Henry Padovani
Encyclopedia
Henry Padovani is a French
musician from Corsica
, who is noted for having been the original guitarist
for The Police
. He was a member of the group from January through August 1977, at the end of which he was replaced by Andy Summers
.
and Corsica
from Santo-Pietro-di-Venaco
. While studying Economics at Aix-en-Provence
, he began listening to Jimi Hendrix
and was inspired to form his own band, Lupus, made up of various school friends. He moved to London in December 1976, where a friend took him to one of Curved Air
's last gigs. Though unimpressed by the performance, afterward he ended up talking with drummer Stewart Copeland
, who showed him some songs he'd been writing and introduced him to the rising punk
scene. After a show at the Roxy Club, Padovani decided he wanted to join a punk band and shaved off his waist-length hair and beard. He then auditioned for the band London
and was offered the job.
However, when he told Stewart Copeland of his success, Copeland petitioned him to join his own band, The Police. Copeland was already under the impression that he had convinced Sting to join, but despite heavy use of word-of-mouth and advertisements in musical publications, Padovani was the only guitarist he could find who was interested in punk and had actual playing ability. Copeland later recalled of Henry Padovani:
With Padovani on guitar, The Police recorded
their first single
, "Fall Out
" b/w "Nothing Achieving" in 1977. However Sting was dissatisfied with Padovani's technical abilities, paving the way for Andy Summers, whom they met after a brief tour as part of Mike Howlett
's band Strontium 90
. For a brief period between July and August 1977, The Police performed as a four piece with Padovani and Summers sharing guitar duties. Having insisted from the start that he wanted to be the sole guitarist for the band, Summers was unhappy with the situation. Padovani himself felt that the disparity in technical ability between the two of them made this an awkward lineup. The night after an aborted studio session with producer John Cale
, Stewart Copeland called Padovani and asked him to leave the band.
Being cast out of the Police did not slow Padovani's musical career, however. After taking a two month vacation in Corsica, he returned to London and was immediately handed the rhythm guitar spot with Wayne County & the Electric Chairs
, who at the time were far better known than the Police. The band's first album with Padovani, Storm the Gates of Heaven, was also his debut as a songwriter. Besides a pair of group compositions, he wrote the music for the song "Cry of Angels". After one more album, Things Your Mother Never Told You, Wayne County & the Electric Chairs split in two. Padovani remained with bassist Val Haller and drummer J.J. Johnson, and the trio recorded a final single, "So Many Ways", as simply The Electric Chairs, before management problems forced them to disband completely. During this period, Padovani and Haller took turns on lead vocals.
The Mystere Five's recorded two indie singles which were released in 1980, "Shake Some Action" b/w "No Message" and "Never Say Thank You" b/w "Heart Rules the Head". Both were very successful, receiving glowing reviews (New Musical Express called the first single "A perfect record" and later reviewed the second single as being "actually better"), high placings in the indie charts, and a good deal of radio play.
However, by the time the singles were released, the band members had already moved on to other projects, with Padovani having formed his own band, The Flying Padovanis. This new band released the double A-sided single "Western Pasta" b/w "Vas Plus Haut" (1981). In July 1981, the British music magazine, NME
, reported that the Flying Padovanis were playing at London's Moonlight Club. The Flying Padovanis recorded an album, They Call Them Crazy (also released under the title Font L'Enfer), before disbanding at the end of 1987. A few years later he contributed to a Johnny Thunders
tribute album
by performing "Cosa Nostra".
In 1984, Miles Copeland, the Police's manager, and elder brother of Stewart Copeland, appointed Padovani as Vice President of IRS Records, a role he performed until 1994. He then managed the Italian musician Zucchero
for five years.
After a five-year sabbatical, Padovani returned to guitar playing. He recorded a solo album in 2006 with the record producer
Yves Aouizerate. À croire que c'était pour la vie, was sung in French, and included the song "Welcome Home". It featured both Stewart Copeland and Sting, and this was the first time that the original members of the Police had recorded together since "Fall Out". Manu Katché
, Steve Hunter
, Glen Matlock
and Chris Musto also appeared on the album.
