Paul Haig
Encyclopedia
Paul Haig is a Scottish indie composer, musician and singer. He was originally a member of 1980s post-punk band Josef K
who were signed to the Postcard
record label. Other bands with Postcard at the same time were Orange Juice
, Aztec Camera
and the Go-Betweens.
Josef K recorded five singles and an album (The Only Fun in Town) with Haig on lead vocals, before splitting after touring in July and August 1981; their final Scottish date was in Glasgow
. The exact reasons behind the split remain obscure, but Haig said in an interview by Johnny Waller in Sounds
a year after the split:
independent Rational, run by manager Allan Campbell. The first of these, Soon, was a collaboration with fellow Edinburgh musician Stephen Harrison (formerly of Metropak
), while the second, Uncle Sam, saw Haig guesting on a record by artist Sebastian Horsley
. Exploring territory first charted by Heaven 17
in their BEF
guise, both singles appeared under the generic name Rhythm Of Life Organisation (RoL), an imprimatur Haig has retained ever since for everything from albums, labels and backing bands. Such anonymity also suited his avowed loathing of publicity. Indeed Haig has never once released a record with his own face on the front cover.
Also via Rational, Haig released a 700 copies limited edition cassette-only set of home-recorded electronica in 1982 titled Drama, featuring Kafka texts set to music, as well as a deconstruction of Josef K's Forever Drone.
, and in January 1982 made solo live debuts in Edinburgh
and London
. At this stage his solo material was not so very different from late-period Josef K
classics such as "Heaven Sent", "Adoration" and "Heart of Song", albeit with a greater emphasis on stripped-down funk rhythms. According to the NME
s Dave Hill, for the latter show at The Venue:
The following month Rhythm of Life took part in Crépuscule's first European tour, Dialogue North-South, which also included Durutti Column, The Names, Marine, Richard Jobson
, Isabelle Antena
and Tuxedomoon
. Eschewing a live drummer in favour of a rhythm box, RoL gained plaudits for their versatile, snappy brand of funk minimalism, and five excerpts from these shows can be found on Crepuscule
's souvenir compilation, Some Interesting Things You'll See On A Long Distance Flight.
Haig elected to relocate to Brussels
in March, and there embarked on an intensive recording schedule at Little Big One studio. This yielded two self-produced singles, "Running Away
" and "Justice
", although the latter was destined to be shelved. However, after just four months Haig tired of continental living and returned home to Edinburgh
. "Running Away
", a cover of the Sly Stone
classic, appeared in May on Les Disques Du Crépuscule
subsidiary Operation Twilight and reached number 19 on the UK Independent Chart, its success unhampered by the simultaneous release of another version by The Raincoats
.
The follow-up single, "Justice
", was later cancelled after Les Disques Du Crépuscule signed a licensing deal with Island Records
. 7-inch test pressings (TWI 100) survive, as does a separate 12" release on Les Disques Du Crépuscule/Interference featuring two mixes of the song "Blue For You
", although this was intended as a DJ record rather than a full release. While in Brussels
Haig also recorded the Swing in '82 set, partly at the instigation of Crépuscule's Michel Duval. Originally intended for release as a 10-inch EP
, Swing in '82 saw Haig tackling six big band numbers Sinatra-style. In 1982 Haig said to Masterbag magazine:
In fact this record too was shelved, and not released by Crepuscule
until 1985, with five tracks only, Haig having finally vetoed "Send in the Clowns
".
In July, almost a year after Josef K had split, yet with just one proper solo record to his name in "Running Away", Haig was labelled "the face and sound of 1982" by Paul Morley
in a lead feature for the NME
. Accordingly to Morley, Haig was the "enigmatic fourth man" in a New Pop quartet which also included Billy Mackenzie
, Jim Kerr
and Martin Fry
, all of them potential pop saviours in a parallel universe where Morley deemed Dollar
"the most avant-garde group in the world". Even by Morley's standards the statement was ludicrous, although he would validate it partially two years later by instructing ZTT signing Propaganda
to cover "Sorry for Laughing" on their album A Secret Wish
.
, and a substantial injection of cash. The deal saw Haig record his first album in New York
at the end of 1982, with the late Alex Sadkin
producing. Featuring a host of crack sessioneers (including Bernie Worrell
, Anton Fier
, and Jack Waldman
), his new direction - a brand of polished dance/electro - seemed a million miles away from the abrasive edge of Josef K. Indeed Haig was already disowning his past with a vengeance, informing the NME that Josef K was a 'cockroach' he wanted squashed, although two songs - "Adoration" and "Heaven Sent
" - had begun life with that band. Yet fine though songs such as "Justice
", "Adoration" and "Stolen Love" were, Haig's solo debut played very much as a producer's record, and in surrendering a measure of artistic control Haig lost something of his identity. And it hardly helped that Sadkin was then heavily involved with the Thompson Twins
, whose Tom Bailey
also guested on the album.
The first Island
single, "Heaven Sent", was a drastic club refit of the earlier Josef K number. Despite their best marketing efforts, however, it stalled at number 74 in the UK, and failed to provide Haig with the hit many had confidently predicted. The Rhythm Of Life album appeared in October 1983 and was accompanied by a short seven date UK tour. Haig's touring group included Malcolm Ross
on guitar, together with bassist David McClymont (also fresh from Orange Juice
), drummer James Locke and former Associate Alan Rankine
. Yet although the album sold respectably, Haig found himself caught between two commercial stools. Plainly some way ahead of his time, Haig had perhaps moved too far too fast, his polished dance pop alienating many Josef K fans not yet ready to trade their raincoats for a sharp Italian
two-piece and a place in line outside Studio 54
. Reviewing the album in the NME, Chris Bohn lamented the fate of an artist:
...dropped somewhere mid-Atlantic and left to drown in liquid demi-disco. Though four percussionists are credited the record has no forward momentum. It sort of slithers across the dancefloor. Worse, Haig has tailored his songwriting to serve a form he only imagines is there. Cutesy couplets are left in mid air, grappling after non-existent rhythm hooks... More than a name producer and an NY studio he needs sympathetic musicians to bring out the character of his songs.
Simple bad luck seems to have prevented all three singles providing solid hits which might have allowed Haig to cross over to a new, wider audience. Inexplicably Island
failed even to release the album - or the singles - in the US, the very market to which they had been tailored. Although the slick New York Remix mini album was belatedly issued in America in 1984, it provided a textbook example of too little too late. In 1990 Haig recalled of this difficult period:
The main thing was that I didn't want to be the centre of it all. The initial idea was just to keep working with different people under the name Rhythm of Life. It was more of a big joke. It all went a bit funny when I signed to Island
, but before there were quite a few things in the pipeline. But Island
wanted a pop image to sell... and they didn't get one.
True, one music paper awarded Haig the accolade of 'Rock Haircut of the Year', but relations with Island were fast becoming strained. Incoming MD Dave Robinson showed little enthusiasm for Haig's music, while an overly candid Sounds
interview and an abortive appearance on a children's television show (Hold Tight) to promote "Never Give Up (Party Party)
" soured relations further. When Haig recorded a new single, "Big Blue World
", in December, Island pulled it just a fortnight before its scheduled release. Fortunately, Crépuscule continued to release Haig product in Europe, so that the delayed record - with a sublime cover of Suicide
's "Ghost Rider" on the flipside - arrived in the UK on import.
