Remembering pop songwriter Neil Sedaka

Sedaka, who died last week at 86, wrote and recorded hits in the late ‘50s and early ‘60s – songs like “Calendar Girl” and “Breaking up is Hard to Do.” He was nine years old when he began studying piano at Juilliard. Sedaka told Terry Gross in 2007, “To the shock of my family, after studying at Juilliard I sold 40 million records in five years.” The British invasion derailed his career until years later when Elton John helped revive it, by signing Sedaka to his label. Rock critic Ken Tucker reviews the new album by The Paranoid Style, led by composer-singer Elizabeth Nelson. And Justin Chang reviews the new Pixar film, ‘Hoppers.’See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy