We’ve lost another of the pioneering figures in rock & roll. Legendary singer-songwriter Neil Sedaka has passed away at the age of 86.

A gifted musician, Sedaka earned a scholarship to the prestigious Juilliard School of Music. His mother hoped he would become a famous classical pianist. However, as Neil entered his teen years, he discovered and fell in love with rock & roll.

Sedaka got his professional start at 18, when he and his songwriting partner, childhood friend Howard Greenfield, were signed to Aldon Music, the most influential music publisher of what has come to be known as the Brill Building sound. That sound came from songwriters who worked out of two buildings about two blocks apart in downtown Manhattan in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Sedaka sold his first song to Connie Francis in 1958. She took “Stupid Cupid” all the way to #14. Shortly thereafter, Sedaka began singing his own compositions. His first single for RCA, “The Diary,” also reached #14 on the national charts, but several of his follow-ups failed to achieve any success. RCA was on the verge of dropping him from their roster when one of Aldon’s owners, Al Nivens, convinced the label to give him one more shot.

Sedaka and Greenfield came up with a tune dedicated to Neil’s former high school sweetheart and fellow Aldon songwriter, Carole King. “Oh Carol” hit the Top Ten in late 1959 and touched off a successful string of hits, including “Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen,” “Calendar Girl,” “Next Door to an Angel,” and “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do,” which became his first #1 record.

The British Invasion sent his career into a decline, as it did for many other American rockers. Neil took his family and relocated to England, while he also began a new partnership with lyricist Phil Cody. In 1972, Sedaka was approached by ABBA to help write lyrics for one of their early singles, feeling he would have a better feel for English than the native-born Swedes. He wrote the lyrics for “Ring, Ring,” which became one of the group's very first hits outside of their native country.

Sedaka continued to record without much commercial success, but in 1975, two American acts would cover Sedaka songs and launch his comeback. First, the Carpenters recorded “Solitaire,” which reached #1 on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart and #17 on its pop chart. Then, the Captain and Tennille had their breakthrough single with Sedaka’s “Love Will Keep Us Together,” even going so far as to sing “Sedaka is back” over the fadeout.

Sedaka himself returned to the charts by re-recording a slower version of his biggest hit, “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do,” along with new songs like “Laughter in the Rain” and a duet with Elton John on another Sedaka-Cody song called “Bad Blood,” which became Neil’s second #1 hit.

Sedaka continued writing and performing, producing short-form online videos right up to 2025. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1983 and has a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame. His son, Marc Sedaka, is a screenwriter, and his grandson, Mike, is also a musician.

There’s nothing you can do to avoid flu season. But there is something you can do to protect yourself from getting the flu. This tip doesn’t involve getting your yearly flu shot (although that’s not a bad idea). But dieticians insist there are certain foods we can eat to help boost our immune system. These include:

Berries – Rich in Vitamin C

Beans – High in zinc

Garlic – A 2020 study revealed that garlic seems to stimulate cells related to immune system function

Nuts and Seeds – High in Vitamin E

Salmon – One of the only foods to contain vitamin D

Sweet Potatoes – A Great source of beta carotene

Three Dog Night was a unique concept in the rock world—a band with 3 lead singers. Corey Wells left us in 2015. Chuck Negron passed away this week (February 2nd).

Three Dog Night formed in 1968 and scored 2 hit singles with their very first album: "Try a Little Tenderness" and "One." From there, they put together an amazing string of 21 consecutive singles that all landed in Billboard's Top 40. That included 3 number ones, one of which went on to become the #1 song of 1971 ("Joy to the World").  The strain of constant touring and the rock & roll lifestyle brought their career to a screeching halt in 1976. The group reformed in 1981, but by then, they were already a nostalgia act.

Negron's serious drug addiction led him to be dropped from the band in 1985. Negron eventually found recovery, but was unable to mend fences with Wells and the other "Dog," Danny Hutton. Negron continued to perform as a solo singer while Hutton continues to perform under the Three Dog Night name.

For reasons that escape anyone with a knowledge of popular music, Three Dog Night has yet to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Hopefully, this will be corrected soon.

The rise and fall of Three Dog Night will be the subject of an upcoming episode of "Rock Remembered here at Boomtown America.

As it says, "If you get turned on, there's nothing wrong with an old hippie!

The Baby Boom, television, and space exploration all got started at roughly the same time. By the sixties, astronauts had already gone up in rockets, and the spaceman hero was gradually replacing the cowboy as the dream job for most young people.

Riding that wave into the cosmos was a beloved television series that debuted on NBC in the fall of 1963, Fireball XL5. Produced by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson in a process they dubbed “Supermarionation” (combining marionettes and animation with “super” tacked on in front to make it sound even more impressive), the show followed the adventures of Colonel Steve Zodiac, boldly going where no puppet had gone before! Steve flew the giant spaceship Fireball XL5 (apparently, there were 30XL ships in the fleet) for an outfit called the World Space Patrol (WSP), perhaps the successor to our own Space Force currently patrolling the galaxy to keep us safe from… well, from something or other.