In 1984 Haig joined forces with several celebrated peers, recording the seminal electro cut "The Only Truth" with Bernard Sumner
and Donald Johnson (of New Order
and A Certain Ratio
respectively), and "The Executioner" with Cabaret Voltaire
. November saw the completion of a new album, this time recorded in London with Alan Rankine co-producing. Unfortunately the failure of "The Only Truth" as a single led to Island severing the Crépuscule connection, and so the untitled second album was shelved.
", and the album The Warp Of Pure Fun
. Produced with Rankine, it was a more involving, honest set than its predecessor, offering warmer songs and arrangements (and live drums) in place of programmed rhythm tracks, though without entirely abandoning club appeal. In the UK The Warp Of Pure Fun appeared on another short-lived Crépuscule offshoot, Operation Afterglow, but while the album fared well as an independent release, Afterglow failed to propel it into the national chart.
came to nothing, Haig spent most of 1986 writing new material, surviving on PRS
royalties from his back catalogue. He also found time to embark on a fruitful partnership with another Associate, Billy Mackenzie
, the result being low key dates in Glasgow
and Edinburgh
, which mixed their own greatest hits with covers such as "Running Away" and Yoko Ono
's "Walking On Thin Ice". Later the pair united to perform "Amazing Grace
" on a Scots Hogmanay television programme, and each donated a song to the other's forthcoming album. "Chained" proved a highlight on the next Haig album, although Mackenzie's version of "Reach The Top" remained unreleased after the Associates' patchy Glamour Chase set was shelved by WEA
. Following Mackenzie's untimely death in 1997 an entire album of Haig/Mackenzie material, Memory Palace, appeared on RoL in 2000.
Haig briefly returned to Crepuscule in September 1987 to record several tracks, though the only new record to emerge was the "Torchomatic
" single, complete with spy theme and a home-recorded instrumental cycle on the flipside. The European Sun
compilation album followed, including most of the shelved Island album not included on Warp plus several rare b-sides, and the previously-unreleased Cabaret Voltaire collaboration.
offshoot Circa Records purchased the tapes in August, but chose not to release the album, titled Chain, until May the following year. Neither Chain nor the lead single, "Something Good
", broke commercially, and to some the album came as a slight disappointment, with strong material in places undermined by weaker arrangements. Sales were scarcely assisted by Haig's refusal to undertake a lengthy tour, and with much of his following in Europe and Japan, many fans were not even aware that a new record was available. Nevertheless, a showcase at the ICA
in London on May 18 saw Haig and his band in fine, powerful form.
Following Drama, Swing In '82 and the Billy Mackenzie pairing, 1988's off the wall project came in the form of the "Dub Organiser" single, a club cut recorded in collaboration with Allan Campbell
and released as a one-off on Manchester
indie label Play Hard.
by dance gurus Curtis Mantronik and Lil Louis
, and also by The Chimes
, whose drummer James Locke had been a periodic Haig collaborator since 1981. The expansive, sensurround album marked a timely return to the dance orientation of Rhythm of Life five years earlier, as suggested by its title, Right on Line. As Haig explained to Melody Maker
:
However, after the Chimes
-produced single "I Believe in You
" failed to build on a measure of club success, and some excellent press, Circa delayed releasing the album until a reworked "Flight X" (featuring rapper The Voice Of Reason) broke. When two versions of this track stalled early in 1991 the album was shelved.
appeared in September 1991 to glowing reviews, and comprised three distinct suites, being City of Fun (accomplished noir jazz), Lagondola (new age, almost) and Flashback (electronica). In 1993 the Right On Line album finally emerged as Coincidence Vs Fate
on the Les Disques Du Crépuscule label, with two new tracks added.
Despite warm reviews, neither Cinematique
nor Coincidence Vs Fate
sold in great numbers, due in part to low-key press and distribution, and to Haig's ongoing reluctance to submit to self-promotion. By his own admission:
Since 1993 Haig has released two further volumes of Cinematique on his own RoL imprint, as well as several archive releases by the late Billy Mackenzie. Memory Palace (1999) compiled a number of tracks recorded as joint demos by the pair, as well as the tribute "Listen to Me", while RoL also released albums by Skyline and Subterraneans
. By the end of 2001 pretty much all of Paul Haig's back catalogue was commercially unavailable - with the exception of his work with Josef K.
single of the week), was released, available via download and on 7-inch vinyl. Followed soon after by Haig's first new, non-Cinematique release since 1993's Coincidence Vs Fate, Electronik Audience. This album showcased Haig's influences from Kraftwerk
and New Order
to Cabaret Voltaire
.
2007 also saw the first live appearance from Haig in many years when he joined Subterraneans onstage at the Billy Mackenzie tribute concert in London.
Yet another new album, Go Out Tonight, a more organic album than Electronik Audience, was released in April 2008. Go Out Tonight saw Haig return to his roots and tracks such as "Trouble Maker" are very reminiscent of early solo recordings such as "Chance".
Haig also embarked on his first tour since 1989 when he promoted both old and new tracks in Scotland and selected dates in Nottingham and London in April 2008.
2009 saw the release of the critically acclaimed album, Relive, during December.
recorded
by Haig and Billy Mackenzie
during the period of 1993 to 1995, and was released on CD three years after Mackenzie's death.
Track listing
Josef K (band)
Josef K were a Scottish post-punk band, active between 1979 and 1982, who released singles on the Postcard Records label. The band was named after the protagonist of Franz Kafka's novel The Trial...
who were signed to the Postcard
Postcard Records
Postcard Records is a Glasgow-based independent record label founded by Alan Horne in 1979, as a vehicle for Orange Juice and Josef K releases. The label's motto was "The Sound of Young Scotland", a parody/tribute to the Motown motto; its logo featured a cartoon cat beating a drum...
record label. Other bands with Postcard at the same time were Orange Juice
Orange Juice
Orange Juice was a Scottish post-punk band founded in the middle class Glasgow suburb of Bearsden as the Nu-Sonics in 1976. Edwyn Collins formed the Nu-Sonics with his school-mate Alan Duncan and was subsequently joined by James Kirk and Steven Daly, who left a band called The Machetes. The band...
, Aztec Camera
Aztec Camera
Aztec Camera were a Scottish New Wave band from the Glasgow suburb of East Kilbride, formed in 1980 and centered around teenage singer-songwriter, Roddy Frame. Their album Love was among the nominations for Best British Album at the 1989 BRIT Awards....
and the Go-Betweens.
Josef K recorded five singles and an album (The Only Fun in Town) with Haig on lead vocals, before splitting after touring in July and August 1981; their final Scottish date was in Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
. The exact reasons behind the split remain obscure, but Haig said in an interview by Johnny Waller in Sounds
Sounds (magazine)
Sounds was a long-term British music paper, published weekly from 10 October 1970 – 6 April 1991. It was produced by Spotlight Publications , which was set up by Jack Hutton and Peter Wilkinson, who left "Melody Maker" to start their own company...
a year after the split:
- I was pretty depressed for a week because it was the end of an era, but after that I was really happy that we'd split, because I could get on with everything I wanted to do. I don't listen to any of those records now. It's all gone. Nothing from that period interests me, except maybe Sorry for Laughing. We didn't really get on all that well towards the end. We didn't have anything in common, so there were no jokes, no happy feeling. It was just down to doing a job. Josef K weren't that famous anyway. We've split up, so what? Everybody changes.
- ...
- I've lost a lot of the ideals I had in Josef K. About not wanting to be commercially successful, suffering for your art and all that. Not that I wasn't sincere about it at the time... But I got sick of it. I want to be signed to a major and make a great record that will get radio airplay and be a big hit, then make my own money from that. I don't mind being manipulated to a certain extent in order to get what I want, but in time I want to control everything.
