Tom Dunne: The late great Neil Sedaka felt like part of the family 

My party trick as a child was to sing one of his tunes, and in later years I realised what a really great songwriter he was 

Neil Sedaka passed away recently at the age of 86.

 There were no video cameras in our house when I was growing up. I thank God every day for that mercy. There are no touching home movies that we watch as we drink eggnog at Christmas. No flickering black and white images to bring a tear to various glass eyes.

Had my dad been a keen amateur filmmaker the main Dunne Family film would just show an armchair. From behind it though you’d discern a child’s voice rising to sing a song called Hey Little Devil. No prizes for guessing which child. Oh, the mortification.