132-768: Strawberry Studios was a recording studio in Stockport , historically in Cheshire , now within Greater Manchester , England. Founded in 1968, it operated until the early 1990s. Strawberry Studios was used by a range of artists including 10cc , Joy Division , Neil Sedaka , Barclay James Harvest , the Smiths , the Stone Roses , the Moody Blues , Paul McCartney , Wax and Cliff Richard . The facility
264-574: A 1784 demonstration against taxation, avoided William Pitt the Younger 's saddle tax on horses by riding to market at Stockport on an ox. The incident is also celebrated in 'The Glass Umbrella' in St Petersgate Gardens, one of the works on Stockport's Arts Trail. "At this place poverty is not much felt except by those who are idle, for all persons capable of tying knots may find work in the silk mills ... children of six years earn
396-467: A Spanish-language version of the song the same year that cracked the top half of Billboard' s Hot 100 chart ("Por Amor Viviremos", US pop No. 49). In late 1975, Sedaka's most successful year of his career continued as he earned yet more chart success with the release of his second Rocket Records album, The Hungry Years . This album was an American edition of Sedaka's British Polydor album Overnight Success . The first single, " Bad Blood ", hit No. 1 on
528-404: A Stockport township covering the central part of the parish including the town itself. The townships were all made separate civil parishes in 1866. The Stockport township was an ancient borough , having been made a borough during the reign of Henry III (reigned 1216–1272). A Stockport parliamentary borough (constituency) was created in 1832, covering the old borough of Stockport, part of
660-551: A US No. 1 hit two years later for Captain & Tennille ). This album also marked the effective end of his writing partnership with Greenfield, commemorated by the track "Our Last Song Together" (later the last hit song for Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods , whose version hit No. 95). They reunited, however, and composed together again, before Greenfield's death in 1986. From 1974 onward, Sedaka's records were issued in Europe and around
792-689: A ballroom described by John Betjeman as "magnificent" which contains the Wurlitzer theatre pipe organ formerly installed in the Paramount and later Odeon Theatre in Manchester. The war memorial and art gallery are on Greek Street, opposite the town hall. Underbank Hall is a Grade II* listed late 16th-century timber-framed building which was the townhouse of the Arderne family from Bredbury who occupied it until 1823. Since 1824, it has been used as
924-474: A bank and its main banking hall lies behind the 16th-century structure and dates from 1915. Stockport Viaduct is 111 feet (34 m) high, and carries four railway tracks over the River Mersey on the line to Manchester Piccadilly . The viaduct built of 11,000,000 bricks, a major feat of Victorian engineering, was completed in 21 months at a cost of £70,000. The structure is Grade II* listed. Beside
1056-401: A bit choked to think that we'd done the whole of Neil's first album with him just for flat session fees when we could have been recording our own material." Once launched as a band, 10cc recorded their first four albums at Strawberry Studios. Sheet Music (1974) was recorded at the same time McCartney was producing brother Mike McGear 's McGear album. Gouldman recalled: "We would work in
1188-430: A class by themselves." Sedaka and Greenfield co-wrote " Love Will Keep Us Together ", a No. 1 hit for Captain & Tennille and the biggest hit for the entire year of 1975. Toni Tennille paid tribute to Sedaka's welcome return to music business success with her ad lib of "Sedaka is back" in the outro while she was laying down her own backing vocals for the track. "Captain" Daryl Dragon and Toni also recorded
1320-525: A five-figure royalty check for his hit " Calendar Girl " in 1961. When Sedaka was 13, a neighbor heard him playing and introduced him to her 16-year-old son, Howard Greenfield , an aspiring poet and lyricist. They became two of the Brill Building 's composers. Sedaka and Greenfield wrote songs together throughout much of their young lives. Before rock and roll became popular, Sedaka and Greenfield found inspiration from show tunes . When Sedaka became
1452-402: A former mill building in the town centre, St Thomas Place. The company plan to transform the mill into 51 residential apartments as part of the regeneration of Stockport. There is one main tier of local government covering Stockport, at metropolitan borough level: Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council , which meets at Stockport Town Hall on Wellington Road South and has its main offices in
SECTION 10
#17327984347631584-410: A good water power site (described by Rodgers as "by far the finest of any site within the lowland" [of the Manchester region] ) and a workforce used to textile factory work meant Stockport was well placed to take advantage of the phenomenal expansion in cotton processing in the late 18th century. Warren's mill in the market place was the first. Power came from an undershot water wheel in a deep pit, fed by
1716-711: A handful of songs in German, and one single apiece in Hebrew, Japanese, and Canadian French. His English-language recordings were also quite popular internationally; "One-Way Ticket to the Blues" and "Calendar Girl" reached No. 1 on the Japanese pop charts in 1959 and 1961. He also enjoyed popularity in Latin America for his Spanish-language recordings. Many of these were pressed onto 78 rpm discs. Sedaka stated in 2020 that he
1848-451: A low ebb in the late 1960s, he was able to maintain his career through songwriting. Because his publisher, Aldon Music, was acquired by Screen Gems , two of his songs were recorded by The Monkees . Other hits Sedaka wrote in this period included The Cyrkle 's versions of "We Had a Good Thing Goin'" and " Workin' On a Groovy Thing "; a Top 40 R&B hit for Patti Drew in 1968; and a Top 20 pop hit for The 5th Dimension in 1969. Also, "Make
1980-562: A major teen pop star, the pair continued writing hits for Sedaka and numerous other artists. When the Beatles and the British Invasion took American music in a different direction, Sedaka was left without a recording career. In the early 1970s, he decided a major change in his life was necessary and moved his family to Britain. Sedaka and Greenfield mutually agreed to end their partnership with "Our Last Song Together". Sedaka began
2112-492: A market place at a hamlet. Older derivations include stock , a stockaded place or castle, with port , a wood, hence a castle in a wood. The castle probably refers to Stockport Castle , a 12th-century motte-and-bailey first mentioned in 1173. Other derivations are based on early variants such as Stopford and Stockford. There is evidence that a ford across the Mersey existed at the foot of Bridge Street Brow. Stopford retains
2244-484: A new composing partnership with lyricist Phil Cody, from Pleasantville, New York . After graduating from Abraham Lincoln High School , Sedaka and some of his classmates formed a band called the Linc-Tones. The band had minor regional hits with songs like "While I Dream", "I Love My Baby", "Come Back, Joe", and "Don't Go", before Sedaka launched his solo career and left the group in 1957. The Linc-Tones, later renamed
