Neil Sedaka, singing craftsman of memorable pop songs, dies at 86.

Neil Sedaka at home in Manhattan before a concert on May 4, 2004, with an Andy Warhol painting of him. (Ruby Washington/The New York Times) By PETER APPLEBOME Neil Sedaka, who went from classical music prodigy to precocious songwriter to teenage idol to pop music fixture in a celebrated career that spanned seven decades, died Friday in Los Angeles. He was 86. His son, Marc, said Sedaka, who lived in West Hollywood, had been taken to a hospital earlier Friday and died there. He said the cause…