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)

Lynsey de Paul - songwriter (1975)

Lyndsey Monckton Rubin was born on 11 June 1948, and attended South Hampstead High School followed by Hornsey College of Art, now part of Middlesex University, and she also studied classical music with a tutor from the Royal Academy of Music. She began writing songs at an early age, and two of her earliest efforts were co-written with Don Gould (formerly a member of 60's pop group The Applejacks) and recorded by Oliver! performer Jack Wild, with 'Takin' It Easy' and 'Bring Yourself Back To Me' being included on his 1971 album 'Everything's Coming Up Roses'. Another song co-penned by her was 'E.O.I.O.', this time with Edward Adamberry, and htis was also recorded by Wild as a track on his 1972 album 'A Beautiful World', and it was also released as a single by The Beads. After these initial successes, she was contracted to ATV-Kirshner music publishing by Eddie Levy, where she joined a group of professional songwriters that included Barry Blue (at that time known as Barry Green) and Ron Roker (later to become Barry's brother-in-law). One of their earliest songs (and the only song where all three collaborated) was 'Sugarloaf Hill', recorded by the reggae artist Del Davis as a single in 1972. Her first major breakthrough came early in that year as the co-writer (with Ron Roker) of the Fortunes' Top 10 UK hit 'Storm In A Teacup', and she performed the song herself the same year on the BBC's The Two Ronnies TV show, under her new name of Lynsey de Paul. Around this time she also had chart success in Malaysia and the Netherlands as the writer of 'On The Ride (You Do It Once, You Do It Twice)', which was a Top 30 hit by the Continental Uptight Band, as well as with her song 'When You've Gotta Go', which was an Australian chart hit recorded by Solomon King. All three songs still credited her as 'L. Rubin', which she would continue to use while writing until 1973. Other notable songs from this period included 'Papa Do', which was released by Barry Green as a single, as well as 'Crossword Puzzle', which was another co-write with Green, and which became a hit single for the Irish singer Dana. 

The b-side of 'Papa Do' was another Rubin/Green collaboration, and 'Boomerang' was released as a single in the UK by The Young Generation, a group of dancers and singers recruited by Dougie Squires, who had a number of hits in the 70's, while Geno Washington & the Ram Jam Band also recorded their own version of the song. Although she had recorded demo versions of her songs, De Paul was initially a reluctant performer, and although she wrote the song 'Sugar Me' for Peter Noone, her boyfriend at the time, Dudley Moore, suggested that she take a demo version to Gordon Mills, who urged her to record it herself and release it on his MAM record label. Released as a single, 'Sugar Me' rapidly reached the Top 10 of the UK Singles Chart, as well as the top of the singles charts in the Netherlands, Spain and Belgium, and this was the start of her becoming a regular British chart and TV fixture over the next five years. She followed 'Sugar Me' with 'Getting A Drag', and her debut album appeared a few months later, leading to her being listed as the best female artist of 1972 by Record Mirror, female performer of the year by Radio Luxembourg, and third best female singer in the 1973 New Musical Express music poll. Her first album 'Surprise' was released in March 1973 on the MAM label, and as well as writing or co-writing all of the songs, she was also the producer for all of the tracks. Following the unsuccessful 'All Night', her next single was 'Won't Somebody Dance With Me', and the b-side 'So Good To You' was covered by Lenny Zakatek on the b-side of his single 'I Gotcha Now', which was also a de Paul co-write. Another song co-written by de Paul, 'Today Gluggo, Tomorrow The World', was the b-side of 'Don't You Let It Bring You Down' by the Spencer Davis Group, as well as appearing on their 1973 album 'Gluggo'. She recorded the spoken passage on Mott the Hoople's album track version of 'Roll Away The Stone', although the female trio Thunderthighs appeared on the hit single version of the song. 