Solo career
Haig released two interim singles on EdinburghEdinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
independent Rational, run by manager Allan Campbell. The first of these, Soon, was a collaboration with fellow Edinburgh musician Stephen Harrison (formerly of Metropak
Metropak
Metropak was a post-punk band, active in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1979 and 1980. Band members were Stephen Harrison , Robin Thistlethwaite , Murray Bruce , Toni McVittie and Helen Rutherford . Metropak played many venues in and around Edinburgh...
), while the second, Uncle Sam, saw Haig guesting on a record by artist Sebastian Horsley
Sebastian Horsley
Sebastian Horsley was a London artist best known for having undergone a voluntary crucifixion. Horsley's writing often revolved around his dysfunctional family, his drug addictions, sex, and his reliance on prostitutes.-Background:Horsley was born in Holderness in the East Riding of Yorkshire...
. Exploring territory first charted by Heaven 17
Heaven 17
Heaven 17 are an English synthpop band originating from Sheffield in the early 1980s. The trio comprises Martyn Ware , Ian Craig Marsh and Glenn Gregory...
in their BEF
B.E.F. (British Electric Foundation)
B.E.F. are a band/production company formed by former Human League members Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh who later became Heaven 17 .-History:Ware and Marsh's first release as B.E.F...
guise, both singles appeared under the generic name Rhythm Of Life Organisation (RoL), an imprimatur Haig has retained ever since for everything from albums, labels and backing bands. Such anonymity also suited his avowed loathing of publicity. Indeed Haig has never once released a record with his own face on the front cover.
Also via Rational, Haig released a 700 copies limited edition cassette-only set of home-recorded electronica in 1982 titled Drama, featuring Kafka texts set to music, as well as a deconstruction of Josef K's Forever Drone.
Les Disques Du Crepuscule
Haig subsequently teamed up with a Belgian independent record label Les Disques du CrépusculeLes Disques du Crepuscule
Les Disques Du Crépuscule was a Belgian independent record label.The label was started in 1980 by Michel Duval and Annik Honoré, residents of Brussels who had previously organised and promoted concerts in the city. Initial releases were by Factory Records artists, and were labelled as being...
, and in January 1982 made solo live debuts in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
and London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. At this stage his solo material was not so very different from late-period Josef K
Josef K (band)
Josef K were a Scottish post-punk band, active between 1979 and 1982, who released singles on the Postcard Records label. The band was named after the protagonist of Franz Kafka's novel The Trial...
classics such as "Heaven Sent", "Adoration" and "Heart of Song", albeit with a greater emphasis on stripped-down funk rhythms. According to the 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...
s Dave Hill, for the latter show at The Venue:
Rhythm of Life remained a mystery... Initially they seem like an artful re-arrangement of the IggyIggy PopIggy Pop is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Though considered an innovator of punk rock, Pop's music has encompassed a number of styles over the years, including pop, metal, jazz and blues...
-Oakey ice-box delivery, and the Bogart mail order catalogue, into a perfect cliché of the same. But how straight are their faces? I don't know, but Haig projects with the efficiency of a sly android, blonde, doleful and besuited, spooning each painstaking tune with an immaculate croon. All is calm and self-contained... Since Josef KJosef K (band)Josef K were a Scottish post-punk band, active between 1979 and 1982, who released singles on the Postcard Records label. The band was named after the protagonist of Franz Kafka's novel The Trial...
split Haig has pursued several lines, yet the cool execution of this show is undeniable, elegant and curvaceous.
The following month Rhythm of Life took part in Crépuscule's first European tour, Dialogue North-South, which also included Durutti Column, The Names, Marine, Richard Jobson
Richard Jobson
Richard Jobson is the name of:*Richard Jobson , 17th-century English explorer*Richard Jobson , English former footballer...
, Isabelle Antena
Isabelle Antena
Isabelle Antena is a French singer and songwriter, notable both as a founder of electro-samba pioneers Antena and also as a prolific and successful solo artist.BIOGRAPHY...
and Tuxedomoon
Tuxedomoon
Tuxedomoon is an experimental post-punk/New Wave group formed in San Francisco, California, consisting of core members Blaine L. Reininger, Steven Brown and Peter Principle....
. Eschewing a live drummer in favour of a rhythm box, RoL gained plaudits for their versatile, snappy brand of funk minimalism, and five excerpts from these shows can be found on Crepuscule
Les Disques du Crepuscule
Les Disques Du Crépuscule was a Belgian independent record label.The label was started in 1980 by Michel Duval and Annik Honoré, residents of Brussels who had previously organised and promoted concerts in the city. Initial releases were by Factory Records artists, and were labelled as being...
's souvenir compilation, Some Interesting Things You'll See On A Long Distance Flight.
Haig elected to relocate to Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
in March, and there embarked on an intensive recording schedule at Little Big One studio. This yielded two self-produced singles, "Running Away
Running Away (Paul Haig)
Running Away was the debut solo single from Edinburgh musician and former Josef K lead vocalist Paul Haig. It was a cover of the Sly & The Family Stone classic...
" and "Justice
Justice (Paul Haig)
"Justice" is the second solo single from Edinburgh musician Paul Haig. Released in 1983 in the UK by Island Records. Recorded in New York and produced by Alex Sadkin.-Reviews:Justice, MM, 1983...
", although the latter was destined to be shelved. However, after just four months Haig tired of continental living and returned home to Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
. "Running Away
Running Away (Paul Haig)
Running Away was the debut solo single from Edinburgh musician and former Josef K lead vocalist Paul Haig. It was a cover of the Sly & The Family Stone classic...
", a cover of the Sly Stone
Sly Stone
Sly Stone is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer, most famous for his role as frontman for Sly & the Family Stone, a band which played a critical role in the development of soul, funk and psychedelia in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1993, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of...
classic, appeared in May on Les Disques Du Crépuscule
Les Disques du Crepuscule
Les Disques Du Crépuscule was a Belgian independent record label.The label was started in 1980 by Michel Duval and Annik Honoré, residents of Brussels who had previously organised and promoted concerts in the city. Initial releases were by Factory Records artists, and were labelled as being...
subsidiary Operation Twilight and reached number 19 on the UK Independent Chart, its success unhampered by the simultaneous release of another version by The Raincoats
The Raincoats
The Raincoats are a British post-punk band. Ana da Silva and Gina Birch formed the group in 1977 while they were students at Hornsey College of Art, London, England.-Career:...
.
The follow-up single, "Justice
Justice (Paul Haig)
"Justice" is the second solo single from Edinburgh musician Paul Haig. Released in 1983 in the UK by Island Records. Recorded in New York and produced by Alex Sadkin.-Reviews:Justice, MM, 1983...
", was later cancelled after Les Disques Du Crépuscule signed a licensing deal with Island Records
Island Records
Island Records is a record label that was founded by Chris Blackwell in Jamaica. It was based in the United Kingdom for many years and is now owned by Universal Music Group...
. 7-inch test pressings (TWI 100) survive, as does a separate 12" release on Les Disques Du Crépuscule/Interference featuring two mixes of the song "Blue For You
Blue For You
Blue for You is the ninth studio album by English Rock band Status Quo, released in March 1976.Parfitt's "Rain", the first single from the album, reached #7 in the UK charts after its release in February 1976. Its b-side was the non-album track "You Lost the Love", written by Rossi and Young.The...
