Monday, March 9, 2026

Remembering singer-songwriter Neil Sedaka : NPR




DAVID BIANCULLI, HOST:

That is FRESH AIR. I am David Bianculli. Neil Sedaka, the singer and songwriter whose recording and performing profession stretched from the Fifties to the present decade, died final week. He was 86 years outdated. Neil Sedaka was born in Brighton Seashore in 1939 and displayed his musical expertise early on. His mom purchased him his first piano at age 7, and at age 9, he bought a toddler prodigy scholarship at Juilliard and was hand-selected by classical pianist Arthur Rubinstein to carry out on dwell radio. However Neil Sedaka was drawn elsewhere.

One other younger child fascinated with pop music, Neil Diamond, lived throughout the road from. His girlfriend in highschool, Carol Klein, turned out to be a reasonably good songwriter, too, as soon as she broke up with Neil Sedaka and renamed herself Carol King. By then, younger Neil had teamed with one other budding songwriter, Howard Greenfield, who wrote lyrics to Neil’s music. Their first break and first hit got here in 1958 when Connie Francis was searching for a music to enchantment to youngsters. Neil Sedaka was solely 19 on the time, and he or she cherished the music’s innocence. “Silly Cupid” turned a top-20 hit for her.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “STUPID CUPID”)

CONNIE FRANCIS: (Singing) I can not do my homework, and I can not assume straight. I meet her each morning ’bout half previous 8. I am performing like a lovesick idiot. You have even bought me carrying his books to high school. Hey, hey, set me free. Silly Cupid, cease choosing on me.

BIANCULLI: Connie Francis later had a fair greater hit with one other of their songs, “The place The Boys Are.” Neil scored his personal hit, a top-10 on Billboard, the subsequent 12 months with “Oh! Carol.” And though the lyrics have been written by Greenfield, the message for Neil Sedaka was private. He was singing about his ex-girlfriend Carol King.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “OH! CAROL”)

NEIL SEDAKA: (Singing) Oh, Carol, I’m however a idiot. Darling, I like you, although you deal with me merciless. You harm me and also you make me cry. However if you happen to depart me, I’ll absolutely die.

BIANCULLI: Neil Sedaka scored one other top-10 hit with “Calendar Lady” in 1960. “Breakin’ Up Is Onerous To Do” in 1962 was his first No. 1 hit. However after the British invasion arrived and music tastes modified, Neil Sedaka vanished from the charts for greater than a decade. Then in 1975, he loved a serious renaissance. Elton John signed him to his document label, and Sedaka had two No. 1 hits that 12 months. One was a delicate ballad, “Laughter In The Rain.”

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “LAUGHTER IN THE RAIN”)

SEDAKA: (Singing) Ooh, I hear laughter within the rain, strolling hand in hand with the one I like. Ooh, how I like the wet days and the completely happy means I really feel inside.

BIANCULLI: And the opposite was “Dangerous Blood,” a duet with Elton himself.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “BAD BLOOD”)

SEDAKA: (Singing) Dangerous.

ELTON JOHN: (Singing) Dangerous.

SEDAKA: (Singing) Blood.

JOHN: (Singing) Blood.

NEIL SEDAKA AND ELTON JOHN: (Singing) The lady was born to lie. Makes guarantees she will be able to’t preserve with the wink of an eye fixed.

BIANCULLI: That very same 12 months, Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield, who had written their first hit songs collectively again within the ’50s, collaborated once more on a music that turned a No. 1 hit for the Captain & Tennille, “Love Will Preserve Us Collectively.”

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “LOVE WILL KEEP US TOGETHER”)

CAPTAIN AND TENNILLE: (Singing) Love, love will preserve us collectively. Consider me, babe, every time some sweet-talking woman comes alongside singing his music. Do not fiddle. You simply bought to be sturdy. Simply cease.

BIANCULLI: In the event you pay attention intently to the top of that music, the Captain & Tennille snuck in a fast tribute, singing, Sedaka’s again, adopted by applause.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “LOVE WILL KEEP US TOGETHER”)

CAPTAIN AND TENNILLE: (Singing) Sedaka’s again.