Padovani also wrote the score for the films La vie comme elle va and Ici Najac à vous la terre (2006 Cannes Film Festival
official selection). He also released a book in April 2006, Secret Police Man, that recounted episodes of his lifestyle in the late 1970s and the early days of The Police.
Padovani was a judge for the spring 2011 season of X Factor
in France, on the television channel M6.
.
During the 2007 The Police Reunion Tour
, Padovani joined the band on stage for the final encore of their show in Paris on 29 September. The Police as a four piece played "Next to You" from the band's first album Outlandos d'Amour
.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
musician from Corsica
Corsica
Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....
, who is noted for having been the original guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
for The Police
The Police
The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For the vast majority of their history, the band consisted of Sting , Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland...
. He was a member of the group from January through August 1977, at the end of which he was replaced by Andy Summers
Andy Summers
Andy Summers is an English guitarist born in Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire, England. Best known as the guitarist for rock band The Police, he has also recorded twelve solo albums, collaborated with many other artists, toured extensively under his own name, published several books, and composed...
.
Early Life and Punk Years
Padovani grew up between AlgeriaAlgeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
and Corsica
Corsica
Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....
from Santo-Pietro-di-Venaco
Santo-Pietro-di-Venaco
Santo-Pietro-di-Venaco is a commune in the Haute-Corse department of France on the island of Corsica.-Population:-See also:*Communes of the Haute-Corse department*Henry Padovani*Pierre Salvadori*Lea Padovani-References:*...
. While studying Economics at Aix-en-Provence
Aix-en-Provence
Aix , or Aix-en-Provence to distinguish it from other cities built over hot springs, is a city-commune in southern France, some north of Marseille. It is in the region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, in the département of Bouches-du-Rhône, of which it is a subprefecture. The population of Aix is...
, he began listening to Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
and was inspired to form his own band, Lupus, made up of various school friends. He moved to London in December 1976, where a friend took him to one of Curved Air
Curved Air
Curved Air are a pioneering British progressive rock group formed in 1970 by musicians from mixed artistic backgrounds, including classic, folk, and electronic sound. The resulting sound of the band was a mixture of progressive rock, folk rock, and fusion with classical elements...
's last gigs. Though unimpressed by the performance, afterward he ended up talking with drummer Stewart Copeland
Stewart Copeland
Stewart Armstrong Copeland is an American musician, best known as the drummer for the band The Police. During the group's extended hiatus from the mid-1980s to 2007, he played in other bands and composed soundtracks...
, who showed him some songs he'd been writing and introduced him to the rising punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
scene. After a show at the Roxy Club, Padovani decided he wanted to join a punk band and shaved off his waist-length hair and beard. He then auditioned for the band London
London (band)
London were a four piece punk band formed in London in 1976 and were best known for their wild stage act. The original line-up was Riff Regan , Steve Voice , Jon Moss and Dave Wight . They were managed by Simon Napier-Bell and recorded two singles, a 4 track EP and an album for MCA Records in 1977...
and was offered the job.
However, when he told Stewart Copeland of his success, Copeland petitioned him to join his own band, The Police. Copeland was already under the impression that he had convinced Sting to join, but despite heavy use of word-of-mouth and advertisements in musical publications, Padovani was the only guitarist he could find who was interested in punk and had actual playing ability. Copeland later recalled of Henry Padovani:
He couldn't speak much English but he'd picked up some musicians' slang and he used to say 'Where can I put my homp(amplifier)? or 'where do I put my rope (lead)?'. He knew a few chords and he was really enthusiastic and when he'd had his hair cut and stuff he really looked the part. I mean, he could play guitar better than I could and I could play guitar better than Joe Strummer... well, in those days. So I reckoned he'd be OK but I didn't figure Sting would see it that way...