", although this was intended as a DJ record rather than a full release. While in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
Haig also recorded the Swing in '82 set, partly at the instigation of Crépuscule's Michel Duval. Originally intended for release as a 10-inch EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
, Swing in '82 saw Haig tackling six big band numbers Sinatra-style. In 1982 Haig said to Masterbag magazine:
After listening to lots of Frank SinatraFrank SinatraFrancis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
records I became aware of these fantastic old songs. I think the music and the lyrics are absolutely incredible - especially the lyrics. You just don't hear lyrics like that nowadays. They're just so emotional. It was a big challenge to try and sing them. The swing side starts with The Song is YouThe Song Is YouThe Song Is You is a 1994 box set by the American singer Frank Sinatra.This five disc box set contains every studio recording Frank Sinatra performed with Tommy Dorsey and his orchestra, a few tracks of alternate recording takes, and a full disc of mostly-unreleased radio broadcasts...
, then All of YouAll of You"All of You" is a popular song written by Cole Porter and published in 1954.It was featured in the musical film Silk Stockings and been recorded by Fred Astaire, Bobby Darin, Ella Fitzgerald on her 1972 album: Ella Loves Cole, Billie Holiday, Tony Martin, and Anita O'Day.The jazz pianist Bill Evans...
and Let's Face the Music and DanceLet's Face the Music and Dance"Let's Face the Music and Dance" is a song written in 1936 by Irving Berlin for the film Follow the Fleet, where it was introduced by Fred Astaire and featured in a celebrated dance duet with Astaire and Ginger Rogers...
. The dream side is Love Me TenderLove Me Tender (song)"Love Me Tender" is a song recorded by Elvis Presley and published by Elvis Presley Music, adapted from the tune of "Aura Lee" , a sentimental Civil War ballad.- History :...
, The Way You Look TonightThe Way You Look Tonight"The Way You Look Tonight" is a song featured in the film Swing Time, originally performed by Fred Astaire. It won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1936. The song was sung to Ginger Rogers as Penelope "Penny" Carroll by Astaire's character of John "Lucky" Garnett while Penny was busy...
and Send in the ClownsSend in the Clowns"Send in the Clowns" is a song by Stephen Sondheim from the 1973 musical A Little Night Music, an adaptation of Ingmar Bergman's film Smiles of a Summer Night. It is a ballad from Act II in which the character Desirée reflects on the ironies and disappointments of her life. Among other things, she...
. I think the first side is around 1938, with songs by Cole PorterCole PorterCole Albert Porter was an American composer and songwriter. Born to a wealthy family in Indiana, he defied the wishes of his domineering grandfather and took up music as a profession. Classically trained, he was drawn towards musical theatre...
, Irving BerlinIrving BerlinIrving Berlin was an American composer and lyricist of Jewish heritage, widely considered one of the greatest songwriters in American history.His first hit song, "Alexander's Ragtime Band", became world famous...
, people like that. The second side is slightly more modern.
The basic instrumentation on side one is just drums, double bass and piano, with the addition of string synthesiser on side two. We had to try about three sets of musicians before we found these old session musicians that had been playing jazz all their lives. The piano player must have been 70 years old! The drummer was quite young, in his mid twenties, so it was quite a challenge for him to keep pace with these brilliant jazz musicians, as it was for me too. I'm sure they thought it was a joke. I remember I turned up at the studio the morning they arrived. They said, 'Are you the singer? The producer?' They looked at each other in disbelief.
It could either be slammed or it could be looked upon as something brilliant. I tend to think that in England it's going to be laughed at, but I don't think that's justified because the musicianship is really, really good on it. If anyone slags it off then it must be for some other reason, but they can't fault the playing.
In fact this record too was shelved, and not released by Crepuscule
Les Disques du Crepuscule
Les Disques Du Crépuscule was a Belgian independent record label.The label was started in 1980 by Michel Duval and Annik Honoré, residents of Brussels who had previously organised and promoted concerts in the city. Initial releases were by Factory Records artists, and were labelled as being...
until 1985, with five tracks only, Haig having finally vetoed "Send in the Clowns
Send in the Clowns
"Send in the Clowns" is a song by Stephen Sondheim from the 1973 musical A Little Night Music, an adaptation of Ingmar Bergman's film Smiles of a Summer Night. It is a ballad from Act II in which the character Desirée reflects on the ironies and disappointments of her life. Among other things, she...
".
In July, almost a year after Josef K had split, yet with just one proper solo record to his name in "Running Away", Haig was labelled "the face and sound of 1982" by Paul Morley
Paul Morley
Paul Morley is an English journalist, who wrote for the New Musical Express from 1977 to 1983, during one of its most successful periods, and has since written for a wide range of publications...
in a lead feature for the 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...
. Accordingly to Morley, Haig was the "enigmatic fourth man" in a New Pop quartet which also included Billy Mackenzie
Billy Mackenzie
William MacArthur "Billy" Mackenzie was a Scottish singer, with a distinctive falsetto voice best known as a member of The Associates.- Biography :...
, Jim Kerr
Jim Kerr
James "Jim" Kerr is a Scottish musician and singer-songwriter, best known for his work with the band Simple Minds who achieved five UK #1 albums and a #1 single "Ballad of the Streets EP". He released his first solo album, Lostboy! AKA Jim Kerr, on the 27 May 2010.- Simple Minds :Kerr attended...
and Martin Fry
Martin Fry
Martin Fry is lead singer of the band, ABC.-Biography:He grew up in Bramhall, Stockport, alongside his younger brother Jamie .-ABC:...
, all of them potential pop saviours in a parallel universe where Morley deemed Dollar
Dollar (band)
Dollar are a pop vocal duo from the UK, consisting of David Van Day and Thereza Bazar. The duo were successful in the late 1970s and 1980s.-Career:...
"the most avant-garde group in the world". Even by Morley's standards the statement was ludicrous, although he would validate it partially two years later by instructing ZTT signing Propaganda
Propaganda (band)
Propaganda is a German synthpop group, formed in 1982. They were one of the initial roster of acts signed to Trevor Horn's ZTT label, between 1984 and 1986, during which they released the critically acclaimed album A Secret Wish....
to cover "Sorry for Laughing" on their album A Secret Wish
A Secret Wish
- Original 1985 vinyl album release :A – WITHIN# "Dream Within A Dream" – 8:04# "The Murder Of Love" – 5:12# "Jewel" – 3:10# "Duel" – 4:43B – WITHOUT# "p:Machinery" [album mix]" – 3:50# "Sorry For Laughing" – 3:25# "Dr...
.
Island Records
The media hype around Haig paved the way for a licensing deal with Island RecordsIsland Records
Island Records is a record label that was founded by Chris Blackwell in Jamaica. It was based in the United Kingdom for many years and is now owned by Universal Music Group...
, and a substantial injection of cash. The deal saw Haig record his first album in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
at the end of 1982, with the late Alex Sadkin
Alex Sadkin
Alex Sadkin is best remembered as a record producer in the early 1980s, but actually got his start in the music industry as a saxophonist for the Las Olas Brass in Fort Lauderdale, Florida....
producing. Featuring a host of crack sessioneers (including Bernie Worrell
Bernie Worrell
George Bernard "Bernie" Worrell, Jr. is an American keyboardist and composer best known as a founding member of Parliament-Funkadelic and for his work with Talking Heads. He is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, inducted in 1997 with fifteen other members of Parliament-Funkadelic...
, Anton Fier
Anton Fier
Anton Fier, , is an American drummer, composer and bandleader. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio.Fier was an early member of The Lounge Lizards and The Feelies. He was in The Lodge , worked with Pere Ubu, was briefly in the Voidoids and founded The Golden Palominos...