BIANCULLI: The present century delivered no new hits, however Neil Sedaka remained lively. In 2009, he launched a youngsters’s album, that includes playful revised lyrics to his most well-known songs. The gathering was referred to as “Waking Up Is Onerous To Do” and included the novelty numbers “The place The Toys Are” and “Lunch Will Preserve Us Collectively.” His authentic songs and his personal story have been featured in a jukebox musical referred to as “Laughter In The Rain” in 2010. Neil Sedaka carried out till just lately at a Studio Metropolis restaurant, popping up month-to-month for intimate Sunday performances. In the present day, we’ll keep in mind Neil Sedaka by listening to an interview Terry Gross carried out with him in 2007.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR CONTENT)

TERRY GROSS: Now, if you have been in your teenagers or simply out of them, you had a knack for writing songs that may enchantment to youngsters, possibly notably to teenage women, as a result of the songs typically had the message they needed to listen to, like they’re rising up and changing into very fascinating. Did you consider that consciously? Did you consider your self as writing songs for teenagers?

SEDAKA: Properly, we have been the youngsters of New York coming from the Brill Constructing faculty of songwriting. And, sure, we have been writing for the teenage market, the early lyrics or collaboration with Howard Greenfield, who was a fabulous lyricist and who might concise – it was nearly the artwork of writing a three-minute music. And we might inform the entire story in three minutes. “Glad Birthday, Candy Sixteen,” from the start to the top, is somewhat novelette.

GROSS: Did you at all times begin with a lyrical hook in addition to a musical one?

SEDAKA: I at all times wrote the melody first, and I might put together two or three melodies for Howie and play him that day. And no matter temper he could be in, he would select a kind of. After which it was a give-and-take. If the lyrics did not match, I might change a melody or a motif, after which he would possibly change some issues to accommodate me. It was a really shut collaboration.

GROSS: Now, have been you within the Brill Constructing or the constructing close to the Brill Constructing that is…

SEDAKA: 1619.

GROSS: So it wasn’t the Brill Constructing. It was the one subsequent to it.

SEDAKA: Sure, however we referred to it as the brand new Brill Constructing…

GROSS: (Laughter).

SEDAKA: …The younger writers, versus the Irving Caesars in 1650, the outdated writers throughout the road.

GROSS: (Laughter) So that is just like the rock ‘n’ roll Tin Pan Alley constructing versus the Tin Pan Alley Tin Pan Alley constructing.

SEDAKA: Precisely.

GROSS: So that is an workplace constructing the place loads of, like, younger songwriters have been working below contract, churning out songs. Who else was writing there if you have been there?

SEDAKA: I am at all times requested. Individuals are fascinated with the Brill Constructing. I introduced Carol King, who I used to be courting in highschool. Howie Greenfield and I have been the primary writers to be signed to Aldon Music on the Brill Constructing. After which I introduced Carol King and Gerry Goffin. The others have been Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich. Neil Diamond got here for a time, Paul Simon. It was a really illustrious group. And it was glorious coaching. We got here into an workplace, a cubicle. It was a tiny workplace – from 10 within the morning until 5 within the afternoon, 5 days per week, and we wrote songs for a dwelling. And it was – , in the future, you can provide you with nothing, however the subsequent day, you have been capable of piece it collectively.

GROSS: Had been you all aggressive with one another or pleasant?

SEDAKA: Properly, , competitors is sweet, and creativity – you bounce off different artistic folks. I believe individuals are impressed by different musicians. So it was ambiance. And on the finish of the day, all of us would go into Al Nivens’ workplace and play the songs, and they might say which artists are developing for classes, whether or not it’s The Righteous Brothers or The Chiffons or so many teams. And the very best music received out.

GROSS: A lot of the songwriters there have been writing for different singers. And also you wrote songs that different singers recorded, however you wrote loads of songs that you just recorded your self. Had been you initially employed to write down for different folks?

