''Steppin' Out'' is a 1976 album containing the works of

Neil Sedaka Neil Sedaka (; born March 13, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. Since his music career began in 1957, he has sold millions of records worldwide and has written or co-written over 500 songs for himself and other artists, collabo ...

. In America it was the third and final album of a trilogy of albums issued by

The Rocket Record Company The Rocket Record Company was a record label founded by Elton John, along with Bernie Taupin, Gus Dudgeon, Steve Brown and others, in 1973. The company was named after the hit song " Rocket Man". The label was originally distributed in the ...

. (Rocket would issue a compilation album, '' Neil Sedaka's Greatest Hits'', in 1977; but it contained no new material.) Outside America ''Steppin' Out'' was issued on the

Polydor Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. ...

label. In 1998, the

Varèse Sarabande Varèse Sarabande is an American record label, owned by Concord Music Group and distributed by Universal Music Group, which specializes in film scores and original cast recordings. It aims to reissue rare or unavailable albums, as well as newer r ...

label reissued ''Steppin' Out'' and included four bonus tracks. The title track, a #36 hit in the U.S., featured backing vocals by Sedaka's labelmate,

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

Track listing

Side One

# "Sing Me" # "You Gotta Make Your Own Sunshine" # "No. 1 with a Heartache" # "Steppin' Out" # " Love in the Shadows" # "Cardboard California"

Side Two

# "Here We Are Falling In Love Again" # "I Let You Walk Away" # "Good Times, Good Music, Good Friends" # "Perfect Strangers" # "Bad and Beautiful" # "Summer Nights"

Singles and EPs

Many of the songs on this album were released on 45 rpm singles; some were even included on a 33-1/3 rpm EP album in the UK. Those songs that saw such a release are as follows: * " Love in the Shadows" (No. 16 on US pop charts in 1976) * "Steppin' Out" (No. 36 on US pop charts in 1976) * "I Let You Walk Away" (B-side of "Steppin' Out") * "No. 1 With A Heartache" (issued as a 45 rpm single in the UK on Polydor label; not issued on a 45 in the US) * "Good Times, Good Music, Good Friends" (B-side of "No. 1 With A Heartache" in the UK) * "You Gotta Make Your Own Sunshine" (No. 52 on US pop charts in late 1976-early 1977) * "Perfect Strangers" (B-side of "You Gotta Make Your Own Sunshine") In 1976,

issued an EP in the UK entitled, "Make Your Own Sunshine". This EP included "You Gotta Make Your Own Sunshine" and "Summer Nights" along with "Tit For Tat" and "New York City Blues", two songs from earlier Neil Sedaka albums.

Varese Sarabande re-release

In 1998,

reissued ''Steppin' Out'' and included the following bonus tracks: *(13) "(Baby) Don't Let It Mess Your Mind" (B-side of "Love in the Shadows" in the US) *(14) "Time Waits For No One" (it is unknown when this song was recorded) *(15) "

(Is This the Way to) Amarillo "(Is This the Way to) Amarillo" is a song written by Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield. It is about a man traveling to Amarillo, Texas, to find his girlfriend Marie. Written by two Americans with a strong country-western lyrical theme, the so ...

" (from the Elektra album '' A Song''; No. 44 on US pop charts in 1977) *(16) " Should've Never Let You Go" (duet with daughter

Dara Sedaka Neil Sedaka (; born March 13, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. Since his music career began in 1957, he has sold millions of records worldwide and has written or co-written over 500 songs for himself and other artists, collabo ...

; from the Elektra album '' In the Pocket''; No. 19 on US pop charts in 1980)

Notes

* The songs "Sing Me" and "Cardboard California" were new versions of songs that Sedaka had originally recorded in 1971 for the RCA album ''

Emergence In philosophy, systems theory, science, and art, emergence occurs when an entity is observed to have properties its parts do not have on their own, properties or behaviors that emerge only when the parts interact in a wider whole. Emergence ...

'' * The bonus song "(Baby) Don't Let It Mess Your Mind" was a new version of a song that had originally been recorded in 1972 for the RCA album ''

Solitaire Solitaire is any tabletop game which one can play by oneself, usually with cards, but also with dominoes. The term "solitaire" is also used for single-player games of concentration and skill using a set layout tiles, pegs or stones. These game ...

'' * "Sing Me" was covered by other artists such as

Lou Christie Luigi Alfredo Giovanni Sacco (born February 19, 1943), known professionally as Lou Christie, is an American pop and soft rock singer-songwriter known for several hits in the 1960s, including his 1966 US chart-topper "Lightnin' Strikes" and 1969 ...

and

Helen Reddy Helen Maxine Reddy (25 October 194129 September 2020) was an Australian-American singer, actress, television host, and activist. Born in Melbourne to a showbusiness family, Reddy started her career as an entertainer at age four. She sang on rad ...

, while "Baby, Don't Let It Mess Your Mind" has been covered by other artists, including

Yvonne Elliman Yvonne Marianne Elliman (born December 29, 1951) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress who performed for four years in the first cast of the stage musical ''Jesus Christ Superstar''. She scored a number of hits in the 1970s and achieved ...

. *

served as a backup vocal on the title song "Steppin' Out" just as he had done for Sedaka during his recording of " Bad Blood" in 1975. *

NBC-TV The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

promoted the release of this album with a primetime TV special, also titled ''Steppin' Out'', in 1976. * The song "Bad And Beautiful" has proven quite popular with Neil Sedaka's fans in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, and with other Spanish-speaking fans throughout

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

. * "Bad And Beautiful" was reworked for the 1985

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam is a 1985 Japanese television anime series, the second installment in the ''Gundam'' franchise, and a sequel to the original ''Mobile Suit Gundam''. The show was created and directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino, with character designs by Yoshikazu ...

'' as the series' ending theme, ''Hoshizora no Believe'' (星空のBelieve lit. "Believe in the Starry Sky"), sung by Mami Ayukawa. {{Authority control 1976 albums Neil Sedaka albums The Rocket Record Company albums