It is said that if you don't use it, you'll lose it, something that one of America's most successful singer/songwriters has no intention of doing. Celebrating 50 years of performing, Neil Sedaka will take the stage at The Orleans March 6-9 and the thought of retiring hasn't even entered his mind.

I caught up to him by phone in Niagara Falls, Ontario, where he was performing at the Fallsview Casino Resort, one of 35 concerts that he plays each year. He said he was looking forward to his gig at The Orleans, followed by a tour of Australia, performing with all of that country's symphony orchestras. "I'm very excited," Sedaka said. "As you know, I began playing classical music when I was eight, then graduated to a concert pianist at the Juilliard School of Music in New York, so classical music has always been a passion of mine." That passion led him to write his first classical symphonic piece for a symphony orchestra, which had its world premiere a few months ago at the Kansas City Symphony. "It's a 12-minute piece, with four movements and it's called Joie de Vivre (Joy of Life). It is written for 100 pieces and took me four months to write. I am very proud of it." As he should be, along with all of the pop hits he has sung and written over his illustrious career.

Sedaka says he grew up in Brooklyn listening to the music of Rosemary Clooney, Johnny Ray, Patti Page and other singers of that ilk. His transition from classical music to pop occurred when he and Howard Greenfield, a poet who lived in the same apartment building, decided to collaborate. Sedaka was 13, Greenfield 16. "I'll never forget the day we met," he said. "October 11, 1952. That began the longest collaboration in pop music-30 years-until Howie passed away." Sedaka admits he wanted to be a rock 'n' roll star, so auditioned for RCA Victor in 1958. "Between 1958 and 1963, we sold 40 million records."

As for the fame at such an early age, Sedaka said, "I had a close-knit family and a lot of love. Being a disciplined musician, fame never went to my head.

"My only indulgence was to buy a new car every year. I started with a Chevy Impala, then a T-Bird before buying Cadillacs for many years. After that, I graduated to Rolls Royces." He was one of the few singers who weathered the Beatles invasion without seeing a slump in his popularity, and he did so by becoming an international star. "For me, it was very easy to learn a foreign language and most were written phonetically, which made it easier, so I recorded in Spanish, Italian, German, and Japanese.

"But it was really Elton John, who was my mentor, who gave me a big boost when he signed me to his American record company. He was a big fan of mine and we became very good friends and remain so to this day."

Sedaka is presently finishing a children's album "... where I changed the words to my original rock and roll songs, so it's Waking Up Is Hard To Do, Lunch Will Keep Us Together, Where The Toys Are... things like that. My 5-year-old granddaughters are singing backup, so it's a lot of fun. I like trying fresh things." One thing that remains fresh is his marriage of 45 years to his childhood sweetheart. "We grew up together, we respect each other, we would rather be with each other than with anyone else, we enjoy each other's company, we're friends and she's also been my manager. She's booked all my dates for the past 30 years."

The couple has two children, Dara and Mark. "Dara's a singer who performed with me once, but had stage fright so that was our only appearance together. Mark is a screenwriter in California and he has three children. He helped me with my children's project and he has a children's TV program in mind called Papa Neil's Penthouse, like a Mr. Rogers, so we are pitching that. Life is good."