Paul Louis Hardcastle (born 10 December 1957) is a British

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

musician A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...

, producer,

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

radio presenter A radio personality (American English) or radio presenter (British English) is a person who has an on-air position in radio broadcasting. A radio personality who hosts a radio show is also known as a radio host, and in India and Pakistan as a rad ...

and

multi-instrumentalist A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays two or more musical instruments at a professional level of proficiency. Also known as doubling, the practice allows greater ensemble flexibility and more efficient employment of musicians, where ...

. He is best known for his song " 19", which went to number 1 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in 1985.

Early life

Born in

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...

in London on 10 December 1957, he is the son of Joyce (''née'' Everett, 1930–1991) and Louis Hardcastle (1915–2000)."Birth of Paul Louis Hardcastle", England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916–2005.

Career

Hardcastle began his career in 1981 when he became the keyboard player for British soul band Direct Drive. In 1982, Hardcastle and lead vocalist Derek Green left the band to form a duo under the name First Light. They achieved some minor success in the UK charts, but the project was abandoned after two years and Hardcastle pursued a solo career. He achieved some success with his early singles, including the 1984

electro-funk Electro (or electro-funk)Rap meets T ...

/ freestyle/

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to instru ...

track, "Rain Forest", which along with the track "Sound Chaser", reached number two on the dance chart. "Rain Forest" also hit number five on the soul chart and number fifty-seven on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Hardcastle is best known for the 1985 single " 19", which went to No. 1 in the UK (for five weeks), as well as several other countries worldwide. It also reached number 15 in the U.S. Pop chart and number 1 in the U.S. Dance charts. The song received the

Ivor Novello Award The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and composing. They have been presented annually in London by the Ivors Academy (formerly the BASCA) since 1956, and over 1,000 statuettes have been a ...

for Best-selling single of 1985. The follow-up single to " 19" was "Just for Money", which reached No. 19 in the UK. It also charted in several other European countries. In 1986, Hardcastle released a remix to " One Wish" by

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui h ...

. In the same year, Hardcastle's "

The Wizard Wizard, the wizard, or wizards may refer to: * Wizard (fantasy), a fictional practitioner of magic * Wizard (supernatural), a practitioner of magic Art, entertainment and media Fictional characters * Wizard (Archie Comics), a comic book supe ...

" was adopted as the theme tune for the

BBC's #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

''Top of the Pops'' weekly chart show. The theme tune was used from 3 April 1986 to 26 September 1991. The song " Don't Waste My Time", became Hardcastle's second UK top ten in March 1986. It featured singer

Carol Kenyon Carol Kenyon (sometimes spelt Karol; born 1959) is a British singer. She is best known for her vocals on the Heaven 17 hit song "Temptation", which reached number two in the UK Singles Chart in 1983. When the song was re-released as a remix by ...

, a backing vocalist of

Heaven 17 Heaven 17 are an English new wave and synth-pop band that formed in Sheffield in 1980. The band were a trio for most of their career, composed of Martyn Ware (keyboards) and Ian Craig Marsh (keyboards) (both previously of the Human League), an ...

. In late 1986, Hardcastle collaborated with the supergroup Disco Aid (later rebranded as Dance Aid in 1987) co-producing the charity single " Give Give Give". In 1989, Hardcastle resumed working on First Light, collaborating with vocalist Kevin Henry, whom he had worked with on previous recordings. Since the 1990s, Hardcastle has recorded several synth

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

albums, alternating releases under the pseudonyms Kiss the Sky (with

Jaki Graham Jacqueline Graham (born 15 September 1956) is a British singer-songwriter. Following her hit version of " Could It Be I'm Falling in Love" with David Grant in 1985, Graham scored a further five UK top 20 hits over a two-year period. In 1994, he ...

) and the Jazzmasters, as well as under his real name Paul Hardcastle.

Personal life

Hardcastle married Dolores Baker in 1985, and they have three children including British DJ and singer Maxine as well as musician Paul Hardcastle Jr. who both contributed vocals to Hardcastle's Transcontinental, a 2011 collection of new music recorded with

Ryan Farish Ryan Farish is an American artist, composer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentist. Hailing from Norfolk, Virginia, and based in Los Angeles, California, Ryan is known for his downtempo electronica, chillout, and uplifting dance music. Hi ...

Discography

Studio albums

Smooth jazz albums

Hardcastle series

Jazzmasters series

Chill Lounge series

Kiss the Sky with
Jaki Graham Jacqueline Graham (born 15 September 1956) is a British singer-songwriter. Following her hit version of " Could It Be I'm Falling in Love" with David Grant in 1985, Graham scored a further five UK top 20 hits over a two-year period. In 1994, he ...

Transcontinental with
Ryan Farish Ryan Farish is an American artist, composer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentist. Hailing from Norfolk, Virginia, and based in Los Angeles, California, Ryan is known for his downtempo electronica, chillout, and uplifting dance music. Hi ...

Compilations

Singles

Unreleased promotional tracks

This is a list of several unreleased tracks that were made by Paul Hardcastle that were originally intended to have been used to promote the

Lego Lego ( , ; stylized as LEGO) is a line of plastic construction toys that are manufactured by The Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. The company's flagship product, Lego, consists of variously colored interlocking ...

Bionicle Bionicle was a line of Lego construction toys, marketed primarily towards 8-to-16-year-olds. The line originally launched in 2001 as a subsidiary of Lego's Technic series. Over the following decade, it became one of Lego's biggest-selling prop ...

toyline in 2001. These tracks were originally meant to have been included with the ''Bionicle Power Pack'' CD package that was later released in the same year.

References

External links

Official website

Trippin 'n' Rhythm Records

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hardcastle, Paul 1957 births Living people British freestyle musicians British synth-pop musicians British jazz keyboardists Chrysalis Records artists English boogie musicians English electro musicians English keyboardists English male composers English multi-instrumentalists English radio presenters English record producers English songwriters Musicians from London People from Kensington Profile Records artists Smooth jazz musicians British male jazz musicians British male songwriters