| Paul
Anka was one of the biggest teen
idols of the late '50s. He moved to the
adult sphere several years later and
became a successful performer,
songwriter, music businessman, and
recording artist, remaining so well into
the new millennium. Born in Ottawa,
Ontario in 1941 to parents of Lebanese
Christian descent who owned a local
restaurant, Anka proved a child prodigy,
beginning his show-business life at the
age of 12 as an impressionist. By the
age of 14, he was stealing the family
car to drive to amateur singing contests
in nearby Hull, Quebec and writing his
own songs. His first single, "I
Confess," appeared on the Riviera
subsidiary of Jules and Joe Bihari's RPM
label. While on a trip to New York with
a group of friends who sang as the Rover
Boys, Anka gained an audition with ABC
producer Don Costa, and sang his own
composition, "Diana," an ode to a former
babysitter. Costa liked what he heard,
recorded the teenager, and watched as
the single hit number one on both sides
of the Atlantic later in 1957,
eventually selling a reported ten
million copies worldwide.
Anka placed four songs in the Top 20
a year later, including "You Are My
Destiny" and "Crazy Love," tempering the
all-out rebellion of rock & roll with
songs which questioned parental
authority instead of outright
disobedience. He wrote one of Buddy
Holly's last hits, "It Doesn't Matter
Anymore," and moved into movies with
Let's Rock and Girls Town. The latter
film spawned his biggest American hit,
"Lonely Boy," just the first in a string
of 1959 chart successes including "Put
Your Head on My Shoulder," "It's Time to
Cry," and "Puppy Love" (written for old
flame Annette Funicello, and later a hit
for Donny Osmond as well).
By 1961, when the teen idol craze
began to cool off, Anka (a millionaire
while still a minor) could boast of the
over 125 compositions under his belt,
his own record label (Spanka), and the
recognition of being behind the second
best-selling single of all time (only
"White Christmas" had sold more copies
than "Diana"). Instead of resting on his
laurels, Anka took on the adult market.
First, he groomed a solo act and got
bookings into that haven for
sophisticates, the Copacabana. Anka next
moved to RCA and, in yet another shrewd
business move, bought the rights to his
old masters and made a fortune on
reissues alone. He diversified his
career by appearing in several more
movie roles (including the 1962 drama
The Longest Day, for which he provided
the title song). One of the first pop
singers to do shows in Las Vegas, he
also hosted television variety shows
like Hullabaloo, The Midnight Special
and Spotlite, and moved on to foreign
audiences in Asia and Europe (where he
found his wife, Parisian model Anne de
Zogheb). He wrote the theme to The
Tonight Show (aired every weeknight for
almost 30 years), rewrote the French
lyrics to the song "Comme d'Habitude"
for one of Frank Sinatra's most famous
later songs, "My Way," and also wrote
Tom Jones' biggest hit, "She's a Lady."
Anka also branched out in the recording
studio, recording theme albums such as
Excitement on Park Avenue and Strictly
Nashville.
Although he had hit the Top 40 only
once since 1963, Paul Anka stormed the
number one slot in 1974 with "(You're)
Having My Baby," a duet recorded in
Muscle Shoals, Alabama with his singing
protégé, Odia Coates. The duo's next two
singles, "One Man Woman/One Woman Man"
and "I Don't Like to Sleep Alone," both
hit the Top Ten (his 1974 LP Anka
reached gold), and his 1975 solo single
"Times of Your Life" reached number
seven. Anka continued to chart into the
early '80s, continuing his many casino
and international appearances while
recording sparingly but continually. |
