加拿大这个国家虽然人很少，在流行音乐方面，出产了很多明星。Paul Anka是上个世纪最好的songwriter之一。Paul Anka出生在Ottawa，也是当时的北美Teen Idol,可能象现在的Justin Bieber一样。加拿大盛产Teen Idol么。当然Justin Bieber不写歌。而Paul Anka就更加多才多艺，不但写而且唱。1957年，16岁的Paul Anka写了首歌叫Diana,当时，在美国，加拿大，英国和澳洲都是排行榜的第一名。也就是从这个时候开始，Paul Anka的teenager time就结束了。

Paul Anka有很多歌曲都是排行榜的第一名。当然最有名的还是Diana，Lonely Boy, Having my baby, My Way, 以及She is a lady等。都是当时的超级Hit。成年后的Paul Anka给Frank Sinatra写的 My Way成为流行音乐中经典。他给Tom Jones写的She is a lady成为Tom Jones最成功的歌曲， the biggest hit。Tom Jones是60年代英国入侵时的为数不多的成功的单人歌星，也是猫王的最好的朋友之一。

这段时间，才是美国流行音乐以及文化最繁荣的时期，黑白互融，交相辉映。之前，我讲过田那西的Nashville和Memphis,是美国南方的音乐之都。猫王，Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison,和Jerry Lee Lewis等人都是从那里出来的。当时的流行音乐界就讲”条条大路通Nashville”。还有Detroit的Motown。 还有一个就是Rat Pack。Rat Pack包括Frank Sinatra，Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr.,以及Peter Lawford, and Joey Bishop,。。Rat Pack代表了白人上层流行音乐的风格，Paul Anka的风格就属于这一类， 跟南方Nashville的乡村以及黑人蓝调的风格截然不同。当时，Frank Sinatra还公开反对过猫王和摇滚音乐。实际上，Frank Sinatra和Dean Martin这两个意大利裔的超级歌星的成名也跟Mafia有关系。作为一个流行音乐的爱好者，这几种音乐都有感动我的成分。

这里一定要提=一下Paul Anka给Frank Sinatra写的 My Way。我非常喜欢这首歌。最好的Songwriters总是能用最简单的语言capture那种感觉。将来，我死的时候，一定要在我的葬礼上放这首歌。至今，Paul Anka仍然在写歌，2009年，还跟Michael Jackson 一起写了首歌。

下面这个Paul Anka的演唱会，包括了他的所有经典之作。

My Way

And now, the end is here
And so I face the final curtain
My friend, I'll say it clear
I'll state my case, of which I'm certain
I've lived a life that's full
I traveled each and ev'ry highway
And more, much more than this, I did it my way

Regrets, I've had a few
But then again, too few to mention
I did what I had to do and saw it through without exemption
I planned each charted course, each careful step along the byway
And more, much more than this, I did it my way

Yes, there were times, I'm sure you knew
When I bit off more than I could chew
But through it all, when there was doubt
I ate it up and spit it out
I faced it all and I stood tall and did it my way

I've loved, I've laughed and cried
I've had my fill, my share of losing
And now, as tears subside, I find it all so amusing
To think I did all that
And may I say, not in a shy way,
"Oh, no, oh, no, not me, I did it my way"

For what is a man, what has he got?
If not himself, then he has naught
To say the things he truly feels and not the words of one who kneels
The record shows I took the blows and did it my way!

Yes, it was my way