breaking up is hard to do
I remember buying my first cassette tape with my own money when I was five or six. My sister and I would each get a $1 a week allowance from my parents which we were allowed to spend any way we chose. We got the precious dollar on Saturday mornings when my parents would take us to the local bowling alley. Inevitably we would spend the dollar on candy at the snack bar, and save none of it for the rest of the week. I am sure this why I am so irresponsible with money now, but that's a whole different story.
On one of these Saturday mornings, for some reason unknown to me, I had to accompany my mother to the drug store which was right next door to the bowling alley. While she went about doing whatever it was she had to do there, I wandered unaccompanied (gasp!) through the aisles of the store. In the front of the store next to the magazine rack, I came across one of those bins where cassette tapes go to die. On it someone had pasted a sign that read "... ... $1" (I couldn't read at the time). I knew very little about music at the time, but up until this point my parents had raised me on a series of tapes called "The Solid Gold Collection". I believe they were free when you bought gas at Shell gas stations. The songs on these tapes were all from the late 50's and early 60's (pre BEATLEMANIA)so as far as I was concerned, this was the only music worth listening to.
I rummaged through the tapes and can remember looking at the pictures. There were two tapes that stood out to me. One said 60's and the other one said 86 on the cover. Now, given my vast experience with music at the time, I knew that the 60's one must be the best. I was intrigued by the one from 86 because I knew it would bring me up to speed on what my generation were listening to. As always, I wanted the best of both worlds and asked my mother if I could have both. She told me that I could have my $1 allowance before going to the bowling alley and choose one tape to buy, but if I did, I would not be allowed any more later to get candy.
I chose the sixties compilation and happily handed my dollar over to the cashier. Bowling that day was torture. Here I was, an aspiring creative genius, forced to five-pin bowl for an hour while there was a tape of the most amazing music ever burning a hole in my pocket. And I had no candy.
I got home and immediately ran to my room. I had one of those little tape players that got horrible AM reception and played tapes with the least fidelity possible while still being able to call it playback. The first song on the tape was "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" by the Tokens (which has its own amazing story) and I was hooked instantly. I think the tape also had "Surfer Girl" by the Beach Boys and a few other songs that were totally forgettable.
My favourite song on the tape by far was Neil Sedaka's "Breaking up is hard to do". It had a great beat, a clap along backing track and great backing vocal parts that were instantly sing-along worthy. I must have worn that tape through rewinding and listening to Neil over and over again. It was to become my first favourite song.
Over the years I have had a lot of new favourite songs and as each new one has taken the trophy, "Breaking up is had to do" slipped further and further from memory.
It was not until a few years back when I attended a friends birthday party at a kitschy rock-n-roll diner here in Toronto that I even remembered the song existed. The event of the night was karaoke (of course) and we all had a great time butchering oldies tunes. At the end of the night, the MC did the 1976 version Neil recorded of "Breaking up is Hard to Do" which is slowed down and done more like a smoky jazz tune than a 60's bubble gum pop song.
He was a great singer as I remember, and all my fond memories of the song came rushing back. When he finished I approached him and asked who's version of the song it was. He then gave me a bit of the back story of the song, and explained that (a la Vanilla Ice) Neil Sedaka had covered his own tune in order to cash in on a burgeoning new musical genre and a new demographic.
I have since searched out this version of the song on multiple occasions, but it is impossible to find on P2P because everyone has the original song which has the same title and same artist (obviously) as the one I want. Record shops have been no help in acquiring a '45 and I'm not really interested in a Neil Sedaka greatest hits CD (though after writing this, I kind of am).
Then today came. Just out of curiosity, I punched the title into YouTube's search box and there it was. It's one of those videos where the song plays and the image is of a record playing. Not the most exciting video, but exciting enough to inspire me to write this post.
As I browsed through the videos of the various performances of this song, one thing really jumped out at me. And this may not come as a suprise to you or to Neil Sedaka, but NEIL SEDAKA HAS BEEN SINGING BREAKING UP IS HARD TO DO FOR LIKE 45 YEARS!
This is obviously not astonishing in itself, as many artists have been singing the same songs for a long time (the Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, Paul McCartney and a plethora of forgotten 60's pop artists), what is interesting is that you can see the way American pop culture has evolved through watching his performances of the song. Also, the ways it has stayed the same. You can see the way he's changed the vocals (especially with the two different versions) to fit in with what is popular and how these days, he has returned to doing the original version of the song. It is a time capsule in music, a message sent from the past.