SEDAKA: I got here in as a author – the primary six months, and my – two of my songs have been recorded. Connie Francis did “Silly Cupid,” and earlier than that, Atlantic Data – Ahmet Ertegun and Jerry Wexler – took my songs and recorded them with Clyde McPhatter and LaVern Baker. However about six months to a 12 months into the contract, I used to be 19, and I had a terrific need to document my very own songs. And I used to be introduced into RCA Victor. Steve Schulz, who was the highest A&R man, he had simply introduced Elvis Presley from Solar Data to RCA. And I auditioned for him with a music referred to as “The Diary,” and he signed me to a five-year contract. And, Terry, I used to be very lucky. Between 1958 and 1963, to the shock of my household, after learning on the Juilliard, I offered 40 million data within the 5 years. So I did…

GROSS: So your mother and father have been completely happy about that despite their classical aspirations for you.

SEDAKA: My mom, actually, was not completely happy at first, however, , I purchased her her mink stole, so she was very, very completely happy after that.

BIANCULLI: Neil Sedaka talking to Terry Gross in 2007. We’ll hear extra after a break. That is FRESH AIR.

That is FRESH AIR. We’re listening to Terry’s 2007 interview with songwriter and singer Neil Sedaka. He died final week on the age of 86. Terry requested him concerning the syllables he sang in his songs, which turned his trademark.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR CONTENT)

GROSS: How did it develop into a trademark? And the way did you determine what syllables to make use of, whether or not it must be wella-wella or dooby-dooby?

SEDAKA: Properly, it began early within the profession. And it was type of somebody singing alongside. Maybe they have been simply stepping into the music they usually did not get into the lyric but. So that they have been going, (singing) down, dooby-do, down, down – earlier than they started the precise music. And it was – how did I select the syllables? Crucial factor in songwriting was the wedding of phrases and music. And the syllables needed to match the actual melody. And I used to be very eager on that marriage of lyrics or syllables set to music. Yeah.

GROSS: What was the primary music you probably did that on?

SEDAKA: I believe it was “Oh! Carol.” I did double voice. However “Breaking Up” is an attention-grabbing music as a result of I believe I am the one artist who has recorded his music twice. I did it first as a rock ‘n’ roll music in 1962. After which I rerecorded “Breaking Up Is Onerous To Do” 15 years later as a gradual gin mill music. And by the way in which, each of them have been enormous successes.

GROSS: What made you resolve to do a slower and extra grownup model of the music in 1975?

SEDAKA: Lenny Welch, a terrific singer who had successful referred to as “Since I Fell For You,” was a buddy and requested if I had any follow-up to “Since I Fell For You.” And I used to be playing around on the piano in the future and found that “Breaking Up Is Onerous To Do” labored as a gradual music. And I introduced it to him. He cherished it and recorded it as a ballad, and it was an R&B hit. After which I might do it as an encore in my concert events. And the viewers response was so good that I made a decision to rerecord it as a ballad.

GROSS: And also you made some modifications on it. It isn’t simply that the tempo is slower. The chords are actually completely different.

SEDAKA: Properly, in fact. It is extra subtle. And when you may have a ballad hit, it is a profession transfer. It is a a lot better profession car. And if you’re doing it as a jazz piece, you mechanically change a few of the chords to make them sound like an ordinary, such as you’re listening to a Dinah Washington document.

GROSS: OK, so let’s hear Neil Sedaka’s two variations of his music “Breaking Up Is Onerous To Do.” The primary from 1962, the second from 1975. Each variations are featured on his new CD, “The Definitive Assortment” of Neil Sedaka.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “BREAKING UP IS HARD TO DO”)

SEDAKA: (Singing) To do, do, down, dooby-do, down, down. Comma-comma, down, dooby-do, down, down. Comma-comma, down, dooby-do, down, down. Breaking apart is tough to do. Do not take your love away from me. Do not you allow my coronary heart in distress. In the event you go, then I will be blue, ‘trigger breaking apart is tough to do.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “BREAKING UP IS HARD TO DO”)

SEDAKA: (Singing) Bear in mind if you held me tight and also you kissed me all by means of the evening? Consider all that we have been by means of and breaking apart is tough to do. They are saying that…

GROSS: Now, in fact, , on “American Idol” just a few years in the past, Ruben did a gradual model of “Breaking Up Is Onerous To Do.” And Clay, in fact, recorded “Solitaire.” And also you have been a choose, a visitor choose. What sort of recommendation did they ask you – did they offer you earlier than being a – did they inform you to be good or to take the gloves off and be powerful?

