ready? Yeah. Do-do-do-down, doobie-doo, down, down. Comma, comma, down, do-be-do-down-down. Come-a, come-a, down, do-be-do-down-down. Come-a, come-a, down, do-be-do-down-down.

Breaking up is hard to do. And I was the king of, every time we ran out of lyrics, we'd put in a do-be-do. Oh, you're the king of tra-la-las and doobie-doos. And I kept it in the record. It became a Neil Sedaka trademark. Right. So many records had doobie-doos.

And then you named one of those 70s records, The Tra-La Days Are Over. That's correct. Yes, yes, yes, yes. That is correct. You were wonderful the other night. And if people, so it's a limited tour schedule these days. We want to tell our listeners where to go see you.

Thank you. a limited tour schedule these days i want to we want to tell our listeners where to go see you thank you i just to uh uh isolated at maybe eight or nine concerts a year at this age the traveling is hard but i love it when i get up on the stage it's that adrenaline endorphin rush but if people go to the website rob is here too he's nodding they can see that they can see the upcoming dates you're going to be in Canada. I saw you're going to be in California, in Washington State, and in Hawaii. So you're traveling pretty long distances. Well, Liba wants to wear nice clothes. Is that what it is? And Frank was at the concert. It was wonderful.

And he told me, and I hadn't said anything to Frank about this when you heard the song. And what was your reaction? You know, he's talked, what have we had, 260 guests on the show? He's brought up My Yiddish Mama probably 10 times with 10 different guests. Oh, was it Jessel that used to sing it? Yeah. My Yiddish Mama. You heard his Jess it? Yeah. My Yiddish Mama. Have you heard his chest?

Yeah. And Sophie Tucker, I did a Yiddish album called Neil Sedaka sings Brighton Beach Memories and I did it, My Yiddish Mama. Eskip nit beset in det vel. A Yiddish Mama. Beautiful. Beautiful. It's a gorgeous song.

Beautiful. Oh, thank you. It's a gorgeous song. He's brought it up 20 times. I wish I wrote it. Now we got a live version. Wow. Plugs.

Neil, I'm going to plug this book, even though it's hard to find. Neil Sedaka, Laughter in the Rain, my own story. There's a better one by Rich Podolsky called Neil Sedaka, the Rock and Roll Survivor. It's about three or four years old. Okay. I was going to get that one, but I thought I'd get the one in your own voice. The other one is even better. Even better.

And this wonderful CD, which I picked up at the concert, Neil Sedaka by Popular Demand. Thank you. And this one, I don't know if this is out of print too, but the show goes on, which has you and Tony Christie doing a wonderful duet on Amarillo. On the Albert Hall. I did the Albert Hall, yes, many times. And we'll do a lot of promotion for this on a lot of social media. We want people to go see you.

It was such a delight, really. A delight. I've been a great admirer of yours. Oh, thank you. And, you know, we know what it is to be in this business. It's not easy. Two Brooklyn kids made good. That's right.

That's right. And you do it, why? Because of the applause, the adoration, the love. And the check at the end. Why not? The Emmys.

You do it for the applause. He does it for the shekels. The Emmes is true. That's the bottom line. I don't know when I've had more fun doing one of these. And your wife is the same name as my daughter, Dara. Yes. I have a daughter, Dara.

Wow. They had a hit record. And what was your father's name? Mac. Mac's was my father's name. You're kidding. And now it's my son's name? Mac. Mac was my father's name. You're kidding. And now it's my son's name. Wonderful.

Could you guys be cousins too? I don't know. But Dara's a beautiful name. Beautiful. She's a beautiful lady. These people who came out to see you. We do a lot of these shows, and we don't usually have an audience. In fact, you might recognize that gentleman way in the back.

Does he look familiar to you? Ah, yes. Dave Milstein? Yes. Hi, Dave. How are you? You're an old assistant. I can't remember having more fun doing one of these.

This is great. Neil, this was an absolute treat. I loved it, especially having a keyboard in front of me. It was so wonderful. Well, we have to thank Dave Seidel and Jared O'Connell and the nice people here at Earwolf for providing that.

We didn't do a whole song. Next time, we'll do a whole song. You'll come back? Absolutely. I've got more cards. And as Frank will tell you, I always love to have

a Jew guest on the show. Better than the Goyim Schutz. The man is the consummate entertainer. I have to say, and I'm repeating myself now, but your show is also very funny. There's some physical, there's some dancing, there's some schtick, there's a little bit of everything.

I don't know. Maybe I did the wrong thing all these years. Maybe I should have done something else. You're a great entertainer. Thank you. My wife and I were thrilled at the show. And this was a blast. Darren, did you have fun? Yes. The best. Yes.

We won't top this one for a while, Neil. So, this has been Gilbert Gottfried's amazing, colossal podcast with my co-host Frank Santopadre and the great, great Neil Sataka. Thank you both.

Thank you. Oh, yeah. That's when the music takes me Closer to a brighter day I can feel my soul exploding There's a good feeling Helping me to find my way My, my, my way. When the bluebird sings her sad, sad song.

And the wind brings the cold to tag along. Oh yeah, I can feel the spirit moving I can almost touch the sky Reaching for a new tomorrow I know it's hard, but music makes me wanna try Wanna try And then that's when the music takes me. Takes me to a brighter day.

That's when the music takes me. Helping me to find my way. That's when the music takes me That's when the music takes me Closer to a planet tank I can feel my soul exploding There's a good feeling Helping me to find my way

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah And then I'm saying That's when the music takes me Takes me to a brighter day Yeah, yeah, yeah That's when the music takes me Happy, happy, happy day. Happy, happy, happy day. Happy, happy, happy day.

Happy, happy, happy day That's when the music takes me That's when the music takes me That's when the music takes me And that's when the music takes me Happy, happy, when the music takes me Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh and take praise. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh.

Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh.

Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh.

Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh.

Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh.

Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh.

Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh..... I'm a fan. I'm a fan. I'm a fan. I'm a fan. I'm a fan. I'm a fan. I'm a fan. I'm a fan. I'm a fan. I'm a fan. I'm a fan. I'm a fan. I'm a fan. I'm a fan. I'm a fan. I'm a fan. I'm a fan. I'm a fan. I'm a fan. I'm a fan. I'm a fan I'll see you next time.