The 1950s was an economic boom time for the United States, with manufacturing and businesses growing at record rates. Allowances and spending grew. Radio stations appealed to the newly affluent youth through the draw of rock and roll. The economy was given a boost through both the growing record industry and the results of rock and roll radio advertising. The force of rock and roll was magnified with the rise of the teen demographic that resulted from the post-World War II baby boom. As the teen population climbed toward the end of the decade, so did the popularity of the music. Before the 1950's, teenagers listened to the music of their parents, but when rock and roll was discovered, teens swarmed to it. Their parents did not approve of rock and roll music, they despised it, and thought of it as corrupting their children. One of many rock and roll artist that influenced society was Paul Anka.
Paul Anka on July 30, 1941, in Ottawa, Canada. He spent his childhood helping out in the kitchen in his father's restaurant. From an early age, it was clear that Anka had confidence in everything he did and big dreams of life on stage. "I was pretty precocious, a pretty aggressive kid," Anka said. He soon learned a little piano and taught himself how to play the guitar. Anka was uninspired by school, except for writing classes, and intended to become either an actor or a writer, but the allure of music gradually swayed him from these early ambitions. When rock and roll began to flood the music world, Anka was only in his teens and was convinced that he could create songs just as good than the ones he was hearing on the radio. He began to compose, taking inspiration from Arabic chant melodies that his parents had brought with them.
Anka also formed a vocal trio called the Bobbysoxers with some friends. They played at local dances and at the Central Canada Exhibition of 1955. He won a competition at the Fairmount Club in Ottawa, receiving as his prize a week's engagement at the club. Anka took his earnings from this and traveled to Los Angeles, California, in hopes that his uncle could help him get his music published. Though a recording company there bought one of his songs, it didn't sell, and Anka had to work as a movie usher to earn his way back home to Ottawa.
In 1957, however, when Anka borrowed money from his father to go to New York City in hopes of publishing his music, he scored a resounding success. After his 15th birthday, Anka bought himself a ticket to Los Angeles, staying with an uncle there while he tried to make his name as a singer. At the end of the year, he tried to convince his father to let him go to New York City in search to become a singer. His father agreed, but if Paul couldn't make it big in the Big Apple, he would have to come back home to Ottawa. After his father's consent, he soon would hit New York hoping to become famous. Luckily for him, he landed a meeting with Don Costa, an executive at ABC/Paramount Records, who agreed to listen to a few minutes of Anka's music. After hearing Anka’s songs on the piano, the record decided to sign him. Within days, Paul Anka's father was in New York signing a contract for Anka, who was still a minor and couldn't sign on his own. Soon Anka found himself traveling by bus with the ‘Cavalcade of Stars’ with the top names of the day in the era, performing at the Copa Cabana, the youngest entertainer ever to do so, and surrounded by the likes of Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly, Frankie Lyman, and Chuck Berry.
One of Anka’s first hit was a song Anka wrote for a girl he had a crush on back in Ottawa, as it was the artist's first single, “Diana”. Within a couple of weeks, Anka at age 16, had the No. 1 song in the world. "Diana" sold more than 20 million copies. Paul Anka was officially a teen idol. By the late 1950s, he was travelled the world, singing songs like "Lonely Boy" and "Put Your Head On My Shoulder" for swooning crowds. "My life as a teenager ended at 16," Anka said. However, ironically, Anka's hometown largely refused to embrace him. Local kids booed him at his show in Ottawa, and he refused to play there again for decades.
Things begins to fall out of hand as the 1960s progressed. Anka's style of music largely fell out of favor. Teens began to favor the rock 'n' roll of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones over the dreamy love songs like Anka. The record labels started to slowly shove him aside. "When they started not to believe and they sensed that things were changing, I said, 'OK, give me back my life. Give me back my music,'" said Anka. For $250,000, he bought back the rights to all his music. He slowly began to transform his image from teen idol singer to Rat Pack-style songwriter. Anka launched a successful songwriting career from the casinos and supper clubs of Las Vegas and Florida. He wrote the theme song for The Tonight Show during Johnny Carson's reign, which is estimated to have been played some 1.4 million times. Since Carson was populare, Anka earned $800,000 to $900,000 annually in royalties alone from that one song.
In the 1960s, Anka began acting in motion pictures as well as writing songs for them, most notably the theme for the hit film The Longest Day. He also composed the title song to the movie For his film work, he wrote and recorded one of his greatest hits, "Lonely Boy". He also wrote and recorded "My Home Town", which was a No. 8 pop hit for him the same year. He later played an Elvis-hating casino pit manager in 3000 Miles to Graceland and a yacht broker in Captain Ron . In October 1995, he appeared as himself in the episode "Treehouse of Horror VI" on The Simpsons. As part of being considered a teen idol, he was persuaded by his manager to have plastic surgery on his nose, and lose weight. Anka received little if any praise for his acting in these vehicles but fared better with critics. He made guest appearances as himself in the episode "Red's Last Day" on That '70s Show and in "The Real Paul Anka" episode of Gilmore Girls. He made several appearances on the NBC TV series Las Vegas. He went on to become one of the first pop singers to perform at the Las Vegas casinos. In 1960, he appeared twice as himself in NBC's short-lived crime drama Dan Raven. In 1960, Anka signed with RCA Victor. He bought the rights and ownership of his ABC-Paramount catalog in 1963 but like most North American recording artists saw his career stalled by the British Invasion. By the late 1960s, his career focused on adult contemporary and big-band standards, played regularly in Las Vegas.
Anka has released more than 120 albums, together selling more than 10 million copies globally, not counting singles. Alone or in collaboration with others, he has written some 900 songs, placing singles in the Top 50 during five different decades. When he was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2008, former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien gave his introduction. Despite all these successes, Anka still refuses to rest on his laurels. "I've always believed that if you don't stay moving," he said, "they will throw dirt on you."
I picked Paul Anka to do my report because I found how he got famous was an intresting adventure. Persuading your parents to let you go to New York for auditions is a crazy thing and the fact that Anka’s parents allowed him too. Based on this, I assume that his parents must have had a lot of hope in Anka to let him go to New York. Despite Anka failing many times, he kept working hard at his music career. He knew there was potential so he kept going at it. Although he did not succeed in Los Angeles, he took a huge risk to go to New York and find potential. This inspires me to keep trying hard even though if fail over and over, and I will succeed somewhere along the way. In addition, the songs he sang her not lovey dovey like some of the other rock and roll artists in the 1950’s. I enjoyed how passionate he looked whenever he sang and his songs are not heavy rock so they are not hard to listen too.