Shortly before leaving work, I learned of the passing of singer-songwriter Neil Sedaka at the age of 86. Sedaka's death was sudden as he was rushed to the hospital early this morning.
The Brooklyn-born Sedaka had two distinct periods of success - the early 1960's when he scored hits like "Breaking Up is Hard to Do" and "Calendar Girl" and the mid 1970's when, with a boost from Elton John, had a career resurgence with "Bad Blood" (featuring John), "Laughter in the Rain" along with Captain and Tennille's cover of "Love Will Keep Us Together" which featured Toni Tenille singing "Sedaka is back" at the conclusion of the song.
Sadly, Sedaka is now gone.
Yet my favorite Neil Sedaka song comes not from his peaks but during the valley in between. When chart success proved elusive for Sedaka in North America and the U.K., he found a receptive audience in Australia and New Zealand and scored a couple of big hits in the late 1960's and early 1970's - "Star-Crossed Lovers" and "Wheeling, West Virginia".
For those of you familiar with these pages can hazard a guess that it is the latter song which has become my favorite of Sedaka's on account of my business trip to Wheeling in June 2025. In anticipation of my trip, I thought of songs about West Virginia. Of course, there is John Denver's "(Take Me Home) Country Roads" which is now the official state song. There is also "West Virginia Fantasies" which is part of Chicago's "Ballet for a Girl in Buchannon" suite composed by James Pankow.
But I certainly didn't expect to come across a song named for Wheeling much less one sung by Neil Sedaka. Co-written with his longtime lyricist Howard Greenfield, the song has a breezy, elaborate orchestration accompanied by introspective, morose lyrics on the price of success:
Where is the guy from Wheelin' West Virginia
Why did he have to roam
So far away from Wheelin' West Virginia
Thousands of miles from home
Gone is the guy from Wheelin' West Virginia
Gone is the world he used to know
There's no such place as Wheelin' West VirginiaIt faded long ago
Given that this was a hit south of the Equator more than half a century ago, I'm not sure how well known this song is Wheeling, West Virginia although I'm sure he must have performed at the Capitol Theatre at some point in his six-decade career.
I cannot speak for the people of Wheeling, West Virginia, but I can tell you that I listened to this song scarcely 24 hours ago. I can also tell you that when I think of Neil Sedaka I will always think of Wheeling, West Virigina and when I think of Wheeling, West Virginia I will always think of Neil Sedaka. R.I.P.
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