2376-423: A new hit after her 1958 single " Who's Sorry Now? ". She was introduced to Sedaka and Greenfield, who played for her every ballad they had written. Francis began writing in her diary while the two played the last of their songs. After they finished, Francis told them they wrote beautiful ballads but that they were too intellectual for the young generation. Greenfield suggested that they play a song they had written for
2508-517: A party in London in 1973. When John learned Sedaka had no American record label, he suggested Sedaka sign with his Rocket Record Company, Limited , and Sedaka accepted the proposition. When John visited Sedaka at his London apartment, they discussed plans for relaunching his career in the United States. John said he had "always been a Sedaka fan anyway". He went on to say: So the basic plan
2640-476: A personal friend; he mainly saw his work with Sedaka as a work project to bring the singer into the modern era. A year later he reconvened with the Strawberry team, who had by then charted with their own debut 10cc album, to record The Tra-La Days Are Over for MGM Records , which started the second phase of his career and included his original version of the hit song " Love Will Keep Us Together " (also
2772-516: A piano scholarship to the Juilliard School of Music 's Preparatory Division for Children, which he attended on Saturdays. His mother had wanted him to become a classical pianist like his contemporary Van Cliburn , and Sedaka continued to show fondness for (and capacity to play) classical music throughout his life. At the same time, to his mother's dismay, Sedaka was discovering pop music; his mother eventually acquiesced when Sedaka received
SECTION 20
#17327984347632904-517: A real purpose-built control desk. We were all very excited about it and "Neanderthal Man" was something we recorded to test the equipment." Another song recorded soon after, "Umbopo", released under the name of Doctor Father , became pivotal in the eventual decision by the four musicians to record as a band. When Gouldman was introduced to singer-songwriter Neil Sedaka in New York , Sedaka exclaimed: "I just love your 'Umbopo'." Gouldman told Sedaka
3036-507: A recording contract. His first single for RCA Victor, " The Diary ", was inspired by Connie Francis , one of Sedaka and Greenfield's most important clients, while the three were taking a temporary break during their idea-making for a new song. Francis was writing in her diary, Sedaka asked if he could read it, and Connie said no. After Little Anthony and the Imperials passed on the song, Sedaka recorded it himself, and his debut single hit
3168-532: A second studio, Strawberry Studios South, in a former cinema in Dorking , Surrey, following the departure of Godley and Creme. The studio had been planned before the band's split, with Stewart pointing out the Stockport studio had been in such great demand it was often difficult for 10cc to use it. He said: "Initially the studio will be just for 10cc, but we will be letting it out for block bookings of two months at
3300-605: A shilling a week and more as they grow capable of deserving it." Anon, 1769. Hatmaking was established in north Cheshire and south-east Lancashire by the 16th century. From the 17th century Stockport became a centre for the hatting industry and later the silk industry. Stockport expanded rapidly during the Industrial Revolution , helped particularly by the growth of the cotton manufacturing industries. However, economic growth took its toll, and 19th century philosopher Friedrich Engels wrote in 1844 that Stockport
3432-498: A short-lived tenure as a founding member of the doo-wop group the Tokens , Sedaka achieved a string of hit singles over the late 1950s and early 1960s, including " Oh! Carol " (1959), " Calendar Girl " (1960), " Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen " (1961) and " Breaking Up Is Hard to Do " (1962). His popularity declined by the mid-1960s, but was revived in the mid-1970s, solidified by the 1975 US Billboard Hot 100 number ones " Laughter in
3564-681: A slowdown in Sedaka's music sales and radio play, not unlike what he experienced in 1964 when The Beatles and the British Invasion arrived. Sedaka subsequently left Rocket and signed with Elektra Records . Sedaka met John again several times after his departure from Rocket, and he described their meetings as "cordial, but cold". The ice eventually thawed, however, and in the foreword to Sedaka's 2013 biography, John wrote of their friendship in glowing and positive terms. Sedaka recorded four albums for Elektra Records: A Song (which produced
3696-568: A song called "The Waterbug". Sedaka worked to revive his solo career in the early 1970s. Despite his waning chart appeal in the US in the late 1960s, he remained very popular as a concert attraction, notably in the UK and Australia. In 2010, as a guest on Australian disc jockey Bob Rogers' radio show, he thanked Rogers and Australian music fans for standing by him during that challenging time: "You know, Bob, in my lean years—I called them ' The Hungry Years '—it
3828-727: A team of volunteers, rebuilt the Strawberry Studios control room as it was in the late 1970s in the original building. Over 1,200 visitors came in to the original building over two weekends in September and October. 53°24′25″N 2°09′16″W / 53.4070°N 2.1545°W / 53.4070; -2.1545 Stockport Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester , England, 8 miles (13 km) south-east of Manchester , 9 miles (14 km) south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and 12 miles (19 km) north of Macclesfield . The Rivers Goyt and Tame merge to create
3960-497: A time for selected customers, other groups who want to record in comfort." The original Strawberry Studio was then referred to as Strawberry Studios North. The first 10cc album to be recorded there was 1977's Deceptive Bends and the band continued to record the subsequent albums there. The band returned to Strawberry Studios North to record Windows in the Jungle in 1983. In 1978, Strawberry Mastering opened in London, which for
4092-633: A tunnel from the River Goyt. The positioning on high ground, unusual for a water-powered mill, contributed to an early demise, but the concept of moving water around in tunnels proved successful, and several tunnels were driven under the town from the Goyt to power mills. In 1796, James Harrisson drove a wide cut from the Tame which fed several mills in the Park, Portwood . Other water-powered mills were built on
Strawberry Studios - Misplaced Pages Continue
4224-425: A use in the adjectival form, Stopfordian, for Stockport-related items, and pupils of Stockport Grammar School style themselves Stopfordians. Stopfordian is used as the general term, or demonym used for people from Stockport, much as someone from London would be a Londoner. Stockport has never been a sea or river port as the Mersey is not navigable here; in the centre of Stockport the river has been culverted and
4356-420: Is nicknamed The Hatters. Dominating the western approaches to the town is Stockport Viaduct . Built in 1840, its 27 brick arches carry the mainline railway passing through the town over the River Mersey. Stockport was recorded as "Stokeport" in 1170. The currently accepted etymology is Old English port , a market place, with stoc , a hamlet (but more accurately a minor settlement within an estate); hence,
4488-449: Is on elevated ground, 6.1 miles (9.8 km) south-east of Manchester city centre , at the confluence of the rivers Goyt and Tame , creating the River Mersey. It shares a common boundary with the City of Manchester . Stockport stands on Permian sandstones and red Triassic sandstones and mudstones, mantled by thick deposits of till and pockets of sand and gravel deposited by glaciers at
