John Adam
"A House Is Not A Home"
When I saw Neil in concert a couple of months ago, the show opens with a montage of pictures and hits he’s written for major stars or singers since the late 50’s including Connie Francis, himself, Captain & Tennille, Sinatra, Andy Williams, Carpenters, and Clay Aiken was last. The picture of the Carpenters comes up and their recording of Breaking Up Is Hard To Do plays over the speakers. I thought it odd. The last picture is Clay Aiken and his version of Solitaire plays, which I found pleasant, but still an odd choice. It’s Sedaka’s show, so he can choose the songs. I was still not happy that he chose Aiken over Carpenters for Solitaire. They had the only true hit version with it, out of the 90 covers recorded over the years. BUIHTD was a bit of a payback, and a joke at the same time on The Kind of Hush album. The dig at him, and Captain & Tennille and the end of Boat to Sail was even better I thought.
Yeah, it's not like Clay Aiken is perceived as cool or hip by the general public. I'm sure personal politics have a say in all this. But in the end it's Neil's show and his song. But yeah, the Carpenters took it to a new level of sophistication, didn't they?