"Sedaka is back," sang Toni Tennille at the conclusion of the Captain & Tennille's number one recording of Sedaka's "Love Will Keep Us Together" in 1975, and Andy Williams had every reason to welcome the return. Williams, after all, could claim to have sparked Sedaka's comeback by recording the... [+] Expand

"Sedaka is back," sang Toni Tennille at the conclusion of the Captain & Tennille's number one recording of Sedaka's "Love Will Keep Us Together" in 1975, and Andy Williams had every reason to welcome the return. Williams, after all, could claim to have sparked Sedaka's comeback by recording the singer/songwriter's "Solitaire," releasing it as a single, and using it as the title track of an album in 1973. Now, with Sedaka riding high again behind his Sedaka's Back LP and "Laughter in the Rain" single (as well as "Love Will Keep Us Together"), Williams celebrated by cutting an album anchored by Sedaka songs, including the title track, "The Hungry Years" (which Sedaka would use as the title song of his next album), and "Sad Eyes." The LP was filled out by covers of the recent hits "My Eyes Adored You" and "Mandy," a version of "Feelings" that may have been intended as Williams hit but was superseded by the successful recording by its author, Morris Albert, and some other choice material also perhaps meant to resurrect Williams' faltering recording career. "Quits" was a good divorce song from Danny O'Keefe; "In My Eyes" was a song from Frankie Valli's Closeup album by the same team that wrote "My Eyes Adored You"; and "What Happens to You" had been commissioned from Stevie Wonder. (With the Carpenters covering "Solitaire" for a hit, Williams' 1973 recording was stuck on the LP as well.) The result was a good contemporary pop album that might have done better if Columbia Records had given it a little promotional muscle. As it was, "Sad Eyes" became Williams' biggest easy listening hit in three and a half years, but that wasn't enough to draw attention to the LP, which missed the charts, confirming Williams' retreat from the front ranks of recording artists. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide [-] Collapse

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