, and Jack Waldman
Jack Waldman
Jack Waldman was a jazz and rock musician, composer, producer, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist born in Perth Amboy, New Jersey....
), his new direction - a brand of polished dance/electro - seemed a million miles away from the abrasive edge of Josef K. Indeed Haig was already disowning his past with a vengeance, informing the NME that Josef K was a 'cockroach' he wanted squashed, although two songs - "Adoration" and "Heaven Sent
Heaven Sent (Paul Haig song)
"Heaven Sent" is the fourth solo single released by Paul Haig. It was released in the UK on Island Records licenced through Les Disques Du Crepuscule in 1983. It reached a peak of position of number 73 on the UK Singles Chart....
" - had begun life with that band. Yet fine though songs such as "Justice
Justice (Paul Haig)
"Justice" is the second solo single from Edinburgh musician Paul Haig. Released in 1983 in the UK by Island Records. Recorded in New York and produced by Alex Sadkin.-Reviews:Justice, MM, 1983...
", "Adoration" and "Stolen Love" were, Haig's solo debut played very much as a producer's record, and in surrendering a measure of artistic control Haig lost something of his identity. And it hardly helped that Sadkin was then heavily involved with the Thompson Twins
Thompson Twins
The Thompson Twins were a British pop group that were formed in April 1977 and disbanded in May 1993. They achieved considerable popularity in the mid 1980s, scoring a string of hits in the United Kingdom, the United States and around the globe. The band was named after the two bumbling detectives...
, whose Tom Bailey
Tom Bailey
Thomas Aaron Bailey is an American farmer and libertarian activist. He was the Libertarian Party candidate for the United States Senate from North Carolina in the 2004 general elections. Bailey faced Democrat Erskine Bowles and Republican Richard Burr in the 2004 Senate election, earning about 1%...
also guested on the album.
The first Island
Island Records
Island Records is a record label that was founded by Chris Blackwell in Jamaica. It was based in the United Kingdom for many years and is now owned by Universal Music Group...
single, "Heaven Sent", was a drastic club refit of the earlier Josef K number. Despite their best marketing efforts, however, it stalled at number 74 in the UK, and failed to provide Haig with the hit many had confidently predicted. The Rhythm Of Life album appeared in October 1983 and was accompanied by a short seven date UK tour. Haig's touring group included Malcolm Ross
Malcolm Ross
Malcolm David Ross is a linguist and professor at the Australian National University. He has published work on Austronesian and Papuan languages, historical linguistics, and language contact.-External links:**...
on guitar, together with bassist David McClymont (also fresh from Orange Juice
Orange Juice
Orange Juice was a Scottish post-punk band founded in the middle class Glasgow suburb of Bearsden as the Nu-Sonics in 1976. Edwyn Collins formed the Nu-Sonics with his school-mate Alan Duncan and was subsequently joined by James Kirk and Steven Daly, who left a band called The Machetes. The band...
), drummer James Locke and former Associate Alan Rankine
Alan Rankine
Alan Rankine played keyboards, and guitars, for the rock band, Associates, which he co-founded with Billy Mackenzie in the late 1970s....
. Yet although the album sold respectably, Haig found himself caught between two commercial stools. Plainly some way ahead of his time, Haig had perhaps moved too far too fast, his polished dance pop alienating many Josef K fans not yet ready to trade their raincoats for a sharp Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
two-piece and a place in line outside Studio 54
Studio 54
Studio 54 was a highly popular discotheque from 1977 until 1991, located at 254 West 54th Street in Manhattan, New York, USA. It was originally the Gallo Opera House, opening in 1927, after which it changed names several times, eventually becoming a CBS radio and television studio. In 1977 it...
. Reviewing the album in the NME, Chris Bohn lamented the fate of an artist:
...dropped somewhere mid-Atlantic and left to drown in liquid demi-disco. Though four percussionists are credited the record has no forward momentum. It sort of slithers across the dancefloor. Worse, Haig has tailored his songwriting to serve a form he only imagines is there. Cutesy couplets are left in mid air, grappling after non-existent rhythm hooks... More than a name producer and an NY studio he needs sympathetic musicians to bring out the character of his songs.
Simple bad luck seems to have prevented all three singles providing solid hits which might have allowed Haig to cross over to a new, wider audience. Inexplicably Island
Island Records
Island Records is a record label that was founded by Chris Blackwell in Jamaica. It was based in the United Kingdom for many years and is now owned by Universal Music Group...
failed even to release the album - or the singles - in the US, the very market to which they had been tailored. Although the slick New York Remix mini album was belatedly issued in America in 1984, it provided a textbook example of too little too late. In 1990 Haig recalled of this difficult period:
The main thing was that I didn't want to be the centre of it all. The initial idea was just to keep working with different people under the name Rhythm of Life. It was more of a big joke. It all went a bit funny when I signed to Island
Island Records
Island Records is a record label that was founded by Chris Blackwell in Jamaica. It was based in the United Kingdom for many years and is now owned by Universal Music Group...
, but before there were quite a few things in the pipeline. But Island
Island Records
Island Records is a record label that was founded by Chris Blackwell in Jamaica. It was based in the United Kingdom for many years and is now owned by Universal Music Group...
wanted a pop image to sell... and they didn't get one.
True, one music paper awarded Haig the accolade of 'Rock Haircut of the Year', but relations with Island were fast becoming strained. Incoming MD Dave Robinson showed little enthusiasm for Haig's music, while an overly candid Sounds
Sounds (magazine)
Sounds was a long-term British music paper, published weekly from 10 October 1970 – 6 April 1991. It was produced by Spotlight Publications , which was set up by Jack Hutton and Peter Wilkinson, who left "Melody Maker" to start their own company...
interview and an abortive appearance on a children's television show (Hold Tight) to promote "Never Give Up (Party Party)
Never Give Up (Party Party)
"Never Give Up " was Paul Haig's fifth solo single. It was released in the UK on Island Records licenced through Les Disques Du Crepuscule....
" soured relations further. When Haig recorded a new single, "Big Blue World
Big Blue World
Sixth single from former Josek K vocalist Paul Haig. Produced by Haig and former Associates instrumentalist Alan Rankine. Released in the UK and across Europe by Les Disques Du Crepuscule....
", in December, Island pulled it just a fortnight before its scheduled release. Fortunately, Crépuscule continued to release Haig product in Europe, so that the delayed record - with a sublime cover of Suicide
Suicide (band)
Suicide is an American electronic protopunk musical duo, intermittently active since 1970 and composed of vocalist Alan Vega and Martin Rev on synthesizers and drum machines. They are an early synthesizer/vocal musical duo....
's "Ghost Rider" on the flipside - arrived in the UK on import.
In 1984 Haig joined forces with several celebrated peers, recording the seminal electro cut "The Only Truth" with Bernard Sumner
Bernard Sumner
Bernard Sumner , also known as Bernard Dickin, Bernard Dicken and Bernard Albrecht is an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, keyboard player and producer....
and Donald Johnson (of New Order
New Order
New Order are an English rock band formed in 1980 by Bernard Sumner , Peter Hook and Stephen Morris...
and A Certain Ratio
A Certain Ratio
A Certain Ratio are a Post-punk band formed in 1977 in Manchester, England. While originally part of the punk rock movement, they soon added funk and dance elements to their sound. They are sometimes referred to as "post punk funk"...
respectively), and "The Executioner" with Cabaret Voltaire
Cabaret Voltaire (band)
Cabaret Voltaire were a British music group from Sheffield, England.Initially composed of Stephen Mallinder, Richard H. Kirk and Chris Watson, the group was named after the Cabaret Voltaire, a nightclub in Zürich, Switzerland that was a centre for the early Dada movement.Their earliest performances...
