NEW YORK (Reuters) – Neil Sedaka was one of rock 'n roll's first superstars with hits like “Happy Birthday, Sweet Sixteen,” “Oh! Carol,” “Calendar Girl,” “Breaking Up is Hard to Do,” and “Laughter in the Rain.”

Now, after more than half a century singing and writing songs, he looks back at his legacy with an album, “The Music of My Life,” containing original new songs.

Sedaka, 70, the son of a Brooklyn cab driver, spoke to Reuters about his life and how he went from studying classical piano to becoming the soundtrack of the fledgling rock 'n roll generation.

Q: You have written over 1,000 songs, what was the first?

A: “It was a terrible thing called 'My Life's Devotion,' I was 13. I called it a bastardized Bolero, or a ruptured rumba. It was an old Xavier Cugat thing I had in my head that I probably rewrote.”

Q: Were you musical as a child?

A: “I never even sang in school, I was the pianist for 'Oklahoma,' and 'Carousel' and 'Finnian's Rainbow' and for the choir. I was ashamed to sing, because my voice was so high. It wasn't until 1958 that I got up the courage to sing.”

Q: You studied music (at Juilliard) then wrote songs at the Brill Building, was that your first job in music?

A: “Actually my first job was with Atlantic Records. I was 16 when I sold songs for Laverne Baker and Clyde McPhatter. I'd do black R&B songs, (for groups like) the Cookies, the Clovers. And I always said to myself: 'Why don't they take my voice with it?' I told (producer) Jerry Wexler years later, I said 'I was always so hurt that you didn't sign me as a singer'. He said: 'I kick myself to this day that I didn't sign you. You certainly proved me wrong'”

Q: What was your big break?

A: “In 1958 Steve Scholes of RCA Victor, who brought Elvis (Presley) from Sun, heard me. I was auditioned and sang 'The Diary' and he signed me as a singer. I sold, between '58 and '63, about 35 million records.”

Q: After your first hits, did you go on tour?

A: “I was terrified. I had never had a singing lesson. My publishers were also my managers and they knew I was a lousy performer. So they booked me as far away as possible to get my feet wet — the Philippines, Japan, Australia, Brazil. In case I flopped, my record sales would not be affected if I made a fool of myself. My repertoire was seven songs — I had to do 'Oh, Carol' twice and 'The Diary' twice.”

Q: Then you hit the big time?

A: “In '61, I debuted with 'Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen' at the London Palladium and I played a Chopin piece on the piano. I was staying at the Dorchester Hotel and the chambermaid said, 'It's about time they sent something other than rubbish from the United States. I loved the Chopin!'”

Q: Did you tour with Elvis Presley and other big rock 'n roll stars?

A: “I wanted to be Bobby Darin. But I never did the 'American Bandstand' bus tours. I wanted to be a cabaret singer like Connie Francis. So I started at the Copacabana and New York cabarets. I did Ed Sullivan on television.

Q: Did stardom change your life?

A: “I was living with my parents and when the first check came in for a recording. I ran and opened it and said; 'Oh, $2,600.' I showed it to my father and he said: 'You misread it, it's $26,000.' He had never seen an amount of money like that. My only indulgence was a new car every year.”

Q: Apart from the new album, do you still write music?

A: “I've come full circle. I've started to write classical music. I've written a symphony called 'Joie de Vivre,' which had its debut at the Sydney Opera House two years ago. And I'm finishing a piano concerto called 'Manhattan Intermezzo,' which I will debut here at Carnegie with the New York Pops.

Q: Is popular music different now than the 1950s?

A: “It's not as trendy and fickle as it was. And in those days I wrote for a teenage market. I admire a good song and melodies are coming back. Look at Susan Boyle, those are beautiful melodies.”

(Reporting by Steve James; Editing by Patricia Reaney)