Should have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame long ago. Wrote or co-wrote over 500 songs.

Ale Ont wrote:

Not the same "Stairway to Heaven" as Led Zeppelin.

ALE ONT  --  would you say that Sedaka's version is for AM-740 listeners, while Led Zep's is for the Q-107 crowd?

Dicky Doo wrote:

Ale Ont wrote:

Not the same "Stairway to Heaven" as Led Zeppelin.

ALE ONT  --  would you say that Sedaka's version is for AM-740 listeners, while Led Zep's is for the Q-107 crowd?

I would agree with that.

Easily Amused wrote:

Dicky Doo wrote:

Ale Ont wrote:

Not the same "Stairway to Heaven" as Led Zeppelin.

ALE ONT  --  would you say that Sedaka's version is for AM-740 listeners, while Led Zep's is for the Q-107 crowd?

And if they're still doing phone in music trivia on 740's afternoon drive show, it will take 9 callers until someone gets the correct band for the 'other' version of the song.
*
"Hello...the Beatles?"
"Frank Sinatra?"
"Herman's Hermits?"
"Patsy Gallant?"
"I was calling for 'Fight Back'."

 
The phone in music trivia on 740 ended when their system was hacked late last year and they couldn’t use the phone lines, then Liz West left and that was it. I would listen to it usually on my way home and actually enjoyed it, even though it was a bit hokey, especially when you had to “sing the next lyrics”!

This was so sad. Neil Sedaka was not only a big hitmaker in the 60s, but also an incredible writer, along with his long-time partner Howard Greenfield.

But he’s also among music’s real rarities – he’s one of the few who hung around long enough to have a second act. His career was all but wiped out by the British Invasion and the hits virtually stopped.

But in the mid-70s, thanks to the intervention of Elton John, of all people, he came roaring back with big hits like “Laughter In The Rain,” “Bad Blood” and “The Immigrant.” I can’t think of many who faded out like he did and then came back so strong

And there’s one more anomaly in his long career – he’s one of the only artists/songwriters who ever had a shout-out on another record by a different artist. At the end of the Captain & Tennille’s debut hit “Love Will Keep Us Together” (written by Sedaka and Greenfield) they sing “Sedaka is back,” which just happened to be the name of his comeback LP. That song, by the way, wound up as the #1 tune of 1975, spending four weeks at the top of the Billboard chart.

A pretty amazing career twice over.

With reference to CHUM charts:

Del Shannon, Runaway, 1961, & 1967 - different versions

Surfaris, Wipe Out, 1963 & 1966 -- different versions

D.D.
 

Eric Clapton charted at least twice with "Layla"; once in 1972 as part of Derek and the Dominos from the album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, and then two decades later in 1992 as a solo artist with his Unplugged album.

Interestingly, the song was originally released as a single in 1971 in a majorly edited version which just featured the rocking first part, fading at 2:43, totally omitting the piano passage that goes on for about another four minutes. The common practice of editing a single for airplay to make it more appealing to radio programmers and the public was not particularly effective this time around, as the single only peaked as high as #51 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The song was re-released the following year as part of Eric Clapton's The History of Eric Clapton compilation, as well as Duane Allman's An Anthology. "Layla" was released in its full 7:10 version as a single this time around and peaked at #10 on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as #9 on the Canadian RPM Singles chart. It was also a Top 10/Top 20 hit in a number of other countries. The D&D version also saw a limited release in 1982 and became a Top 10 hit in Great Britain, Ireland, Japan and Poland.


PJ

 

also psychedelic and power pop Bee Gees as well:

 

 

The Bee Gees are a good example of a big comeback. In fact, it could be argued they were more successful with their later material from Saturday Night Fever than the stuff they hit the charts with in the 60s. 

Another group, although to a far lesser extent, is The Four Seasons. All those amazing 60s hits, like "Rag Doll," were huge sellers. But they returned years later with discofied versions of songs like "December 1963" and "Who Loves You" in the 70s. And Frankie Valli had a few solo hits of his own, such as "Grease" and "My Eyes Adored You." 

Again, it's unusual but it happens. 

I had actually thought about mentioning "December 1963" as another song that was a hit twice for the same artist in two different versions. But in this case the second version was a remix of the first, and that aspect of it didn't involve the original artist; it was done by Dutch DJ and producer Ben Liebrand. The original went to #1 in 1976, and the remix reached #14 in 1994.

Less than a week after his death, Neil Sedaka's music has registered an amazing 708% increase on streaming services. It's not unusual (not a Tom Jones reference!) for an artist's back catalogue to see more people listening after their passing, but this is a huge amount, especially for a musician that hasn't had a hit record since the 1970s. 

So what was at the top of the charts for the late and lamented singer-composer?

“Laughter in the Rain” (up 505% in streams to 514,000), “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do” (up 453% to 307,000) and “Calendar Girl” (up 519% to 212,000). In addition, The Captain and Tennille’s Sedaka-co-penned “Love Will Keep Us Together” got a more modest 15% bump to 137,000 streams, while Sedaka’s original “Love” was up a whopping 1,811% to 55,000 streams."

Trending Up Is Hard to Do: Neil Sedaka Streams Up 700% Following Legendary Pop Singer-Songwriter’s Death

 Video of him two days before he died. He seemed like a nice guy with a sense of humor

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_4c76n7Y7E


 

Another example of two distinctly different versions of a song charting (although this would be at the same time) would be Paul McCartney's 1984 hit, "No More Lonely Nights". In many territories, there were two versions released on the 45 rpm single: the "ballad" version on the A-side, and the faster-tempoed dance-oriented "playout version" on the flip side. Although the ballad version seemed to win out as the more popular of the two, some stations did opt for the playout version instead. I remember CFTR and CKOC playing the former, while 1050 CHUM opted for the latter (I also recall hearing the playout version on 570 CHYM in Kitchener at the time).

There was only one video for the song though, the ballad version, which probably made it a little awkward for 1050 CHUM with their Saturday night video countdown, The CHUM 30.


PJ