4620-406: Is to bring more than 3,000 residents into the centre of the town, and revitalise its residential property and retail markets in a similar fashion to the nearby city of Manchester. Many ex-industrial areas around the town's core will be brought back into productive use as mixed-use residential and commercial developments. Property development company FreshStart Living has been involved in redeveloping
4752-577: The Billboard Hot 100 singles chart (February 1, 1975) with " Laughter in the Rain ". It was Sedaka's second No. 1 single thus far at that point in his career (after 1962's original version of " Breaking Up Is Hard to Do ") and solidly reestablished Sedaka's popularity in America. Sedaka followed the success of "Laughter in the Rain" with a more politically motivated song, " The Immigrant ", inspired by
4884-470: The Emergence album. Singles from that album included "I'm A Song (Sing Me)", "Silent Movies", "Superbird", and "Rosemary Blue". Good friend and New York music impresario Don Kirshner attempted to make the U.S. release of "Emergence" a comeback for Sedaka, but the album and single releases had no appreciable success, and RCA showed little interest in promoting the album. After the failure of "Emergence" in
5016-646: The COVID-19 pandemic . Sedaka was born in Brooklyn , New York . His father, Mordechai "Mac" Sedaka, was a taxi driver of Lebanese Jewish descent. Sedaka's paternal grandparents came to the United States from Istanbul in 1910. Sedaka's mother, Eleanor (née Appel), was an Ashkenazi Jew of Polish and Russian descent. He grew up in Brighton Beach . His father's cousin, Rachel Gorman (née Cohen), daughter of Isaac Cohen and Calo Cohen (née Sedaca or Sedaka),
5148-604: The English Civil War the town was supportive of Parliament and was garrisoned by local militias of around 3,000 men commanded by Majors Mainwaring and Duckenfield. Prince Rupert advanced on the town on 25 May 1644, with 8–10,000 men and 50 guns, with a brief skirmish at the site of the bridge, in which Colonel Washington's Dragoons led the Royalist attack. Rupert continued his march via Manchester and Bolton to meet defeat at Marston Moor near York. Stockport bridge
5280-578: The Luton area. In 1966, the largest of the region's remaining felt hat manufacturers, Battersby & Co, T & W Lees, J. Moores & Sons, and Joseph Wilson & Sons, merged with Christy & Co to form Associated British Hat Manufacturers , leaving Christy's and Wilson's (at Denton) as the last two factories in production. The Wilson's factory closed in 1980, followed by the Christy's factory in 1997, bringing to an end over 400 years of hatting in
5412-760: The Peak District . At the 2001 UK census , Stockport had a population of 136,082. The 2001 population density was 11,937 per mi (4,613 per km ), with a 100 to 94.0 female-to-male ratio. Of those over 16 years old, 32% were single (never married) and 50.2% married. Stockport's 58,687 households included 33.1% one-person, 33.7% married couples living together, 9.7% were co-habiting couples, and 10.4% single parents with their children, these figures were similar to those of Stockport Metropolitan Borough and England. Of those aged 16–74, 29.2% had no academic qualifications , significantly higher than that of 25.7% in all of Stockport Metropolitan Borough but similar to
Strawberry Studios - Misplaced Pages Continue
5544-513: The River Mersey here. It is the main settlement of the wider Metropolitan Borough of Stockport . In 2011 it had a population of 137,130. Most of the town is within the boundaries of the historic county of Cheshire , with the area north of the Mersey in the historic county of Lancashire . Stockport in the 16th century was a small town entirely on the south bank of the Mersey, known for the cultivation of hemp and manufacture of rope . In
5676-622: The Shepherd Sisters . Sedaka protested that Francis would be insulted by being played such a puerile song, but Greenfield reminded him Francis had not accepted their other suggestions and they had nothing to lose. After Sedaka played " Stupid Cupid ", Francis told them they had just played her new hit. Francis' rendition of the song reached No. 14 on the Billboard charts, while it topped the UK Singles Chart . While Francis
5808-645: The adult contemporary hits "Alone at Last" and a recording of " Amarillo "), All You Need Is the Music , In the Pocket and Neil Sedaka Now . The only top-40 pop hit to emerge from the Elektra records, as well as Sedaka's last to date, was "Should've Never Let You Go", a duet between Sedaka and his daughter Dara, which had appeared on In the Pocket in 1980. Throughout the 1970s, Sedaka's former record company, RCA, reissued his 1960s-era songs on compilation LPs on
5940-625: The hundred of Salford, which was poorly surveyed. The area south of the Mersey was part of the Hamestan hundred. Cheadle , Bramhall , Bredbury , and Romiley are mentioned, but these all lay just outside the town limits. The survey includes valuations of the Salford hundred as a whole and Cheadle for the times of Edward the Confessor , just before the Norman invasion of 1066 , and the time of
6072-402: The metropolitan county of Greater Manchester. In 1986, Greater Manchester County Council was abolished and Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council assumed its functions, with some services being provided by joint committees. In 2011, Stockport bid for city status as part of the 2012 Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations but was unsuccessful. There are four parliamentary constituencies in
6204-509: The model village are parts of a mill community designed in the main by Alfred Waterhouse for workers of Houldsworth Mill . Neil Sedaka Neil Sedaka ( / s ə ˈ d æ k ə / ; born March 13, 1939) is an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Since his music career began in 1957, he has sold millions of records worldwide and has written or co-written over 500 songs for himself and other artists, collaborating mostly with lyricists Howard "Howie" Greenfield and Phil Cody. After
6336-624: The urban districts of Reddish in 1901 and Heaton Norris in 1913. It continued to straddle the geographical counties of Cheshire and Lancashire until 1974, although it was placed entirely in Lancashire for judicial purposes in 1956. In 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972 , the old County Borough of Stockport was amalgamated with neighbouring districts to form the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport in
6468-465: The 18th century, it had one of the first mechanised silk factories in the British Isles . Stockport's predominant industries of the 19th century were the cotton and allied industries. It was also at the centre of the country's hatting industry, which by 1884 was exporting more than six million hats a year; the last hat works in Stockport closed in 1997. The town's football club, Stockport County ,
6600-488: The 18th century. A cache of coins dating from 375 to 378 AD may have come from the banks of the Mersey at Daw Bank; these were possibly buried for safekeeping at the side of a road. Six coins from the reigns of the Anglo-Saxon English Kings Edmund (reigned 939–946) and Eadred (reigned 946–955) were found during ploughing at Reddish Green in 1789. There are contrasting views about