With Padovani on guitar, The Police recorded
Sound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
their first single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
, "Fall Out
Fall Out
"Fall Out" was the first single released by The Police. It was originally released in May 1977 and then re-released in 1979. "Fall Out" was a 7" single with "Nothing Achieving" on its B-side...
" b/w "Nothing Achieving" in 1977. However Sting was dissatisfied with Padovani's technical abilities, paving the way for Andy Summers, whom they met after a brief tour as part of Mike Howlett
Mike Howlett
Mike Howlett is a Fijian-born musician, Grammy Award winning producer and teacher based in the United Kingdom and Australia....
's band Strontium 90
Strontium 90 (band)
Strontium 90 was the name of a short-lived 1977 British band with members Mike Howlett , Sting , Stewart Copeland , and Andy Summers...
. For a brief period between July and August 1977, The Police performed as a four piece with Padovani and Summers sharing guitar duties. Having insisted from the start that he wanted to be the sole guitarist for the band, Summers was unhappy with the situation. Padovani himself felt that the disparity in technical ability between the two of them made this an awkward lineup. The night after an aborted studio session with producer John Cale
John Cale
John Davies Cale, OBE is a Welsh musician, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer who was a founding member of the experimental rock band The Velvet Underground....
, Stewart Copeland called Padovani and asked him to leave the band.
Being cast out of the Police did not slow Padovani's musical career, however. After taking a two month vacation in Corsica, he returned to London and was immediately handed the rhythm guitar spot with Wayne County & the Electric Chairs
Wayne County & the Electric Chairs
Wayne County & the Electric Chairs were part of the first wave of punk bands from the 1970s. The band is headed by Georgia transgendered woman, Wayne County, who later changed her name to Jayne County.-Career:...
, who at the time were far better known than the Police. The band's first album with Padovani, Storm the Gates of Heaven, was also his debut as a songwriter. Besides a pair of group compositions, he wrote the music for the song "Cry of Angels". After one more album, Things Your Mother Never Told You, Wayne County & the Electric Chairs split in two. Padovani remained with bassist Val Haller and drummer J.J. Johnson, and the trio recorded a final single, "So Many Ways", as simply The Electric Chairs, before management problems forced them to disband completely. During this period, Padovani and Haller took turns on lead vocals.
New Directions
However, the collaboration between Padovani, Haller, and Johnson did not end with the breakup of the Electric Chairs. In 1980, they put together a band called The Mystere Five's, which consisted of the three of them plus Chris Reeves, who played guitar, and Marc "Frenchie" Gloder, who had no performance role in the band but wrote all the lyrics, designed the sleeves to their records, and owned the record label. All the members except Gloder did lead vocals. The group used a deliberately anonymous image, never crediting individual members. Except for a cover of "Shake Some Action" by The Flaming Groovies, all their songs were credited as being written and produced by the group as a whole.The Mystere Five's recorded two indie singles which were released in 1980, "Shake Some Action" b/w "No Message" and "Never Say Thank You" b/w "Heart Rules the Head". Both were very successful, receiving glowing reviews (New Musical Express called the first single "A perfect record" and later reviewed the second single as being "actually better"), high placings in the indie charts, and a good deal of radio play.
However, by the time the singles were released, the band members had already moved on to other projects, with Padovani having formed his own band, The Flying Padovanis. This new band released the double A-sided single "Western Pasta" b/w "Vas Plus Haut" (1981). In July 1981, the British music magazine, NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
, reported that the Flying Padovanis were playing at London's Moonlight Club. The Flying Padovanis recorded an album, They Call Them Crazy (also released under the title Font L'Enfer), before disbanding at the end of 1987. A few years later he contributed to a Johnny Thunders
Johnny Thunders
Johnny Thunders, born John Anthony Genzale, Jr. , was an American protopunk guitarist, singer and songwriter.He came to prominence in the early '70s as a member of the New York Dolls...
tribute album
Tribute album
A tribute album is a recorded collection of cover versions of songs or instrumental compositions. Its concept may be either various artists making a tribute to a single artist, a single artist making a tribute to various artists, or a single artist making a tribute to another single artist.There...
by performing "Cosa Nostra".
