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I was listening to a
Lascivious Biddies podcast
a while back, when their conversation turned to some oldtimey singer
who'd recorded an album of rock covers. The twentysomething
Biddies were having trouble coming up with the hasbeen's
name, until one of them finally came up with Paul Anka. And suddenly
I felt very, very old.
Granted, I'm just young enough not to remember Anka's early successes
as a singer/songwriter, like the
theme
to The Tonight Show he wrote for Johnny Carson. But I
certainly recall The Times Of Your Life, which appeared in
way too many Kodak ads. To say nothing of the dreadful Having My
Baby, which I'll forever associate with the faux Mormon
Tabernacle Choir version that graced the pilot episode of WKRP in
Cincinnati, or
My
Way, which in a burst of good taste wasn't used in Frank
Sinatra's sendoff. My point being that Paul Anka overlaps with my
life, even if he's made a limited impression on the Biddies.
Which is all irrelevant. What matters is that this is kind of an
interesting album. Anka's covers are jazzier than the originals. If
you hadn't heard them before, you might think they were pretty cool
middle of the road songs. Heck, you might think so anyway. Which
certainly makes this a less embarrassing effort than
some people's.
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