the Jazz Singer (soundtrack) (35th anniversary)

Today (November 10th) marks the thirty-fifth anniversary of the soundtrack from The Jazz Singer. This 1980 album spent one-hundred and fifteen weeks on the US Billboard Album chart, peaking at number 3. It generated a number of hit singles as well for its singer/actor star Neil Diamond.

For more of my review on this record, click here.

Neil Diamond - Primitive

Today (July 20th) marks the thirtieth anniversary of Primitive, the sixteenth studio album from Neil Diamond. This 1984 release hit number 45 in Australia, number 35 on the US Billboard Album chart (with a twenty-five week total chart stay), and number 7 in the UK.

Happy Birthday, Neil Diamond

Happy seventy-second birthday today (January 24th) to American singer-songwriter Neil Diamond. Now into his sixth decade of performing, Diamond has been given such honors as induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame (in 1984) and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (in 2011), receipt of the Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement Award (in 2000) and a Kennedy Center Honors honoree (in 2011).

Neil Diamond - Heartlight

Today (September 17th) marks the thirtieth anniversary of Heartlight, the fifteenth studio album from Neil Diamond. It was a successful follow up to his 1981 release On The Way To The Sky (click here for my review of that one) and also went Platinum in the US. It reached number 43 in the UK, number 37 in New Zealand, number 8 in Australia, and number 9 on the US Billboard Hot 200.

On most of the tracks, Diamond co-wrote them with others including Burt Bacharach, Carole Bayer-Sager and David Foster.

Neil Diamond - On The Way To The Sky

Happy seventy-first birthday today (January 24th) to American singer-songwriter and 2011 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Neil Diamond (a long deserved honor, in my opinion).

Continuing off the successful momentum of 1980’s The Jazz Singer soundtrack (click here for my review of that album), Neil Diamond followed it with his fourteenth album On The Way To The Sky in November of 1981. The album reached number 17 on the US Billboard Hot 200, number 39 on the UK album charts, number 12 on the Australian charts, and number 11 on the New Zealand charts.

the Jazz Singer (soundtrack)

Welcome to another edition of Soundtrack Sunday.

I am not afraid to admit that I have always been a fan of Neil Diamond. I enjoyed his songs in the 60’s and 70’s, hearing them on AM radio and such. I was pleased to see him inducted into the Rock ‘N Roll Hall of Fame last year as he is both an amazing songwriter and performer. But back in 1980 it was surprising to see him add an acting credit to his list of accomplishments.

As 1980 came to an end, the American musical remake of a 1927 classic film hit the theatres; The Jazz Singer starred Diamond along with Sir Laurence Olivier and Lucie Arnaz. While the film did fair at the box office ($27 million gross sales), the soundtrack was a big success - going Platinum multiple times over and reaching number 3 on both the US and UK album charts.