INTERVIEW
Paul Young
35 YEARS OF ‘NO PARLEZ’ TOUR 2018
coming to the Cliffs Pavilion, Southend on Sea
on 17th October 2018
Paul Young
35 YEARS OF ‘NO PARLEZ’ TOUR 2018
coming to the Cliffs Pavilion, Southend on Sea
on 17th October 2018
|
I speak to Paul Young late in the afternoon on a day where he has been booked back to back with interviews and so I hope that he's not going to be too tired by the time he gets to chat to me. He began the day at the This Morning studio with Eamonn and Ruth, followed by radio interviews with Robert Elms and numerous other slots with radio stations, magazines and local newspapers, so it's been a busy day for him.
The focus is on the 35th Anniversary Tour of the No Parlez album which Paul will be playing in its entirety in the upcoming UK tour. Paul chats about friendship, touring, career highlights, playing with his Tex Mex/Americana band, Los Pacaminos and keeping up with the ever changing music industry. Here's what he had to say..... |
|
Is it a coincidence that No Parlez was released 35 years ago today, (17th July) is that why you’re doing all the interviews today?
Today? No I didn’t know that. Well, that’s interesting.
Happy Birthday No Parlez!
….to the album. Wow!
Doesn’t seem possible that 35 years have passed since then, does it?
To be honest, I get little reminders when it’s the 25th Anniversary and then it’s the 25th Anniversary of Live Aid - and then the same thing happens when everything’s in its 30th year so I can kind of see it coming. Whereas you guys who bought it, forgot about it and come back to it, time rolls by and then all of a sudden it’s like a slap in the face.
Today? No I didn’t know that. Well, that’s interesting.
Happy Birthday No Parlez!
….to the album. Wow!
Doesn’t seem possible that 35 years have passed since then, does it?
To be honest, I get little reminders when it’s the 25th Anniversary and then it’s the 25th Anniversary of Live Aid - and then the same thing happens when everything’s in its 30th year so I can kind of see it coming. Whereas you guys who bought it, forgot about it and come back to it, time rolls by and then all of a sudden it’s like a slap in the face.
In the early days you used to gig a lot at Universities didn’t you?
Loads of them. We lived off of Uni gigs.
A friend of mine told me recently that she saw you at Sheffield Uni and you handed her your empty beer can. She’s never forgotten it!
[A chuckle from Paul] Sheffield, yeah, we had such a big following in Sheffield, it was amazing. We always seemed to be up there. I ended up getting my manager from Sheffield, even though he’s Mancunian; and the guy that financially backed us to get our first office in London was from Sheffield, so we had a strong connection there.
Back in the early days you supported the likes of Bob Marley and The Who, that must have been such a great learning curve for a young band?
Yes, it was. We’d obviously get to see the acts from a prime position. They were a lot tighter with the Bob Marley gigs - we weren’t allowed on stage; but we got to see the Average Whites and Joe Jackson and a whole bunch of artists. Being with The Who was incredible because you got to see what it’s like when something’s been running professionally for a couple of decades. And they looked after us very, very well.
Did they give you much advice?
Pete (Townshend) did. There was a Stringfellows party towards the end of the tour - and I won’t tell you the exact words he said because you can’t print them - but he was telling me that we need to have a leader in the band. He said that you can’t be a demographic band, someone’s got to lead and it’s either got to be you or that (swear word) playing the organ.
So you took that advice then?
I did because I took the keyboard player with me when I went solo.
Haha…that worked out well then.
Loads of them. We lived off of Uni gigs.
A friend of mine told me recently that she saw you at Sheffield Uni and you handed her your empty beer can. She’s never forgotten it!
[A chuckle from Paul] Sheffield, yeah, we had such a big following in Sheffield, it was amazing. We always seemed to be up there. I ended up getting my manager from Sheffield, even though he’s Mancunian; and the guy that financially backed us to get our first office in London was from Sheffield, so we had a strong connection there.
Back in the early days you supported the likes of Bob Marley and The Who, that must have been such a great learning curve for a young band?
Yes, it was. We’d obviously get to see the acts from a prime position. They were a lot tighter with the Bob Marley gigs - we weren’t allowed on stage; but we got to see the Average Whites and Joe Jackson and a whole bunch of artists. Being with The Who was incredible because you got to see what it’s like when something’s been running professionally for a couple of decades. And they looked after us very, very well.
Did they give you much advice?
Pete (Townshend) did. There was a Stringfellows party towards the end of the tour - and I won’t tell you the exact words he said because you can’t print them - but he was telling me that we need to have a leader in the band. He said that you can’t be a demographic band, someone’s got to lead and it’s either got to be you or that (swear word) playing the organ.
So you took that advice then?
I did because I took the keyboard player with me when I went solo.
