The Tra-La Days Are Back: Wounded Bird to Offer Sedaka Two-on-One

August 3, 2010 By Joe Marchese — No Comments

Neil Sedaka famously proclaimed that “The Tra-La Days Are Over” as the title of his (unfortunately out-of-print) 1973 album. But thanks to Wounded Bird (as if the label hadn’t announced a big enough bonanza for reissue fans already!), fans of rock and roll’s golden age have another chance to enjoy Sedaka’s days as king of the shoo-be-doos and tra-la-las. Little Devil and His Other Hits/The Many Sides of Neil Sedaka is set for release on September 7 according to Pause and Play. For an artist with as impressively deep a catalogue as Sedaka, far too few of his original albums are available on CD, making this release a welcome surprise.

Sedaka’s RCA label prime has been collected in complete form by Germany’s Bear Family Records, but domestically, RCA has been largely content to release only greatest hits compilations for the singer and songwriter behind “Breaking Up is Hard to Do,” “Oh! Carol” and “Calendar Girl.” In fact, re-recordings made by Sedaka of his 1960s hits (licensed for various projects including 2007’s charting The Definitive Collection on Razor & Tie 82968) may be easier to find than the chart-topping originals. 1961’s Little Devil and His Other Hits lived up to its name, with no fewer than seven hit singles, three of which went Top Ten: “Calendar Girl,” “Oh! Carol” and “Stairway to Heaven,” an irresistible piece of Sedaka pop now perhaps better known for sharing a name with the Led Zeppelin anthem.

The Many Sides of Neil Sedaka comprises material of mid-sixties RCA Victor vintage, but was released years later in 1978. The artist had experienced a career rebirth just a few years prior, collaborating with members of 10cc and receiving the patronage of Elton John. RCA realized the time was right for a cash-in, as songs like “Laughter in the Rain,” “Bad Blood,” “Solitaire” and “Love Will Keep Us Together” made Sedaka a hot commodity once again. While the titles on The Many Sides are not as familiar as those on Little Devil (and the cover art cannily depicted a 1970s-era Sedaka), they’re of equally high caliber, with songs such as “Bad Girl” and “The World Through a Tear” as delightful as his hit singles.

Kudos to Wounded Bird for excavating these LPs; next, can we please have Sedaka’s Elektra albums, including 1977’s A Song, produced by none other than George Martin? In the meantime, click on the jump for the track listing for Little Devil and His Other Hits/The Many Sides of Neil Sedaka, which can be pre-ordered here at Amazon, still showing an August 10 release date.

Neil Sedaka, Little Devil and His Other Hits/The Many Sides of Neil Sedaka (Wounded Bird, 2010)

Little Devil
Oh! Carol
You Mean Everything to Me
Run Samson Run
The Girl for Me
Stairway to Heaven
Calendar Girl
I Must Be Dreaming
Going Home to Mary Lou
The Diary
What Am I Gonna Do
One Way Ticket
Blue Boy
The Answer to My Prayer
Don’t Lead Me On
The Same Old Fool
No Vacancy
Waiting for Never
Wait ‘Til You See My Baby
Pictures from the Past
Look Inside Your Heart
Bad Girl
Your Heart Has Changed Its Mind
The World Through a Tear

Tracks 1-12 originally released as RCA LP LSP/LPM-2421 Little Devil and His Other Hits, 1961
Tracks 13-24 originally released as RCA LP AFL-2524 The Many Sides of Neil Sedaka, 1978

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Joe Marchese

JOE MARCHESE (Editor) joined The Second Disc shortly after its launch in early 2010, and has since penned daily news and reviews about classic music of all genres. In 2015, Joe formed the Second Disc Records label. Celebrating the great songwriters, producers and artists who created the sound of American popular song and beyond, Second Disc Records, in conjunction with labels including Real Gone Music and Cherry Red Records, has released newly-curated collections produced and annotated by Joe from iconic artists such as Dionne Warwick, Diana Ross and The Supremes, Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, The Spinners, Johnny Mathis, Bobby Darin, Meat Loaf, Laura Nyro, Melissa Manchester, Liza Minnelli, Darlene Love, Al Stewart, Michael Nesmith, and many others.

Joe has written liner notes, produced, or contributed to over 200 reissues from a diverse array of artists, among them America, JD Souther, Nat "King" Cole, Paul Williams, Lesley Gore, Dusty Springfield, BJ Thomas, The 5th Dimension, Burt Bacharach, The Mamas and the Papas, Carpenters, Perry Como, Rod McKuen, Doris Day, Jackie DeShannon, Petula Clark, Robert Goulet, and Andy Williams.

Over the past two decades, Joe has also worked in a variety of capacities on and off Broadway as well as at some of the premier theatres in the U.S., including Lincoln Center Theater, George Street Playhouse, Paper Mill Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, and the York Theatre Company. He has felt privileged to work on productions alongside artists such as the late Jack Klugman, Eli Wallach, Arthur Laurents, Betty Comden and Adolph Green. In 2009, Joe began contributing theatre and music reviews to the print publication The Sondheim Review, and in 2012, he joined the staff of The Digital Bits as a regular contributor writing about film and television on DVD and Blu-ray.

Joe currently resides in the suburbs of New York City.