paul king italian fan club

(PK = Paul King)
(PC = Pete Chambers)
(Malcom = M - radio host)

PC = Today, somebody who is in there of course is Paul King we're going to talk about and talk to today. Of course the band King came onto the local scene in 1982 instantly lighting up everywhere with their brand of music, of course it was all very much sprayed Doc Martin boots, I mean it was nice because I think it was like towards the end of Two Tone, we've just been talking about Two Tone: Two Tone was sort of dying a natural death and people were looking what was going to be next in Coventry or anywhere really and it was great to see a successful Coventry band rear its head once again just as Two Tone was dying so that was quite an important part I think of the Coventry music history as far as I was concerned anyway, and it was, it was I remember really exciting times, you know you'd thought the Two Tone had come and gone and…"
M = Multi-Tone, wasn't it?
PC = Multi-Tone, yeah I think he mentioned that a few times, called it Multi-Tone after the Two Tone
M = Do you know, you have said this already to me, Paul King is still a worldwide and I do mean worldwide icon, people still follow him amazingly, don't they? I'm not saying I'm surprised, I'm just saying people still hold this fellow up in tremendously high regard, don't they?
PC = They do and it seems to be, there's a lot of fans in Italy
M = Ah...
PC = I mean I don't know why, perhaps Paul could share some light on that, I don't know why but Italy seems to be a major fan base for Paul and Paul King you know…
M = Also they might be…
PC = And, sorry King and Paul King
M = Also they might be on the internet now
PC = Well apparently I have been given a bit of inside information there are about 114 of them are listening not just in Italy, worldwide, all the fans that regularly go and log onto that particular website which is, incidentally, www.paulking.it for Italy
M = Should we say "buonasera segnorita buonasera"?
PC = or "ciao" that's probably… it's probably easier than…
M = Well for everybody in Italy, oh no blow it, everybody in Europe listening, wherever you are listening, Paul King is on the line now so here's a real treat for you. Good afternoon Paul.
PK = Good afternoon to you!
M = It's lovely to have you on, I'm Malcom and this is Pete Chambers who you probably know well
PK = yes
PC = allright mate? How are you?
PK = very fine thank you
PC = good; good to talk to ya
PK = and to you both of you, it's nice to be on the radio… and I'm talking to Italy as well it seems
PC = yes it does! Have you got any ideas why that's so?
PK = I don't particularly know, I mean I know that I mean we did tour there, we went down very well there and we did enjoy a number of chart hits over there but beyond that I can't really say why Italy more than Spain or France or anywhere else in particular I couldn't tell ya.
PC = oh right, cos a lot of the guys are listening, some of the main men there Lucio, Paola and Fabio.. I hope I've pronounced them right and one of the questions I think they want me to ask you and it's probably an early question to ask but… will you ever return to making music again?
PK = ehm.. I would doubt that… really, I think… I mean I'm still very much involved in music in the sense that now I'm kind of head of production of VH1 which is part of MTV networks obviously we're music television, so….I'm involved and around music all the time…
PC = of course
PK = you know I still have a little studio in the house and I do it for my own pleasure, I relax with music it's what I tend to do, if I have a space I'll just go and sit and make music but I think in terms of either trying to consider releasing that commercially or jumping on a kind of "where are they now" tour or the equivalents which are out there.. is not something that really appeals to me or I can imagine fitting into my life at the moment… but you never know… as Sean Connery used to say "never say never"
M = never say never… but I take my hat off to you in a way Paul for that because I suppose it is sort of an easy option although that's being most respectful of people that do, to jump on the.. I don't know…80s.. this is the 80s bla bla bla….
PC = yeah
M = has music changed for the better and is this part of your decision not to throw your hat back into the ring or has music changed for the worse since you were on top of the tree Paul…
PK = (laughs) I don't think it's changed for the worse or… I think there's a lot of fantastic music out there, I think just in the way that we come to music has obviously changed, the internet of course and the multi-channels which are available, multi-radio stations which are available, and the way I think so much of the best music isn't necessarily the stuff that we tend to see on television or the stuff that's available in the record stores but there's a lot of great music out there there's no denying that; I think, for myself I just kinda decided a long time ago I mean with King we had a great career we kinda set out to do and achieve everything we set out to do, you do have that choice you know, come the end of something like that of what, do you carry on for the sake of carrying on, because you are enjoying it or because it's something that you have to keep doing and you know I've been to see a lot of my contemporaries who are out there and many pf whom have done the kind of 80s tour and stuff and I... I take my hat off to them, for a lot of people performing and being on stage is the only thing they really ever wanted to do in their lives and it's not something that they can give up on easily and … I've been along to see some of their shows and they're great shows and you know the audience love it and the artist is enjoying performing it so I have nothing against people doing it I think it's great that they do, it's just something that doesn't necessarily appeal to me.
PC = you mentioned there Paul, about a long, sorry, a career as far as King is concerned, and it wasn't a particularly long one, did you always feel that, well I felt that, King could carry on a little bit more and that it still had a lot to give
PK = well, yeah, I think with all bands… in some ways, [???] I think looking at King as a musical catalogue which is very short in sense of recording terms it was better to kind of bow out when it did it was at the top of its pop tree and essentially it just stopped rather than kind of being devalued or unappreciated. The thing that I do realise and I'm sure the guys think the same and this goes on for every kind of recording artist, you kind of spend four or five years like we did trying to get that first record together you know as a band and by the time we got that first album release we were a very very tight musical unit but…
PC = yeah
PK = that wasn't necessarily something that ever appeared on the records because making records is such a new thing again for most bands to try and do; some people are really lucky, they go and they make a record which completely sums up what they are, has the spirit of what they are and the sound of what they are but most, you know, artists who have longevity that we applaud and enjoy still today you'll find that it's a gradual process of four, five, six, seven albums before they actually find themselves in a recording studio and of course not many artists then, the 80s was pretty much the beginning of this, through the video age and also the advent of the greatest hits compilations of Now 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, suddenly you are dealing with singles artists that weren't allowed to develop into being albums artists and of course that has gone into an age where we are now where record companies are not really seriously investing in long term talents and that is where you have I think at the high end of commercial music a lack of great music but as I say taking away from the major labels you can find great records and great artists.
M = Paul King and Pete Chambers from BBC Coventry, this is then the double six that got King on the board "Love and Pride".

