Chart entered : 6 June 1988
Chart peak : 53
Paul had experienced his biggest success a year on from his breakthrough when "19" became a worldwide hit, reaching number one here and almost everywhere else. He scored three more Top 20 hits in its wake but the twin attack of hip hop and house left his electronic take on jazz funk already sounding dated and his previous single had faltered at number 54.
"40 Years" could hardly be more obvious in its attempt to repeat the success of "19" with its vocal samples - this time concerning the Cold War" - and electro-funk groove adhering strictly to the formula. But there's an extra element here, Paul's white man rap amateurishly delivering his own unoriginal thoughts on the nuclear stand-off in cringeworthy rhyme - "way back in 45, when the first atom bomb came alive" It's awful, embarrassingly so. Chrysalis dropped him after this and you can't blame them.
In 1989 he returned with the single "Are You Ready" , a medley of disco classics set to a house rhythm under the name "Paul Hardcastle Sound Syndicate "which bubbled under the chart. It was included on the following year's covers album "Sound Syndicate" on K-Tel Records. Also in 1990 he began a collaboration with Jaki Graham and saxophonist Gary Barnacle under the name "Kiss The Sky". The first single "Livin For You" is a mellow electronic soul track quoting Minnie Ripperton's Loving You. The second was a robotic, interesting for one play , cover of Hendrix's Voodoo Chile . These were released on Fast Forward Records but by the time of their eponymous debut in 1992 they were signed to Motown. The third single is a mellow house tune that goes in one year and out the other.
Another Kiss The Sky album, "Millennium Skyway" , came and went in 1994.
None of these records made any impression and since then Paul seems to have largely eschewed singles and concentrated on the smooth jazz market releasing a long string of albums under various guises. His collaborations with vocalist Helen Rogers go out under the name "The Jazzateers", if she's not involved it's "Hardcastle". In the last few years he's also recorded as "The Chill Lounge". I'm not pretending to have explored all these albums in depth but from a reasonable sample it's not all bad, There's nothing you'd call cutting edge but if like me, you like electronic keyboard music, there is the odd nugget amidst the blandness.
Paul had experienced his biggest success a year on from his breakthrough when "19" became a worldwide hit, reaching number one here and almost everywhere else. He scored three more Top 20 hits in its wake but the twin attack of hip hop and house left his electronic take on jazz funk already sounding dated and his previous single had faltered at number 54.
"40 Years" could hardly be more obvious in its attempt to repeat the success of "19" with its vocal samples - this time concerning the Cold War" - and electro-funk groove adhering strictly to the formula. But there's an extra element here, Paul's white man rap amateurishly delivering his own unoriginal thoughts on the nuclear stand-off in cringeworthy rhyme - "way back in 45, when the first atom bomb came alive" It's awful, embarrassingly so. Chrysalis dropped him after this and you can't blame them.
In 1989 he returned with the single "Are You Ready" , a medley of disco classics set to a house rhythm under the name "Paul Hardcastle Sound Syndicate "which bubbled under the chart. It was included on the following year's covers album "Sound Syndicate" on K-Tel Records. Also in 1990 he began a collaboration with Jaki Graham and saxophonist Gary Barnacle under the name "Kiss The Sky". The first single "Livin For You" is a mellow electronic soul track quoting Minnie Ripperton's Loving You. The second was a robotic, interesting for one play , cover of Hendrix's Voodoo Chile . These were released on Fast Forward Records but by the time of their eponymous debut in 1992 they were signed to Motown. The third single is a mellow house tune that goes in one year and out the other.
Another Kiss The Sky album, "Millennium Skyway" , came and went in 1994.
None of these records made any impression and since then Paul seems to have largely eschewed singles and concentrated on the smooth jazz market releasing a long string of albums under various guises. His collaborations with vocalist Helen Rogers go out under the name "The Jazzateers", if she's not involved it's "Hardcastle". In the last few years he's also recorded as "The Chill Lounge". I'm not pretending to have explored all these albums in depth but from a reasonable sample it's not all bad, There's nothing you'd call cutting edge but if like me, you like electronic keyboard music, there is the odd nugget amidst the blandness.
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