Paul Hardcastle
| Paul Hardcastle | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Paul Hardcastle |
| Born | 10 December 1957 Kensington, London, England |
| Genres | Synthpop, freestyle, electronica, ambient, electro house, breakstep, smooth jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, producer, songwriter, radio presenter (in us) |
| Instruments | Synthesizer, keyboards, piano, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass guitar, drums, percussion, programming |
| Years active | 1982–present |
| Labels | Chrysalis, Motown, Hardcastle, Trippin' 'n' Rhythm, V2, Profile |
| Website | paulhardcastle |
Paul Hardcastle (born 10 December 1957, London, England[1]) is an English composer, musician, and multi-instrumentalist. Although he specializes in the synthesizer, he can also play multiple instruments.
Contents
Career
In the early 1980s, Hardcastle played the keyboards on several singles on the Oval record label by the dance music groups Direct Drive and First Light, before going solo.
He achieved some acclaim for his early singles, notably in 1984, the electro-funk/freestyle/instrumental track, "Rain Forest", which along with the track "Sound Chaser", hit number two on the dance chart.[2] "Rain Forest" also hit number five on the soul chart and number fifty-seven on the Hot 100.[3] In 1985, he came to greater prominence with the international hit "19", a song about America's involvement in the Vietnam War and the effect it had on the soldiers who served, using sampled dialogue from the 1984 ABC documentary Vietnam Requiem about the post-traumatic stress disorder suffered by veterans. Producer Simon Fuller named his company '19 Entertainment' after the song, and the two are known to collaborate on certain projects.
Hardcastle enjoyed several further hits in the UK, including "Don't Waste My Time" (with vocals by Carol Kenyon) (UK No. 8) and "The Wizard", a UK No. 15 hit that became the theme tune for BBC Television's music chart show Top of the Pops from April 1986 until September 1991. He also had a hit with "Just for Money", which reached No. 19 in the UK and featured Bob Hoskins and Laurence Olivier. Earlier, he had cut a cover version of D-Train's most influential hit "You're the One For Me", segued with his own compositions "Daybreak" and "A.M." Hardcastle also wrote the theme tune for Saturday Live, a popular entertainment show which ran from 1985–1987.
He also made the hit single "The Voyager", a version of which was used for the BBC One programme Holiday.
After 1986, Hardcastle started to specialise in television soundtracks and remixed work, for artists as such as Five Star, Barry White, Third World, Sinitta, Johnny Logan, Hiroshima and Ian Dury. His piece "The Shuffle" was included in the soundtrack of the movie When the Wind Blows.
In 1988, Hardcastle released the concept album, No Winners, which focuses on the potential negative effects of the Cold War arms race. In 2000, he released Hardcastle III, which included a remake of "Rain Forest" and a hit single, "Desire".
Hardcastle has also recorded several synth jazz albums, alternating releases under the pseudonyms Kiss The Sky (with Jaki Graham) and The Jazzmasters, as well as under his real name Paul Hardcastle.[1] Working regularly with vocalists such as Helen Rogers, Becki Biggins and Margo LeDuc, Hardcastle has recruited several saxophonists including Gary Barnacle (on the first album), Snake Davis, Phil Todd, Tony Woods and Rock Hendricks. All these albums have been played on smooth jazz radio in the United States, where some of the most played tracks include "Northern Lights", "Lost in Space", "Desire", "Shine", and "Serene". He won the Billboard Smooth Jazz Artist of the Year award in 2008.
2010's The Jazzmasters VI track "Touch and Go", featuring his son Paul Jr. on saxophone, reached No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Jazz songs chart, becoming his tenth number one on the Smooth Jazz chart in total.
His album, Hardcastle VI, released in September 2011, features yet another remake of "Rain Forest"—this time mixed with R&B legend Marvin Gaye's signature song, "What's Going On".
In February 2014, Hardcastle was appointed Chairman of NUA Entertainment, which was founded by one of the UK's top businessmen, Neil Utley and his wife, Nicky.[citation needed]
Personal life
Hardcastle is married to Dolores Baker, and they have three children:[4] Maxine (born April 1986[5][6]), Paul Jr. (born August 1990[7]), and Ritchie (born May 1997).