"LOVE AND PRIDE IS PLAYED"

M = it's still great, it's still great isn't it? It's fantastic… Paul it's still a wonderful song, isn't it? What do you think when you hear it now, how often do you hear it?
PK = funny enough I don't; well occasionally I hear it, but I did surprise myself… there's actually, in Germany this year they have redone Love and Pride, as a kind of dance club mix which was done really well, but they kind of fooled me over because they obviously need to gain rights as it was made of samples of the originals and consequently I had to listen to that and also put the original on my Ipod so.. .then I've got Ipod shuffle going and suddenly and in fact the other week it surprised me as I was walking down the road it came up and I was tempted shall I listen to this or not and I quite enjoyed listening to it in that way
PC = well it's a great song, it always was and it still is
PK = yeah, I think it's a good pop record you know as with all people who make records you end up listening to things and "oh you know I wish we changed that"
PC = of course it always happens
PK = it's always the way but no, I think.. as I say, once I get surprised and am not analysing it I can still enjoy it
PC = well I was gonna say, talking about Love and Pride and all that, it was very exciting for me as a fan and during those times as I was saying to Malcom, how did it feel for you when you had that first hit when it was all starting to take shape in the Culture Club tour
PK = well it was an exciting time and also, as I was saying earlier with the group, we had actually kind of formed in 80-81 and then in fact you know Tony Wall who was the bass player we had been in a band previous to that called the Reluctant Stereotypes…
PC = Reluctant Stereotypes, of course
PK = really, you know in the sense of building up to that, you know the first "Hit Record" is like six, seven years worth of work, by the time it happens you think thank God because along the way as with all people who are trying to do this kind of thing, pre Pop Idol age, you are pretty much on your own and you are doing it on the faith and belief that you can do it and it will happen but you know there's a lot of disbelievers along the way and of course you have your doubts yourself, it's kind of one of those things "yes we are gonna make a hit record, yes we are going to be a big band and you are still down at the General Wolf or you are still at the Dog and Trumpet or wherever it may be and it's only your own faith and determination that will get you there so eventually when it did happen of course it was fantastic
PC = cos of course you started out under the name "The Royal Screams" didn't you?
PK = yeah, we were looking for.. cos as I said I had been with Stereotypes and we were then coming out of Stereotypes trying to find what this band would be and could be at the time and with The Royal Screams we had all kinds of different kinds of arrangements and even musicians we even had a trumpet for a while as I remember and then… you know we were just trying to find where we would fit into the greatest scheme of things you know I came on at the end of your conversation about Two Tone and stuff and of course Two Tone had been such a huge influence in the city and for me at the time personally I was going along more watching it rather than participating it, Stereotypes came on the end of it, there was something about what Two Tone had created in the sense of an energy but also what it was drawing from musically of course was what we as teenagers in the early seventies in Coventry had grown up with which was a cross of west indies influence and a lot of reggae being around and [???] on a Monday night and Queen's Hall I think we used to go down there, so it was lots of reggae and then punk came along so with King it was like well what do we wanna be? And I was being as well into the kind of Bowie and Roxy thing so it was really trying to merge all these things together that's why we came on this tagline of being kind of Multi-Tone, if Two Tone was black and white then we'd be all the colours
PC = of course
M = well done, well it's lovely speaking to you Paul
PK = okay
M = and I know Pete feels the same
PC = yeah, absolutely, it's great to talk to you again
PK = my pleasure to be here
M = I hope we are doing our Italian listeners justice; what was the most important thing in a word you learnt at Coventry Drama School?
PK = (laughs) …well discipline actually
M = that's a fantastic word to describe it yeah
PK = yeah you need a bit of that to get on with it
M = absolutely I like what you said that the pre X Factor or Pop Idol era, it wasn't easy to make his name and they certainly made it
PC = they did
M = well done Paul thank you very much indeed
PK = my pleasure, very nice speaking to you both
M = lovely
PC = take care
PK = bye for now
M = Paul King there from King