When you look at patterns regarding the membership of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame one of the patterns that becomes is clear that the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame hates Canadian musicians [1].  This lack of regard for Canadians is pretty wide across the board, including men, women, English or French Canadians, rock musicians or confessional singer-songwriters or even influential oldies singers who performed plenty of hits and even managed to co-write hit songs for such artists as Frank Sinatra [2] and Michael Jackson.  Yes, today we are going to look at the career of Paul Anka.  You may know him from his somewhat creepy hit song “You’re Having My Baby,” which marked a major comeback hit for him in the 1970’s.  You may know him from his appearance in the Gilmore Girls, or from the often-parodied video of him ranting at his band about their lack of professionalism, but you probably don’t know all of the reasons why Paul Anka is deserving of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.  However, his candidacy is a strong one and is a reminder of the way that the pop singers from the beginning of the Rock & Roll Era have not always gotten a fair shake for their overall influence on the course of music over the past sixty years.

The Influence Of Paul Anka

The influence of Paula Anka is a many-layered one that well-represents the many ways that someone can shape the careers of others and the context of music.  He began his career as a well-regarded young singer and quickly made his mark singing hit singles, a trend that for him lasted until the 1980’s.  In addition, though, from very early on he showed a strong ability to encourage the careers of others–co-writing songs for Buddy Holly, Annette Funicello, Tom Jones, Frank Sinatra, and Michael Jackson, for example.  And besides his own hit songs and the songs he wrote for others, like “She’s A Lady,” “My Way,” and the theme for the Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson, he was also someone who has long had a strong degree of influence in film and television.  Among his appearances and influences include his own rants quoted in the film Ocean’s Thirteen and his appearance in films like “The Longest Day” and “Ordinary Magic.”  This suggests that Paul Anka is a talent with such a wide degree of interests and influence that his placement in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, even as a pop artist, should be assured.  After all, his involvement in rock & roll extends all the way from Buddy Holly to Peter Cetera [3] (who sang on Anka’s last top 40 hit [4]), is one of the more fascinating and complicated careers of rock & roll history, and his worthiness as induction as a writer and as a performer is pretty obvious.

Why Paul Anka Belongs In The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

Having already examined his extensive filmography as well as his efforts to write songs for others, I would like to focus on his own songs that he wrote and performed for himself as a demonstration of his worthiness on the narrowest grounds possible, having already demonstrated that he has more than this speaking in his favor.  Despite the time period of his hit music period and his label uncertainty, he managed to have two gold albums, which is a considerable achievement.  Concerning hit singles, he has 3 #1 hits:  “Diana,” “Lonely Boy,” and “(You’re) Having My Baby,” as well as the following other top 10 hits:  “You Are My Destiny,” “Put Your Head On My Shoulder,” “It’s Time To Cry,” “Puppy Love,” “My Home Town,” “Dance On Little Girl,” “One Man Woman/One Woman Man,” “I Don’t Like To Sleep Alone,” and “Times Of Your Life,” and a slew of top 40 hits that only stopped with 1983’s “Hold Me Till The Morning Comes,” which came out 26 years after his first hit.  Paul Anka is not someone who was a one album wonder, but rather someone who made hit records for more than 25 years.  Not many acts can say that, and any act who can deserves a spot in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Why Paul Anka Isn’t In The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

It is possible that Paul Anka, despite his obvious hitmaking and his ability to work well with a host of other artists who are clearly considered to be rock & roll acts, is thought of as not being Rock & Roll enough for the Hall.  Given the large number of non-rock acts (Madonna springs to mind here, but there are plenty of others) already enshrined, it would make no sense to punish an immensely successful artist who was still making hits into the 1980’s.

Verdict:  Put him in.  Maybe the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame needs a veteran’s committee to deal with its early snubs.

[1] See, for example:

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2011/08/24/why-arent-they-in-the-rock-roll-hall-of-fame-bryan-adams/

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2014/11/25/why-arent-they-in-the-rock-roll-hall-of-fame-celine-dion/

https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2016/01/07/why-arent-they-in-the-rock-roll-hall-of-fame-sarah-mclachlan/

[2] https://edgeinducedcohesion.wordpress.com/2013/07/23/why-arent-they-in-the-rock-roll-hall-of-fame-frank-sinatra/

[3] https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017/01/02/why-arent-they-in-the-rock-roll-hall-of-fame-peter-cetera

[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Anka