. November saw the completion of a new album, this time recorded in London with Alan Rankine co-producing. Unfortunately the failure of "The Only Truth" as a single led to Island severing the Crépuscule connection, and so the untitled second album was shelved.
The Warp Of Pure Fun
Rather than release the cancelled set on Les Disques Du Crépuscule, it was decided to combine half the album with new songs recorded throughout 1985. Haig launched his fightback later in the year with a powerful single, "Heaven Help You NowHeaven Help You Now
This is eighth solo single from former Josef K vocalist Paul Haig. It was released by Les Disques Du Crepuscule in September 1985.The single was co-produced with former Associates instrumentalist Alan Rankine.-Review:...
", and the album The Warp Of Pure Fun
The Warp Of Pure Fun
The Warp of Pure Fun is an album by Paul Haig.After the release of Paul Haig's first album with Island, Rhythm Of Life, tracks were recorded for a follow-up during 1984, including. The Only Truth, produced by Bernard Sumner and Donald Johnson of A Certain Ratio...
. Produced with Rankine, it was a more involving, honest set than its predecessor, offering warmer songs and arrangements (and live drums) in place of programmed rhythm tracks, though without entirely abandoning club appeal. In the UK The Warp Of Pure Fun appeared on another short-lived Crépuscule offshoot, Operation Afterglow, but while the album fared well as an independent release, Afterglow failed to propel it into the national chart.
Post Crépuscule
Unhappy with limited sales, Haig left Crépuscule to seek another major deal. After demos recorded for EMIEMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
came to nothing, Haig spent most of 1986 writing new material, surviving on PRS
PRS
- Computers and telecommunication :* Procedural Reasoning System, an architecture for developing intelligent agents* Premium Rate Service, internationally available telephone-based premium services....
royalties from his back catalogue. He also found time to embark on a fruitful partnership with another Associate, Billy Mackenzie
Billy Mackenzie
William MacArthur "Billy" Mackenzie was a Scottish singer, with a distinctive falsetto voice best known as a member of The Associates.- Biography :...
, the result being low key dates in Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
and Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, which mixed their own greatest hits with covers such as "Running Away" and Yoko Ono
Yoko Ono
is a Japanese artist, musician, author and peace activist, known for her work in avant-garde art, music and filmmaking as well as her marriage to John Lennon...
's "Walking On Thin Ice". Later the pair united to perform "Amazing Grace
Amazing Grace
"Amazing Grace" is a Christian hymn with words written by the English poet and clergyman John Newton , published in 1779. With a message that forgiveness and redemption are possible regardless of the sins people commit and that the soul can be delivered from despair through the mercy of God,...
" on a Scots Hogmanay television programme, and each donated a song to the other's forthcoming album. "Chained" proved a highlight on the next Haig album, although Mackenzie's version of "Reach The Top" remained unreleased after the Associates' patchy Glamour Chase set was shelved by WEA
Warner Music Group
Warner Music Group is the third largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry, making it one of the big four record companies...
. Following Mackenzie's untimely death in 1997 an entire album of Haig/Mackenzie material, Memory Palace, appeared on RoL in 2000.
Haig briefly returned to Crepuscule in September 1987 to record several tracks, though the only new record to emerge was the "Torchomatic
Torchomatic
"Torchomatic" is a 1988 single by Paul Haig. After leaving to seek another major deal in 1986 Haig briefly returned to Crepuscule in September 1987 to record several tracks, though the only new record to emerge was the fine "Torchomatic" single, his tenth, complete with spy theme and a...
" single, complete with spy theme and a home-recorded instrumental cycle on the flipside. The European Sun
European Sun
European Sun is a compilation of rare and unreleased tracks by former Josef K vocalist, Paul Haig. The album was released in 1988 on Belgian independent label Les Disques Du Crepuscule....
compilation album followed, including most of the shelved Island album not included on Warp plus several rare b-sides, and the previously-unreleased Cabaret Voltaire collaboration.
Chain
Early in 1988 Haig financed the recording of a new album himself, once more produced with Alan Rankine and cut in just 18 days. VirginVirgin Records
Virgin Records is a British record label founded by English entrepreneur Richard Branson, Simon Draper, and Nik Powell in 1972. The company grew to be a worldwide music phenomenon, with platinum performers such as Roy Orbison, Devo, Genesis, Keith Richards, Janet Jackson, Culture Club, Lenny...
offshoot Circa Records purchased the tapes in August, but chose not to release the album, titled Chain, until May the following year. Neither Chain nor the lead single, "Something Good
Something Good (Paul Haig song)
Generally considered to be Paul Haig's best solo single, "Something Good" was released in 1989 on Virgin Records subsidiary, Circa. As with the companion album, Chain, Paul Haig financed the recordings himself hoping for a release by Les Disques Du Crepuscule...
", broke commercially, and to some the album came as a slight disappointment, with strong material in places undermined by weaker arrangements. Sales were scarcely assisted by Haig's refusal to undertake a lengthy tour, and with much of his following in Europe and Japan, many fans were not even aware that a new record was available. Nevertheless, a showcase at the ICA
Institute of Contemporary Arts
The Institute of Contemporary Arts is an artistic and cultural centre on The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. It is located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps and Admiralty Arch...
in London on May 18 saw Haig and his band in fine, powerful form.
Following Drama, Swing In '82 and the Billy Mackenzie pairing, 1988's off the wall project came in the form of the "Dub Organiser" single, a club cut recorded in collaboration with Allan Campbell
Allan Campbell
Allan M. Campbell is an American microbiologist and geneticist whose pioneering work on Lambda phage has helped advance molecular biology in the late 20th century.Dr...
and released as a one-off on Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
indie label Play Hard.
Right on Line
Unperturbed by Chains modest commercial showing, Circa financed the recording of a new album, produced in New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
by dance gurus Curtis Mantronik and Lil Louis
Lil Louis
Lil Louis is the stage name used by Chicago-born house-music producer and DJ Louis Sims. He scored a number of hits on the Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart in the 1980s and 1990s, three of which hit #1....
, and also by The Chimes
The Chimes
The Chimes: A Goblin Story of Some Bells that Rang an Old Year Out and a New Year In, a short novel by Charles Dickens, was written and published in 1844, one year after A Christmas Carol and one year before The Cricket on the Hearth...
, whose drummer James Locke had been a periodic Haig collaborator since 1981. The expansive, sensurround album marked a timely return to the dance orientation of Rhythm of Life five years earlier, as suggested by its title, Right on Line. As Haig explained to Melody Maker
Melody Maker
Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...
:
This is essentially a dance album, but it has a lot of different elements in there that you don't normally hear on dance albums. There's a lot of hooks and pop influences, but no rock influences - thank God! The whole idea was to work with different producers and let them get on with it, which was a departure since I'd produced myself for so long.