SEDAKA: Properly, , I needed to be powerful. However my son stated, Dad, , there are 30 million folks watching. Watch out of what you say. And, , I believe that it is a very tough – these children are on in entrance of tens of millions and tens of millions of individuals. It is a very tough factor. However I need to inform you how I bought on. Everybody was saying, oh, Neil, you should be a celeb choose. I stated, oh, there are such a lot of folks attempting to get on. And my publishers referred to as and stated, maybe if you happen to referred to as personally to the present, you may have a greater probability.

And I picked up the phone, spoke to a Susan Slamer on the employees. I stated, hello, that is Neil Sedaka. I watch the present. I might like to be on as a celeb choose. And she or he stated, are you kidding? Who is that this? I stated, no, it is Neil Sedaka. She stated, sit there – we’re having a gathering. She referred to as me again in an hour and stated, you may be on in two weeks.

GROSS: (Laughter).

SEDAKA: And the 5 finalists will likely be singing all Neil Sedaka songs. I used to be over the moon.

GROSS: What influence did it have in your profession?

SEDAKA: The catalog went by means of the roof. The entire outdated data began to promote. Amazon.com was ringing off the partitions. And “Solitaire” by Clay was one of many largest – I believe the second largest vendor of that 12 months.

GROSS: We have been speaking about the way you grew up enjoying classical music and the way your mom early on would’ve most popular that you just play classical music. In these early days, have been you torn in two instructions, pop versus classical?

SEDAKA: No, I used to be a really critical piano pupil. I began enjoying at age 8. At 9, I entered the prep faculty of the Juilliard when it was on a hundred and twenty fifth Avenue and Claremont Avenue. I studied with the good Edgar Roberts. And after I was 13, I found that I might write songs. I wasn’t very fashionable at school. I wasn’t a jock and wasn’t one of many in style children enjoying Chopin and Bach. So I used to be fascinated by the response I bought. I used to be invited to the entire teenage events. And that was a really large deal in these days, if you happen to can play your personal songs or hits of the day. So it was a two-fold – truly, a two-fold research of songwriting and going to Juilliard each Saturday.

After which I went to the school, Julliard Faculty, studied with Adele Marcus. And after I was 19, I needed to decide which course to go. And, , the cash is – being from a really poor household – my father was a taxi driver in Brooklyn for 30 years and labored very laborious. And I believe each teenager needed to be a rock ‘n’ roll star. You recognize, that may be very thrilling to any child of that age. So I did pursue it. However I by no means dropped the classical music as a result of I nonetheless mainly adore it, and people are my roots.

GROSS: In an autobiography that you just wrote just a few years in the past, you write a few music, “Mr. Moon,” that you just wrote if you have been in highschool and that you just carried out in highschool. However the principal did not just like the music. You describe it as having been somewhat risque (laughter) for varsity. I used to be dying to listen to the way it went.

SEDAKA: Properly, I used to be a freshman at Lincoln Excessive College, and as I stated, not one of many in style children. And I had began writing rock ‘n’ roll. It was the start of rock ‘n’ roll. And I wrote a music referred to as “Mr. Moon” and sang it at one of many ballyhoo reveals within the auditorium. And there was to be two performances. The primary efficiency, the youngsters began to leap and dance and bump and grind.

And it was a sensation, besides when Abraham Lass, the principal, referred to as me into his workplace and stated, , Neil, we will not have that type of habits. We might such as you to do one thing else, one other type of music for the second efficiency. And there was a petition signed by the scholars that they needed Neil to do “Mr. Moon” once more. And we received. And I did it once more. It was not a unclean music in any means, but it surely was type of a bump and grind, (vocalizing). You recognize, that outdated rock ‘n’ roll tempo, which was very new on the time.

GROSS: Might you do just a few bars of it?

SEDAKA: Oh, my goodness. I used to be 16. (Singing) Mr. Moon, information your love again to me, (vocalizing). Sounds very fragile now.

(LAUGHTER)

SEDAKA: Very timid.