6732-615: The Billboard 100 and stayed there for three weeks (October 11, 18 and 25, 1975), was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and was the most commercially successful individual single of his career. Elton John provided uncredited backing vocals for "Bad Blood". Despite their later falling out that resulted in Sedaka moving from Elton's Rocket Records to Elektra, Sedaka has credited John as being responsible for his successful return to
SECTION 50
#17327984347636864-710: The Boys Are" eventually became her signature song . Sedaka and Greenfield also wrote some of Jimmy Clanton 's hits, such as "Another Sleepless Night", "What Am I Gonna Do?" and "All the Words in the World". Sedaka himself recorded each of these three songs: "Another Sleepless Night" appears on his Rock With Sedaka debut album; "What Am I Gonna Do?" was the B-side of "Going Home to Mary Lou" and appeared on his 1961 album Neil Sedaka Sings "Little Devil" and His Other Hits ; and "All
6996-598: The Hot 100 in 1959 and going to No. 1 on the Italian pop charts in 1960, giving Sedaka his first No. 1 ranking. In the UK, the song spent a total of 17 weeks in the top 40, peaking at No. 3 (4 weeks). In addition, the B-side, " One Way Ticket ", reached No. 1 on the pop charts in Japan. Sedaka had dated Carole King when he was still at high school, which gave him the idea to use her name in the song. Gerry Goffin —King's husband—took
7128-772: The Hot 100: "Sunny" (No. 86, 1964), "The World through a Tear" (No. 76, 1965), and "The Answer to My Prayer" (No. 89, 1965). His other singles from this era—"The Closest Thing To Heaven", "I Hope He Breaks Your Heart", "Let The People Talk", "The Answer Lies Within" and "We Can Make It If We Try"—all missed the Hot 100, the same fate since Sedaka's third U.S. single for RCA Victor , and became commercial failures. To make matters worse, RCA Victor refused to release his new recording, " It Hurts to Be in Love ", because he had not recorded at their own studios, as stipulated by his contract. Sedaka attempted another recording of this song in RCA's studios, but
7260-729: The Italian pop charts in April 1963. Cinebox videos exist for "La terza luna" and "I tuoi capricci". Sedaka's Italian diction was impressive; his recordings in Italian had very little American accent. RCA Victor's Italiana branch distributed his records in Italy and released three compilation LPs of Sedaka's Italian recordings. Sedaka also recorded an album in Yiddish ( Brighton Beach Memories – Neil Sedaka Sings Yiddish ), several songs in Spanish including "Mi Vecinita" ("Next Door to an Angel"),
7392-472: The Japanese anime television series Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam . These included the two opening themes "Zeta-Toki wo Koete" (based on Sedaka's "Better Days Are Coming") and "Mizu no Hoshi e Ai wo Komete" (originally in English as "For Us to Decide", but the English version was never recorded), as well as the end theme "Hoshizora no Believe" (based on Sedaka's "Bad and Beautiful"). Due to copyright restrictions,
7524-566: The Japanese and Canadian pop charts); " Little Devil " (No. 11, 1961); " Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen " (No. 6, 1961); his signature song, " Breaking Up Is Hard To Do " (No. 1, two weeks: August 11 and 18, 1962); and " Next Door to an Angel " (No. 5, 1962). For several of those songs, Sedaka was paired with Stan Applebaum and His Orchestra. Singles not making the Top 30 during this period included "Sweet Little You" (No. 59, 1961) and "King of Clowns" (No. 45, 1962). RCA Victor issued four LPs of his works in
7656-616: The Kasenetz-Katz deal as a breakthrough: "That allowed us to get the extra equipment to turn it into a real studio. To begin with they were interested in Graham's songwriting and when they heard that he was involved in a studio I think they thought the most economical thing for them to do would be to book his studio and then put him to work there – but they ended up recording Graham's songs and then some of Kevin and Lol's songs, and we were all working together." When new recording equipment
7788-529: The M60 motorway is the Stockport Pyramid , a distinctive structure designed by Christopher Denny from Michael Hyde and Associates. It has a steel frame covered with mostly blue glass and clear glass paneling at the apex and was intended to be the signature building for a much larger development planned in 1987. Construction began in the early 1990s and it was completed in 1992 but an economic downturn caused
7920-474: The Mersey. The town was connected to the national canal network by the 5 miles (8.0 km) of the Stockport branch of the Ashton Canal opened in 1797 which continued in use until the 1930s. Much of it is now filled in, but there is an active campaign to re-open it for leisure uses. In the early 19th century, the number of hatters in the area began to increase, and a reputation for high quality work
8052-648: The Music Play" was included on Frankie Valli 's charting album Timeless . On a 1965 episode of the quiz show I've Got a Secret , Sedaka's secret was that he was to represent the United States at the 1966 Tchaikovsky classical piano competition in Moscow. Unaware of Sedaka's secret, panelist Henry Morgan challenged Sedaka with the fact that the Soviet bureaucracy had outlawed rock 'n' roll music, and that any Western music young Russians wanted had to be smuggled into
SECTION 60
#17327984347638184-523: The RCA Victor and RCA Camden labels. Sedaka released a final album of new material with RCA, consisting of a live concert he gave in Sydney. The album was released on the RCA International label in Australia and Europe as Neil Sedaka On Stage in 1974. Mac Sedaka, Neil's father, died on June 6, 1981, of metastatic colon cancer; Neil was at his bedside singing his father's favorite song, Sedaka's 1965 song "Pictures From The Past", when his father briefly awoke from his coma before his death. Sedaka re-recorded
8316-409: The Rain " and " Bad Blood ". Sedaka maintained a successful career as a songwriter, penning hits for other artists including " Stupid Cupid " ( Connie Francis ), " (Is This the Way to) Amarillo " ( Tony Christie ) and " Love Will Keep Us Together " ( Captain & Tennille ). He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1983 and continues to perform, mounting mini-concerts on social media during
8448-432: The Rain". It was only the second Sedaka album ever to chart in the U.S. Sedaka was known principally as a singles artist up to that point in his career; his only other American charting album was Neil Sedaka Sings His Greatest Hits , a compilation of his early singles. Although the single was released in the autumn of 1974 and was very slow in building in sales and at radio, eventually Sedaka found himself once again topping
8580-468: The Stockport Metropolitan Borough: Stockport , Reddish and denton , Cheadle and Hazel Grove . Stockport has been represented by the Labour MP Navendu Mishra since 2019 . Tom Morrison has been the Liberal Democrat MP for Cheadle since 2024 and Lisa Smart has been the Lib Dem MP for Hazel Grove since 2024 . At 53°24′30″N 2°8′58″W / 53.40833°N 2.14944°W / 53.40833; -2.14944 (53.408°, −2.149°) Stockport
8712-420: The Swedish Eurovision selections on February 10, 1973, but placed third. The band, renamed ABBA , made "Ring Ring" the title track of their first album , released on March 26, 1973. The single, credited to Andersson, Ulvaeus, Anderson, Sedaka and Cody, reached number 1 in Sweden and Belgium, and charted in the top 5 in at least four other countries. Sedaka later said that ABBA's "songwriting and production are in