Haha…that worked out well then.
|
I’ve actually just dug out the No Parlez vinyl album that I bought back in 1983 and I’m just looking at the inside sleeve with all the photos…
[laughs,] Oh yeah ….and I’m cracking up laughing at some of them. It’s like the Instagram of the day, kind of thing, isn’t it? Yes, it was, yeah. I was always big on information. I always used to put a record on and sit down and read the cover. I wanted people to have plenty to look at. It actually went down so well that they let us do it again on the second album, so that was good. |
|
|
In those days you could write a whole load of ‘thank you’s’ on the record sleeve but you just don’t get that anymore do you?
No you don’t. You don’t get a chance to say thank you. At least with movies you can still have that at the end. Have you had to adapt much to the changes in the industry over the years? Yeah, when you’re earning loads of money like we were back then, I could afford to keep the same band and put them on a small retainer when you’re not working so that they’re there when you need them. But these days it gets very difficult to organise rehearsals. All these musicians have to earn money, so they’re off doing other things. And then you email five people and give them a whole string of dates and one of them won’t be able to do one. It’s so difficult to organise. |
I’m doing some shows now for 10 days and I’ve not got my usual bass player and the other bass player that I had has gone off with Emily Sande, so now I’ve got to rehearse a new bass player up and this happens ALL the time.
Is it true that you stepped in to the Band Aid song because David Bowie dropped out?
He didn’t drop out, I just think that they were waiting and waiting, hoping he could make it. I believe he was on the Japanese leg of a World Tour and logistically it was too difficult for him to get back.
It did you a massive favour though?
Yes, [laughing] it did.
Is it true that you stepped in to the Band Aid song because David Bowie dropped out?
He didn’t drop out, I just think that they were waiting and waiting, hoping he could make it. I believe he was on the Japanese leg of a World Tour and logistically it was too difficult for him to get back.
It did you a massive favour though?
Yes, [laughing] it did.
You’ve been touring with Midge Ure lately in the States, how did that come about? Were you just a couple of pals who decided to go on tour together?
I did a tour last year in America but there were seven acts on the bill, so sometimes I was only on stage for 15 minutes. So I thought it was time I went back to America - especially when I looked back and realised that I hadn’t played the major towns for 25 years. Some of the other smaller towns like Pittsburgh and Cleveland, I hadn’t been there for 30 years and I was shocked.
So I thought it was time to go back and start working my way back all over again; Midge Ure was doing exactly the same thing with the same agent, so we just thought we’d double up. So, he does an hour of his material and I do an hour of mine and then we do something at the end.
It’s nice, we’ve got a lot of history between us and together at some points so we feel like each other probably better than we do because, you know, because we only ever saw each other on odd occasions over the years.
But I think the thing about being a musician is that [he pauses for a second]…. you know, my closest friends are the ones I can call up even though I haven’t seen them for six months and they go, ‘hey, how you doin’, shall we get together?’ or there are others who go ‘you didn’t write, you didn’t call, you’re too famous now are you?’ all that sort of stuff and you think, I can’t be bothered with that. So, with Midge and myself it’s the same thing. We may not see each other than often but when we do, we’ve got common ground and he’s very good company to be with.
I did a tour last year in America but there were seven acts on the bill, so sometimes I was only on stage for 15 minutes. So I thought it was time I went back to America - especially when I looked back and realised that I hadn’t played the major towns for 25 years. Some of the other smaller towns like Pittsburgh and Cleveland, I hadn’t been there for 30 years and I was shocked.
So I thought it was time to go back and start working my way back all over again; Midge Ure was doing exactly the same thing with the same agent, so we just thought we’d double up. So, he does an hour of his material and I do an hour of mine and then we do something at the end.
It’s nice, we’ve got a lot of history between us and together at some points so we feel like each other probably better than we do because, you know, because we only ever saw each other on odd occasions over the years.
But I think the thing about being a musician is that [he pauses for a second]…. you know, my closest friends are the ones I can call up even though I haven’t seen them for six months and they go, ‘hey, how you doin’, shall we get together?’ or there are others who go ‘you didn’t write, you didn’t call, you’re too famous now are you?’ all that sort of stuff and you think, I can’t be bothered with that. So, with Midge and myself it’s the same thing. We may not see each other than often but when we do, we’ve got common ground and he’s very good company to be with.
Paul and Midge Ure
Do you have a big following in the States?
I have got a very big following in America. ‘Everytime You Go Away’ went to number 1, ‘Come Back and Stay’ and ‘Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down’ were in the top 10 and ‘Oh Girl’ and ‘What Becomes of the Broken Hearted’ were either Top Ten or No 1 on the AOR Chart, so I’ve had a reasonable amount of success out there, but I’ve just let it go.
It must have been really cool to go back again this year?
Yeah, it’s great. We’ve only covered half of it so we’re going back again in August.
