Well, I sure as hell did listen and it was your Academy Award Show! I knew Paul a bit when I was at Buddah ’70-’73 and have been a big fan of his since his beginning. He’s now got more “wanna bees” than Paul McCartney! We are all so very lucky to have him still with us and his shows and his music never gets old and tired! You did a grand job of “getting him to share many of his thoughts” and it sounded like he was having a good time! Thanks again for having Paul Anka as your guest! jfs
Jerry Sharell
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Bob I’ve been listening to your pods since the beginning and I have to say that Paul Anka interview was the most entertaining,enlightening and enjoyable of all your pods to date.
Best Regards
Thomas Black
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I really enjoyed it Bob. As if Paul and Phil Everly were about to get beaten up by some thugs and their band arrived to look out for two young pretty boys. So good. You know we Canadians celebrate our own, Paul is a living legend here. I've read his book but you coaxed great stories out of him.
Jack Ross
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enjoyed it as well! great stuff...
Brad Byrd
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Loved the Paul Anka Show. The Norman he was referring to was my godfather.
Bill Gerber
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Totally agree…one of your best interviews.
Canadians rock!
Ottawa, home of Paul Anka and Alanis.
John Borsten
________________________________________
I agree, Bob. The best since the Bob Ezrin podcast.
Thanks for doing what you do.
Alex Lopez Negrete
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Wow Bob. Your interview with Paul was so revealing. It felt like you were having a candid chat with an aperitif after dinner. So many fascinating stories. Can’t believe how much he remembered like it was yesterday. I barely remember past three decades let alone six!
I had to look up Irving!
Those Sinatra stories are true gems!
Fiona Bloom
________________________________________
Totally agree. Totally alive musician on the planet.
Special bonus: coral electric sitar at 1:42 of Making Memories.
Hank Barry
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Couldn’t agree more!
I could have listened to another hour at LEAST!
Mr. Anka was one of the most interesting interviews of any musician/songwriter I’ve ever heard.
Heck I’d watch a Netflix show about his life!
Best,
Michael Leonard
________________________________________
wow! I am a mid-level manager and agent, in middle age, during this brutal year and half in the music business. No retirement to speak of, but a love so deep for the game I just keep plugging away. Paul Anka was a total inspiration. I often listen to your podcast in 30 minute clips before hitting the hay. You had me up to midnight before I finally fell asleep, just kept adding another 30 minutes to the timer because it was just so entertaining. Listened to the last ten minutes this morning and was ready to run a lap around the block. Man, love Paul Anka now! Love you too Bob, keep it up, such a service to all of us!
Parker Forsell
________________________________________
At the risk of you not including this - but i hope you do for balance
I listened to the Anka Podcast and it found it reeked of sour notes and desperation. Yes, before Buble there was Anka but there were also way better singers than those he considers his contemporaries. Anka was a child phenom that was eclipsed by the rat pack and peaked as a teen idol, He became a hanger on appendage to the legends that let him pal around. Everyone i now dead and can't even verify his tales. What is the saddest element of the podcast is that Anka walks around with a chip on his shoulder demanding he be recognized and taller than the lifts he wears. He earns a black belt in name dropping. here is nothing wrong with a solid career in casinos and resorts, but this life long quest to be greater than that is boring.
Ron Davies
________________________________________
I thought it was pretty cool he did the Masked Singer and still sounded damn good.
A legend who doesn't get the credit for being one.
Richard Young
________________________________________
Greetings Bob,
AGREED; the Paul Anka Podcast was IT!!! or to paraphrase Mr Anka's lyrics, THIS WAS IT!!! The best ever podcast you've ever done, It was Mr Peabody's wayback Machine x 10.... and we were all Sherman.
Will the new generation of performers ever understand the old school work ethic, the school of hard knocks etc etc?? I seriously doubt it.
"The kids making money for us, The kid can sing, The kid's an entertainer"
"And I do what I Do"
Mr Anka is The Real Deal, and what a Pro. And not only one of the most outstanding songwriters of his generation, but a philosopher to boot.
"IF you stop moving, they throw dirt on you"
WOW, Superb, and Extraordinary really are insufficient
And now all of your podcast guests are going to feel like Sophie Tucker when she had to go on after Paul A at The Sahara
A truly inspiring, uplifting, and unforgettable interview.
Kudos to you and God Bless Paul.
Shanah Tova from NYC
David Bernstein
________________________________________
Totally agree. Paul Anka was just amazing.
My Jewish surrogate father ran a one-stop in East Hartford CT who told me the story many years ago about Anka stopping by his little dingy shop to say hello and thank him for pushing his records. That’s all - just thank you. No women - no drugs - just a well-brought up kid who was maybe 17 and had manners.
Wow. -tony d'amelio
________________________________________
Bob, I have to agree with the previous reply. When I saw Paul Anka and it was just over 2 hours, I figured I would get info about “My Way” and a few other songs of his. To start, You are one of my favorite interviewers, I listen to the ones I have no interest in, Skier Bode Miller, fascinating, or the bit coin guy. I always listen as you ask the best questions abs keep it moving.
Paul Anka was so compelling, I was disappointed when it ended. His stories about the Rat Pack had me going back they Apple Music and listening to all 3 of them.
Listening to him talk about marriage I was both laughing and agreeing with him.
Great job with a great guest.
Thomas E. Melle
________________________________________
I totally agree. This was one of the finest podcasts I have ever heard. Great stories, amazing dude, and you dug deep to get the stories out.
