(Neil Sedaka - Howard Greenfield)
New
Zealand
#1 NZ
Single on His Master’s Voice June 1970.
Singer Craig Scott, from Dunedin, was often on the NZ charts in the 70s, groomed as a solo pop star after fronting bands that included Battle of the Bands winners The Revival (Viva Bobby Joe, 1969,#14 NZ, a cover of UK band The Equals’ hit).
See also his cover versions of Smiley (1971), Ciao Baby (1971), Rock ‘n’ Roll (1973) and Wind And Rain (1973).
Further reading: Career biography at Bruce Sergent’s New Zealand Music site.
(Neil Sedaka - Howard Greenfield - Paolo Limiti)
Italy
Single on Atlantic July 1969 (distributed by Rifi) with Italian lyrics by Paolo Limiti (=the farewell).
♫ Listen at YouTube
(Neil Sedaka - Georges Anger | Neil Sedaka - (Simon?) Blanchette)
Canada
Alternative B-sides to a Jan/Feb 1969 single by Québécoise singer Michèle Richard (b. 1946) on the Transcanada-International label.
Two different French adaptations of Star Crossed Lovers appear on two singles with the same serial number TC 4003. The orchestral track is the same, the lyrics differ.
The A-side in both cases is Reste Avec Lui (Stand By Your Man).
1. See listing at 45cat.com
Pour Un Même Dieu, lyrics by Blanchette, possibly Simon Blanchette (= for one God).
♫ Listen at YouTube
Also on CD album Collectionneur
(2000).
2. See listing at Discogs.com*
Amour Perdu, lyrics by Georges Angers (= lost love).
♫ Listen at YouTube
Also on album 70 … (1970).
*Discogs.com displays label shots of both
B-sides.
Further reading: Michèle Richard at Disqu-O-Québec
Thanks to Philippe for further clarification.
(Neil Sedaka - Howard Greenfield)
USA
Original version
#1 Sydney #2 Melbourne #1 Brisbane #5 Adelaide #7 Perth | #4 Australia
Single on SGC November 1968. It mainly charted in 1969 when it was the year’s #20 hit in Australia.
This original version of Star Crossed Lovers seems to have been a hit only in Australia. It did not chart in the US, Britain, NZ or South Africa, and I have found no evidence of it charting in Europe or elsewhere.
Singer and pianist Neil Sedaka (b. 1939) was a hugely successful songwriter, often in collaboration with Howard Greenfield, and though he was active in the pre-Beatles Brill Building era, he revived after the initial shock of the British Invasion and had further hits on the charts into the 70s.
His first wave of hits included his own recordings of Sedaka–Greenfield compositions such as Oh! Carol (1959, #9 USA), Calendar Girl (1960 #4), Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen (1961, #6) and Breaking Up Is hard To Do (1962, #1), but he topped the charts again later with Laughter In The Rain (1974, #1 written with Robert Appere) and Bad Blood (1975, #1, with Phil Cody). Two decades apart, Sedaka and Greenfield wrote Connie Francis’s Stupid Cupid (1958 #14 USA) and The Captain & Tennille’s Love Will Keep Us Together (1975 #1, originally by Sedaka 1973 YouTube).
Further reading: Sources on Neil Sedaka are easy to find, but you could start with overviews by William Ruhlmann at All Music or by Donald Clarke at his Encyclopedia of Popular Music, plus the Neil Sedaka discography at Wikipedia.
(Ted Cooper - Ed Zolas)
USA
Red herring
Same title (with a hyphen) but not the same song as “Star Crossed Lovers” by
Craig Scott.
Single on Mala February 1961
by the song’s composers Ed Zolas and Ted Cooper.
Covered by The Mystics on Laurie March 1961.
Star Crossed Lovers on Barry Gibb’s album In The Now (2016) is another different song, composed by Barry Gibb, Stephen Gibb and Ashley Gibb.
And there are
many others …
Pop Archives
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Website by Lyn Nuttall. © Lyn Nuttall 2004-2025. Chart positions courtesy of Gavin Ryan’s Australian Chart Books and Dean Scapolo’s Complete NZ Music Charts. Special thanks to Terry Stacey for information, corrections and suggestions. Thanks also to Tony Watson, Philippe Edouard, Dave Overett.., More…