We recorded the stuff with Mantronik at his Sound FactorySound FactorySound Factory is a dance music duo from Sweden consisting of producers Kenyan born St.James as well as Emil Hellman and produced by Stonebridge. They had three entries on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart in the mid-nineties: "Understand This Groove" in '92, "2 the Rhythm" in '93 and "Good Time"...
studio. He works very quickly, rattling stuff off in a couple of hours. He replaced all my beats with a combination of programming and breakbeats, mostly '70s funk stuff. Lil LouisLil LouisLil Louis is the stage name used by Chicago-born house-music producer and DJ Louis Sims. He scored a number of hits on the Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart in the 1980s and 1990s, three of which hit #1....
took a completely different approach. He replaced the rhythm tracks on two of the songs and one we left as was He works with much more basic equipment - he's not as computerised as Mantronik. There was absolutely no sampling with Lil LouisLil LouisLil Louis is the stage name used by Chicago-born house-music producer and DJ Louis Sims. He scored a number of hits on the Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart in the 1980s and 1990s, three of which hit #1....
, he's much more into the real musician school of thing.
However, after the Chimes
The Chimes
The Chimes: A Goblin Story of Some Bells that Rang an Old Year Out and a New Year In, a short novel by Charles Dickens, was written and published in 1844, one year after A Christmas Carol and one year before The Cricket on the Hearth...
-produced single "I Believe in You
I Believe in You (Paul Haig song)
"I Believe in You" was the first single from Paul Haig's proposed second album on Circa Records, Right on Line. Ultimately, the lack of success with this single and its follow-up, "Flight X", persuaded Circa to drop Haig and shelve the album...
" failed to build on a measure of club success, and some excellent press, Circa delayed releasing the album until a reworked "Flight X" (featuring rapper The Voice Of Reason) broke. When two versions of this track stalled early in 1991 the album was shelved.
Coincidence vs Fate and Cinematique
With the RoL album in limbo, Haig released an instrumental set of imaginary film themes through LTM, who had previously issued the Josef K back catalogue on CD. CinematiqueCinematique
Cinematique is the first of three in a series of albums by Paul Haig, subtitled "Themes to Unknown Films". The album, which is divided into three "suites", was released by LTM in 1991.The suites are: City Of Fun, Lagondola and Flashback....
appeared in September 1991 to glowing reviews, and comprised three distinct suites, being City of Fun (accomplished noir jazz), Lagondola (new age, almost) and Flashback (electronica). In 1993 the Right On Line album finally emerged as Coincidence Vs Fate
Coincidence vs Fate
Coincidence vs Fate is the fourth album released by Edinburgh musician Paul Haig. The album was released by Belgian independent label, Les Disques Du Crepuscule in 1993....
on the Les Disques Du Crépuscule label, with two new tracks added.
Despite warm reviews, neither Cinematique
Cinematique
Cinematique is the first of three in a series of albums by Paul Haig, subtitled "Themes to Unknown Films". The album, which is divided into three "suites", was released by LTM in 1991.The suites are: City Of Fun, Lagondola and Flashback....
nor Coincidence Vs Fate
Coincidence vs Fate
Coincidence vs Fate is the fourth album released by Edinburgh musician Paul Haig. The album was released by Belgian independent label, Les Disques Du Crepuscule in 1993....
sold in great numbers, due in part to low-key press and distribution, and to Haig's ongoing reluctance to submit to self-promotion. By his own admission:
I just don't like playing live much. Maybe once every two years. It's a situation I can't handle. Up on stage it's very strange. It just seems an awkward situation to be in. You're on stage and there's all these people looking up at you. I can't help laughing at the thought of it. I just want to do it as little as possible. Other people love it. It only depends on what kind of person you are, if your ego can cope with it. Weird, eh?(Deadbeat, 1984)
With me it's quite simple. I just do my own thing and don't compromise for anybody. If you can do this and still succeed, that's perfect. New Order manage it - perverse and breaking all the rules - they just make records that sell. I hope I can fit in in my own way. There might be a place for people who have some sort of background, who have substance as opposed to being just another manufactured act. But apart from that I don't see where I would fit. I couldn't really define the sound. I don't think it's like anybody else.
(Melody MakerMelody MakerMelody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...
, 1989)
It's just music and records. That's the main thing for me. I find the rest of it completely alien and uncomfortable. I'll just have to retire quite soon. Not retire from making music, just from all this promo kind of stuff. I just find it more and more ridiculous. Ideally I'd like to be involved in the background, and still make music but not to have to be seen or anything like that. I guess film music is the obvious area for that kind of thing. Or weird experimental records.
(The ScotsmanThe ScotsmanThe Scotsman is a British newspaper, published in Edinburgh.As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 38,423, down from about 100,000 in the 1980s....
, 1990)
Since 1993 Haig has released two further volumes of Cinematique on his own RoL imprint, as well as several archive releases by the late Billy Mackenzie. Memory Palace (1999) compiled a number of tracks recorded as joint demos by the pair, as well as the tribute "Listen to Me", while RoL also released albums by Skyline and Subterraneans
Subterraneans (band)
Subterraneans are an art-rock band from London, England. Fronted by former Angelhead vocalist and songwriter Jude Rawlins, they also feature former Wave guitarist Carl Homer, former Solstice bass player Robin Phillips, and Van der Graaf Generator drummer Guy Evans.-Film, Theatre and...
. By the end of 2001 pretty much all of Paul Haig's back catalogue was commercially unavailable - with the exception of his work with Josef K.
Back catalogue reissues
In 2003 this state of affairs was corrected by enhanced LTM CD reissues of The Warp Of Pure Fun and Coincidence Vs Fate LTM also released Then Again in 2004, a compilation of rare and previously unheard material.Recent releases
There has been a resurgence of activity over the last couple of years from RoL. In 2007, Haig's first single for 14 years, "Reason" (a BBC Radio 2BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
single of the week), was released, available via download and on 7-inch vinyl. Followed soon after by Haig's first new, non-Cinematique release since 1993's Coincidence Vs Fate, Electronik Audience. This album showcased Haig's influences from Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk is an influential electronic music band from Düsseldorf, Germany. The group was formed by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider in 1970, and was fronted by them until Schneider's departure in 2008...
and New Order
New Order
New Order are an English rock band formed in 1980 by Bernard Sumner , Peter Hook and Stephen Morris...
to Cabaret Voltaire
Cabaret Voltaire (band)
Cabaret Voltaire were a British music group from Sheffield, England.Initially composed of Stephen Mallinder, Richard H. Kirk and Chris Watson, the group was named after the Cabaret Voltaire, a nightclub in Zürich, Switzerland that was a centre for the early Dada movement.Their earliest performances...
.
2007 also saw the first live appearance from Haig in many years when he joined Subterraneans onstage at the Billy Mackenzie tribute concert in London.
Yet another new album, Go Out Tonight, a more organic album than Electronik Audience, was released in April 2008. Go Out Tonight saw Haig return to his roots and tracks such as "Trouble Maker" are very reminiscent of early solo recordings such as "Chance".
Haig also embarked on his first tour since 1989 when he promoted both old and new tracks in Scotland and selected dates in Nottingham and London in April 2008.
2009 saw the release of the critically acclaimed album, Relive, during December.
Singles, EPs
- "Running AwayRunning Away (Paul Haig)Running Away was the debut solo single from Edinburgh musician and former Josef K lead vocalist Paul Haig. It was a cover of the Sly & The Family Stone classic...
" (1982), Operation Twilight - UK Indie #19 - "Chance" (1982), Les Disques du CrépusculeLes Disques du CrepusculeLes Disques Du Crépuscule was a Belgian independent record label.The label was started in 1980 by Michel Duval and Annik Honoré, residents of Brussels who had previously organised and promoted concerts in the city. Initial releases were by Factory Records artists, and were labelled as being...
- "Blue For YouBlue for You (Paul Haig)"Blue for You" is the third solo single from former Josef K lead vocalist Paul Haig. Released throughout Europe on the Belgian label, Les Disques Du Crepuscule. Released in the UK on Crepuscule subsidiary, Interference. Mixed for feet.- Track listing :...
