Maps of Music

Solitaire (1972)

Where the lyrics of Solitaire take you, and where it was really made.

The four British musicians who backed this 1972 album later became the band 10cc.

Key places

Where the album was produced (1972)

Recording site Strawberry Studios North — The album was produced at Strawberry Studios in Stockport, England, with four British musicians who later formed the band 10cc. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Solitaire: 1972 album by American singer-songwriter Neil Sedaka
• Produced at Strawberry Studios in Stockport, England
• Its backing musicians later formed the band 10cc
• Eleven tracks, most written by Sedaka and Phil Cody
• Released after a successful English tour in early 1972

Background

• Sedaka chose Strawberry after meeting Graham Gouldman in New York and learning of his link to Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley and Lol Creme
• The trio had recorded the single Umbopo under the name Doctor Father, and Sedaka liked it
• Working with the four British musicians pushed them toward forming a band
• Gouldman said Sedaka's success made them stop accepting any session job offered
• Sedaka had recorded one more album with the same members before this one, The Tra-La Days Are Over
• Long-time songwriting partner Howard Greenfield has no work on this album
• Sedaka had started a partnership with Phil Cody, and both men concluded the Greenfield collaboration had run its course

Recording

• Eric Stewart served as recording engineer
• Sedaka played piano, Fender Rhodes, Hammond organ, vibraphone and sang
• Gouldman played bass and guitar, and sang backing vocals
• Creme played guitar, and Godley played drums; both sang backing vocals
• Stewart also played lead guitar

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Born March 13, 1939, in Brooklyn, New York.
• Began his music career in 1957 after a short tenure as a founding member of the Linc-Tones, later renamed the Tokens.
• Signed a recording contract with RCA Victor.

Career

• Scored a string of early hits including "Oh! Carol" (1959), "Calendar Girl" (1960), "Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen" (1961), and "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" (1962), which hit No. 1 on the Hot 100.
• Popularity declined by the mid-1960s after the British Invasion.
• Revived in the mid-1970s with "Laughter in the Rain" and "Bad Blood", both Hot 100 number ones in 1975.
• Wrote or co-wrote over 500 songs, including hits for Connie Francis, Captain & Tennille, and Tony Christie.
• Inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1983.
• Died February 27, 2026, in Los Angeles, aged 86.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Released in the UK after a successful English tour in early 1972
• Marked Sedaka's comeback after a 10-year absence from the charts
• Not released in the US at first
• Issued in the US only after Sedaka regained popularity at home in 1974-75 with Sedaka's Back
• In West Germany, released on the budget label RCA International under the title Neil Sedaka
• Don't Let It Mess Your Mind was never released in the US, except as a live performance on The Midnight Special

Reappraisal

• Title track Solitaire became a hit for Andy Williams in 1973
• The Carpenters recorded it in 1975
• Elvis recorded it for the album From Elvis Presley Boulevard, Memphis, Tennessee (1976)
• BGO Records re-released the album on CD in 2010

Records

• Beautiful You: UK No. 43
• That's When the Music Takes Me: UK No. 18, US No. 27
• Dimbo Man was also released as a single

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Better Days Are Coming was reworked by Sedaka as the Japanese opening theme for the 1985 anime Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam
• The revised song became Zeta - Toki o Koete, later translated back into English by Richie Kotzen as Go Beyond the Time
• The title track went on to be recorded by Andy Williams, The Carpenters and Elvis
• Sedaka's songwriting partnership with Howard Greenfield had ended by the time of this album

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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