In 1984, Miles Copeland, the Police's manager, and elder brother of Stewart Copeland, appointed Padovani as Vice President of IRS Records, a role he performed until 1994. He then managed the Italian musician Zucchero
Zucchero
Adelmo Fornaciari, Commander , more commonly known by his stage name Zucchero Fornaciari or simply Zucchero /ˈtsukkero/, is an Italian rock singer. His music is largely inspired by gospel, blues and rock music, and alternates between ballads and more rhythmic boogie-like pieces.Zucchero is the...
for five years.
After a five-year sabbatical, Padovani returned to guitar playing. He recorded a solo album in 2006 with the record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
Yves Aouizerate. À croire que c'était pour la vie, was sung in French, and included the song "Welcome Home". It featured both Stewart Copeland and Sting, and this was the first time that the original members of the Police had recorded together since "Fall Out". Manu Katché
Manu Katché
Manu Katché is a French musician of Ivorian origin, born in Saint-Maur-des-Fossés on 27 October 1958. He is a drummer and songwriter.-Career:Session musician...
, Steve Hunter
Steve Hunter (guitarist)
Steve "The Deacon" Hunter, born June 14, 1948, in Decatur, Illinois, is an American guitarist best known for his collaborations with Lou Reed and Alice Cooper. He first played with Mitch Ryder's Detroit, beginning a long association with record producer Bob Ezrin.In the 1970s, he appeared on five...
, Glen Matlock
Glen Matlock
Glen Matlock is an English bass guitarist most famous for being in the original line-up of the punk rock band the Sex Pistols. Drummer Paul Cook has said that Matlock came up with much of the music for the band's songs and most of the lyrics, while lead singer Johnny Rotten made some adjustments...
and Chris Musto also appeared on the album.
Padovani also wrote the score for the films La vie comme elle va and Ici Najac à vous la terre (2006 Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
official selection). He also released a book in April 2006, Secret Police Man, that recounted episodes of his lifestyle in the late 1970s and the early days of The Police.
Padovani was a judge for the spring 2011 season of X Factor
X Factor (France)
X Factor is a French television music talent show to find new singing talent after public auditions, intermediate tests, and live shows.The first series was broadcast on Mondays, from September to December 2009, on W9 and RTL-TVI ....
in France, on the television channel M6.
Band Reunions
The Flying Padovanis reformed in 2007 for an album Three for Trouble released in May that year, followed by a tour which included an appearance at the Fuji rock festival in Japan. Padovani often appears live on stage with his friend Rachid TahaRachid Taha
Rachid Taha is an Algerian singer and activist based in France who has been described as "sonically adventurous." His music is influenced by many different styles such as rock, electronic, punk and raï.-Early life:Taha was born in 1958 in Sig , Algeria, although a second source suggests he was...
.
During the 2007 The Police Reunion Tour
The Police Reunion Tour
The Police Reunion Tour was a 2007–2008 worldwide concert tour by The Police, marking the 30th anniversary of their beginnings. At its conclusion, the tour became the third highest grossing tour of all time, with revenues reaching over $340 million...
, Padovani joined the band on stage for the final encore of their show in Paris on 29 September. The Police as a four piece played "Next to You" from the band's first album Outlandos d'Amour
Outlandos d'Amour
The LP initially flopped, due to low exposure and an unfavourable reaction from the BBC to its first two singles, "Can't Stand Losing You" and "Roxanne" . As Sting describes:...
.
Discography
- Font L'Enfer - 1982 (with The Flying Padovanis)
- They Call Them Crazy - 1987 (with The Flying Padovanis)
- À croire que c'était pour la vie - 2007
- Three for Trouble - 2007 (with The Flying Padovanis)