BARRY LEVINE: Paul Anka celebrates 75th birthday

Good morning, yesterday

You wake up and time has slipped away

— “Times of Your Life,” Paul Anka, 1975

News Flash – Carlton Fletcher, The Albany Herald’s erudite managing editor, is known as the Dick Clark of Southwest Georgia because of his love of rock ‘n’ roll music. He recently stunned everyone when he revealed that he no longer is interested rock ’n’ roll – especially the 1970s — and has switched to classical music. “I really dig Chopin and Mozart. I love the beat of their songs,” Fletcher revealed. “I’d rate their songs a 96.”

If that news flash were true – which it is not – it would be considered a major surprise.

Here’s an Old Rocker news flash – Paul Anka recently celebrated his 75th birthday. You mean the 5-foot-6 Canadian teen who sang “Diana,” his first No. 1 hit, 59 years ago? That Paul Anka?

Yup, that Paul Anka!

It just doesn’t seem possible that he has been singing, performing in concert, composing songs and acting for six decades.

Of the pre-Beatles rock ‘n’ rollers, few can match the overwhelming success Anka has enjoyed.

Just check his resume.

Anka recorded 29 studio albums, three of which placed in the Top 10.

He fared much better in the singles market, placing 24 songs among the Top 40 from 1957 through 1983. His Top 7 hits are “Diana” in 1957, “You are My Destiny” in 1958, “Lonely Boy,” “Put Your Head on My Shoulder” and “It’s Time to Cry” in 1959 and “Puppy Love” and “My Home Town” in 1960.

Many of his early hits were autobiographical.

Anka wrote “Diana” about the 18-year-old babysitter of his younger brother and sister.

“Lonely Boy” was written for his mother, who died of diabetes.

Anka penned “Puppy Love” about his relationship with Annette Funicello.

His career hit a renaissance during the 1970s when he changed from teeny-bopper tunes to those with more adult themes, such as Top 7 hits “Having My Baby” and “One Man Woman, One Woman Man” in 1974 and “I Don’t Like to Sleep Alone” and “Times of Your Life” in 1975.

Of all of Anka’s songs, my favorite is “Times of Your Life.” It originally served as an ad jingle for Kodak Film and later was released as a single. If you never have heard it, go online and listen to it. The lyrics are fantastic.

Anka, who had more than 400 of his songs published, composed all of his songs that placed in the Top 7.

Among his most famous tunes written for other performers were Frank Sinatra’s signature song “My Way,” Tom Jones’ biggest hit “She’s A Lady,” Buddy Holly’s “It Doesn’t Matter Anymore” and Michael Jackson’s “Love Never Felt So Good.” Holly’s song was recorded about one month before he was killed in an airplane crash in Iowa.

Anka also penned the theme song for Johnny Carson’s “Tonight Show” and the theme song for the 1962 WWII epic “The Longest Day.”

Anka was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1994.

He is also credited with discovering singers Michael Bubble and David Clayton-Thomas of Blood Sweat & Tears fame.

Anka’s first acting role in a major film was in a cameo as an army private in “The Longest Day” in 1962. He had made his film debut in the 1958 movie “Let’s Rock.”

He starred in such teen films as “Girls Town” in 1959 and as a peeping tom in “Look in Any Window” in 1961 before his role in “The Longest Day.”

Anka later played a yacht broker in “Captain Ron” in 1992. That movie starred Kurt Russell, Mary Short and Mary Kay Place.

He also played an Elvis-hating casino pit boss in “3000 Miles To Graceland” in 2001. Kurt Russell, Kevin Costner, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Christian Slater and Kevin Pollak starred in the film.

Not a bad career for somebody who got his break at 15 when he won a supermarket contest to collect the most Campbell Soup labels. The prize was a train trip to Manhattan, where he began showcasing his songs.

This week in rock history — Patsy Cline reached No. 1 on the country chart and No. 12 on the pop chart on Aug. 7, 1961, with “I Fall To Pieces.” It was one of the slowest ascending records in music history, taking more than six months to peak following its release. … Brian Hyland, 16 saw his novelty song, “Itsy Bitsy, Teenie Weenie, Yellow Polka Dot Bikini” top the charts on Aug. 8, 1960. … Robert Zimmerman legally changed his name to Bob Dylan on Aug. 9, 1962. … Fats Domino’s “I Want to Walk You Home” entered the charts on Aug. 10, 1959, where it eventually moved into the Top 10. Despite having 18 million-selling singles, he never had a No. 1 record.

A plethora of new releases hit the chart on Aug. 11, 1962, that became major hits. The songs were Mary Wells’ “You Beat Me to the Punch,” Albany’s Ray Stevens’ “Ahab the Arab.” Johnny Tillotson’s “Send Me the Pillow That You Dream On,” The Marvelettes’ “Beechwood 4-5789,” The Contours’ “Do You Love Me,” The Beach Boys’ “Surfin’ Safari,” Booker T and the MG’s “Green Onions” and Tony Bennett’s “I Left My Heart in San Francisco.”

Barry Levine is an entertainment writer for The Albany Herald. He can be reached at [email protected]