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Paul Anka

Born July 30, 1941, in Ottawa into a tight-knit Canadian family, Paul Anka didn’t waste much time getting his life in music started. He sang in the choir at Church and studied piano. He honed his writing skills with journalism courses, even working for a spell at the Ottawa Citizen. By 13, he had his own vocal group, the Bobbysoxers. He performed at every amateur night he could get to in his mother’s car, unbeknownst to her of course. Soon after, he won a trip to New York by winning a Campbell’s soup contest for IGA Food Stores that required him to spend three months collecting soup can labels. It was there his dream was solidified, he was going to make it as a singer composer; there was not a doubt in his young tenacious mind.

In 1956, he convinced his parents to let him travel to Los Angeles, where he called every record company in the phone book looking for an audition. A meeting with Modern Records led to the release of Anka’s first single, “Blau-Wile Deverest Fontaine.” It was not a hit, but Anka kept plugging away, going so far to sneak into Fats Domino’s dressing room to meet the man and his manager in Ottawa. When Anka returned New York in 1957, he scored a meeting with Don Costa, the A&R man for ABC-Paramount Records. He played him a batch of songs that included “Diana” – Costa was duly enthusiastic about the potential of the young singer and songwriter. The rapid and enormous success of “Diana”- his first number one hit – made him a star.

“They are all very autobiographical,” says Anka of his early hits. “I was alone, traveling, girls screaming, and I never got near them. I’m a teenager and feeling isolated and all that. That becomes ‘Lonely Boy.’ At record hops, I’m up on stage and all these kids are holding each other with heads on each other’s shoulders. Then I have to go have dinner in my room because there are thousands of kids outside the hotel — ‘Put Your Head on My Shoulder’ was totally that experience.

Soon Paul found himself traveling by bus with the ‘Cavalcade of Stars’ with the top names of the day in the era of segregation, performing at the Copa Cabana, the youngest entertainer ever to do so, and honing his craft surrounded by the likes of Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly, Frankie Lyman, and Chuck Berry.

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Guilty Pleasures

Rock Swings

Read "Rock Swings" reviewed by Duncan Heining


A while ago, me and Mrs. O'Groove were at the Diamante Dance Academy, Chelmsford --I kid you not--for our regular lesson, when our teacher, Natasha Fellowes, put on this big band version of Van Halen's “Jump." Turned out it was off Paul Anka's Rock Swings album (2005). No particular reason but I've always had a soft spot for the number but this was a hoot. More than that, the arrangement takes what was a quick jive and turns it into ...

122
Album Review

Paul Anka: Rock Swings

Read "Rock Swings" reviewed by Chris M. Slawecki


Pop music sure has changed since Paul Anka last helped rule the airways (as composer or performer) with such mainstays as “My Way, “Diana, “She's A Lady, and “Puppy Love.Decades later, Anka's own notes explain the Rock Swings! concept: “We all embraced the idea: to find songs from a diverse group of musicians, from Nirvana and Van Halen, to Lionel Richie and The Pet Shop Boys, and reinvent them in an entirely unique way: Swing! The result, a ...

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Recording

Darin Brown Pays Tribute To Doug McCormick With The Release Of A New Take On 'Brought Up In New York (brought Down In L.A.),' A Classic Song By Paul Anka And Doug McCormick

Darin Brown Pays Tribute To Doug McCormick With The Release Of A New Take On 'Brought Up In New York (brought Down In L.A.),' A Classic Song By Paul Anka And Doug McCormick

Source: Darin Brown

On May 9, 2023, singer-songwriter Darin Brown will release a new single NY/LA, a remake of the classic song “Brought Up In New York (Brought Down in L.A.)” originally written by Paul Anka and the late Doug McCormick. This track features new material co-written by McCormick and Brown and is a heartfelt tribute to McCormick, who passed away one year ago on the same day as the song’s release. In addition to Paul Anka, McCormick also wrote for other music ...

1

Festival

Versatile and exciting lineup Curacao North Sea Jazz Festival 2013 with
 Marc Anthony, Toto, Paul Anka, and more!

Versatile and exciting lineup Curacao North Sea Jazz Festival 2013 with
 Marc Anthony, Toto, Paul Anka, and more!

Source: All About Jazz

The lineup of the fourth Curaçao North Sea Jazz edition looks festive and very promising. We have just received confirmations of none other than Marc Anthony, Toto, Paul Anka, Pernell Saturnino and Friends featuring Miguel Zenón and for Brionplein Israel & New Breed. Marc Anthony has been on the Curaçao North Sea Jazz wish-list for quite some time. Last year, he participated in the Sergio George All Star Friends band that was composed especially for that occasion, this year he ...

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Music Industry

Michael Jackson's Single 'This is It' Dates to a 1983 Collaboration with Paul Anka

Michael Jackson's Single 'This is It' Dates to a 1983 Collaboration with Paul Anka

Source: Michael Ricci

Though officially released less than 24 hours ago, Michael Jackson's first posthumous single, “This Is It," has turned out to not be so new after all.

After rampant speculation Monday that the song has decades-old roots, a representative to the special administrators for the Jackson estate has confirmed that “This Is It" was originally co-written with Paul Anka in the early '80s. Anka tells Pop & Hiss that he recorded two songs with Jackson in 1983, both intended for Anka's ...

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Video / DVD

Paul Anka DVD - Rock Swings - Live At The Montreal Jazz Festival - Out May 1st

Paul Anka DVD - Rock Swings - Live At The Montreal Jazz Festival - Out May 1st

Source: All About Jazz

Paul Anka - Rock Swings Live At The Montreal Jazz Festival

Featuring swing versions of Everybody Hurts, True, Hello, Eye Of The Tiger, plus the Anka classics Diana, Lonely Boy and My Way

DVD released by Globe Records - 1 May 2006

Following on from Paul Anka's Gold Selling Top 10 UK Album, Rock Swings, comes the DVD release of Rock Swings - Live At The Montreal Jazz Festival - available from May 1st, 2006 on Globe Records / Universal ...

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