By Randal C. Hill
When you’re a celebrated recording star whose career suddenly goes south, there’s little chance that you’ll ever regain your place of prominence on the hit charts. But sometimes the benevolent winds of fate blow your way, and, unexpectedly, you find a whole new audience.
Neil Sedaka, born in Brooklyn in 1939, sold 25 million teen-oriented singles before the Beatles swept him from radio playlists in 1964. Six years later, Neil moved his family to England, where his popularity endured, and he recorded three hit albums. In 1972, he met long-time fan Elton John, who invited Sedaka to join John’s newly established Rocket Records label.
Soon afterwards, Neil hooked up with New York lyricist Phil Cody. Later, Cody recalled helping with the former hitmaker’s mid-1970s comeback: “Neil had a house in the Catskills. We got together one morning, and he played the melody to ‘Laughter in the Rain.’ I just sat there with a blank stare on my face. I had nothing. I had totally nothing.
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“I excused myself and went out. We were in the country, so I just took a walk… a couple of hours later… I sat down, picked up a yellow pad of paper, and in five minutes I had most of the song done.”
Strolling along country roads with my baby
It starts to rain, it begins to pour
Without an umbrella we’re soaked to the skin
I feel a shiver run up my spine
I feel the warmth of her hand in mine
Ooh, I hear laughter in the rain
Walking hand in hand with the one I love
Ooh, how I love the rainy days
And the happy way I feel inside
Neil recorded “Laughter in the Rain” in Los Angeles in 1974. A year later, he joyfully rode his new Rocket Records single to Number One on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