8844-413: The Swedish original with lyricist Björn Ulvaeus and composer Benny Andersson , intended to enter " Ring Ring " in the 1973 Eurovision Song Contest and believed with strong English lyrics it had the potential to become an international hit. He sent a tape of the song together with a rough translation to Sedaka, who within days returned original lyrics, co-written with Phil Cody. The song was entered into
8976-432: The Tokens near the end of Sedaka's tenure with the group, went on to have four top-40 hits of their own without Sedaka. Sedaka's first three solo singles, "Laura Lee", "Ring-a-Rockin'", and "Oh, Delilah!" failed to become hits (although "Ring-a-Rockin'" earned him the first of many appearances on Dick Clark 's American Bandstand ), but they demonstrated his ability to perform as a solo singer, so RCA Victor signed him to
9108-490: The Top 15 on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 14 in 1958. His second single, a novelty tune titled " I Go Ape ", just missed the Top 40, peaking at No. 42, but it became a more successful single in the United Kingdom with a No. 9. The third single, " Crying My Heart Out for You ", was a commercial failure, missing the Hot 100 entirely, peaking at No. 111 but reaching No. 6 on the pop charts in Italy. RCA Victor had lost money on "I Go Ape" and "Crying My Heart Out For You" and
9240-425: The U.S. pop music scene. John has stated, "I only appear on the records of people I really know or like." Another highlight from The Hungry Years was Sedaka's new version of " Breaking Up Is Hard to Do ". His 1962 original, a No. 1 hit single, was upbeat; the remake was a slow ballad , which Sedaka had arranged for Lenny Welch five years prior. Sedaka's version hit No. 8 on the Hot 100 in early 1976, making him
9372-408: The US market, Sedaka left New York and moved to the UK. In 1972, Sedaka embarked on a successful British tour and was introduced by Harvey Lisberg to the four future members of 10cc (best known to American audiences for " I'm Not in Love " and " The Things We Do for Love ") with whom he recorded the Solitaire album at their Strawberry Studios in Stockport issued by RCA in 1972. As well as
9504-554: The United States and Great Britain during this period, and also produced Scopitone and Cinebox videos of "Calendar Girl" in 1961, "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do" in 1962, and "The Dreamer" in 1963. His second LP was an album mostly of old standards. He made regular appearances on such TV programs as American Bandstand and Shindig! during this period. When Sedaka was not recording his own songs, he and Howard Greenfield were writing for other performers, most notably in their earliest days Connie Francis . Francis began searching for
9636-1103: The Words in the World" was recorded but was kept in the RCA Victor vaults until 1977, at the height of Sedaka's return to popularity, when it was released on the album Neil Sedaka: The '50s and '60s . Sedaka also contributed some work as a session pianist during his heyday as a pop singer-songwriter. His piano playing is heard on " Dream Lover ", Bobby Darin 's 1959 hit. Sedaka was very popular in Italy. Many of his English-language records were released there and proved quite successful, especially " Crying My Heart Out for You " (Italian No. 6, 1959) and " Oh! Carol " (Italian No. 1, 1960). In 1961, Sedaka began to record some of his hits in Italian, starting with "Esagerata" and "Un giorno inutile", local versions of "Little Devil" and "I Must Be Dreaming", respectively. Other recordings followed, such as "Tu non lo sai" ("Breaking Up Is Hard to Do"), "Il re dei pagliacci" ("King of Clowns"), "I tuoi capricci" ("Look Inside Your Heart"), and "La terza luna" ("Waiting For Never"). "La terza luna" reached No. 1 on
9768-660: The adjoining Stopford House and Fred Perry House. The council is a member of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority , led by the directly elected Mayor of Greater Manchester . Stockport was an ancient parish in the Macclesfield Hundred of Cheshire . The parish was large, being sub-divided into fourteen townships : Bramhall , Bredbury , Brinnington , Disley , Dukinfield , Hyde , Marple , Norbury , Offerton , Romiley , Stockport Etchells , Torkington , Werneth , and
9900-419: The adult contemporary charts); Sedaka left Curb in 1986. American singer-songwriter Ben Folds credited Sedaka on his iTunes Originals album as an inspiration for his own song-publishing career. When Folds heard that Sedaka had a song published by the age of 13, Folds set a similar goal, despite the fact that Sedaka did not actually publish until he was 16. In 1985, songs composed by Sedaka were adapted for
10032-448: The area were dispossessed and the land divided amongst the new Norman rulers. The first borough charter was granted in about 1220 and was the only basis for local government for six hundred years. A castle held by Geoffrey de Costentin is recorded as a rebel stronghold against Henry II in 1173–1174 when his sons revolted . There is an incorrect local tradition that Geoffrey was the king's son, Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany , who
10164-409: The area. The industry is commemorated by the UK's only dedicated hatting museum, Hat Works . Since the start of the 20th century Stockport has moved away from being a town dependent on cotton and its allied industries to one with a varied base. It makes the most of its varied heritage attractions, including a national museum of hatting, a unique system of World War II air raid tunnel shelters in
10296-555: The band 10cc resulted in some of the most memorable music being produced at these studios. Paul McCartney, Neil Sedaka, the Stone Roses, the Syd Lawrence Orchestra and many others also recorded here." On 26 January 2017, the Stockport Museum commenced a full exhibit of equipment and associated artworks connected with the studio. In September 2017, Chris Hewitt of CH Vintage Audio, and Peter Wadsworth and
10428-477: The country. As part of that reform, the borough boundaries were enlarged to match the recently created constituency. The borough of Stockport therefore straddled Cheshire and Lancashire from 1836 onwards. Under the terms of the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 , Stockport Poor Law Union was established on 3 February 1837 and was responsible for an area covering 16 parishes or townships (mostly from
10560-497: The country. Once Sedaka's secret had been revealed, he impressed the show's panelists with his performance of Frederic Chopin's " Fantaisie Impromptu ". Morgan's warning turned out to be prescient, however: despite Sedaka's classical roots, his "other" life as a pop star spurred the Soviet Union to disqualify him from entering the competition. Sedaka also made an appearance in the 1968 movie Playgirl Killer , where he performed
10692-462: The design of the machinery. On his return he obtained a patent on the design, and went into production in Derby . When Lombe tried to renew his patent in 1732, silk spinners from towns including Manchester , Macclesfield , Leek , and Stockport successfully petitioned parliament to not renew the patent. Lombe was paid off, and in 1732 Stockport's first silk mill (the first water-powered textile mill in
10824-673: The end of the Last Glacial Period , some 15,000 years ago. To the extreme east is the Red Rock fault , and the older rocks from the Upper Carboniferous period surface. An outcrop of coal measures extends southwards through Tameside and into Hazel Grove . The Pennines lie to the east of the town, consisting of the upland moors and Millstone Grit outcrops of sandstones and shales in the Dark Peak area of
