Paul Anka

A famed juvenile crooner of the 1950s, Paul Anka now puts some big band swagger into modern tunes by Nirvana, Billy Idol, the Cure, and a multitude of others. The odd thing is, it works! Anka's a much better singer today than when he was as a kid, and he treats the songs with respect, even going so far as to make sense out of the lyrics to "Teen Spirit."

An appealing novelty from a former teen idol your parents may be too young to remember,
Paul Anka's Rock Swings is destined to be the one big-band album in many college kids'
record collections. Packed with schmaltzed-up covers of Nirvana, Oasis and Bon Jovi,
Anka's bid for latter-day cool falls flat -- which is part of the appeal. The horn-y
arrangements and Anka's Sinatra-isms turn "Smells Like Teen Spirit" into somethin... More >