Sept. 29, 1978 Gusto music feature: Paul Anka

 

A musical feature that, for a change, didn’t get buried in the back pages of Gusto. This one appeared in a box in the Calendar, headlined “Commentary.”

Sept. 29, 1978 Gusto

        The call reaches Paul Anka while he’s out with the construction crew at his new house in woodsy, exclusive Carmel, Calif. “I’m helping them out,” he says, “working and supervising. You have to be involved when you’re dealing with something very personal like this. You’ve got to be there to make sure that it’s going to be what you intended.”

        If there’s anything that personifies Anka, who appears under auspices of Pate and Associates for two sold-out performances in Kleinhans Music Hall tonight, it’s that acuteness, that attention to quality. No doubt he picked it up as a boy, watching the notables pass through his parents’ restaurant across from Parliament in Ottawa, Canada. His sense of style served to set him apart from the other teen stars of the ‘50s.

        On hits like “You Are My Destiny,” he was totally at home in Don Costa’s big, sofa-like orchestrations. As soon as he became of age, he moved from the teen audience to nightclubs, playing Las Vegas and becoming the youngest headliner ever to do the Copacabana. He was in the process of maturing his image when the British Invasion hit in the mid ‘60s, pushing him off the charts and further into songwriting.

        “You can’t succumb to failure,” he remarks when conversation turns to this period. “Unfortunately, a lot of people in the new pop culture haven’t been able to handle the failure.”

        Anka never let it catch up with him. He penned “She’s a Lady” for Tom Jones. He wrote themes for TV’s “Tonight Show” and the film, “The Longest Day.” And in 1968 he purchased the rights to a French ballad, “Comme d’Habitude,” put English lyrics to it and took it to Frank Sinatra. The result was “My Way,” now considered Anka’s greatest hit.

        Anka, 37, describes himself as the “sole survivor” of the ‘50s. “The ‘60s were hard,” he says. “In the ‘70s, my people re-emerged. With a song like ‘You’re Having My Baby,’ I identified with it and so did they. I don’t try to compete with today’s pop culture. I just do what I do.”

        He’s doing plenty. There was a TV special last month and another one, “Cinderella and the Palace,” with Ann-Margret and Diana Ross, which airs in November. He’s executive producer for three album projects, including French singer Mirielle Mathieu’s first record in English. He’s writing songs for a music version of Paul Gallico’s “Verna USO.” And he’s on tour, the Eastern swing being a warmup for two weeks in Japan.

        He declines talking about what the show will be like (“I like to keep an element of surprise,” he says), but it’s certain to include a precision orchestra, a medley of his early hits and full versions of his newer ones.

        Anka will receive a key to the city while he’s here and will dedicate his performance to a young cancer victim from Buffalo named Maria. “I won’t tell you her name,” he says, “but her parents will be there. I’ve been in contact with them quite a bit. She was a big fan of mine. It’s amazing the strength these people have and who they look to. My mother died when she was 38 and it made me realize what it means in people’s lives.”

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IN THE PHOTO: Paul Anka on a 1980 trading card.

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FOOTNOTE: I received Christmas cards from Paul Anka for the next 10 years. Nothing about that 1978 Eastern tour, no mention of the dates at all, on setlist.fm. Here's what he played July 14 at the Garden State Arts Center in New Jersey:

Jubilation

Just the Way You Are (Billy Joel cover)

Diana

Puppy Love

Put Your Head on My Shoulder

Mack the Knife

She's a Lady

You're Having My Baby

My Way

Short People (Randy Newman cover)

Nights on Broadway (Bee Gees cover)

I Don't Like to Sleep Alone

Times of Your Life

The Bitch Is Back (Elton John cover)