Friday Nite Retro

I'm going to warn you in advance, this is a very long Friday Nite Retro. As it turns out, that is quite befitting of the artist I chose to profile this evening, Paul Carrack. I knew Paul was in several bands but I had no idea how extensive his work has been.

His career began as the keyboard player for Warm Dust (1970-72). When they broke up, he and Warm Dust bassist Tex Comer formed a band called "Ace". Carrack wrote and performed the band's debut single. The song, "How Long", turned out to be a one-hit-wonder:

Ace - "How Long"


After Ace disbanded in 1977, Paul did session work with Roxy Music and Franki Miller. In 1981, Glen Tilbrook recruited Paul for Squeeze's "West Side Story" album. Paul sang lead on this hit from that album:

Squeeze - "Tempted"


Paul was one busy musician in the 1980's, jumping around from band to band and doing session work for numerous others including The Smiths, The Pretenders,Nick Lowe and John Hiatt. But he still managed to get out some decent solo efforts as well, such as this personal favorite of mine:

Paul Carrack - "I Need You"


In 1985 Mike Rutherford of Genesis asked Paul to join his new band "Mike & the Mechanics". He was one of two alternating lead vocalist for the group, and sang lead on this hit:

Mike & The Mechanics - "Silent Running"


During the late 80's, Paul was also worked with Roger Waters and Berlin as well as returning to sing M&tM's second hit "Living Years". In the middle of all of that he cranked out another solo album, which featured this tune:

Paul Carrack - "Don't Shed a Tear"

In 1990, Carrack was recruited to perform in the groundbreaking live stage show of The Wall in Berlin by Roger Waters. He performed "Hey You" to the crowd of 250,000. He briefly reunited with Squeeze in 1993, and re-recorded "Tempted". His next project was doomed to fail however. . .he teamed up with Timothy B. Schmit and Don Felder of The Eagles for an ambitious but ultimately unrealized recording project. They reformed The Eagles before an album could be completed.

However, they took with them one of the songs that Paul had penned, recorded it with The Eagles and took it straight up the charts. That song won an award as being the most-played single in America in 1995. It was also Jody and I's first dance as a married couple at our wedding reception on June 3rd of that same year:

The Eagles - "Love Will Keep Us Alive"

Paul maintains his active solo career, as well as his career as a session musician. He also became Mike + The Mechanics only lead vocalist after the death of Paul Young in 2000. In 2004 the band was officially re-named Mike + The Mechanics & Paul Carrack.

Discography

Paul's biggest solo hit, "Don't Shed A Tear," came after he signed as a solo artist to Chrysalis Records in 1987 .

Solo Albums

• 1980 Nightbird
• 1982 Suburban Voodoo
• 1987 One Good Reason
• 1989 Groove Approved
• 1996 Blue Views
• 1997 Beautiful World
• 2000 Satisfy My Soul
• 2001 Groovin'
• 2003 It Ain't Over
• 2005 Winter Wonderland

Compilations

• 1987 Ace Mechanic
• 1988 The Carrack Collection
• 1994 Twenty-One Good Reasons: The Paul Carrack Collection
• 1995 Carrackter Reference
• 2006 Greatest Hits - The Story So Far

Solo Hit Singles

• "I Need You" (US #37, 1982)
• "When You Walk in the Room" (UK #48, 1987)
• "Don't Shed A Tear" (US #9/UK #60, 1987)
• "One Good Reason (US #28, 1988)
• "I Live By The Groove" (US #31, 1989)
• "Eyes of Blue" (UK #40, 1996)
• "How Long" (UK #32, 1996)
• "For Once In Our Lives" (US #72, 1997)

Ace Hit Singles

• "How Long" (US #3/UK #20 1975)

Squeeze Hit Singles (with Carrack on lead vocal)

• "Tempted" (US #49/UK #41, 1981)

Mike + The Mechanics Hit Singles (with Carrack on lead vocal)

• "Silent Running" (US #21/UK #6, 1985)
• "The Living Years" (US #1/UK #2, 1989)
• "Over My Shoulder" (UK #12, 1995)
• "Now That You've Gone" (UK #35, 1999)