Discography
Albums
| Year | Album | Label |
|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Daybreak (by First Light) | |
| 1985 | Zero One (feat. Universal Funk) | EMI Music Distribution [8] |
| 1985 | Rainforest | |
| 1985 | Paul Hardcastle | |
| 1988 | No Winners | |
| 1990 | Sound Syndicate | A/K Music / K-tel International |
| 1993 | Time For Love | Fast Forward Records (import) [9] |
| 1993 | The Definitive | |
| 1997 | First Light | |
| 1997 | Cover to Cover: A Musical Autobiography | JVC 1997, Trippin 'N' Rhythm/Push Records 1999 [10] |
| 2003 | Very Best: Paul Hardcastle 1983–2003 | |
| 2009 | Paul Hardcastle: The Collection | Trippin 'N' Rhythm Records [11] |
| 2009 | Zero One | |
| 2011 | Desire | Trippin 'N' Rhythm Records [12] |
| 2012 | Perceptions of Pacha VIII | P&C Pacha Recordings / Pacha Multimedia |
| 2012 | 19 Below Zero | Hardcastle Music, Universal Music |
| 2013 | Electrofied 80s: Essential Paul Hardcastle | Music Club Deluxe (division of Demon Music Group) |
| 2014 | Movin & Groovin | Trippin 'N' Rythmn Records |
| 2015 | 19: The 30th Anniversary Mixes | NUA Entertainment |
Smooth jazz albums
Hardcastle series
| Year | Album | Label |
|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Hardcastle | JVC Musical Industries |
| 1996 | Hardcastle II | JVC Musical Industries |
| 2002 | Hardcastle III | Hardcastle Records |
| 2005 | Hardcastle 4 | Trippin 'N' Rhythm Records |
| 2008 | Hardcastle 5 | Trippin 'N' Rhythm Records |
| 2011 | Hardcastle VI | Trippin 'N' Rhythm Records |
| 2013 | Hardcastle VII | Trippin 'N' Rhythm Records |
The Jazzmasters series
| Year | Album | Label |
|---|---|---|
| 1993 | The Jazzmasters | Fast Forward Records, ltd., JVC Musical Industries, Inc |
| 1995 | The Jazzmasters II | JVC Musical Industries |
| 1999 | The Jazzmasters III | Hardcastle Records, Trippin 'N' Rhythm Records |
| 2000 | Jazzmasters: The Greatest Hits | Trippin 'N' Rhythm Records |
| 2004 | The Jazzmasters 4 | Hardcastle Records, Trippin 'N' Rhythm Records |
| 2004 | JazzMasters: The Smooth Cuts | Trippin 'N' Rhythm Records [13] |
| 2006 | The Jazzmasters V | Trippin 'N' Rhythm Records |
| 2010 | The Jazzmasters VI [14] | Trippin 'N' Rhythm Records |
| 2014 | The Jazzmasters VII | Trippin 'N' Rhythm Records |
Kiss The Sky series with Jaki Graham
| Year | Album | Label |
|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Kiss The Sky | Motown Records |
| 1994 | Millennium sky way | JVC Musical Industries |
The Chill Lounge series
| Year | Album | Label |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | The Chill Lounge, vol.1 | Trippin 'N' Rhythm Records |
| 2013 | The Chill Lounge, vol.2 | Trippin 'N' Rhythm Records |
| 2015 | The Chill Lounge, vol.3 | Trippin 'N' Rhythm Records |
Singles
| Title[16] | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK |
US |
US Dance |
US Jazz |
IRE |
SWI |
NOR |
GER |
NLD |
SWE |
ATR |
ITL |
FR |
NZ |
|||
| "You're the One For Me – Daybreak – A.M." | 1984 | 41 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Daybreak |
| "Guilty" | 53 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Eat Your Heart Out" | 59 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Rain Forest | |
| "Rain Forest" | 1985 | 53 | 57 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "19" | 1 | 15 | 1 | — | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 1 | Paul Hardcastle | |
| "Just for Money" | 19 | — | — | — | 15 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Don't Waste My Time" | 1986 | 8 | — | — | — | 15 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Foolin' Yourself" | 51 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | The Definitive Paul Hardcastle | |
| "The Wizard" | 15 | — | — | — | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Walk in the Night" | 1988 | 54 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | No Winners |
| "40 Years" | 53 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Are You Ready" | 1989 | 90 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Sound Syndicate |
| "Galaxy Of Love" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Rain Forest" / "What's Going On" | 2011 | — | — | — | 16 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Hardcastle VI |
| "Easy Come, Easy Go" | — | — | — | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "No Stress (At All)" | 2013 | — | — | — | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Hardcastle VII |
| "Easy Street" | — | — | — | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
See also
- List of number-one dance hits (United States)
- List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart
- List of 1980s one-hit wonders in the United States
- List of performers on Top of the Pops
- List of Euro disco artists
- List of smooth jazz performers
- List of synthpop artists
- List of artists who reached number one on the UK Singles Chart
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Paul Hardcastle @ Discogs Retrieved 23 August 2009.
- ↑ Maxine Hardcastle @ Discogs Retrieved 23 August 2009.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Paul Hardcastle, Jr. @ Discogs Retrieved 23 August 2009.
- ↑ http://www.allmusic.com/album/zero-one-mw0000845585/releases
- ↑ http://www.amazon.co.uk/Time-Love-Paul-Hardcastle/dp/B0000070PU/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1441603483&sr=1-1&keywords=time+for+love+hardcastle
- ↑ http://www.allmusic.com/album/cover-to-cover-mw0000029669/releases
- ↑ 5 cuts from Hardcastle Series, 5 cuts from Jazzmasters series, http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-collection-mw0000816835
- ↑ http://www.allmusic.com/album/desire-mw0002093551
- ↑ http://www.allmusic.com/album/jazzmasters-the-smooth-cuts-mw0000473936
- ↑ The holidays are coming and so is Jazzmasters 6 – Paul Hardcastle
- ↑ http://www.allmusic.com/artist/paul-hardcastle-mn0000018513/biography
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
External links
- Articles with hCards
- Articles with unsourced statements from September 2014
- Use dmy dates from December 2014
- 1957 births
- Living people
- English keyboardists
- English composers
- Musicians from London
- English boogie musicians
- English electro musicians
- British freestyle musicians
- Chrysalis Records artists
- Profile Records artists
- Smooth jazz musicians
- Jazz keyboardists
