NEIL SEDAKA

The Show Goes On

[Eagle Rock]

At a time when U.S. record companies dismissed Neil Sedaka as an aging teenybopper, England couldn’t get enough of him. This live set, recorded in 2006 at London’s Royal Albert Hall, is a tribute to both Sedaka’s long career and the willingness of his British fans to accept him as more than a sugary oldies act. His classic hits about the junior prom and turning 16 are here, but so are 1970s-era piano-man gems like “Solitaire” and the simple, heart-tugging “Betty Grable.” The one drawback: Someone decided to cut most of the between-song introductions. Sedaka is a good talker, and in interviews, he’s capable of charming everyone from Mike Huckabee to Tavis Smiley. Not hearing Sedaka’s inevitable stories about dating Carole King, befriending Elton John, and working as a teenage tunesmith-for-hire is like watching an intimate performance from behind a pack of security guards. –David Styburski

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