NEW YORK (www.paulanka.com) -
Paul Anka is returning to New York City for his first club appearance in over 30 years when he and his big band take the stage at Irving Plaza on August 9th in support of his new
Verve CD. Rock Swings is a concept album that takes rock songs from the 80s and 90s and "swings" them adding big band arrangements. Anka brings his own unmistakable voice and interpretative skills to such hits as Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit," Van Halen's "Jump," Oasis' "Wonderwall," R.E.M.'s "
Everybody Hurts" and Bon Jovi's "It's My Life." Anka will also be performing on August 10th at Northfolk at the Westbury Theatre on Long Island and will be appearing on Good Morning
America on August 8th.
The songwriters reacted:
"I remember it wasn't until half-way through the first verse that I thought, 'Holy s---! That's 'Teen Spirit.' And I thought it was f---ing amazing. I thought it was so great. It was such an interesting arrangement. It's pretty classic. Did they have irony in the '60s? I don't know."
Dave Grohl, Foo Fighters/Nirvana
"Not just an honour to have one of the world's greatest songwriters cover one of my songs, but a true listening pleasure. So rare these days to hear someone sing with such emotive phrasing and understanding of lyric. If I have to present one thing for history to judge me on as a writer it would be Mr. Paul Anka's version of 'True.'"
Gary Kemp, Spandau Ballet
The media have been receptive to Anka's new CD inviting him to appear and perform on David Letterman (6/8 and 7/12,) Howard Stern (6/8,) Entertainment Tonight (5/27 and 7/8) Larry King Live (5/25,) The View (6/16,) NPR (7/20) and ABC News Nightline (7/22) among many shows.
Paul Anka is one of the most enduring artists in pop culture. In an illustrious career that has spanned five decades as a entertainer, he has become the 21 biggest-selling artist of all time-producing 125 albums, three No 1 pop singles, 33 Top 40 hits and has written or co-written 900 songs. Since the inception of his career Anka's songs have been performed well over 150 million times and his record sales number more than 60 million. This ensures him a place amongst a few select artists in history to have a record on Billboard's Top 50 charts for five consecutive decades.
At age 16, this gifted teen wrote and recorded his first No 1 hit, "Diana" and became a teen idol. Highly prolific, some of his other hits include Frank Sinatra's theme song "My Way," "You Are My Destiny," "All Of A Sudden My Heart Sings," "Crazy Love," "Lonely Boy," "Hello, Young Lovers," "Little Girl," "Love Me Warm and Tender," "Feelings." "Put You Head On My Shoulder," "Puppy Love" and "(You're) Having My Baby." Anka also composed the most recognized television theme song in history for The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and was nominated for an Oscar for his composition for the movie, The Longest Day.
