Various Artists - The Hitmakers Sing Neil Sedaka (1978)

When Neil Sedaka was 13, a neighbour heard him playing and introduced him to her 16-year-old son, Howard Greenfield, an aspiring poet and lyricist, and before long they were part of the Brill Building's legendary composing stable, writing songs together throughout much of their young lives. Before rock and roll became popular, Sedaka and Greenfield found inspiration from show tunes, and when Sedaka became a major teen pop star, the pair continued writing hits for him and numerous other artists. Unlike most of the other Brill Building songwriters, Sedaka was also releasing his own singles at the same time as writing for others, and finally hit the big time in 1959 when 'Oh, Carol' reached number 9 in the Hot Hundred in 1959, followed by his first number one with 'Breaking Up Is Hard To Do' in 1962. In 1964 Sedaka's career began a sharp decline, hastened by The Beatles' arrival on the radio and TV, along with the rest of the so-called British Invasion, and following the release of his 'My Yiddishe Momme' album in 1966 he didn't release another long-player for four years, although he was still writing through-out that period. Sedaka worked to revive his solo career in the early 1970's, and in 1971 he reunited with RCA and released the 'Emergence' album, which included the single 'I'm A Song (Sing Me)'. In 1972, he embarked on a successful British tour and was introduced by Harvey Lisberg to the four future members of 10cc, and he recorded his 'Solitaire' album with them as his backing band at their Strawberry Studios in Stockport, with the album being issued later that year by RCA. The title track was successfully covered by both Andy Williams and the Carpenters, while his own single 'Beautiful You' also charted briefly in America, and was his first US chart appearance in ten years. 'Solitaire' was the first collaboration between Sedaka and new song-writing partner Phil Cody, whom Sedaka felt was an ideal lyricist for his music in a singer-songwriter style, and this was proved to be true when by 1978 nearly every song on 'Solitaire' had been picked up and covered by other artists, the best of which are collected here, along with a few from 'Emergence' to make up the album to a satisfactory 42 minutes. 

Track listing

01 That's When The Music Takes Me (Helen McBennett 1978) 
02 Beautiful You (Colin Blunstone 1976)
03 Express Yourself (Adrienne Posta 1973)
04 Home (Vince Hill 1974)
05 Adventures Of A Boy Child Wonder (Ted Neeley 1973)
06 Dimbo Man (Blablus 1976)
07 Trying To Say Goodbye (Dana 1975)
08 Solitaire (The Carpenters 1975)
09 Don't Let It Mess Your Mind (Helen Reddy 1975)
10 Gone With The Morning (Suzanne 1973)
11 God Bless Joanna (Tony Christie 1972)
12 One More Mountain To Climb (David Soul 1976)
13 (I'm A Song) Sing Me, Sing Me (Lou Christie 1971)

Adrienne Posta - Backstreet Girl (1976)

Adrienne Luanne Poster was born on 4th March 1949 in London, England, and demonstrated a love of performing from the beginning of her childhood, attending the highly regarded theater preparatory school the Italia Conti Academy. She made her acting debut in the film 'No More Tears' at the age of 11, and later appeared in the television soap 'Harpers West One', which launched singer John Leyton. While she was a student at the Italia Conti Academy, she started dating Steve Marriott, who later became lead singer with the Small Faces, and in 1963, while he was playing in a band called the Moments, she would once in a while go along with him in front of an audience and the pair would play out a two-part harmony of 'Twist and Shout'. She was signed to Oriole Records who released her first single 'Only Fifteen' in 1963, when she was in fact 14 years old, but despite exposure on 'Ready, Steady, Go!' it was not a success. In 1964 she came under the wing of the Rolling Stones' manager Andrew Loog Oldham, who produced her version of a Jagger/Richards song 'Shang A Doo Lang' for Decca Records, in the style of Phil Spector. The liaison was short-lived, and in 1965 session drummer Bobby Graham took charge for her reading of the Supremes' 'He Doesn’t Love Me', while her next single 'The Wind That Blows' was published by Jimmy Page's company, but these all star connections failed to lift the her career. 'Something Beautiful' and 'They Long To be Close To You' followed in 1966, with the latter single being the first under her new name of Posta. Acting now took precedence, with film roles in 'To Sir With Love', 'Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush', 'Up The Junction' and 'Percy', as well as appearing in several 70s sex/comedy films, including 'Adventures Of A Taxi Driver'. Her version of the film's theme song 'Cruisin’ Casanova' was issued on President Records in 1976, but this was to be her final recording, with acting then becoming her full-time career. While romantically involved with ex-Marbles singer Graham Bonnet in 1973 (they later married), she released a single written by him called 'Dog Song', which may have been a reference to the fact that they owned the Old English Sheepdog which starred in the Dulux paint adverts in the 70's. Although primarily known for her acting roles in British comedy films of the 60's and 70's, her singing career is often over-looked, and so this collection hopes to put that right.

Track listing

01 Only Fifteen (single 1963)
02 There's Nothing You Can Do About That (b-side of 'Only Fifteen')
03 Shang A Doo Lang (single 1964)
04 When A Girl Really Loves You (b-side of 'Shang A Doo Lang')
05 He Doesn't Love Me (single 1965)
06 The Way You Do The Things You Do (b-side of 'He Doesn't Love Me')
07 The Winds That Blow (single 1965)
08 Backstreet Girl (b-side of 'The Winds That Blow')
09 Something Beautiful (single 1966)
10 So Glad You're Mine (b-side of 'Something Beautiful')
11 They Long To Be Close To You (single 1966)
12 How Can I Hurt You? (b-side of 'They Long To Be Close To You')
13 Dog Song (single, with Graham Bonnet 1973)
14 Express Yourself (b-side of 'Dog Song')
15 Cruisin' Casanova (single 1976)
16 Sing Me (b-side of 'Cruisin' Casanova')