Paul Anka, "Hold Me 'Til the Mornin' Comes"

Last weekend I had the displeasure of hearing, in a Casey Kasem '70s AT40 countdown, Paul Anka's noxious "I Believe There's Nothing Stronger Than Our Love," one of his mid-'70s hit duets with the otherwise unknown Odia Coates. His swarthy warbling has always rubbed me the wrong way - I believe there's nothing flatter than his voice.

But Anka got a small reprieve this past weekend, when in a rebroadcast of one of Casey's '80s shows, I was reminded of his last chart gasp. "Hold Me 'Til the Mornin' Comes", his first Top 40 charter in almost five years, peaked for two weeks in the chart's anchor position this month in 1983 - and it actually deserved better. Anka wisely hangs out in the background, turning the show over to the Splenda-sweetened voice of Peter Cetera for the soaring refrain. "Hold Me" is really no different from the ballad formula Cetera was working with David Foster and Chicago at the time - you're the inspiration and a hard habit to break, so it's hard for me to say I'm sorry - and it's worth noting how closely Chicago stuck to the formula after Cetera's 1985 departure, "Will You Still Love Me" sounding uncannily like this one.

But "Hold Me 'Til the Mornin' Comes" had two other things working against it: the lyric, an attempt at having one's cake and eating it too, is barely believable; and it's very difficult for two men to sing a love-song duet without appearing to be singing to each other. (It's the Air Supply curse.) I for one would rather not picture Cetera holding Anka 'til the mornin' comes. But I'm glad I was reminded of this song's existence.