"Laughter in the Rain," Neil Sedaka
We lost another legend in 2026 . . .
Neil Sedaka died last week a few weeks short of his 87th birthday. He was the Elvis of singer-songwriter pop-rock. artists like Elton John, Carole King, Leon Russell, and Billy Joel couldn't have had the careers they did without him. But for about a decade after the Beatles first made it big in the United States, Sedaka stopped having hits as a result of the subsequent British Invasion and, ironically, moved to England, where pop fans still had reverence for the American artists who created the sounds of pre-beat-group rock and roll. Sedaka remained popular in the United Kingdom throughout the late sixties and early seventies.
After opening for soul singer Thelma Houston in London in 1974, Neil Sedaka received a backstage visit from one of his biggest British fans - Elton John. Elton asked Neil how his career was going overall. Sedaka replied that he was still thriving in the mother country, but it was a different story back home. "Over there," Sedaka told Elton about America, "I'm a ghost!"
That was too much for Elton John to handle. He decided that Neil Sedaka would be back on top in his homeland, and Elton, having just founded his own label, Rocket Records, was going to make sure of it. He signed Sedaka to his label, and Neil went straight to work on a new LP, which would be released under the title Sedaka's Back. "Laughter in the Rain," written with lyricist Phil Cody about a romantic walk through a downpour, was the obvious single.
Released in the U.S. in the autumn of 1974, "Laughter in the Rain" reached the top of the Billboard singles chart for the week ending February 1, 1975. It would be the first of several 1970s hits for Neil Sedaka, and in fact, he would be ubiquitous throughout 1975; not only would he have another number-one song as a performer - "Bad Blood," with backing vocals from Elton John - but the top-selling single of the year was a song Sedaka had written with his longtime composing partner Howard Greenfield. "Love Will Keep Us Together," covered by the husband-and-wife duo of Daryl "the Captain" Dragon and Toni Tennille, would top the charts in late June and early July 1975 and be played all over the radio. (Listen to the fadeout of the Captain and Tennille's cover for the backup vocalists singing "Sedaka is back," Daryl Dragon's tip of the hat - not his literal nautical hat, mind you - to Neil Sedaka.)
Sadly, Sedaka is gone, but his music remains. This clip of Neil performing "Laughter in the Rain," my Music VIdeo Of the Week is a live performance of the song in 1983 with the original studio recording of the song superimposed on it. Enjoy. RIP Neil Sedaka. 😭
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