10956-476: The first time gave the studio complete control of the process from recording to pressing. 10cc sold their interest in the Stockport studio in the 1980s. In 1986, the neighbouring Yello 2 recording studio took over the running of Strawberry in Stockport. It ceased operation as a music studio in the early 1990s and was converted for use for film and video production. Both Strawberry Mastering and Strawberry South had closed by 1993. The major artists that recorded in
11088-748: The main shopping street, Merseyway, built above it. The earliest evidence of human occupation in the wider area are microliths from the hunter-gatherers of the Mesolithic period (the Middle Stone Age, about 8000–3500 BC) and weapons and stone tools from the Neolithic period (the New Stone Age, 3500–2000 BC). Early Bronze Age (2000–1200 BC) remains include stone hammers, flint knives, palstaves (bronze axe heads), and funerary urns ; all finds were chance discoveries, not
11220-403: The north-west of England) was opened on a bend in the Mersey. Further mills were opened on local brooks. Silk weaving expanded until in 1769 two thousand people were employed in the industry. By 1772 the boom had turned to bust, possibly due to cheaper foreign imports; by the late 1770s trade had recovered. The cycle of boom and bust would continue throughout the textile era. The combination of
11352-450: The old parish of Stockport) with a total population of 68,906. Stockport Union built a workhouse at Shaw Heath in 1841. When elected county councils were established in 1889, Stockport was considered large enough to provide its own county-level services, and so it was made a county borough , independent from both Cheshire County Council and Lancashire County Council . The borough boundaries were enlarged several times, notably absorbing
11484-531: The only artist to ever record an entirely reinterpreted version of a song where both versions reached the Billboard Top 10. (Welch's version had reached No. 34.) The 1976 ballad version also hit No. 1 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart. Later in 1976, Sedaka released a third and final album with Elton John's label The Rocket Record Company, Steppin' Out . The first single, " Love in the Shadows ,"
11616-495: The parish of Stockport, baptised in the parish church and attended Stockport Free School . A lawyer, he was appointed lord president of the high court of justice for the trial of King Charles I in 1649. Although he was dead by the time of the Restoration in 1660, his body was brought up from Westminster Abbey and hanged in its coffin at Tyburn . Stockport bridge has been documented as existing since at least 1282. During
11748-602: The project to be abandoned as the developers went into administration. The building lay empty until 1995 when The Co-operative Bank repossessed it and opened it as a call centre . Vernon Park, to the east towards Bredbury , was opened on 20 September 1858 on the anniversary of the Battle of the Alma in the Crimean War . It was named after Lord Vernon who presented the land to the town. St Elisabeth's Church, Reddish , and
11880-399: The remainder of his tenure with RCA Victor, Sedaka never fully recovered from the effects of Beatlemania, the loss of "It Hurts to Be in Love" to Pitney, or the failure of his recordings. RCA decided not to renew his contract when it expired in 1966, leaving Sedaka without a recording label. He went into retirement as a performing artist. Although Sedaka's stature as a recording artist was at
12012-503: The results of systematic searches of a known site. There is a gap in the age of finds between about 1200 BC and the start of the Roman period in about 70 AD, which may indicate depopulation, possibly due to a poorer climate. Despite a strong local tradition, there is little evidence of a Roman military station at Stockport. It is assumed that roads from Cheadle to Ardotalia (Melandra) and Manchester to Buxton crossed close to
12144-437: The results were unsatisfactory. Howard Greenfield and Helen Miller, the song's co-writers, offered it instead to Gene Pitney . Pitney took the existing musical track, replacing Sedaka's lead vocal track with his own. Everything else was Sedaka, including his own arrangement and backing vocals, piano-playing, and usual female backup singers. Pitney ended up with a No. 7 hit for himself and his record label, Musicor , in 1964. For
12276-470: The significance of this; Arrowsmith takes this as evidence for the existence of a settlement at that time, but Morris states the find could be "an isolated incident". The small cache is the only Anglo-Saxon find in the area. However, the etymology Stoc-port suggests inhabitation during this period. No part of Stockport appears in the Domesday Book of 1086. The area north of the Mersey was part of
12408-417: The singer-songwriter period; Sedaka and Cody "clicked" as songwriters and began a prolonged collaboration between the two. Sedaka took a different approach to songwriting with Cody compared to Greenfield, with whom he was arguing frequently near the end of their collaboration; whereas he allowed Greenfield in the studio during recording, he met with Cody off-site to write songs. Cody did not consider Sedaka to be
12540-524: The so-called Four Heatons . Stockport's principal commercial district is the town centre, with branches of most high-street stores to be found in the Merseyway Shopping Centre or The Peel Centre . Redrock Stockport has a twelve-screen cinema, bars and several restaurants. Stockport is six miles (9.7 km) from Manchester, making it convenient for commuters and shoppers. In 2008, the council's £500 million plans to redevelop
12672-462: The song had been recorded at Strawberry and Sedaka asked if he could use the studio for his next album. Sedaka recorded two albums there – Solitaire (recorded in February and March 1972) and The Tra-La Days Are Over (1973). Harvey Lisberg also brought them Ramases who recorded his Space Hymns album (1971) there. Manchester folk group Fivepenny Piece also recorded many of their albums at
12804-464: The song that same year. Sedaka left Elektra and signed with Curb Records . Sedaka recorded two albums on the Curb label – Come See About Me , a covers album, in 1983 and The Good Times in 1986. Neither of these albums fared well on the charts or in terms of sales, with only modest success for the singles that were released from them (another duet with Dara, a cover of " Your Precious Love ", reached
12936-423: The songwriters' parents and by John Lennon , then facing immigration issues at the time. "The Immigrant" reached number 22 but topped the easy listening charts. In late 1972, producer Stig Anderson approached Sedaka to write the lyrics for a single by a new Swedish pop quartet then known as Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid. Sedaka agreed, on the condition he liked the song. Anderson, who had co-written
13068-460: The studio did get a name for being a good place to work." The partners in the business continued to upgrade equipment at the studios, and in December 1969 a deal was struck with US producers Jerry Kasenetz and Jeffry Katz of Super K Productions to book the studios solidly for three months to record bubblegum songs, using the talents of Gouldman, Stewart, Godley and Creme. Stewart described
