Paul Young (17 June 1947 – 15 July 2000) was a British singer and songwriter. He achieved success in the bands

Sad Café Sad Café are an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1976, who achieved their peak of popularity in the late 1970s and early 1980s. They are best known for the UK top 40 singles "Every Day Hurts", "Strange Little Girl", " My Oh My" and "I ...

and

Mike + the Mechanics Mike and the Mechanics (stylised as Mike + The Mechanics) is an English rock supergroup formed in Dover in 1985 by Mike Rutherford, initially as a side project during a hiatus period for his earlier group Genesis. The band is known for hit singl ...

Life and career

Young was born on 17 June 1947 in the

Wythenshawe Wythenshawe () is a district of the city of Manchester, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in Cheshire, Wythenshawe was transferred in 1931 to the City of Manchester, which had begun building a massive housing estate there in the ...

district of Manchester, England. Young was a member of

The Toggery Five The Toggery Five were an English freakbeat band from Manchester, England that was formed in the midst of the Manchester Beat music, beat scene. The band emerged as other popular British acts like The Hollies and The Dakotas were also coming to p ...

in the 1960s. The Manchester-based band signed a recording contract, played in Germany, and released the single "I'm Gonna Jump". After The Toggery Five disbanded, Young became the lead singer of the band Gyro in the mid-1970s. Young and Gyro bandmate Ian Wilson, together with members of

Mandalaband Mandalaband is a progressive rock band formed in England in 1974. The band is led by David Rohl who writes, arranges, mixes and produces their material. Rohl is also a controversial Egyptologist, once featured on the London '' Sunday Times'' fro ...

, formed the band

in 1976. Sad Café signed with RCA. The band's single, "Every Day Hurts" (1979), was a no. 3 hit on the British charts. The band also hit the UK Top 40 with "Strange Little Girl", " My Oh My" and "I'm in Love Again", and had two US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 hits with "Run Home Girl" and "La-Di-Da". Young enjoyed further chart success sharing lead vocal duties with

Paul Carrack Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...

Mike + The Mechanics Mike and the Mechanics (stylised as Mike + The Mechanics) is an English rock supergroup formed in Dover in 1985 by Mike Rutherford, initially as a side project during a hiatus period for his earlier group Genesis. The band is known for hit singl ...

, the

pop-rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and ...

band formed in 1985 by

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...

guitarist

Mike Rutherford Michael John Cloete Crawford Rutherford (born 2 October 1950) is an English guitarist, bassist and songwriter, co-founder of the rock band Genesis. Rutherford and keyboardist Tony Banks are the group's two continuous members. Initially servin ...

. He was brought into Mike + the Mechanics on the recommendation of producer/songwriter

Christopher Neil Christopher Neil (born 1948) is an Irish-born British record producer, songwriter, singer, and actor. He has produced records for A-ha, Amazulu, Bonnie Tyler, Celine Dion, Cher, Dollar, Edyta Górniak, Gerry Rafferty, Jennifer Rush, José C ...

and Neil's manager.Neer, Dan (1985). ''Mike on Mike'' nterview LP Atlantic Recording Corporation. ''Mike + the Mechanics'' scored three Top 40 hits, including two US Top 10s, "

Silent Running (On Dangerous Ground) "Silent Running (On Dangerous Ground)" is a song performed by Mike + The Mechanics. Written by Mike Rutherford and B. A. Robertson, it was the first track on the 1985 self-titled debut album of Mike + the Mechanics. It was also released as the ...

" and "

All I Need is a Miracle "All I Need Is a Miracle" is a song performed by English pop rock band Mike + The Mechanics. Written by guitarist Mike Rutherford and producer Christopher Neil, it was first included on their 1985 self-titled debut album, and later released a ...

". The single "The Living Years" (US#1, UK#2) became the band's biggest hit, and featured on the band's second album ''

Living Years ''Living Years'' is the second album by Mike + The Mechanics, released in 1988. The album reached number 13 on the US ''Billboard'' 200 and number 2 on the UK Albums Chart. History Mike Rutherford began writing songs for the album in Septe ...

''. During Young's career, he provided lead vocals on several chart hits, including Sad Café's "

Every Day Hurts "Every Day Hurts" is a song by British band Sad Café, from their third album '' Facades''. It was released as a single in 1979 and became their biggest hit, reaching No. 3 on the UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Offi ...

" and " My Oh My", and Mike + The Mechanics' "

All I Need Is a Miracle "All I Need Is a Miracle" is a song performed by English pop rock band Mike + The Mechanics. Written by guitarist Mike Rutherford and producer Christopher Neil, it was first included on their 1985 self-titled debut album, and later released a ...

", "

Word of Mouth Word of mouth, or ''viva voce'', is the passing of information from person to person using oral communication, which could be as simple as telling someone the time of day. Storytelling is a common form of word-of-mouth communication where one pe ...

", "

Taken In "Taken In" is a song performed by Mike + The Mechanics. Written by guitarist Mike Rutherford and producer Christopher Neil, it was the third single released in June 1986 from their 1985 self-titled debut album, and the third to become a Top 4 ...

" and "Nobody's Perfect". Young possessed a wide vocal range, often utilising fifth octave

head voice Head voice is a term used within vocal music. The use of this term varies widely within vocal pedagogical circles and there is currently no one consistent opinion among vocal music professionals in regard to this term. Head voice can be used in re ...

notes, and a voice characterised as "rich". His early style has been likened to that of

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...

; in the early 1980s, he began to explore a more "emotive" style.DeGagne, Mike
''Mike + The Mechanics'' review

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

. Retrieved 17 May 2013. On 15 July 2000, having no symptoms, Young had a sudden heart attack at around 6.30pm at his home in

Hale Hale may refer to: Places Australia *Hale, Northern Territory, a locality *Hale River, in southeastern Northern Territory Canada *Hale, Ontario, in Algoma District United Kingdom * Hale, Cumbria, a hamlet near Beetham, Cumbria *Hale, Greater Man ...

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester city centre, southwest of Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2011 Census, it had a population o ...

, and died shortly afterwards at 53 years old. An autopsy revealed that the cause of death was a heart attack and that "it was not the first".

Legacy

Mike Rutherford said of Young, "He had a fantastic voice, one of the best rock voices of his generation ... a complete natural." Former

Marillion Marillion are a British rock music, rock band, formed in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, in 1979. They emerged from the post-punk music scene in Britain and existed as a bridge between the styles of punk rock and classic progressive rock, becomin ...

vocalist and 1980s chart peer

Fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

described him as "one of the finest frontmen and singers from the history of the British music scene", who exhibited "immense personality, glowing charisma and outrageous positivism".

Discography

The Young Brothers * 1968 ''I've Always Wanted Love/Mirror, Mirror'' (single) Young & Renshaw * 1971 ''"This Is Young & Renshaw"'' (album) Paul Young * 2011 ''Chronicles'' (2011 album) * 2011 "Your Shoes" (2011 single)

References

External links

*
BBC news
report on his death {{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Paul 1947 births 2000 deaths English male singers English rock singers English pop singers British soft rock musicians Mike + The Mechanics members Musicians from Manchester People from Wythenshawe 20th-century English singers People educated at Ducie Technical High School for Boys 20th-century British male singers