The Oil City Derrick from Oil City, Pennsylvania • Page 6

THE DERRICK Thursday, May 6,1976 OllCltv, Po. Neil Sedaka: His Second Career By MARY CAMPBELL Nell Sedaka has a problem. Lots of people want to make records singing his songs. And he wants to make records singing his songs, too Before i Just-released album, "Sleppln' Oul," came out, he got lots ol phone calls. The Captain and Tennlllc, who made bis "Love Will Keep Us Together" into a giant hit last year, phoned.

Did Sedaka give them an advance listen In appreciation? He did not. If they hadn't sung "Love Will Keep Us Together" he mlghl have sung it himself and he'd have had the giant hit. Now that "Steppln' Out" is out, (hough, and Sedaka has chosen lo release "Love In the Shadows" as Ms single, the Caplain and Tennllle and everybody else who wants to -can record any of the other 11 cuts. Sedaka would like to put out a couple more singles hlmsell but he'll have lo see what's lell. 0( course that's not the worst problem thai a 37-year-old singer-song writer could have and Sedaka knows 11.

"I'vebeen wrttlng25 years," he says, "and It's Ihe most exciting thing. It's a problem, but a healthy one. We have absolutely had to keep the album In a vault until now. I have become Ihe modern-day Cole or i a Rodgers. "People are not wrlllng singable songs, They are not writing songs thai con be covered." (Covered means sungbyolherartlsls.) "They're writing autobiographical, Introspective songs.

You won't hear a Jonl Mitchell song sung by anybody else. "Bui my training Is as a regimented, disciplined writer. I strive to gel a hit of each song." In conversation, Sedaka often uses the a "second career." That got ils big push In the United States by an endorsement from Elton John. put Sedaka on his A Records label In the United Stales. "Everyone knows he IS Rocket Records," Sedaka says.

"When those almlghly program directors of radio stations got my first single since the early '60s, Ihey said, 'This Is endorsed by the biggest star since the Beatles. Let's hear what It What II was was "Laughter In the Rain," which took 16 weeks from release until Feb. 1, lo hit No. 1 on the U.S. best- selling charts.

That slowness nearly gave Sedaka a heart attack, he says, but he hasn't had thai problem since. Bad Blood," for Instance, zoomed to the top. The second career is more fun than the first, 195963 one, Sedaka says. For one thing, "I didn't play America very much. I was being managed by my music publishers.

They didn't have confidence in me as a performer and they thought I I I didn't do well, my record sales would slop. They never saw me perform, but they sent me to Brazil, Italy, the Philippines, Argentina. It was a very strange career." Rock bands sent Sedaka Into retirement at 24, where he husband lo wife Leba, Daddy lo son Marc, now 9, and daughter Dara, now 12, songwriter (or i a singers and frustrated because he felt he was wasting a talent lor performing. So he went to England In 1970, thinking maybe be "(he back door to America." In America, If he gol a record played on the radio, he llgured 11 would be on a station that played the oldies. In England, with fewer radio stations, maybe he could record some new songs and get those played.

And melodic songs were coming back. Sedaka spent four months of lour years, 1970 lo 1974, In England, i and making records. His meeting with Elton John came at a Bee Gees concert, and Uiey became friends, John coming over one afternoon to hear Sedaka's newest recording. It was at a Sedaka party a few months laler, in 1974, to which Sedaka had Invited John and his manager that Sedaka's lawyer, Freddie Gershon, suggested he ask John to put out his records In America. Sedaka was signed lo Polydor for the resl ol (he world but hot signed In America, Sedaka was reluctant (o ask that at a party he was hosting but he let himself be persuaded and Elton John "fell off his chair, he was so excited.

He said It was handing him gold ricks." John and Sedaka chose cuts already released In Britain for the (Irst U.S. album, "Sedaka's Back." That was followed by "The Hungry "The Hungry Years" Isn't about Sedaka's seven years of retirement he Invested wisely and he and his family dldn'l go hungry. It's about a married couple looking back on less prosperous, more happy times. Frank Sinatra sings It, Sedaka says, and Intends lo record II. He could (each songwrltmg, Sedaka says, and his manner i a i reminds one of a teacher, with an organized mind, pointing out highlights one by one, not so much out of ego as out of a wish that the listener not miss anything.

