Considering his music career began in 1957 it is fairly impressive that he is still performing to large audiences in 2016. No doubt a large part of Neil Sedaka's ongoing appeal is his huge catalogue of million selling hits. That said, it hasn't been all plain sailing throughout his career as you will hear as Neil Sedaka shares his hit stories.
Hawaiian singer/songwriter Yvonne Elliman is best remembered for her successes in the 1970's. Discovered in London by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd-Webber she featured on the concept album, in the touring production and also starred in the movie version of "Jesus Christ Superstar". Later she went on to be part of Eric Clapton's solo success and famously collaborated with the Bee Gees.
Singer/songwriter Toni Childs disappeared from view when her career was at it's height and here you can find out why. "Stop Your Fussin", "House of Hope" and "I've Got To Go Now" are amongst her best known hits and there's some interesting tales behind those songs. Toni Childs also has a great Bob Dylan story she shares.
There are Grammy Awards, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and so many hits you may have forgotten some of them, included in the history of the Pointer Sisters. Ruth Pointer has some great memories including those from the night they helped record the milestone "We Are The World" as part of USA for Africa.
American singer, songwriter, musician and painter Sophie B Hawkins was nominated for the Best New Artist Grammy Award in 1993 after the huge success of her debut album which featured "Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover". Sophie shares explanations of some of her hits and, for the first time, the tale behind a mysterious credit on one of her albums.
Hailing from Atlanta Georgia, it's fascinating to hear Tommy Roe recall the musical heroes he literally grew up with. In Part 1 of this interview you can listen as Tommy details the amazing start to his career and reveals his memories of writing many of his hits. The story of Tommy Roe's career continues in Part 2.
The story of Tommy Roe's career continues in Part 2 with even more stories concerning his hits. Tommy also chats about how some of his songs have been covered by other artists and do you know which hit song of his is actually named after one of his father's favourite expressions? If you missed Part 1 of the interview, it can be found here.
Singer/songwriter Nick Gilder first found fame in his native Canada as the lead singer of a "glam rock" band. Despite that band's success, Nick departed to chase the international fame he found with his song "Hot Child In The City". Nick reveals the meaning of "Hot Child" and tells about the huge hit he co-wrote for another band.
It can be quite difficult to predict which songs are going to be hits and which aren't. Toto's Bobby Kimball admits he's not good at it and has a great example to prove it! Bobby also has an amazing story about how he secretly sang part of the lead vocal on someone else's hit. It was so secret that even the artist probably doesn't know!
Explaining the late Richard Street's story may be challenging. He wasn't one of the original members of The Temptations, but he was there when the group began. For a time he sang for them "secretly", then joined fulltime to record such classics as "Papa Was A Rolling Stone". Richard Street also worked for Motown Records - a job which gave him some great hit stories!
