Chart entered : 24 April 1959
Chart peak : 9
Number of hits : 18
Now we come to a different strand in the pop story with the first representative of the Brill Building school of songwriters.
Neil was born in Brooklyn to Jewish working class parents. Learning the instrument early he won a piano scholarship to the Juillliard School of Music. At 13 he was introduced to a neighbour's child Howard Greenfield who became his long-term lyrical collaborator. Shortly afterwards he formed his own doo-wop group the Linc-Tones. They released a single "While I Dream" written by Neil and Howard with the former on lead vocals which isn't bad but perhaps a bit too fast. It was released under their new name The Tokens. When it failed to chart Neil struck out on his own. The Tokens would eventually hit it big with "The Lion Sleeps Tonight".
His first solo single was "Laura Lee" released on Decca in 1857 a chirpy pop ditty about impending marriage with an incongruous rock guitar popping up here and there. Neil moved on to Guyden for his next release "Ring A Rockin", a tame approximation of JLL piano rock though it got him a spot on American Bandstand where he bopped around in what looked like his granddad's cardigan. It was on to Pyramid for his third single "Oh, Delilah" most notable for its ill-fitting martial beat.
Neil's big break occurred when he and Howard dropped in at the offices of Don Kirshner and Al Nevins ' fledgling company Aldon Music and advertised their wares. Kirshner liked them and sent them over to Connie Francis who picked out "Stupid Cupid" from their repertoire and scored a big hit.
Buoyed by this success as a writer Neil released his next single on RCA. "The Diary" was inspired by the visit to Francis who would scribble away in her diary during their meeting. It was originally pitched at Little Anthony and the Imperials but Neil didn't like their treatment so recorded it himself. A classy doo wop number it actually outperformed "Stupid Cupid" in the US charts.
"I Go Ape" was next. It's something of a novelty song with Greenfield's lyrics about primal urges not really meshing with Neil's squeaky-clean vocal style. I like the top note piano riff that runs through the song but otherwise it's not one of his better records.
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