Sedaka has written songs since the age of 13, only the music until lately, with lyricists Howard Greenfield and Phil Cody, the latter wrlllng the words lo "Solitaire," a recent hit by the Carpenters. Now, having had a hit with "Lonely Might (Angel Face)" to which he wrote his own words, Sedaka has more conlidencc as a lyricist. He writes at the piano he studied classical piano nl the Jullllard School music before the lyrics. A song needs hooks, he says, which make listeners remember it; a songwriter needs confidence, and a song needs to be written In pieces which will appeal to the public. "It could be a greal arllsllc piece and never reach the masses.

I don't like thai kind of thing. I think thaCs one of (he reason I changed careers from trying to be a concert pianist to writing and sjnglng for Ihe people." As well as his (raining to write songs, Sedaka also gels Inspiration. "While I'm at the piano I'm transformed Into an Interpreter or a middleman. I'm Inspired by something lhat comes olher than from myself. I'm Inspired by some other (orce.

Some kind of vibe." Oil City High Lists Guidance Activities of the eye, 60 to 90 seconds may be the diHoronce between blindness and sight. II is important to dilute the chemical with water as quickly as passible by genlly flushing the eye with water, whife immersed in a bucketful, or slowly from a Faucel or pitcher holding the lids open if necessary. The slight discomfort can mean Ihe saving of eyesight, Follow i prompt licaLcare. Several activities have been scheduled Llils week by thp Guidance Department at Oil Clly High School. They Include: Vo-Tech pracllc.il nursing program director will be In the guidance center at 8:40 am today.

ROTC NavaJ olllcer will be In the center at 10:45 am WE I 20 E. 1st ST. Olt CITY, PA. PHONE 6U-62D1 CAPT. BRADY CINEMA 10 TONGUE (THE TITLE SAYS IT) ALSO TWO ADULT SHORT SUBJECTS "Col Burglar" "Juke Joint" All In Blushing Color All Rated No Sunday Shows Please Note Our Summer Hours: Doors Open at 7:30 Oil City--Franklin AP Potato Chips bag 69' AP Instant Coffee $179 10 Or 1 Gioia Macaroni or Spaghetti 2lb.

bag 79 Gioia Spaghetti Sauce 99' today. Bryant Stratlon Business Institute representative will be In the center at 8:40 am tomorrow. Persons Interested In attending Ihe activities are asked to call the high school in advance. The guidance office also announced that It has Information i following scholarships; Adelphol Club scholarship al Venango Campus of Clarion Slate College. Seniors planning to attend Venango Campus (his fall nre eligible to apply for Ihe J250 scholarship.

The application, letter of recommendation and school transcript should be mailed by Thursday, May 13, lo Insure they are received on lime Northwest Bank-Brundred A i i a a i administered by Northwest Bank. Those eligible must attend a two- or four-year school of higher education In an associate degree, bachelor degree or reglslercd'nurslng program of study. To be eligible, a student must rank In the top half of his or her class or have a combined total score ol at leas I BOO on Lhe SAT. The granting and the amount of the awards will be based primarily on financial need, although no awards will be less a 1500. Compleled applications must be filed by tomorrow.

Basic Educational Opp i a financed through the federal government. BEOG Is a federal aid program designed to provide financial assistance lo those who need II lo attend any i of post-high school educational Inslllulion. The amount of the basic grant Is based on need and does not have to be repaid. The awards will range belween $50 and 91,000. Persons who applied for a Pennsylvania stale grant are required lo also apply for BEOG.

Wilson Scholarship Awards nl Ihe University of Rochester. These awards are for sludenls of exceptional academic merll and Inlellcclual and personal promise. They provide Ihe privilege or working Individually wllh a faculty "sponsor" and an annual renewable award of S500. Facully Scholarship al Point Park College. Four-year full tulllon scholarships are offered to sludenls in the lop fifth of their class, in the 90th percenllle on SAT or ACT and possessing outstanding per sonal qualifications.

Applications will be accepted a In Sligo Firemen Sponsor Queen Contest SLIGO Junior and senior girls from the area will be 1 eligible (o compete In the Bicentennial Queen contest to be held In conjunction with the Sligo Bicentennial celebration June 20 through 26. Registration for the contest is lo be held at 1 pm May 15 In the fireball. The volunteer fire department Is sponsoring the event and all proceeds are lo go to the fire company. Votes will be cast by "a penny a vote" and containers will be placed In business establishments and contestants will be going door-to-door lo solicit votes May 22 and June 12. PENNSHIRE DIRECT FROM 3HSZ CLOTHES LET PENNSHIRE PUT YOU IN YOUR GRADUATION OUTFIT VESTED SUIT PLAIDS FLANNELS KNITS LATEST SPRING STYLES THESE SUITS MADE TO RETAIL AT SI If LEISURE SUITS SEE OUR SELECTION WE HAVE JUST THE STYLE YOU WANT AT GREAT SAVINGS WE RENT FORMAL WEAR The queen Is to be crowned during the Bicentennial Ball June 26 In the Sllgo Recreation Center.