I have got a very big following in America. ‘Everytime You Go Away’ went to number 1, ‘Come Back and Stay’ and ‘Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down’ were in the top 10 and ‘Oh Girl’ and ‘What Becomes of the Broken Hearted’ were either Top Ten or No 1 on the AOR Chart, so I’ve had a reasonable amount of success out there, but I’ve just let it go.
It must have been really cool to go back again this year?
Yeah, it’s great. We’ve only covered half of it so we’re going back again in August.
|
How does it compare doing your solo gigs to when you’re with Los Pacaminos?
It’s very different. People have come to hear a certain thing with the Paul Young show and with Los Pacominos a lot more raucous, loose and it’s never the same twice. Where are you most in your comfort zone, with them or solo? Probably with the Pacaminos, because the comfort zone there is that…well, it’s weird to say really, but I like not to be the centre of attention. So I won’t sing every song in the set. We share that responsibility and that means I can relax a bit more. I’ve got far more responsibility involved in the Paul Young show. |
Paul with Los Pacaminos
|
You’ve sung with a lot of big names, if you could duet with anyone, who would it be?
I get asked this all the time. I don’t dream to duet with anybody. It’s something that happens. You find the song, you start doing the song and then you think, oh wouldn’t it be great if such and such could sing on this because it feels like it’s their song as well as my song, you know what I mean, like it would suit them as well as it would suit me.
In fact the only couple of times that’s happened, where I’ve thought it would be great to have a certain person's voice on - and then you can’t get hold of them and you can’t do it.
The best things that happen are the happy accidents when you bump into someone, like Zucchero and like Chaka Khan and you tell them what you’re doing. I told Chaka what I was doing and she said, “oh, I’d love to sing that with you,” which I couldn’t believe. And then bumping into Zucchero and him saying to me, “I’d really like to do a duet with you and I’d like to sing in English and when we discussed what song we would do, we both knew which one so he said, ‘In that case, it was meant to be.’ So that’s more the way it works. And, I saw an interview with Zucchero and he said exactly the same thing. So, it just happens.
What’s been the highlight of your career so far?
I should probably say Live Aid, but Live Aid was such a blur and there are a lot of mistakes that happened along the way and things that could’ve been done better, but it was the first time it had ever been done.
So the first time I could say, ‘that ran really smoothly’ and where I actually enjoyed what I was doing, was when I was Freddie Mercury for a day with Queen. (Paul sang Radio GaGa with Queen at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert in 1992 at Wembley Stadium in front of 72,000 fans)
To stand in someone else’s position on stage and feel what they must have been feeling - it’s great. The enthusiasm for Queen is very different to the enthusiasm I feel from my fans - it’s a totally different feeling. That was incredible.
(Interview: Kim Tobin)
Further information on Paul Young & his career can be found here: http://www.paul-young.com More tour info here
Tickets for Paul's Cliffs Pavilion gig are on sale now at www.southendtheatres.org.uk or call the box office on 01702 351135
I get asked this all the time. I don’t dream to duet with anybody. It’s something that happens. You find the song, you start doing the song and then you think, oh wouldn’t it be great if such and such could sing on this because it feels like it’s their song as well as my song, you know what I mean, like it would suit them as well as it would suit me.
In fact the only couple of times that’s happened, where I’ve thought it would be great to have a certain person's voice on - and then you can’t get hold of them and you can’t do it.
The best things that happen are the happy accidents when you bump into someone, like Zucchero and like Chaka Khan and you tell them what you’re doing. I told Chaka what I was doing and she said, “oh, I’d love to sing that with you,” which I couldn’t believe. And then bumping into Zucchero and him saying to me, “I’d really like to do a duet with you and I’d like to sing in English and when we discussed what song we would do, we both knew which one so he said, ‘In that case, it was meant to be.’ So that’s more the way it works. And, I saw an interview with Zucchero and he said exactly the same thing. So, it just happens.
What’s been the highlight of your career so far?
I should probably say Live Aid, but Live Aid was such a blur and there are a lot of mistakes that happened along the way and things that could’ve been done better, but it was the first time it had ever been done.
So the first time I could say, ‘that ran really smoothly’ and where I actually enjoyed what I was doing, was when I was Freddie Mercury for a day with Queen. (Paul sang Radio GaGa with Queen at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert in 1992 at Wembley Stadium in front of 72,000 fans)
To stand in someone else’s position on stage and feel what they must have been feeling - it’s great. The enthusiasm for Queen is very different to the enthusiasm I feel from my fans - it’s a totally different feeling. That was incredible.
(Interview: Kim Tobin)
Further information on Paul Young & his career can be found here: http://www.paul-young.com More tour info here
Tickets for Paul's Cliffs Pavilion gig are on sale now at www.southendtheatres.org.uk or call the box office on 01702 351135