From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Tue Jul 30, 2002  1:17 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Paul Anka
 
PAUL ANKA

Born 30 July 1941, Ottawa, Canada

Pop singer / songwriter / actor.
A prolific songwriter and child prodigy, Anka was one of the
major teen-idols of the 50s. He burst onto the scene in 1957
with the self written "Diana", an intense ballad describing the
frustration and unrequited love of a young teenager for a slightly
older female. With its distinctive rhythm pattern, the song was
powerfully evocative and stayed at the top of the UK charts for
a lengthy nine weeks, as well as reaching number 1 in the USA.
It sold a reported 10 million copies worldwide. Anka followed it
with a series of hits such as "You Are My Destiny", "Lonely Boy",
"Put Your Head On My Shoulder" and "Puppy Love". Adolescent
worries and the desire to be taken seriously by condescending
parents were familiar themes in those songs and contributed
greatly to his success. As the 50s drew to a close, he wisely
moved away from teen ballads and planned for a long-term future
as a songwriter and cabaret artist. His moving "It Doesn't Matter
Anymore" was a posthumous UK number 1 for Buddy Holly in
1959 and during the same year Anka starred in his first movie,
"Girls' Town". During the 60s the former teen star was a regular at
New York's Copacabana and Los Angeles' Coconut Grove, and
was much in demand on the nightclub circuit. Additionally, he
attempted a serious acting career, making an appearance in
"The Longest Day". For much of the decade, however, he was
earning large sums of money appearing at Las Vegas hotels.
The success of Donny Osmond , meanwhile, who took "Puppy
Love" to the top in Britain, kept Anka's early material alive for a
new generation. Songwriting success continued, most notably
with Frank Sinatra 's reading of his lyric to "My Way" and Tom
Jones's million-selling "She's A Lady". In 1974, Anka himself
returned to number 1 in the USA courtesy of a risque duet with
his protege Odia Coates, with the song "(You're) Having My Baby".
A spree of hits followed, punctuated by regular supper-club
appearances. As late as 1983, the former 50's teen star was back
in the charts with "Hold Me Till The Mornin' Comes". He continued
to play lucrative seasons in Las Vegas and Atlantic City, and toured
Europe in 1992 for the first time in 25 years. The following year he
threatened to sue Dulux, a UK paint manufacturer, when their
television commercial portrayed a sheepdog apparently singing a
parody of "My Way". In 1996 he released his first album aimed at
the Latin market, with some of his greatest hits sung in Spanish.

Official website: http://www.paulanka.com
CD : Golden Hits (WEA, 20 tracks), 2001 release. ABC recordings.