Happy New Year-
Rich Madow
________________________________________
I am glad you did this. What an amazing podcast. My parents talked about Paul Anka but way before my time. I kind of blew it off the first time you posted. Nice one. Cheers.
Alan Stewart
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I listened to it and I thought it was a spectacular podcast. I knew he was a teen idle. I knew he wrote The Tonight Show Theme. I did not know he was instrumental in bringing the Beatles to America. I did not know about his Rat Back days. He was entertaining, articulate,honest and funny. Totally blown away by it. He is truly one of a kind and has done it and seen it all. I especially liked the fact that he followed his mother's advice."Never look down on another human being,no matter what their status is in life. He even said he borrowed some of your writing to create a lyric. I wrote a song Tempting The Hands of Fate. I believe I wrote it before you used the term. I should write a song Paradigm because it is your favorite and most used word other than the word the. HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA The Guitar Master Disaster I listened to it twice
Paul Donsanto
________________________________________
Agreed from this geezer who grew up with him since “Diana”.
…..Read his autobiography about sneaking into Annette’s bedroom window at 16 and being called into Bridget Bardot’s bedroom while still a teenager!
Dennis Brent
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Just finished listening to the Paul Anka podcast. You need to do another one with him. It was great
Cheers
Kieran Stafford
Birdland Records
________________________________________
I could not agree more, Paul was a fantastic guest and you did a great job bringing out the best in Paul.
I plan on listening again for it was so interesting!
Thank you
Bruce Ogilvie
________________________________________
I completely dug that cast
Lew Enstedt
________________________________________
Your Paul Anka interview was amazing!
Not sure if you’ve ever seen his doc Lonely Boy from when he was 19.
It’s no accident he reached that level of success.
He had it in him from day one.
youtu.be/nrdqWM5X2zg Angelo Oddi
Toronto
________________________________________
I wanted to compliment you on your questions for Paul Anka. Definitely kept me totally interested from start to finish.
You showbiz acumen is on full display in this Podcast.
Thank you so much. Everyone interested in the business during the last 50 years should check it out.
Cheers,
Jimmy
Jimmy Murphy Management
Nashville
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Actually it’s vert interesting that you sent this email. I was meaning to write to you about the Paul Anka podcast and people who on the surface I’m not as inclined to think ( and I stress think) that I would be that interested in but who turn out to fascinating conversations.
What I’ve learned is to get past my perceived view of what’s coming and just listen and learn. Paul Anka was fascinating, candid and dare I say very cool. And like Ezrin
quite the raconteur.
Peter Roaman
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Great job on the interview, love the candid questions such as how much the record cost and who paid for it — not sure many would have asked those, but that’s also why we listen to your podcast :-)
Al Walser
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I usually listen at work…my brother listened and said it was stellar so I’m setting some time aside so I can listen to it all the way thru on one listen…
Tom Clark on Maui
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Definitely need a part 2.. and 3, and 4 etc!
rdesjean
________________________________________
Hey Bob,
I agree on Paul Anka.
What I love about your show is that you interview folks with amazing careers, and you've been on a roll with that lately, from Paul Anka to Ann Wilson, Rod Argent and Irving Azoff.
All of the hours deserved to be two hours. There was so much there.
I didn't know much about Anka beyond the "Tonight Show," early hits and "My Way."
He wrote a tune for Buddy Holly! He made as much as $15 million from Doc and the band playing Johnny's theme.
And he told great stories.
Congrats again Bob!
Jefferson Graham
________________________________________
Keep it comin Bob.
...I think the PodCast is the best part of the Bob media empire — basically the greatest class I’ve ever taken.
I frequently send reminders like these to my fellow Bob heads when an outstanding episode comes down. This reminder will get me to move Paul to the top of my queue.
Steve Lindstrom
________________________________________
The simple fact that he talked about little clubs he'd played and you knew the venues. That's it. You cracked the code. You're the ultimate fan and it was a joyous conversation. I listened to all the Joe Smith artist interviews. He tried, but he didn't know where the early, little venues were. It makes all the difference. You were thrilled in anticipation of each Paul Anka answer, and so was I.
These guys are getting older. The conversation about white pop artists traveling in the south in the late 50s thru mid-60's with mixed bands is a docu-series unto itself. I know Pat Boone a bit, and he's told me similar stories (he did a 10 day tour of South Africa in the early 60's, but didn't know they were white-only until he got there - and he refused to perform. The South African president suspended apartheid so he could do integrated shows). Pat has taken decades of crap for all kinds of things, but his work before and during the civil rights era supporting black artists is well known - among black artists of the time. More people should know this about him. It took courage - as Paul Anka described. There are probably a dozen guys still around who could contribute to that narrative.
Thank you Bob,
Steve Okin
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I have to pass along my favorite (and only) Paul Anka story:
My daughters' grade school used to do a video yearbook every year, and I would always volunteer to try to get low-cost sync and master use licenses for the project. It would usually run $200-500 a year.
One year the kids wanted to use Paul Anka's "The Times of Your Life" - a great song for the purpose.
I wrote to the publisher and the label. A couple of weeks later, I got an e-mail from Paul Anka himself.
He attached a re-recorded version of the song and gave us gratis licenses for as long as we wanted.
My kids graduated 15-16 years ago. For all I know, the school is still using the song.
Thanks, Paul!!!
Charles McGarry
________________________________________
That is SO sweet. Thank you!
And I’m planning on an evening with Paul as soon as we get back home.
Love,
Bob Ezrin
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