13200-475: The studio's new name in honour of his favourite song by the Beatles , " Strawberry Fields Forever ". Within months songwriter and future 10cc member Graham Gouldman joined the pair as an investor. The studio was used extensively by Stewart, Gouldman and the other two musicians who would join them to form 10cc, Lol Creme and Kevin Godley . In a 1976 interview, Stewart described the studio's early days: "It
13332-544: The studios every day from 11am to 5pm and then Paul would come in the evenings. It was a fabulous period, the studio looked absolutely beautiful, full of their equipment and our equipment, there was a lovely creative atmosphere in the studio ... Throughout that period Strawberry was operating 24 hours a day and that gave the studio an atmosphere it had never had before and to me that's something that came across on Sheet Music that we did not capture again when we did The Original Soundtrack ." In 1976, Gouldman and Stewart opened
13464-599: The studios, both North and South, included Joy Division , Neil Sedaka , Barclay James Harvest , the Smiths , the Stone Roses , the Moody Blues , Paul McCartney , Wax , and Cliff Richard . On 3 May 2007, a plaque was mounted on the front of 3 Waterloo Road by the Borough of Stockport for the Stockport Heritage Trust marking the building as one of notable historical interest. The plaque reads: "Strawberry Recording Studios 1968 to 1993. Association with
13596-439: The studios. The experience of working on Solitaire , which became a success for Sedaka, was enough to prompt the band to seek recognition on their own merits. In a later interview Gouldman said: "It was Neil Sedaka's success that did it, I think. We'd just been accepting any job we were offered and were getting really frustrated. We knew that we were worth more than that, but it needed something to prod us into facing that. We were
13728-639: The support of Festival Records , he recorded a new LP of original material entitled Workin' on a Groovy Thing (released in the United Kingdom as Sounds of Sedaka ) at Festival Studios in Sydney. It was co-produced by Festival staff producer Pat Aulton , with arrangements by John Farrar (who later achieved international fame for his work with Olivia Newton-John ) and backing by Australian session musicians including guitarist Jimmy Doyle ( Ayers Rock ) and noted jazz musician-composer John Sangster . One of
13860-643: The survey. The reduction in value is taken as evidence of destruction by William the Conqueror 's men in the campaigns generally known as the Harrying of the North . The omission of Stockport was once taken as evidence that destruction was so complete that a survey was not needed. Arrowsmith argues from the etymology that Stockport may have still been a market place associated with a larger estate, and so would not be surveyed separately. The Anglo-Saxon landholders in
13992-477: The title track, " Solitaire ", which was successfully covered by Andy Williams (UK Top 5 singles chart) and the Carpenters (US Top 20), it included two UK Top 40 singles, one of which ("Beautiful You") also charted briefly in America, Sedaka's first US chart appearance in ten years. "Solitaire" was the first collaboration between Sedaka and Phil Cody, whom Sedaka felt was an ideal lyricist for writing music in
14124-440: The town centre were cancelled after construction company Lendlease pulled out of the project, blaming the credit crunch. More recently work has begun with talks of a Metrolink route to Manchester, redevelopment of the old bus station amongst many old buildings becoming luxury apartments. Also many roadworks to deal with the intended growth from the development. Stockport Town Hall , designed by Sir Alfred Brumwell Thomas , has
14256-612: The town centre, and a late medieval merchants' house on the 700-year-old Market Place. In 1967, the Stockport air disaster occurred, when a British Midland Airways C-4 Argonaut aeroplane crashed in the Hopes Carr area of the town, resulting in 72 deaths among the passengers and crew. On 23 November 1981, an F1/T2 tornado formed over Cheadle Hulme . It subsequently passed over Stockport town centre. In 2011, Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council embarked on an ambitious regeneration scheme, known as Future Stockport. The plan
14388-518: The town centre. The preferred site is at a ford over the Mersey, known to be paved in the 18th century, but it has never been proved that this or any roads in the area are Roman. Hegginbotham reported (in 1892) the discovery of Roman mosaics at Castle Hill (around Stockport market) in the late 18th century, during the construction of a mill, but noted it was "founded on tradition only"; substantial stonework has never been dated by modern methods. However, Roman coins and pottery were probably found there during
14520-572: The township of Brinnington, the hamlets of Brinksway and Edgeley from the parish of Cheadle , and part of the township of Heaton Norris , the latter being on the north side of the River Mersey and forming part of the ancient parish of Manchester in Lancashire . Stockport was reformed to become a municipal borough in 1836 under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835 , which standardised how most boroughs operated across
14652-465: The tracks from the album, "Wheeling, West Virginia", reached No. 20 in Australia in early 1970. The album is also notable because it was Sedaka's first album to include collaborations with writers other than long-time lyricist Howard Greenfield; the title track featured lyrics by Roger Atkins and four other songs were co-written with Carole Bayer Sager . In 1971, Sedaka reunited with RCA and released
14784-567: The tune and wrote the playful response "Oh! Neil", which King recorded and released as an unsuccessful single the same year. Thus, this was the only time the melody of the song was used by a popular artist and a future sensation around the same time. After establishing himself in 1958, Sedaka wrote many more hits from 1960 to 1962. His flow of Top 30 hits during this period included: " Stairway to Heaven " (No. 9, 1960); " You Mean Everything to Me " (No. 17, 1960); " Run, Samson, Run " (No. 27, 1960); " Calendar Girl " (No. 4, 1961; also reached No. 1 on
14916-421: The whole of England average at 28.9%. Although suburbs such as Woodford , Bramhall and Cheadle Hulme are relatively wealthy and 45% of the borough is green space, districts such as Edgeley , Adswood , Shaw Heath and Brinnington are among the poorer areas. In the north-west of the borough are the areas of Heaton Moor and Heaton Mersey , which together with Heaton Chapel and Heaton Norris comprise
15048-477: The world on the Polydor label. His first album of new material with Polydor was Laughter in the Rain (1974). Darby Crash referred to Sedaka as "the real godfather of punk" due to his unaffected, simple chord progressions and unpretentious lyrics, saying that Calendar Girl "had all of punk right there-you just had to get high and play that pure rock and roll just like that." Elton John and Sedaka met at
15180-432: Was "renowned as one of the duskiest, smokiest holes" in the whole of the industrial area. Stockport was one of the prototype textile towns . In the early 18th century, England was not capable of producing silk of sufficient quality to be used as the warp in woven fabrics. Suitable thread had to be imported from Italy , where it was spun on water-powered machinery. In about 1717 John Lombe travelled to Italy and copied
15312-490: Was Bob Rogers and Australia who welcomed me." Sedaka made several trips to Australia to play cabaret dates, and his commercial comeback began when the single "Star-Crossed Lovers" became a major hit there. The song went to No. 1 nationally in April 1969—giving Sedaka his first charting single anywhere in four years. It also came in at No. 5 in Go-Set magazine's list of the Top 40 Australian singles of 1969. Later that year, with
