Paul Anka to be honoured for songwriting talent
Oscar Peterson receives Founders Award; 23 songs inducted to Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame
Paul Anka, the Ottawa-born teen idol who went on to a long career as asinger and songwriter, will be inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2008.
Five of Anka's songs will be added to the Hall of Fame list of classic songs. They are Diana, Put Your Head on My Shoulder, My Way, It Doesn't Matter Anymore and the hit he wrote for Tom Jones, She's A Lady.
Anka was among four Canadian songwritersthe Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame announced would be inducted in a gala ceremony in March 2008 along with 23 memorable songs.
Other songwritersselected are:
- Alex Kramer, a Montreal-born songwriter of the big band era who wrote for artists such as Perry Como, Bing Crosby, Vic Damone, Jimmy Dorsey and Dinah Shore. His hits Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens, Candy and My Sister and I, all written with his wife, Joan Whitney, are also to be inducted.
- André Lejeune, a francophone songwriter of the radio era whose hits Il suffit de peu de choses, Prétends que tu es heureux and Une promesse have been selected by the Hall of Fame.
- Claude Dubois, a Montreal-born songwriter who sang at the Youth Pavilion at Expo '67, created the Pingouin record labeland wrote for French artists around the world. Five of his songs — Artistes, Comme un million de gens, Femme de rêve, Le Labradorand L'infidèle are to be inducted.
The Songwriters Hall of Fame will also present the Founders Award to the great Canadian jazz pianist Oscar Peterson.
Peterson, 82, grew up and began playing in Montreal, then toured jazz clubs and concert halls around the world in a 60-year career. His compositions include Canadiana Suite and Hymn to Freedom, his 1962 song of protest against segregation and racism.
Among the 23 songs to be inducted in 2008 is Love Child, a 1968 song written for Motown girl group the Supremes byR. Dean Taylor, Deke Richards, Pam Sawyer and Frank Wilson.
Also on the list are Heart Like a Wheelby Canadian folk singer Anna McGarrigle and Signs, a song Ottawa-born Les Emmerson wrote in the 1970s for the Five Man Electrical Band that was also a hit in 1990 for Tesla.
A gala with musical performances and tributes to the inductees is planned for March 1, 2008, in Toronto.