" (1982), Operation Twilight - "Heaven SentHeaven Sent (Paul Haig song)"Heaven Sent" is the fourth solo single released by Paul Haig. It was released in the UK on Island Records licenced through Les Disques Du Crepuscule in 1983. It reached a peak of position of number 73 on the UK Singles Chart....
" (1983), Les Disques du Crépuscule - UK #74 - "Never Give Up (Party Party)Never Give Up (Party Party)"Never Give Up " was Paul Haig's fifth solo single. It was released in the UK on Island Records licenced through Les Disques Du Crepuscule....
" (1983), Les Disques du Crépuscule - UK #96 - "JusticeJustice (Paul Haig)"Justice" is the second solo single from Edinburgh musician Paul Haig. Released in 1983 in the UK by Island Records. Recorded in New York and produced by Alex Sadkin.-Reviews:Justice, MM, 1983...
" (1983), Les Disques du Crépuscule - "Big Blue WorldBig Blue WorldSixth single from former Josek K vocalist Paul Haig. Produced by Haig and former Associates instrumentalist Alan Rankine. Released in the UK and across Europe by Les Disques Du Crepuscule....
" (1984), Operation Twilight - UK Indie #19 - Heaven Sent (remixes) EP (1984), Operation Twilight
- "The Only Truth" (1984), Les Disques du Crépuscule
- Swing '82 EP (1985), Operation Twilight
- "Heaven Help You NowHeaven Help You NowThis is eighth solo single from former Josef K vocalist Paul Haig. It was released by Les Disques Du Crepuscule in September 1985.The single was co-produced with former Associates instrumentalist Alan Rankine.-Review:...
" (1985), Operation Twilight - UK Indie #18 - "Love EternalLove Eternal"Love Eternal" is the ninth solo single from former Josef K vocalist Paul Haig and the third to be taken from his album, The Warp Of Pure Fun.Released in March 1986 on Les Disques Du Crepuscule subsidiary Operation Afterglow.- Review :...
" (1986), Operation Twilight - UK Indie #35 - "Scottish ChristmasScottish ChristmasA one-off Christmas "gift" from Les Disques Du Crepuscule/Factory Benelux.Scottish Christmas also appeared on the Crepuscule compilation Ghosts Of Christmas Past.-Track listing:# Scottish Christmas # Christmas For Pauline...
" - "TorchomaticTorchomatic"Torchomatic" is a 1988 single by Paul Haig. After leaving to seek another major deal in 1986 Haig briefly returned to Crepuscule in September 1987 to record several tracks, though the only new record to emerge was the fine "Torchomatic" single, his tenth, complete with spy theme and a...
" (1988), Les Disques du Crépuscule - "Something GoodSomething Good (Paul Haig song)Generally considered to be Paul Haig's best solo single, "Something Good" was released in 1989 on Virgin Records subsidiary, Circa. As with the companion album, Chain, Paul Haig financed the recordings himself hoping for a release by Les Disques Du Crepuscule...
" (1989), Circa - "I Believe in YouI Believe in You (Paul Haig song)"I Believe in You" was the first single from Paul Haig's proposed second album on Circa Records, Right on Line. Ultimately, the lack of success with this single and its follow-up, "Flight X", persuaded Circa to drop Haig and shelve the album...
" (1990), Circa - "Flight X" (1991), Circa
- "SurrenderSurrender (Paul Haig)Surrender is the final single from Edinburgh musician, Paul Haig, to appear on the Belgian independent record label, Les Disques Du Crepuscule. It was released on 5" CD in March 1993.The single was culled from the then recent Coincidence Vs Fate album...
" (1993), Les Disques du Crépuscule - "Listen To Me"
- "Reason"
- "Hippy Dippy (Pharmaceutically Trippy)" [Download only]
Albums
- Drama (1982) - cassette sold at early solo performances
- Rhythm Of LifeRhythm Of LifeRhythm of Life is a Paul Haig album originally released in 1983 on Island Records and recorded in New York and London by renowned producer Alex Sadkin. This collection of nine electro-funk cuts features guest musicians such as Bernie Worrell , Anton Fier , and Tom Bailey...
(1983), Crepsuscule - UK #82 - The Warp Of Pure FunThe Warp Of Pure FunThe Warp of Pure Fun is an album by Paul Haig.After the release of Paul Haig's first album with Island, Rhythm Of Life, tracks were recorded for a follow-up during 1984, including. The Only Truth, produced by Bernard Sumner and Donald Johnson of A Certain Ratio...
(1985), Operation Twilight - Chain (1989), Circa
- CinematiqueCinematiqueCinematique is the first of three in a series of albums by Paul Haig, subtitled "Themes to Unknown Films". The album, which is divided into three "suites", was released by LTM in 1991.The suites are: City Of Fun, Lagondola and Flashback....
(1992), LTM - Coincidence vs FateCoincidence vs FateCoincidence vs Fate is the fourth album released by Edinburgh musician Paul Haig. The album was released by Belgian independent label, Les Disques Du Crepuscule in 1993....
(1993), Les Disques du Crépuscule - Cinematique 2Cinematique 2Cinematique 2 is the second in a series of three albums by Paul Haig, subtitled "Themes to Unknown Films". The album was released by ROL in 2001....
(2001), Rhythm of Life - Cinematique 3Cinematique 3Cinematique 3 is the final in a series of three instrumental albums by Paul Haig, subtitled "Themes to Unknown Films". The album was released by ROL in 2003....
(2003), Rhythm of Life - Electronik Audience (2007), Rhythm of Life
- Go Out Tonight (2008), Rhythm of Life
- Relive (2009), Rhythm of Life
Compilation albums
- European SunEuropean SunEuropean Sun is a compilation of rare and unreleased tracks by former Josef K vocalist, Paul Haig. The album was released in 1988 on Belgian independent label Les Disques Du Crepuscule....
(1988), Les Disques du Crépuscule - Then Again (2004), LTM
Haig/MacKenzie - album
The collection consisted of tracksSong
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...
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...
by Haig and Billy Mackenzie
Billy Mackenzie
William MacArthur "Billy" Mackenzie was a Scottish singer, with a distinctive falsetto voice best known as a member of The Associates.- Biography :...
during the period of 1993 to 1995, and was released on CD three years after Mackenzie's death.
- Memory Palace (2000), Rhythm of Life - reissued (2005), One Little Indian
Track listing
- Track 1: "Thunderstorm"
- Track 2: "Stone The Memory Palace"
- Track 3: "Beyond Love"
- Track 4: "Transobsession"
- Track 5: "Trash 3"
- Track 6: "Listen To Me"
- Track 7: "Listen Again"
- Track 8: "Take A Chance"
- Track 9: "Give Me Time"
- Track 10: "Give Me Time" (Dennis Wheatley mix)
- Track 11: "Beyond Love" (remixRemixA remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....
) - Track 12: "Stone The Memory Palace" (remix)
- Track 13: "Thunderstorm" (InstrumentalInstrumentalAn instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....
mix)
Projects
- Dub Organiser was a one-off project featuring Allan Campbell with Paul Haig. The record was released as a 12" only single on Manchester label, Play Hard in 1988. Samples from the Dub Organiser tracks were used on Haig's 1989 album, Chain.
External links
- [ Haig biography] at Allmusic websiteWebsiteA website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
- My Crush on Paul Haig (a mini fansite)
- Paul Haig Official Site
- Paul Haig biography at LTM