Laughter in the Rain (1974) 3/4/20

One day, in 1974, lyricist Phil Cody smoked a little weed and fell asleep under a tree. When he awoke, he scribbled down the lyrics to this "Great Song of the '70s,' and gave them to his songwriting partner, Neil Sedaka.

In short order,Neil had written a melody, and the end result was "Laughter in the Rain."

Neil hadn't had a hit in quite a while, but thought the song could be his ticket back to the charts. HOWEVER...

A few weeks before the single release, Neil was listening to the radio when he heard a version of the song by R&B artist Lea Roberts...and panicked.

He was afraid his version would be lost in the shuffle, so he called his record label (Rocket Records), and convinced the owner--a fellow by the name of Elton John--to release the song as soon as possible. Neil's wish was Elton's command. A few days later, the single arrived at radio stations all over North America.

After it's early release in late 1974, Neil's version of "Laughter in the Rain" went straight to #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary Charts.

In Canada, the results were nearly duplicated: #1 on the Pop Chart, and #2 on the Adult Contemporary chart. It also went to #2 in Yugoslavia. (I love the fact that Yugoslavia had a chart!)

As for Lea's version, well, it stalled at #69 on Billboard's Soul Chart...and never hit the Hot 100.

It was kind of a sneaky deal, but in the end, there was really no reason for Neil to panic. In my opinion, his version of "Laughter in the Rain" is lighter, brighter, and much more upbeat than Lea's version. It's a "Great Song of the '70s."

But you can decide for yourself. Here are links to both versions:

Neil:

Lea:

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