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" I'm not afraid of poking fun at myself. "
Neil Sedaka
Afraid
Fun
Myself
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" I started out just as Elvis was going into the army, Jerry Lee Lewis married his 14-year-old cousin, and Little Richard became a priest. "
Neil Sedaka
Army
Little
Out
" My songs lie somewhere in between the evergreen standards, rock n' roll and pop. "
Neil Sedaka
Roll
Somewhere
Standards
" The Apollo Theatre was a difficult audience, and if they didn't like you, they would let you know. Luckily, they liked me. "
Neil Sedaka
Me
Like
Audience
" I didn't want to be a rock and roller. I wanted to be a Bobby Darin because he was the epitome of the performer, the sophisticated. "
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Because
Sophisticated
Rock
" I am very proud of being Jewish. "
Neil Sedaka
Very
Proud
I Am
" Much of my music is inspired by what I heard at picnics and weddings and bar mitzvahs. "
Neil Sedaka
Inspired
Bar
Heard
" People seem to think of me as a goody-goody who never curses, but I can be very nasty if I'm pushed. Cross me too many times, and I'll never talk to you again. "
Neil Sedaka
Think
People
Me
" Between 1963 and 1975, I worked very little. The Beatles had come to New York and changed music - all the solo singers were out of work. "
Neil Sedaka
New York
Music
Little
" The hymn 'Amazing Grace' is so inspirational - I wish I'd written it. "
Neil Sedaka
Wish
Amazing
Grace
" I love America, and parts of New Jersey remind me of Newfoundland - rolling hills and gardens - it's great! I guess that's why they call it the Garden State. "
Neil Sedaka
America
Garden
Love
" I used to think the whole world was Jewish. "
Neil Sedaka
Used
World
Whole
" I had talent, and I was hungry for fame, and you can't say I didn't get it. "
Neil Sedaka
Hungry
Fame
Say
" I did have my beginnings in doo-wop music; I had a group called the Tokens in Brooklyn. They went on, of course, to do 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight' and a lot of other great things. I went on as a soloist. But I still love doo-wop music. "
Neil Sedaka
Group
Love
Lion
" I worked at Mar-a-Lago for Trump, for some parties, and he seemed nice enough - but I don't think he's presidential. I think he's incompetent; I disagree with his policies, and I'm nervous as an American. "
Neil Sedaka
Enough
Nervous
American
" I knew I had a remarkable voice, but I was embarrassed because it was so high. But when I sang at my bar mitzvah, the rabbi was in tears. He said to my parents, 'He must become a cantor in the synagogue,' but my mother said, 'No, he's going to be a concert pianist.' "
Neil Sedaka
Parents
Tears
Voice
" My teachers said, 'Always keep a Beethoven sonata under your fingers.' I always have. I still play chamber music, and I always play classical. "
Neil Sedaka
Said
Music
Teachers
" I remember Pavarotti telling me, 'Oh, Neil, after seventy, the voice is going to go.' But I've been lucky. You almost have to learn how to sing all over again. You use your diaphragm more. You have to choose the notes and pace yourself. "
Neil Sedaka
Over
Voice
You
" I rode on a plane a couple years ago with Snow Patrol and didn't know who the hell they were. They said they were big fans of mine and were playing Madison Square Garden. And they let me listen to one of their records on their iPod. I started to weep. "
Neil Sedaka
Know
Garden
Snow
" I have inner peace; I have accomplished a great deal. "
Neil Sedaka
Inner
Deal
Great
" I am a Jew, and I'm convinced that Israel is the homeland. "
Neil Sedaka
Homeland
Convinced
Jew
" I take care of my voice. I don't go to loud discos where I have to shout; I don't have iced drinks. "
Neil Sedaka
Loud
Take
Take Care
" Andy Warhol was a good friend of mine. We used to go to the Studio 54 nightclub together with the likes of Liza Minnelli, and we'd dance through the night. "
Neil Sedaka
Together
Dance
Friend
" Howie Greenfield and I started writing music when I was 13 and he was 16. We lived in the same building. "
Neil Sedaka
Building
Writing
Same
" I was a teenage idol, but not the one that the girls would put up on their walls, like Fabian and Frankie Avalon. I was more cerebral, like a Roy Orbison or a Buddy Holly. I was one of the few who could write songs. "
Neil Sedaka
Like
Up
Walls
" I still play my old vinyl LPs - I like the scratches - and I miss browsing in record shops, because they held great nostalgia for me. "
Neil Sedaka
Me
Play
Great
" As far as I'm concerned, all politicians are fake people. "
Neil Sedaka
Far
Politicians
Fake
" My music is nostalgic. The early Neil Sedaka songs are always catchy and very singable. "
Neil Sedaka
Music
Nostalgic
Songs
" I think there are three kinds of songs; it's only my theory: psychological, emotional, and spiritual. When you write psychologically or intellectually, you have a tune in your mind, and you re-write it. It's an intellectual approach. The emotional is my favorite because it comes from my kishkas; it comes from my soul. "
Neil Sedaka
Mind
Soul
Spiritual
" 'Love Will Keep Us Together' was a combination of three different singing styles - Al Green, the Beach Boys, and Diana Ross. I loved all these people, and I put their singing styles together and wrote that tune. "
Neil Sedaka
Together
People
Beach
" I was one of the first American rock n' rollers in the '50s to go to many foreign countries. It's a wonderful thing to go out and spread joy and love rather than hate. "
Neil Sedaka
Rock
Joy
Hate