What appears to be the last television performance of the song is similar in many ways to what appears to be the first. In the last performance, there is clearly a backing musical track and it appears as though the only live part of the performance is Neil's lead vocal. Comparing that with the first performance which is obviously lip-synched, it is easy to say that not much has changed. But the attitude towards the song has changed with time and it is now what is commonly referred to as a 'Golden Oldie'. I am going to post a couple videos here for your amusement, but check out everything the Tube has to offer by pointing your browser here
This is the earliest performance I could find on YouTube. It is from four years after the song went #1. The audience is clearly sick of the song, but check out the background dancers! Complete lip-synch as was the standard for the day.
This looks like maybe from the late seventies or early 80's but your guess is as good as mine. Sounds like a totally live version. Watch until the end for a great version of "Calender Girl"!
This is the "jazzy" version I was talking about. In the early seventies, this crap was huge, and I love it. Maybe more than the original?
In this version, check out how Neil doesn't really seem to be playing piano, the backing vocals are lip-synched and the rest of the backing music is dubbed. Very similar in a lot of ways to the early version, but with a very different demographic in mind. Notice how the set uses a lot of neon lights and bright colours to try and evoke a feeling of nostalgia and recreate the type of atmosphere that someone may have been in when they first heard this song.
Ultimately 40 odd years later, Neil is playing by himself in what is probably a sold out auditorium. Playing his only Billboard #1 to a room full of people who probably remember when it went #1.
Are there any songs being written today that you think will be around in 45 years? Are we as a society willing to let songs become classics anymore? I once had a friend argue that timeless music is dead and that the last great song was "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana. I then brought up Dr Dre's "the next episode" which I think is of equal importance. And I think that there is still room for great songs to become timeless, but it's up to us to pick which one's they're going to be, and make sure they're not forgotten...
over and out
-the gw
On one of these Saturday mornings, for some reason unknown to me, I had to accompany my mother to the drug store which was right next door to the bowling alley. While she went about doing whatever it was she had to do there, I wandered unaccompanied (gasp!) through the aisles of the store. In the front of the store next to the magazine rack, I came across one of those bins where cassette tapes go to die. On it someone had pasted a sign that read "... ... $1" (I couldn't read at the time). I knew very little about music at the time, but up until this point my parents had raised me on a series of tapes called "The Solid Gold Collection". I believe they were free when you bought gas at Shell gas stations. The songs on these tapes were all from the late 50's and early 60's (pre BEATLEMANIA)so as far as I was concerned, this was the only music worth listening to.
I rummaged through the tapes and can remember looking at the pictures. There were two tapes that stood out to me. One said 60's and the other one said 86 on the cover. Now, given my vast experience with music at the time, I knew that the 60's one must be the best. I was intrigued by the one from 86 because I knew it would bring me up to speed on what my generation were listening to. As always, I wanted the best of both worlds and asked my mother if I could have both. She told me that I could have my $1 allowance before going to the bowling alley and choose one tape to buy, but if I did, I would not be allowed any more later to get candy.
I chose the sixties compilation and happily handed my dollar over to the cashier. Bowling that day was torture. Here I was, an aspiring creative genius, forced to five-pin bowl for an hour while there was a tape of the most amazing music ever burning a hole in my pocket. And I had no candy.
I got home and immediately ran to my room. I had one of those little tape players that got horrible AM reception and played tapes with the least fidelity possible while still being able to call it playback. The first song on the tape was "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" by the Tokens (which has its own amazing story) and I was hooked instantly. I think the tape also had "Surfer Girl" by the Beach Boys and a few other songs that were totally forgettable.
My favourite song on the tape by far was Neil Sedaka's "Breaking up is hard to do". It had a great beat, a clap along backing track and great backing vocal parts that were instantly sing-along worthy. I must have worn that tape through rewinding and listening to Neil over and over again. It was to become my first favourite song.
Over the years I have had a lot of new favourite songs and as each new one has taken the trophy, "Breaking up is had to do" slipped further and further from memory.
It was not until a few years back when I attended a friends birthday party at a kitschy rock-n-roll diner here in Toronto that I even remembered the song existed. The event of the night was karaoke (of course) and we all had a great time butchering oldies tunes. At the end of the night, the MC did the 1976 version Neil recorded of "Breaking up is Hard to Do" which is slowed down and done more like a smoky jazz tune than a 60's bubble gum pop song.
