Released 1959 Genre Pop Label RCA Victor | Recorded 1959 Length 2:12 | |
B-side "One Way Ticket (To the Blues)" | ||
"Oh! Carol" is an international hit written by Neil Sedaka in 1958. The song was co-written with Howard Greenfield. The song reached #9 in the American charts in 1959. It also earned Sedaka his first #1 ranking when it went to #1 on the Italian charts for four weeks in January 1960. After release of single, it was included in the album Neil Sedaka Sings Little Devil and His Other Hits. The song is noted for Sedaka's spoken recitation of the verse, the second time around.
At the time Sedaka produced the record, his second and third singles, "I Go Ape!" and "Crying My Heart Out For You" had fared poorly on the charts, and RCA Victor was ready to drop them from their label, but producer Al Nevins persuaded the RCA executives to give Sedaka one last chance. Determined to create a hit song, Sedaka purchased the three top singles of the day and listened to them repeatedly, studying their melody, chord progression, and lyrical styles; and he found that they were very similar in structure. He then used this knowledge to create the song, "Oh! Carol".
Sedaka had dated Carole King when he was still at high school, and she was still called Carol Klein, so he used her name; Gerry Goffin - King's husband - took the tune, and wrote the playful response "Oh! Neil", which King recorded and released as an unsuccessful single the same year (1958).
Sedaka also recorded a Hebrew-language version of "Oh! Carol"' which was written by Chaim Kaynan. It has been covered by other artists in other languages as well.
The B-side song, "One Way Ticket", also earned Sedaka a #1 ranking in Japan for several months in 1960, where it was affectionately known as "The Choo-Choo Train Song".