Actor and singer/songwriting legend Paul Anka is originally from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. His legendary career dates back to 1956 when he wrote and recorded his first single at the age of 14. With $100 in his pocket, Anka moved himself to New York and released his first major hit ‘Diana‘. Reaching #1 on both American and Canadian music charts, Anka shot to fame and by 17 years old, he was one of the biggest teen idols of all time. In 1958, Paul wrote and recorded the classic that we all know and love, ‘Put Your Head On My Shoulder‘. Releasing it on August 17th, 1959, this ballad reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. As fate would have it, this song went on to become one of the most cherished love songs of all time and since being added to the digital world, has been played over 233 million times on Spotify. Paul is quoted as saying, “When I was playing record hops, I noticed that everybody’s head was on somebody elses shoulder. I had never heard a song that expressed that feeling, so one night I went back to my hotel room and wrote ‘Put Your Head On My Shoulder’.” The song has since been recorded and released by The Lettermen in the late 60s, Enrique Guzmán, Australian artist Derek Redfern, Leif Garrett, Michael Bublé in 2003 and even recently, American artist Doja Cat sampled it in her song ‘Freak‘ which has over 34 million streams on YouTube. Doja Cat also features the first 12 seconds of the 1950s tune in her song ‘Streets‘ which has been streamed over 455 million times on Spotify with over 110 milion views on it’s music video on YouTube. The sample became such a pop culture phenomenon that it was used for the sexy ‘Silhouette Challenge’ on TikTok.
To keep momentum going with ‘Put Your Head On My Shoulder‘ being back on the charts, Paul Anka teamed up with Grammy winning British/Australian superstar Olivia Newton-John. The pair re-recorded the track in May and released the duet which debuted at #1 on Amazon’s Adult Contemporary Chart. With the sweet and sultry vocals of both artists, this duet was a match made in heaven and fans of all ages have fallen in love with this single all over again. On June 2nd, they premiered the jaw-dropping professionally animated music video for ‘Put Your Head On My Shoulder‘. It’s clear that this video is heavily influenced by the popular Hanna-Barbera era Saturday morning cartoons of the 1960s such as The Jetsons, Josie and the Pussycats and The Flintstones with the thick black character outlines. This style of illustration is known as mid-century modern style (mid-mod) which can be characterized by quirky angular characters, cartoon eyes and bold vintage colors. This style has a deep vintage feel that showcases it’s simplicity without compromising it’s creative dexterity. We can see that this is the case in the video when we meet our cartoon versions of our superstars. Olivia, with her signature blonde bob and piercing blue eyes and Paul with the 1950s Pompadour hairstyle and those classic eyebrows; these animated character’s are truly flawless representations.
Fans need to hike up their GoGo boots as they are taken on a retro journey through the music studio and New York City with our protagonist’s. The vivid 1960’s pastel color palette is bold and scintillating with purples, blues, red, yellow and green, which add and effectively elevate the vintage cartoon theme. As much as the viewers cannot take their eyes off of the characters, the illustrated backgrounds are mesmerizing in their true mid-mod style. The focus on offbeat shapes and heavy line use is consistent and valuable in reverting us to a groovier period in time. Paul Anka is quoted as saying about the hit that, “It was kind of important back in the 50s, a time of innocence and romance“. This music video really captures that coy flirtatious theme as we see our characters sing together, feed the birds, enjoying ice cream cones and even riding the Ferris wheel at Coney Island. There is a warmth about it which perfectly represents the song itself. I think my favorite scene is in the music studio where we can see cartoon Paul and Olivia in all of their glory, animated and singing together. The studio background is simple yet stunningly bright and retro at the same time.
This professionally animated music video is one of the best that I have seen to date and it is fitting that it is for one of the greatest love songs of all time. It not only appeals to both superstar’s lifelong fan base, but opens the door for a new generation of fans to fall in love all over again. The video bridges the gap between arguably the most crucial time for music history and the present, more digital world of the industry. Olivia Newton-John is currently planning her “Deluxe Edition” release of her hit ‘Physical‘ for it’s 40th anniversary of it’s original release for the end of October. Paul Anka just celebrated his 80th birthday and is currently on tour through the States for his show “Anka Sings Sinatra“.
Check out the animated music video for “Put Your Head On My Shoulder” (feat. Olivia Newton-John) on Paul Anka’s official YouTube channel here: