Paul Young is synonymous with 1980s pop culture. With massive hits like Wherever I Lay my Hat and Love of the Common People, he brought a mass of tunes that will last a karaoke lifetime. Is he was happy being constantly referred to as the ‘1980s pop sensation’?
“I wasn’t through the 90’s because I felt like that I was still doing creative stuff. I was moving into different styles, so I thought I was still being creative. But now nearly four decades later it doesn’t seem that bad, I have kind of accepted it”.
Maybe it just added to a little bit of nostalgia. Paul says “It does but I don’t want to be nostalgic, I want to be creative and current”.
Looking at the Paul Young website, it is quite clear that this man is non-stop. Performing at numerous events throughout the UK as well European cities. From the perspective of someone who has been entertaining the crowds for over 40 years, is it possible to maintain that buzz?
“You know, I think I do. If I think about it for a moment, I think it is still that same buzz. Maybe I used to get more of an adrenaline rush as I walked on stage but even now, as the gig goes on then your performance is a part of that buzz, especially in the smaller places. In the larger places it comes in waves, it’s not so instant. I think most people prefer more intimate gigs. The big ones are great and there is a thrill about that but I think when you pay your money and you go into a club or even a small theatre and you are up close to what is happening, it is an amazing feeling.”
So out of all the concerts there must be some that have been memorable? Paul replies, “Oh, I tend to remember the ones where things go wrong, as I think most of us do. I’ve had loads of things go wrong on stage, I’ve split my trousers, I’ve had one where the power went off and it took us 40 minutes to fix it. So when we were going back on stage our adrenaline levels had all dropped and I was like I don’t want to do this now, I just wanted to go home. But then we were really worried about all the people who had come and of course how were they all going to get transport home”.
Not quite getting rid of the image of Paul Young splitting his pants, I just had to ask how he managed to achieve such a feat.
“Back in the day it used to be a very energetic show and I used to do this thing where I would put the mic stand down and swing my leg over the top of it and do a spin. This was my first big tour and I had clothes made for me but the designer was very young and had apparently never made clothes for stage before. They really needed to be a bit more robust. So they split! I had to get a roadie to bring me a spare pair of trousers but I had to continue singing without turning my back to the audience! I had to wait until there was a guitar solo, so I could run off, change my trousers and run back.”
Paul goes on to reveal his most memorable concert: “The Freddy Mercury Tribute Concert, now that was a good crowd. The atmosphere there was amazing because I think Freddie fans are a breed apart. The loyalty that comes from Freddie fans is very strong and especially doing a song like Radio Ga Ga, where it is such a crowd pleaser and very much a statement song”.
Paul has collaborated with so many people over the years that the wealth of talent has been endless. However, one particular gentleman was a man by the name of Pino Palladino, a world-renowned bass player from Cardiff.
“Pino is Welsh Italian and he is probably one of the most famous bass players in the world. He was coming up through the ranks and played with Jools Holland and he did a little bit with Gary Newman, I don’t think he was part of Gary Newman’s sound but when I got Pino, he became part of my sound. He was a very important player in the band. He has played with Simon and Garfunkel, The Who and D’Angelo. He is one of the most incredible all round bass players.”
In April 2016 Paul released a new solo album, which is a collection of Memphis soul tunes called Good Thing. For not having a solo album in such a long, is there a certain amount of pressure and expectation among fans and critics alike?
“There was a little bit of pressure but it is very good to go back to my roots because I am going back on the road after 20 year lay off with martial that is new and different from before. Although it is not that I haven’t been performing at all, I have been playing in Europe and going to Australia but I just never had a product out.”
It has previously been reported in the press that Paul suffered with stutter as a child and now in adulthood his body has succumbed to arthritis. Paul comments “Well it comes and it goes. It comes back if I am tired or if I have been caught on the back foot. Like if I am out and I know what I am going to say it’s fine, but if someone asks something and I haven’t got an answer straight away then it can come back. Music is a great way to cover stuttering speech because it has got a rhythm to it, so you can keep rhythms with your voice. Then you can apply the same thing in everyday life. I have slight arthritis and somebody wrote about it again this year. We were supposed to talk about a concert for prostate cancer but they didn’t want to talk about that, they wanted to talk about something else. They found this old article and just went on and on about it. I’ve only got arthritis in a couple of fingers, just very slightly. It is not life changing. So that is a bit of an exaggeration.”
Still considered to be a bit of a ‘heart throb’, Paul got his pecs out for the Great British Public in the prime time reality show Splash. But does he have any further plans in the pipeline for more?
“No I haven’t! With Splash, I just thought that I am getting older and that I would challenge myself. When you do make a mistake and pull a muscle or something it does take so much longer to heal. But even when you get it right it still hurts and if you get wrong it is agony.”
If you search the name Paul Young on the Internet, immediately it takes you to the entry on the Wikipedia. Within that it mentioned that he received playful criticism over his past fashion decisions. However, when I think of Paul Young, the musician and that ‘80s pop sensation’, his bad fashion sense does not come to mind. This little jibe was towards his apparent leather outfit on the 1983 album No Parlez. “I don’t know why that is up there and it was not leather. I feel that it is offensive to me and to Anthony Price who I don’t think would have made a leather suit. But Wikipedia is made up of contributions so none of it is strictly correct. The other criticism I had was wearing a certain jumper on Top of the Pops.”
With previous bands called Kat Kool & the Kool Cats, Streetband, Q-Tips and Los Pacaminos, how does one come up with the names? Paul answers “Los Pacaminos does have a Mexican flavour to it and we managed to conjure up a word that isn’t a word. But it is hard and even The Beatles isn’t that great a name, not really, although they did conquer the world.”
Paul is definitely not one to stop doing what he does best, so when I asked him what 2016 has in store for him, he replied “My calendar is chock full this year and I hope it continues into next year!” And long may it continue.
words AMANDA HUNT