BIANCULLI: Neil Sedaka talking to Terry Gross in 2007. After a break, we’ll proceed their dialog. Additionally, Ken Tucker critiques the brand new album by the Paranoid Fashion. And Justin Chang critiques “Hoppers,” the brand new Pixar film. I am David Bianculli, and that is FRESH AIR.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “THE IMMIGRANT”)

SEDAKA: (Singing) Harbors opened their arms to the younger, looking foreigner, come to dwell within the gentle of the beacon of liberty. Planes and open skies, billboards would promote. Was it something like that if you arrived? Dreamboats carry the longer term to the guts of America. Folks have been ready in line for a spot by the river. It was a time when strangers have been welcome right here.

BIANCULLI: That is FRESH AIR. I am David Bianculli. We’re remembering Neil Sedaka, the singer and songwriter who died final week at age 86. He cowrote his first hit music when he was 19. And even earlier than that, in highschool, he was busy composing pop songs. When Terry spoke with him in 2007, she requested him about his highschool years, which he wrote about in his memoir.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR CONTENT)

GROSS: Yeah, , you write in that memoir – you write, by first grade, I used to be often known as the college sissy. I practiced strolling and gesturing in a masculine vogue in entrance of the mirror. So it made me assume you have been in all probability picked on quite a bit.

SEDAKA: Sure, that was one of many causes that I needed to be acknowledged, I needed to please folks. I believe, in lots of cases, artists who start as – , are uncared for and are made enjoyable of, I believe that they pursue these careers to be seen, to be accepted and to be revered. So I confirmed these soccer gamers.

GROSS: Yeah. Properly, did it make you self-conscious if you began performing about whether or not you must look extra macho as a performer?

SEDAKA: I studied in entrance of a mirror. I had a sister, Ronnie, who I adored. And she or he was my hero. She was 18 months older, lovely, in style. And, , I needed to stand in entrance of a mirror, I will be completely trustworthy with you, and learn to transfer in a extra macho means, how you can carry my books, how you can – it was a metamorphosis.

GROSS: You recognize, I believe in that period, each teenager was standing in entrance of a mirror. And a few folks have been studying to bop in entrance of a mirror. Some folks have been pretending they have been singing right into a microphone in entrance of a mirror. And different folks have been simply attempting to determine how you can repair their hair or look higher. However do not you assume, like, each boy and woman was standing in entrance of a mirror then?

SEDAKA: Sure. However I need to appropriate you. I did not use the phrase sissy. I used the phrase female, as a result of I used to be raised by six girls. We have been, consider it or not, 11 folks in a two-bedroom condo in Brighton Seashore. My mom, my sister, my 5 aunts and my grandmother. So these are the individuals who I emulated. So it was a fabulous upbringing as a result of I used to be spoiled by all these girls.

GROSS: Now, just a few years in the past, you recorded an album of Yiddish songs referred to as “Brighton Seashore Reminiscences.” You grew up in Brighton Seashore.

SEDAKA: Sure.

GROSS: Had been these songs that you just grew up listening to?

SEDAKA: Sure. My mom performed the Barry Sisters data. These have been the good outdated requirements, “Vi Ahin Zol Ich Geyn,” “Shein Vi Di L’Vone,” “My Yiddishe Mamme.” I heard them at bar mitzvahs and weddings, and household picnics. And I made a decision at this stage of my profession that I needed to do issues not – for my very own coronary heart, for my very own spirit, not notably searching for commerciality. And I bought some great response.

I did an all-Yiddish live performance at Carnegie Corridor a few years in the past for the Folksbiene Jewish theater in New York. And it wound as much as be a really thrilling album. I carried out with just a few klezmer teams in California and Chicago, the Klezmatics. And it was my roots. And I am very happy with the place I got here from. I believe, , it’s important to keep in mind the place you got here from. And this was very particular.

GROSS: I wish to play a monitor from the album. Let me ask you to decide on certainly one of your favorites.

SEDAKA: I might love to listen to “Yiddishe Mamme.” I do it half in English and half in Yiddish. And it jogs my memory of my mom, who handed away final 12 months, Eleanor Sedaka, who lived to 89. And she or he lived a terrific life. Nevertheless it’s – I believe it was initially achieved by Sophie Tucker years in the past. And it is a very shifting, very emotional music.

GROSS: Properly, let’s hear Neil Sedaka’s recording of “My Yiddishe Mamme” from his album “Brighton Seashore Reminiscences.”

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “MY YIDDISHE MAMME.”)

