Canonsburg pop star Bobby Vinton didn't take it seriously when a rap artist called him about recording one of his songs.

	bobbyvinton.com Bobby Vinton. Audio clips An audio clip of Akon's "Lonely" is available on his website. Scroll to bottom of page for link. An audio clip of Bobby Vinton's original "Mr. Lonely" is available on amazon.com. Scroll down to the Listen to Samples section for link.

"I didn't know what he was talking about," said Vinton, on the phone from Florida where he was performing. "I said, 'Sure, whatever you want.' I thought it would never happen."

So the 70-year-old Polish Prince was understandably surprised this week when his son pulled a story off the Internet about a new hit song by Akon that samples -- or digitally copies -- portions of Vinton's 1964 No. 1 hit "Mr. Lonely."

On Akon's "Lonely," from his Top 40 album "Trouble," he raps over a fast-forward sample of Vinton singing his signature hit.

"I don't get it," said Vinton. "They speeded me up. I sound like Alvin & the Chipmunks."

Known for his wholesome, innocent love songs, Vinton for the first time appears on an album flagged with a parental advisory for explicit lyrics. Vinton's sampled singing is not profane, however, and neither is Akon on the hip-hop/R&B ballad.

Vinton said he was surprised to learn that his music had crossed a 40-year time warp.

"I don't even have a computer, so I didn't know what was going on," he said. "After [Akon] talked with me, they went to Epic and got the rights to use the original record. They sent me a copy -- I didn't know what it was, but my wife and children think it's great."

It's common for hip-hop producers to digitally sample snippets of previously recorded songs and place them in new recordings. Copyright law treats short song segments as if they're pieces of an aural collage, and in those cases the original songwriter is not entitled to royalties.

Akononline.com Akon

But Akon uses enough of Vinton singing his original song, even at its "speeded up" pace, to warrant a co-writing credit and a share of the profits.

"Lonely" marks the first time in 30 years that Vinton has had a songwriting credit on Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart, stretching his chart span as a songwriter to 42 years, seven months. Vinton scored his first hit in 1962 with "Roses are Red (My Love)," and his last Top 10 hit, "My Melody of Love," fell off the chart in 1975.

Akon, also known as Aliaune Thiam, was born in Senegal and at a young age moved to New Jersey with his family, including his father, jazz percussionist Mor Thiam. He concentrated on his music while serving jail time for car theft. After his release, his raps and alluring West African vocal style caught the attention of Universal Records. "Trouble," released last summer, was recently certified gold, which signifies sales of 500,000. This week, "Lonely" was the most added song on urban radio.

Akon, currently on tour, wasn't available for comment.

"He wants us to do 'Regis' together," said Vinton, laughing. "They wanted me to be in the video that they made, but I couldn't make it. He calls me 'Mr. Vinton.' It's just funny that these rappers want to hang with me."

Back in the day, Vinton's "Mr. Lonely" was nominated for a Grammy, but lost. He said it would be "the ultimate irony" if the song were to come back and win a Grammy more than four decades later.

Without his hip-hop posse, Vinton will be back in the area to perform at West Virginia's Mountaineer Race Track and Gaming Resort June 8.