He was a great singer as I remember, and all my fond memories of the song came rushing back. When he finished I approached him and asked who's version of the song it was. He then gave me a bit of the back story of the song, and explained that (a la Vanilla Ice) Neil Sedaka had covered his own tune in order to cash in on a burgeoning new musical genre and a new demographic.
I have since searched out this version of the song on multiple occasions, but it is impossible to find on P2P because everyone has the original song which has the same title and same artist (obviously) as the one I want. Record shops have been no help in acquiring a '45 and I'm not really interested in a Neil Sedaka greatest hits CD (though after writing this, I kind of am).
Then today came. Just out of curiosity, I punched the title into YouTube's search box and there it was. It's one of those videos where the song plays and the image is of a record playing. Not the most exciting video, but exciting enough to inspire me to write this post.
As I browsed through the videos of the various performances of this song, one thing really jumped out at me. And this may not come as a suprise to you or to Neil Sedaka, but NEIL SEDAKA HAS BEEN SINGING BREAKING UP IS HARD TO DO FOR LIKE 45 YEARS!
This is obviously not astonishing in itself, as many artists have been singing the same songs for a long time (the Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, Paul McCartney and a plethora of forgotten 60's pop artists), what is interesting is that you can see the way American pop culture has evolved through watching his performances of the song. Also, the ways it has stayed the same. You can see the way he's changed the vocals (especially with the two different versions) to fit in with what is popular and how these days, he has returned to doing the original version of the song. It is a time capsule in music, a message sent from the past.
What appears to be the last television performance of the song is similar in many ways to what appears to be the first. In the last performance, there is clearly a backing musical track and it appears as though the only live part of the performance is Neil's lead vocal. Comparing that with the first performance which is obviously lip-synched, it is easy to say that not much has changed. But the attitude towards the song has changed with time and it is now what is commonly referred to as a 'Golden Oldie'. I am going to post a couple videos here for your amusement, but check out everything the Tube has to offer by pointing your browser here
This is the earliest performance I could find on YouTube. It is from four years after the song went #1. The audience is clearly sick of the song, but check out the background dancers! Complete lip-synch as was the standard for the day.
This looks like maybe from the late seventies or early 80's but your guess is as good as mine. Sounds like a totally live version. Watch until the end for a great version of "Calender Girl"!
This is the "jazzy" version I was talking about. In the early seventies, this crap was huge, and I love it. Maybe more than the original?
In this version, check out how Neil doesn't really seem to be playing piano, the backing vocals are lip-synched and the rest of the backing music is dubbed. Very similar in a lot of ways to the early version, but with a very different demographic in mind. Notice how the set uses a lot of neon lights and bright colours to try and evoke a feeling of nostalgia and recreate the type of atmosphere that someone may have been in when they first heard this song.
Ultimately 40 odd years later, Neil is playing by himself in what is probably a sold out auditorium. Playing his only Billboard #1 to a room full of people who probably remember when it went #1.
Are there any songs being written today that you think will be around in 45 years? Are we as a society willing to let songs become classics anymore? I once had a friend argue that timeless music is dead and that the last great song was "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana. I then brought up Dr Dre's "the next episode" which I think is of equal importance. And I think that there is still room for great songs to become timeless, but it's up to us to pick which one's they're going to be, and make sure they're not forgotten...
over and out
-the gw
posted by the ghostwolf at 8:57 PM
3 Comments:
Interesting! One thing that I always try to do with writing is to read something out loud, or at least picture what it would sound like if it was read aloud. Sometimes that helps with making words flow more smoothly. That's about all I've got. I am quite flabbergasted with life at the moment!
-Pan
I found this post most intriguing. Makes me think of some classic songs I was raised on (a lot of Billy Joel and the like) and Mr. Sedaka is one of the greats that are still doing their thing these days.
I may ust have to bookmark this blog. Thanks for pointing me to it man!
I think it's all subjective to the people whom the songs mean the most to. A person who's been an avid Nirvana fan for most of their life is still going to feel the same way about "Smells Like Teen Spirit" in 30 years. Perhaps with a bit more insight as their life goes on.
A person who has loved John Mayer the same way will still feel the relevance of his music in 50 years.
Since music is so definitive to the people who listen to it, it's no doubt that we'll always have that 12-16 year old discovering their favorite music inside of us forever, and we'll cling to that feeling and put that music on a pedestal for the duration of our lives.
The music that will still be around in decades to come is the music that carries the most passion and truth in it's message. Look at the Beatles, Nirvana, The Rolling Stones, etc. that music will never die because it is the purest form of truth in it's time.
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