SEDAKA: (Singing in Yiddish).

GROSS: That is Neil Sedaka from his album “Brighton Seashore Reminiscences” that got here out just a few years in the past. Now, earlier, we heard two completely different variations of your music “Breaking Up Is Onerous To Do.” One from the early ’60s. One from the mid-’70s. When did your string of hits within the ’60s finish? Folks at all times say that for the American pop songwriters and singers, their careers have been actually interrupted or ended by the British invasion. Is that too simplistic or do you assume that is an correct description?

SEDAKA: That is an correct description, Terry. There was additionally a pure development of 5 years of hits. The Everly Brothers, Connie Francis, Fat Domino, Brenda Lee, all of us did not have greater than 5 years. However as you stated, the British invasion, the good Beatles and Rolling Stones got here. I needed to write down that model, and I did write that model. However my public would not settle for it, and the document firm would not settle for it.

So for 11 years, I took a backseat, took inventory of myself, raised a household, had my two youngsters and wrote for a publishing agency, and had some nice artists document my songs – Andy Williams, Johnny Mathis, Peggy Lee, Shirley Bassey. However, , when you get a style of being in entrance of the general public, you by no means recover from that. And it was 11 years later in – round 1974, ’75, truly, that I lived in England. I moved my spouse and kids to England as a result of in England, they revered the unique rock ‘n’ rollers in America. And it was there that I met Elton John, who was beginning a document firm, Rocket Data, in America.

And he was an enormous fan of my early data. And he knew that I used to be recording with a gaggle referred to as the 10ccs in Stockport, England. Marvelous group on the time. And I made two albums with them and each of them have been successes within the U.Ok. And Elton stated, , I believe I might launch you once more in America. And I stated, nicely, that may be outstanding. Elton had me document an album referred to as “Sedaka’s Again,” which was a outstanding comeback for me. And I at all times thank Elton for that.

GROSS: Was “Laughter In The Rain” on that?

SEDAKA: Sure, and “Love Will Preserve Us”…

GROSS: Yeah, that was a very large hit for you.

SEDAKA: Properly, after 11 years, to have a No. 1 document was a outstanding comeback. And “Love Will Preserve Us Collectively” was on and “The Immigrant” and “That is When The Music Takes Me.” I used to be very happy with the gathering.

GROSS: So how a lot are you continue to writing songs now?

SEDAKA: I write a few times a 12 months. I wrote some new songs that I am engaged on for a youngsters’s album. I truly rewrote – since I’ve three new grandchildren, my son and his spouse bought after me and stated, , you are Papa Neil now. You must write some youngsters’s songs. So I got here up with the concept of fixing the lyrics to a few of my authentic hits. So I did “Waking Up Is Onerous To Do.”

GROSS: (Laughter).

SEDAKA: I did “The place The Toys Are.”

GROSS: (Laughter).

SEDAKA: Do not journey over your toys, put them away neatly. And so, maybe I will be Papa Neil on tv. Who is aware of?

GROSS: (Laughter) I am attempting to consider a very torchy model of “The place The Toys Are.”

(LAUGHTER)

GROSS: Properly, it is actually been a pleasure speaking with you. Thanks a lot.

SEDAKA: Similar right here, Terry. And it is a great program. Congratulations, continued success.

BIANCULLI: Neil Sedaka talking to Terry Gross in 2007. The cocomposer of “The place The Boys Are,” “Breaking Up Is Onerous To Do” and “Love Will Preserve Us Collectively” died final week at age 86.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, “LUNCH WILL KEEP US TOGETHER”)

SEDAKA: (Singing) Lunch, lunch will preserve us collectively. There isn’t any meal that is higher. Simply give me a fork and a spoon. It is nearly midday. Make me some meals ‘trigger I wish to eat quickly. Simply cease, ‘trigger I am actually hungry. Cease. I can hear my tummy. Look within the fridge and let lunch preserve us collectively. Hotdogs, mac and cheese, French fries in ketchup I will drown. When the others say they’re stuffed, who’s nonetheless chowing it down? I’ll, I’ll, I’ll, I’ll.

BIANCULLI: Arising, Ken Tucker critiques “Identified Associates,” the newest album by The Paranoid Fashion. That is FRESH AIR.

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