Members of the Bicentennial Queen committee are Marti a a Madelyn a Linda Logue, Donna Flick, Judy Duncan and Martha Dell Wensel, Other plans lor the Bicentennial Week Include a public auction June 19 at the recreation center. Committee members are requesting usable and clean articles for the. sale and pick-up dates have been set for May 27, June 3 and Persons with Hems lo donate and wishing pick-up service should call Ed Myers or Veotta Vogle, giving Ihe donor's name and street address and a suitable time for a committee member to stop for the items. Any Items for the sale could be left al the recreation center and a committee member should be notified to be al Ihe center when Items are lo be left. All proceeds of Uie auction will go to Ihe Sllgo Fire Company.

Charlie Slater nas been named as auctioneer. Members of the auction committee are Jim Barger, a i a Dick McHenry, asslstanl chairman; Annette a secretary- Gladys Wetiel, Evy Wensel, Keith Wensel, Cheryl Myers and JeH Shirey. JMXHKHOUOM Gay Street School Club Phasing Out Gay Street Home and School Club will hold Us last meeting al today In the school gym. The first graders, directed by Mrs. Alzora Gray, will present a program.

Refreshments will be served. Babysitting service will be available. With the school district's decision to permanently close Gay Street School, the club will go out ol existence al the end of the term, Ronald Delahunty, publicity chairman, said. The club will sponsor the school picnic June 2 at Hasson Park and give treats and prizes with whatever money is left In the treasury. The club also plans lo provide money for this term's scheduled fields I rips, Delahunly said.

Parents of all students enrolled are Invited to attend the club's final gathering, Delahunly announced, Boy Utilizes CB Radio CHESTER, S.D. (AP) An 8- year-old farm boy who had seen a fire prevention carloon on television called for help on a citizens' band radio and then grabbed a garden hose to save his family's west of here. Firemen credited Jeff Mullcr with saving the homestead. Jeff arrived home on the school bus lo find Ihe chicken coop and bales of straw on fire. Ffls two older brothers were In church and his parents were away.

On the CB radio he called for his father but reached an oil (ruck driver who called the lire department. SKI-HI D.t. DOC DRY RFTERNOON 3Lb. Jar SPORT COATS SLACKS LEISURE SHIRTS ALL AT FACTORY-TO-YOU-PRICES PENNSHIRE CLOTHES DAILY 9:30 9 P.M. WON.

I FRI. ON Snrwhnll she tfoofrd find wisc-rmrkcd i i i to ihrArid(MiiyAwirl, ELLEN BURS7YN KRIS KRSTOFFERSON.N ACE DOESN'T LIVE HERE ES- ANYMORE A i i. Sorry No Possai No Sludent Cards (This column Is lubmlttad to Tie Derrick by Ihe lUrl ol Youth Alternatlvei.) Canoe Trip Youth Alternatives will sponsor a canoe trip May 21-23, The trip will be on the Allegheny River from north of Tionesla lo the marina In OU City. The group will leave Oil City around 5 pm Friday and will arrive at the marina In early afternoon Sunday. Cost lor the weekend trip will be $7.

This will cover rental of canoes, transportation and food (or Saturday dinner and Sunday breakfast. People going on the trip will be required to bring their own camping equipment and additional hod. Sign-up deadline for Uie trip Is Wednesday, May 12. Soltball League Youth Alternatives Is still looking lor a couple of soflballleams to complete Its Softball league. The emphasis of this league Is fun rather than a fanatical desire to win at all cost.

The league will be starting the first weekend In June. All games are played on Sunday afternoons, There will be a 16- man limit per team. There is no cnlerance fee for this league so It you like to play Softball, there Is no excuse for you not to Join the league. To sign-up for the league, call Youth Alternatives at 679-9607 or Jiin Jones at BM-7373. Garden Co-op If you have a green thumb and it's starting lo turn yellow due to luck of use, let YA help you out.

