CELEBRITY INTERVIEW | PAUL CARRACK
W
hen it comes to longevity in the music industry Paul Carrack could teach today’s one hit
wonders a thing or two. Spanning five decades in the business and playing with some of the most revered bands, Paul has also forged a strong solo career with numerous albums and hit singles under his belt. Ahead of his extensive tour which sees him visiting both Norwich and King’s Lynn he takes time out to talk to Sharon Richardson. Paul grew up in 1950s/60s Sheffield
where ‘making it’ in the music industry was thought of as a dream. He said: ‘One of the things I’m most proud of is the fact that somehow I managed to make a career out of music, definitely against the odds. It really wasn’t an area that was encouraged when I was young. The musical influence and encouragement was with my dad really, but unfortunately he died in a freak accident when I was only 11, and my mum was a little bit the opposite; scared for me. ‘Work was pretty sacred where
I grew up and having a job was the be-all and end-all. My folks had a very tough existence themselves growing up through the 1920s and 30s and then there was the war, so they were desperate for a bit of security. I hated school and I wasn’t much good at anything but I did have a bit of a talent for music and I just wanted to be in a band – I was bitten by the bug early on.
‘I saw a lot of the bands like The Beatles and The Shadows, all the Liverpool bands and many working bands in and around Sheffield; guys just getting in the van and going off to do gigs - that’s all I wanted to do. So it was very flaky really, it wasn’t considered a very respectable carry on at all. ‘Then at 16/17 I just took off to
Germany, went on the road, and poor old mum was having kittens. But it was a very hand to mouth existence for a good few years before we had that lucky break with How Long and things began to get more serious.’ Paul’s first recording band was
called Warm Dust and they released three albums. He said: ‘I try to keep that one firmly in the closet but it seems to be getting out more and more now. We were half-baked hippies really, trying to make this progressive rock music before we could really play properly.’ Paul then formed Ace, a band put
together to play for fun in pubs around North London but their debut single How Long, penned and sung by Paul, became a hit in both the UK and US. ‘For me it was a real godsend as it had been a proper struggle up until that point and then suddenly we had a hit song.’ After Ace disbanded, Paul went on
to play with some top names including Roxy Music and Squeeze, replacing keyboard player Jools Holland in the latter. During his time with Squeeze Paul sang lead vocals on Tempted, subsequently the band’s biggest hit to date. He said: ‘It was Elvis Costello’s idea that I should sing that song; he was producing the album. It was a little uncomfortable because Glenn Tilbrook was a great singer and songwriter and I think it must have been hard for him that the new guy sang the hit. They’d been knocking on the door of America so long and that was their breakthrough hit.’ Paul left Squeeze to form a band with Nick Lowe and also began working on his solo career but it was a call from Mike Rutherford that really changed things. He said: ‘Nick and I were really swimming against the tide at that time, as music was becoming quite polished and poppy but Nick was really anti all that, he was really old school. That’s why I was quite excited when I started with Mike and Mechanics because that was more of a contemporary set up and I quite fancied a crack at it. ‘I, along with Paul Young, came in as a dedicated singer and over the course of the albums things evolved and I became more and more involved with the songwriting and production aspects.’ Paul continued to work on his solo material as well as carrying out session work with such names as Elton John, The Pretenders and Ringo Starr. He also performed at Roger Waters’
ground-breaking live stage show of The Wall in Berlin and sung Hey You in front of 250,000 people. ‘I was drafted in quite late and it was really scary but a good one to tell the grand-kids if I ever get any.’ Last year Paul ventured into new
ground with the release of A Different Hat, his 15th solo album, which saw him working with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. He said: ‘I’ve had my own touring band for over 12 years now and we do a bit of everything but I’d always fancied doing this kind of album. It wasn’t so much of a career move as a labour of love; an indulgence. ‘Now I’ve done it, I’m back on track with the normal band and kind of half way through an album at the moment. I’ve recorded about five tracks but I don’t know if I will be able to get my head down and get it done before the tour in November. ‘Playing live is what it is all about for me, though I’m not really a show-off and I still get quite nervous. I think it’s the fact that I’ve invested my whole life in learning how to do this and I’ve never really had it so good as a solo artist with people keeping coming to see me. I also have a very supportive band and crew, it’s a pleasure to go to work and to use the skills that you’ve learnt. And the people still seem to keep turning up. Especially Norwich! We’ve had some great crowds there. ‘I particularly remember when we
played the Theatre Royal a couple of years ago and I had a heavy cold. Half way through the first set I thought “I’m really going to struggle”. At half time we made an announcement which said “Mr Carrack is going to struggle here, his voice is probably going to go.” We then told them if you want to leave now you can have your money back but we’re going to have a crack at getting through it. I don’t think anybody left and we went down a storm as I croaked my way through. ‘We’re a seven piece band this time which includes my son Jack. The backbone of the set sees my big hits and there’ll be a couple of new songs too - my whole repertoire really. The support band is called Tinlin, two song writing brothers, and my son also plays percussion with them.’
PAUL CARRACK PLAYS NORWICH THEATRE ROYAL ON FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10 2012 AND THE KING’S LYNN CORN EXCHANGE ON WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 29 2012.
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