(You’re) Having My Baby – Paul Anka with Odia Coates | Top 40 Chart Performance, Story and Song Meaning
Chart Performance: Pop (#1 for 3 weeks); 1974
Story Behind The Song By Ed Osborne
In 1961 Paul Anka celebrated his 21st birthday with Dance On Little Girl residing in the pop Top 10. Little did he know that many years would pass before one of his singles would be there again.
Not that Paul was idle between 1961 and 1974. He continued to record and tour, he appeared in movies, he conquered Las Vegas, and – as he’d done since he was a boy growing up in Canada – he wrote songs.
One of them, (You’re) Having My Baby, Paul penned for his wife, and intended to record it solo. As luck would have it, in the studio with Paul was Odia Coates, a singer he’d met through mutual friend, Edwin Hawkins, of Oh Happy Day fame.
A suggestion was made that Odia duet with Paul, and so she did. On July 6th, 14 years to the week after Dance On Little Girl reached #10, (You’re) Having My Baby made its debut on the chart, and nine weeks later it became Paul’s first #1 since 1959’s Lonely Boy.
This content and all Song Meaning articles were created and written by Top 40 Contributing Editor Ed Osborne. © 2024 Ed Osborne. All Rights Reserved. In addition to these song meaning articles, Ed has written our “Year in Music 1960s-1990s” articles.
Produced by:
- Rick Hall
Lyrics Written by:
- Paul Anka
Ed Osborne
Hi. I got my first record at age two and never looked back, spending a decades-long career in radio and the music business. Even after years of reading about and listening to all types of music, I am still fascinated by it. Apart from that, I’m endlessly intrigued by art, nature, and the inner lives of people (and dogs).