Just give Youlh Alternatives a call and we will put you to work In our Garden Co-op. In a few short weeks, that green thumb of yours will be shaping upas fast as the corn, potatoes, tomatoes end other vegetables that will be growing In the garden. Then come fall, when all the crops arc ready lo harvest, your thumb won't be the only green on you; your pocket will have a little "cabbage" In It from the sale of the vegetables. So if you like gardening and a llltle profit besides, give Youlh Alternatives a call at 676-9B07. Transportation Needed YA still needs volunteers with "wheels" who could help haul the sound system from the Coop Shop to Justus Park.

It would only take half an hour and It would provide hours of music for Ihe people of Oil City. So If you have a car and would like lo help Y.A. provide some free entertainment on these lazy summer nights, give us a call. A Tribute to Phil Ochs For every monument constructed In memory of people fighting in wars, there ought to be at least a small one dedicated to one who fought against fighting. So let's build one right here to Phil Ochs.

This famous singcr-songwrller who gained popularity In Ihe 19M's hanged himself last month at the young age of 35. From 1963 until 1967, Ochs became widely known his topical or protest songs. He rivaled Bob Dylan's own early fame, although he was usually In Dylan's shadow. Yet after Dylan's early protest phase and subsequent change to more cosmic lyrics, Phil Ochs kept cranking out the social barbs. While Ochs' songs were neither particularly musical nor well sung, his lyrics were powerful.

Besides singing civil rights and ban the bomb songs along with Baez, Seeger, Paxton, cl al, Phil was largely known for his political statements about the war in Viet Nam. "I Aln'l Marchin' Anymore" and "There But For Fortune" were classics. Most popular In coffee houses across America was the "Draft Dodger Rag" with such lines as: "I'm just a typical American boy "From a typical American town, "I believe In God and Senator-Dodd "And keeping old Castro down. "And when it came my time to serve, "I knew better dead than Red, "But when I got to my draft board, "Thla Is what 1 said: Sarge, I'm only IB, "I've got a ruptured spleen, "I always carry a purse, I got eyes like a bat "And my feet are flat "My asthma's getting worselU" Jerry Rubin said recently that Phil Ochs' music "expressed the political feeling of our generation," lhat his guitar was always at the service of the people. Ironically, Ochs' last major concert in 1975 was called the War Is Over Concert (named after his song by the same name), and was a touching moment with friends Lennon, Baez, and crowd seeing reality catch up wilh a song he wrole len years earlier.

Finally, Ochs became disillusioned as other artlala lost Interest In songs of a social comment nature. He lost his energy and imagination, began drinking heavily, drifting from one cheap hotel to another. Yet Phil Ochs had a power to communicate and unite hundreds ol thousands of people In a belief that changes can and should happen. We thank him. (or that.

Record Review Bob Marlcy and the Wallers, Rastaman Vibration, probably the most famllar sounding voice in reggae music today, Bob Marley has come up once again wilh one ol the best-produced packages of potent reggae music lo hit the charts to date. With this album "Rastaman Vibration," Marley and his Wallers will certainly hit Ihe charts with as much force as Marley puts into his songs using songs written by himself and several others. Marley, whose voice seems to get better every album, learns up wilh some strong female back-ups to paint vivid pictures o( the poorer side of the Jamaican While the whole album Is faithfully reggae music It Is Marley's lyrics, that hope for a better future, that remains a high spot, With this L.P. Jumping onto the charts, and with "Time" magazines doing articles on Marley, It's a sure bet lhat reggae music might be termed as the next craze In popular music, Best cuts: War, Want More, Positive Vibration Rat Race. July Picnic Every Fourth of July Willie Nelson progressive country singer, throws the "Willie Nelson Annual Fourth of July Picnic." Because ol last year's party, Nelson la paying In fines and court cost due to Texas' Mass Gathering Act The Mass Gathering Act states that a permit must be obtained If the gathering lasts lor more lhan 12 consecullve hours and there are more than 5,000 persona present, Nelson's picnic overstepped these bounda somewhat when an estimated 80,000 people showed up (or 48 hours ot good times The lines haven't stopped Nelson from planning this Texas' 3 ne tentative dales are July 3-5 In Gonzalea, Concerts F.ventl; May 7 Tubes Syria Mosque, May 8 Donald Byrd Bluckbyrds Gannon Auditorium.

May 10 Blue Oyster Cult Styx Starcastle Civic May 15 Herble Mann Syria Mosque, May J2 Phoebe Snow Heinz Hall May 10 9 pm Youlh Alternative Radio Show. Monday Friday Teen Center If you have any questions or suggestions, call 676-9607 or wnte Youlh Alternatives, 101 E. Second SL. Oil Clly, Pa,.