In May 1974 she released 'Ooh I Do', which hit the charts in the UK, Belgium, Japan, Netherlands, and Brazil , and she also wrote her first TV theme tune 'Pilger Theme', for 'Pilger' where journalist John Pilger examined various political issues at the time in a series of 25 minute documentaries between 1974 and 1977. Another theme song, this time co-written with Barry Blue, was a song which was recorded and released in 1974 as a single by the UK group Rain, featuring Stephanie de Sykes as the vocalist, and 'Golden Day' was later used as the theme for the TV game show 'The Golden Shot'. A second Ivor Novello Award followed a year later for 'No Honestly', which was also the theme tune to the hit ITV comedy 'No, Honestly', and provided her with another UK Top 10 hit. The b-side to this single was her version of 'Central Park Arrest', which she'd written for Thunderthighs, and which had provided them with a Top 30 UK hit single a few months earlier. 'No Honestly' was the first release on the newly formed Jet Records, established by Don Arden, and she also wrote the second single that was released on the label, a song called 'My One And Only', which was recorded by UK female singing trio Bones. Her second album 'Taste Me... Don't Waste Me' was the first album release on Jet Records and was her favourite of all her albums, and is mine as well. De Paul continued to release singles through the mid-1970's, including the UK hit 'My Man And Me', along with 'Rhythm And Blue Jean Baby', 'Love Bomb' and 'If I Don't Get You The Next One Will', but this post concentrates on her writing for other artists in her formative years, and it shows how she progressed from those early efforts, including that surprise hit by the Fortunes, to the successful songs that she provided for other people in the 70's once she'd hooked up with Barry Green as her collaborator.  

Track listing

01 Takin' It Easy (Rubin/Gould) by Jack Wild 1971
02 Bring Yourself Back To Me (Rubin/Gould) by Jack Wild 1971
03 E.O.I.O. (Rubin/Adamberry) by Jack Wild 1972
04 Sugarloaf Hill (Rubin/Green/Roker) by Del Davis 1972
05 Storm In A Teacup (Rubin/Roker) by The Fortunes 1972
06 On The Ride (You Do It Once, You Do It Twice) (Rubin/Adamberry) by 

                                                                                              Continental Uptight Band 1972
07 When You've Gotta Go (Rubin/Roker) by Solomon King 1972
08 Papa Do (Rubin/Green) by Barry Green 1972
09 Crossword Puzzle (Rubin/Green) by Dana 1972
10 Boomerang (Rubin/Green) by Geno Washington And The Ram Jam Band 1972
11 I Gotcha Now (de Paul) by Lenny Zakatek 1973
12 So Good To You (de Paul) by Lenny Zakatek 1973
13 Today Gluggo, Tomorrow The World (de Paul/York) by The Spencer Davis Group 1973
14 Pilger Theme (de Paul) from the TV series 'Pilger' 1974
15 Golden Day (de Paul/Blue) by Rain featuring Stephanie De-Sykes 1974
16 Central Park Arrest (de Paul) by Thunderthighs 1974
17 My One And Only (de Paul) by Bones 1975

Dana - All Kinds Of Dana (1971)

Rosemary Brown was born on 30 August 1951, and was one of seven children. Her father Robert Brown had moved to London to seek employment opportunities after World War II, but when Rosemary was five, the family moved back to Derry, where she grew up in the Creggan housing estate and Bogside, and at age six, she won her first talent contest. She attended Thornhill College, a girls' Catholic school in Derry, and other children in her community nicknamed her 'Dana' (Irish for bold or mischievous) because she would practice her judo moves. Shortly before turning 16, and with the help of teacher and music promoter Tony Johnston, Brown signed with the Decca Records subsidiary label Rex Records, and recording as Dana, she debuted with the single 'Sixteen', written by Tony Johnston, while the b-side 'Little Girl Blue' was her own composition. While still studying A-level music and English, she became popular in Dublin's cabaret and folk clubs at weekends, and was crowned Queen of Cabaret at Clontarf Castle in 1968. Rex Records' secretary Phil Mitton suggested she audition for the Irish National Song Contest, due to take place in February 1969, where the winner would represent Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest. With mixed feelings due to nerves she made it through to the final in Dublin where she sang 'Look Around' by Michael Reade, later released as her fourth single, but she ended up coming second to Muriel Day singing 'Wages Of Love', also written by Reade. 