15444-466: Was Sedaka's last Top 40 hit in the U.S. until 1974. In 1964 Sedaka's career began a sharp decline, hastened by The Beatles ' arrival on the radio and TV, and the rest of the so-called British Invasion . When describing the Beatles' effect on his career in the mid-1960s, Sedaka put it brusquely: "The Beatles—not good!" He would later describe it in 2023: "after five years of hits... the bottom fell out." From 1964 to 1966, only three of his singles cracked
15576-425: Was a very tiny studio with some stereo equipment and the walls lined with egg boxes to provide sound insulation. There was a makeshift sort of control desk tied together with sellotape and string, but it was good enough for what I wanted to do, and it was the only studio near Manchester . What I wanted to do was to make some demos of some songs I'd written – put them down myself and then try to sell them. At that time I
15708-405: Was an uncharacteristically solid rock song featuring a scorching guitar solo. While it peaked at No. 16 on the Hot 100, it was the first of his three "comeback" albums' debut singles not to hit No. 1—or even the Top 10. The second single was the album's title track, once again featuring Elton on uncredited backing vocals. While it cracked the Top 40 (peaking at No. 36), it also marked the beginning of
15840-516: Was as simple as finding out what he wanted to have on his album—which turned out to be a compilation from his British albums. It had been like Elvis coming up and giving us the chance to release his records. We couldn't believe our luck. Sedaka returned to the U.S. album charts with the release of Sedaka's Back , a compilation of songs from three albums he had already recorded in the UK—namely "Solitaire", "The Tra-La Days Are Over", and "Laughter in
15972-451: Was completed in 1862. World War I cut off overseas markets, which established local industries and eroded Stockport's eminence. Even so, in 1932 more than 3,000 people worked in the hatting industry, making it the third biggest employer after textiles and engineering. The depression of the 1930s and changes in fashion greatly reduced the demand for hats, and the demand that existed was met by cheaper wool products made elsewhere, for example
16104-439: Was created. The London firm of Miller Christy bought out a local firm in 1826, a move described by Arrowsmith as a "watershed". By the latter part of the century hatting had changed from a manual to a mechanised process, and was one of Stockport's primary employers; the area, with nearby Denton, was the leading national centre. Support industries, such as blockmaking, trimmings, and leatherware, became established. Stockport Armoury
16236-431: Was infected with the idea of becoming a recording engineer and building a studio where I could develop my own ideas as to what a studio should be like." Gouldman was equally enthusiastic: "Ever since I'd started songwriting I'd always wanted to have a studio of my own to work in and to make my own demos. We used to tell ourselves that one day the Beatles would record there – and eventually Paul McCartney did. Gradually
16368-532: Was installed in June 1970, the first experiments with it, on the layering of drum sounds, yielded the hit single " Neanderthal Man ", released under the name of Hotlegs . Stewart said: "It was the first thing we had ever tried to record on the new equipment that we'd had installed at the studio with the Kasenetz Katz money; for the first time we'd become a 16-track studio with our own Ampex 16-track machine and
16500-445: Was married to Morris Gorman (né Garmezano; paternal uncle to singer Eydie Gormé ). Gormé's mother was of Lebanese Jewish descent. Sedaka demonstrated musical aptitude in his second-grade choral class and, when his teacher sent a note home suggesting he take piano lessons, his mother took a part-time job in an Abraham & Straus department store for six months to pay for a second-hand upright. In 1947, he auditioned successfully for
16632-453: Was one of the rebels. Dent gives the size of the castle as about 31 by 60 m (102 by 197 ft), and suggests it was similar in pattern to those at Pontefract and Launceston . A branch of the Arden family (to which Shakespeare is related on his mother's side) were prominent in Stockport in 1500s at Underbank Hall , and Arden Hall (also known as Harden or Hawarden). The castle
16764-672: Was originally called Inter-City Studios and located above a music store in the town centre. In early 1968 it was bought by Peter Tattersall, a former road manager for Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas . Tattersall invited Eric Stewart , then lead guitarist and singer of the Mindbenders and later a member of 10cc , to join him as a partner in July 1968. The pair moved to larger premises at No. 3 Waterloo Road in October, with Stewart choosing
16896-423: Was probably ruinous by the middle of the 16th century, and in 1642 it was agreed to demolish it. Castle Hill, possibly the motte, was levelled in 1775 to make space for Warren's mill, see below. Nearby walls, once thought to be either part of the castle or of the town walls, are now thought to be revetments to protect the cliff face from erosion. The regicide John Bradshaw (1602–1659) was born at Wibersley, in
17028-488: Was pulled down in 1745 and trenches were additionally dug in the fords to try to stop the Jacobite army of Charles Edward Stuart as they marched through the town on the way to Derby. The vanguard was shot at by the town guard and a horse was killed. The army also passed through Stockport on their retreat back from Derby to Scotland . One of the legends of the town is that of Cheshire farmer, Jonathan Thatcher, who, in
17160-473: Was ready to drop Sedaka from their label; Sedaka feared he was headed for one-hit wonder status. Sedaka and his manager, Al Nevins , persuaded the RCA executives to give him one more chance. Sedaka then bought the three biggest hit singles of the time and listened to them repeatedly, studying the song structure, chord progressions, lyrics and harmonies before writing his next songs. " Oh! Carol " delivered Sedaka his first domestic Top 10 hit, reaching No. 9 on
17292-731: Was talked into focusing on the international markets because Elvis Presley , the biggest rock star in America, never toured overseas (largely because of Colonel Tom Parker 's desire to avoid immigration officials), and because his publishers and managers considered it a much lower risk for a new performer not to face American audiences who knew him. The year 1962 was one of the most important of Sedaka's career, with "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do" reaching No. 1 and "Next Door to an Angel" reaching No. 5. After this his popularity began to wane and his 1963 singles enjoyed only moderate success: "Alice In Wonderland" (No. 17), "Let's Go Steady Again" (No. 26), "The Dreamer" (No. 47), and "Bad Girl" (No. 33). "Bad Girl"
17424-421: Was writing in her diary, Sedaka asked her if he could read what she had written. Francis said no. This inspired Sedaka to write "The Diary", his own first hit single. Sedaka and Greenfield wrote many of Connie Francis' hits, such as "Fallin'" and the "Theme from Where the Boys Are ", the film in which she starred. This hit the Top 5 on the Billboard pop singles chart and Francis had several No. 1 singles. "Where
#762237