Interview with Paul Carrack

at Birmingham Irish Centre - 19/11/97

 

Me: Paul, first of all, when do you think the Mechanics will next be in the recording studio?

Paul: Reforming is Mike's call. He's with Genesis at the moment and Paul (Young) and I are busy with our own things. It really depends what Mike decides to do, we don't know if he's going to do another Genesis album or reform the Mechanics next. Paul and I can't sit around waiting forever for Mike though, so if he chooses to do another Genesis album, that will probably mean the end for the Mechanics.

 

Do you imagine you'd work with Paul (Young) again if the Mechanics split?

Oh yes, Paul's got his own recording studio now and we are good friends. We will definitely work together again.

 

Have you worked with any other artists recently and are you planning to in the near future?

Well over the summer I reformed with Squeeze for a one off private show for a Lottery winner. It was a good day, it was at Chatsworth and everything was laid on free for us. As of now though I don't have any plans to work with anyone in the visible future - I'm trying to get my own career going, to develop my own niche in the market.

 

So then Paul, what will be your next single from "Beautiful World", your current album?

The title track 'Beautiful World' will be the next release, it's my personal favourite on the album. It won't be released in the UK though, only Europe. You see not many people knew that I had a new album out, let alone a single. The first single 'The Way I'm Feeling Tonight' was released a couple of weeks before the album and got no airplay or promotional backing from EMI in the UK. The same goes for the album which has done poorly here in the UK.

 

Is that why you're selling albums at the shows?

Partly, they have sold well and fairly steadily at the shows. You see, when you buy a copy of the album in a shop I get 80p of that (cost of album = £13.99), at the shows I get roughly £5 from each sale.

 

So why have sales been so poor in your opinion, because the music on "Beautiful World" is equal to, if not better, than that on "Blue Views."

I agree, I like this album a lot, it's got some of my best work on it. Sales are poor simply due to the lack of promotion, I've had no support in the UK from EMI at all! When I signed for EMI the Managing Director sat me down and talked to me about the great plans he had for me, he was a nice bloke. He had plans to build on the success of 'Blue Views' which I believed in. And when EMI changed Managing Directors I tried not to worry.

 

So what was this new guy like?

let me demonstrate what happened when I was introduced to him. (there now follows a description of the events we reinacted, I took the role of Paul, and Paul took the role of the new Managing Director).

Paul stands up and goes to one side of the room. I stand still. He walks through a room of imaginary people, saying hello to them and reaches me. He is introduced to me ("This is Paul Carrack") and loosely shakes my hand very briefly, not looking at me and turns away. Then he walks away without a word.

As you can probably imagine I wasn't going to get on with him. (I don't think we'll print the descriptive word Paul used to sum up this new Managing Director, it starts with a 'W' and ends in a 'R').

 

That's awful, so what are you going to do?

For now I'll stick with EMI and see how it goes. The album is selling strongly in Europe, especially Spain and Germany where I've got a few gigs to do in the next few weeks. In a couple of days I have an awards ceremony to attend in Spain, I've been nominated for the 'Best International Male' award.

 

Well I hope you win and Thanks for your time Paul.

 

Post interview information:

Follow up interview with Paul Carrack one year on at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club Birmingham.

I learnt that the reason Tim Renwick wasn't guitaring for Paul was due to financial difficulties. Tim wanted his regular wage and the budget Paul was on didn't allow for it.

Paul won the 'Best International Male' Award in Spain (see photo inset) and the free Brit Awards preview magazine (available in HMV) contained a picture and passage reporting on it on p23.

Paul also asked me to get anyone who wants to know what he's doing or wishes to complain regarding the lack of promotion he has received, to write to:

ARK 21

1, WATER LANE,

CAMDEN TOWN,

LONDON,

NW1 8NX.

SO IF YOU LIKE PAUL CARRACK, PLEASE WRITE TO THIS ADDRESS AND COMPLAIN OR AT LEAST SHOW THEM HE IS WORTH THEIR EFFORTS.

 

The gig was great, here's The Setlist:

IF YOU'D EVER

NO EASY WAY OUT

ANOTHER CUP OF COFFEE

YOU GIVE ME SOMETHING

EYES OF BLUE

TIME TO LET GO

NOTHING MORE THAN A MEMORY

THE WAY I'M FEELING TONIGHT

LOVE WILL KEEP US ALIVE

PERFECT LOVE

BEAUTIFUL WORLD

OH OH OH MY MY MY

SATISFIED

TEMPTED

OVER MY SHOULDER

Encore:

THE LIVING YEARS

HOW LONG?