In December 1969 Tom McGrath invited her to try again the next year, feeling that one of the entered songs, the ballad 'All Kinds of Everything', would suit her. Her second attempt to win the Irish contest was a success, and on Saturday 21 March 1970, the eighteen-year-old schoolgirl performed the song at the Eurovision finals held in the Amsterdam RAI Exhibition and Convention Centre, before an estimated viewing audience of two hundred million. Perched on a stool while wearing an embroidered white mini-dress, she was the last of twelve contestants to perform that night, and after the voting had finished she was declared the winner with 32 points, beating the favourite, UK's Mary Hopkin. The winning song was released as a single on 14 March, and it shot to #1 in the Irish singles chart before the contest had even begun and stayed there for nine weeks. It also spent two weeks at the top of the UK singles chart, and was a success in Australia, Austria, Germany, Israel, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland and Yugoslavia. Her debut album 'All Kinds Of Everything' was recorded at Decca Studios in West Hampstead, London, on the weekend of 25 April 1970, being released in June, and it included four tracks co-written by the singer, as well as a new recording of the album's title track. Her follow-up single was issued in September, but Jerry Lordan's 'I Will Follow You' failed to chart, and it took her next single to break the one-hit wonder tag which threatened to define her career, with a cover of Paul Ryan's 'Who Put The Lights Out', written for his brother Barry's third album, reaching number 5 in Ireland, and number 14 in the UK. It was, however, to be her last successful single for three years, broken only by the Irish chart showing of 'Sunday Monday Tuesday' in 1973. This lack of success caused her agent to recommend she join the former head of Bell Records Dick Leahy on his new label, GTO Records, and her first single for the label was 'Please Tell Him That I Said Hello'. Within a month of its release in October 1974 it was number 7 in Ireland, and after a slow start it eventually climbed to number 8 in the UK chart. Further singles for GTO followed, with mixed success, but 'It's Gonna Be A Cold Cold Christmas' did give her a Christmas number 4 in 1975. 

In September 1976, while promoting her new single 'Fairytale', she lost her voice, and her left vocal cord, which had been cauterized the year before, required urgent surgery to remove what turned out to be a non-malignant growth, as well as a small part of the cord itself. This caused some newspapers to report on the possibility that she might never sing again, but having failed to regain her singing voice after the operation, she contacted Florence Wiese Norberg, a respected singing teacher, and with her help she resumed live performances with a week-long engagement at Caesar's Palace in Luton in December 1977. Her career has taken many unusual turns along the way, playing the part of a tinker girl in the 1971 film 'Flight Of The Doves', a children's adventure film starring Ron Moody and Jack Wild, and presenting two shows on BBC Television: a series of 'A Day With Dana' in 1974 and four series of 'Wake Up Sunday' in 1979. In 1978 she married Damien Scallon, and in 1999, as Rosemary Scallon, she stood as an independent candidate in the European elections, winning a seat in the European Parliament, representing Connacht–Ulster. Considering that her career has encompassed singer/songwriter, actress, television presenter, cabaret star, and even member of Parliament, she will forever be remembered for singing one song, and so this collection will go some way to showing how she reached that point in her career, and then how it progressed after she'd achieved world-wide stardom in 1970.   

   
Track listing

01 Sixteen ‎(single 1967)
02 Little Girl Blue (b-side of 'Sixteen')
03 Come Along, Murphy (single 1968)
04 Patrick O'Donnell (b-side of 'Come Along, Murphy')
05 Heidschi Bumbeidschi (single 1968)
06 Ten Second Girl (b-side of 'Heidschi Bumbeidschi')
07 Look Around (single 1969)
08 No Road Back (b-side of 'Look Around')
09 All Kinds Of Everything (single 1970)
10 Channel Breeze (b-side of 'All Kinds Of Everything')
11 I Will Follow You (single 1970)
12 With A Little Love (b-side of 'I Will Follow You')
13 Who Put The Lights Out (single 1971)
14 Always A Few Things (b-side of 'Who Put The Lights Out')
15 The Far Away Place (Canadian single, from the film 'Flight Of The Doves' 1971)
16 Today (single 1971)
17 Don't Cry My Love (b-side of 'Today')
18 Isn't It A Pity (single 1971)
19 Swallow Fly Away (b-side of 'Isn't It A Pity')