The series took place just 100 years in the future – 2062, 1962 being the year it went into production. Based on what it promised, we have a lot of catching up to do in the next 30 to 40 years! WSP was headquartered at Space City on an unnamed island in the Pacific Ocean because, why not? What little we saw of its crew, all seemed to be Americans, making one wonder if somehow the U.S. had conquered the world, or no other country was good at producing spacemen. By the way, Fireball didn’t launch like your average, everyday rocket. No sir. It ran along some train-like tracks and then took off like a plane. How it stayed aloft on its way out of Earth’s atmosphere without any wings was never explained.

The crew of the massive XL5 was also pretty small for such a large ship. Besides Zodiac, there was the lovely Doctor Venus (who was French, the sole non-American amongst the main characters – her appearance based on the woman who provided her voice, co-producer Sylvia Anderson) and Dr. Matt Matic (“matt-a-matics,” get it?), your standard, slightly doddering old scientist. Non-human characters included Zodiac’s robot co-pilot, Robert, and Venus’ pet alien, Zoonie the Lazoon.

Among the recurring villains were the nefarious couple, Boris and Griselda Space Spy. You’d think in their line of work, perhaps a legal change of last name might have helped them on their missions.

You’ll be pleased to know that, according to the show, Earth in 2062 has reverted to a lot of the language and gender roles of 1962. As a medical doctor, Venus’ (no, her family couldn’t afford a last name) main duties consisted of making coffee for her male co-workers and worrying about Steve Zodiac’s ability to escape danger. There are no other women employed in Space City. Also, the slang term “boss,” meaning outstanding, seems to have resurfaced in this future time. That was especially weird as “boss” had already passed out of usage among earthlings well before the end of the first season in 1964.

Somehow, we will solve the problem of faster-than-light travel as Fireball XL5 was patrolling different worlds outside our solar system on a weekly basis, almost always taking off from Space City and reaching their destination before the first commercial.

Steve and Venus are also able to roam outside of their spaceship when it’s in outer space without helmets or space suits, so we’ve got that to look forward to, which is pretty nice. The duo also traveled outside the ship on what looked like space scooters. Actually, pretty cool-looking devices that were dreamed up by the producers as they thought the marionettes looked pretty clunky when walking, so this way they could move around in a more realistic-looking way.

Actually, the show was lots of fun and proved popular. 39 episodes were produced in black and white. It ran for two seasons as part of NBC’s Saturday morning line-up. It ran for 11 years on British television. Since then, it has reappeared on various cable channels and is currently part of the line-up of retro programming at MeTV.

The entire series is available on home video in DVD or Blu-Ray formats. You should check it out. It’s boss!

If you’re worried about the potential for online hackers to steal your credit card number when making purchases on the internet, there is an alternative. Many credit card companies will issue you a virtual card. It will have a completely different number than the actual plastic one. Should a hacker obtain the number later, it will prove to be useless. To find out more, contact your credit card company.

Believe it or not, your diet can help determine how you endure and even reduce any pain you may experience. According to the experts, it helps if your diet includes these:

Protein – But not just any old protein. Get your protein from plants, such as beans, nuts, and whole grains. Evidence shows that it can reduce inflammation, which can be a major source of chronic pain as we age.

Fiber – Yes, we know there are other reasons we should be consuming more fiber as we age, but it can also reduce chronic inflammation. For men over 50, try and consume at least 30 grams of fiber daily. For women over 60, make it at least 21 grams daily.

Fruits – In particular, cherries and berries can reduce inflammation. But not fruit juices, as they lack fiber and are often loaded with added sugar. If you’re diabetic, try to load up on non-starchy vegetables.

As we get older, our lives get more sedentary, and we get tired more quickly. But there are some simple steps you can take to put more pep in your step.

Step outside – Being out in fresh air can give you an instant pick-me-up as you shift your focus to a different environment than you’re experiencing indoors. Even in very cold weather just a walk to the end of the driveway and back or a few moments in the backyard to can be rejuvenating.

Special smells – Experts say the aroma of peppermint or citrus fruit has been known to boost alertness in addition to having a strong effect on one’s emotions.

Step lively – For every 30 minutes of sitting, take a little stroll in or around your house for about 3 minutes. This can help fight fatigue.

Sip some water – Even mild dehydration can cause fatigue. So, keep a glass or bottle of water around at all times and make sure you stay hydrated.

Even in today’s economy, everybody is looking for ways to expand their income.  We have three ways that might do the trick.

• Cash in Your Gift Cards – Have unused gift cards? You can sell them at websites like CardCash.com, GiftCardOutlets.com, and GiftCash.com. Be aware that you will be selling them for less than face value. After all, if you sold them at face value.
• Become a Transcriber/Translator – Have solid typing skills? Know more than one language? You can earn cash with those skills by transcribing audio and video recordings of meetings, court hearings, and more at websites like GoTranscript.com and Rev.com. Payments are typically a flat rate of so much per minute of the recording you transcribe or translate.
• Trade-In Your Old Devices – Laptops, smartphones, tablets, etc. can be turned into store credits or gift cards at major retailers like Best Buy, Costco, Target, Walmart, and more.

There have long been two schools of thought regarding bodily pain. Some tell you to put ice on it. Some tell you to use heat. Which is better?

That depends. According to this most recent research, ice will reduce blood flow, which can reduce pain. However, cold can also slow the healing and increase the likelihood of the pain becoming chronic. Heat, such as might be applied by a heating pad, will increase blood flow, which helps relax muscles and ease aching joints.