Paul Bonin is a singer and musician (electric bass, guitar) and a songwriter/composer. His body of published recorded work spans from 1980 to the present day. Bonin was born in

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. ...

, London and grew up in

north London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshire. The term ''nort ...

. He began playing bass in north London punk band "The Shit", the only band to play at the National Union of Students rally in

Hyde Park Hyde Park may refer to: Places England * Hyde Park, London, a Royal Park in Central London * Hyde Park, Leeds, an inner-city area of north-west Leeds * Hyde Park, Sheffield, district of Sheffield * Hyde Park, in Hyde, Greater Manchester Austra ...

in front of a crowd of 5000 in March 1979. Bonin played bass in The Jetset, recording and touring with the band from 1980 to 1982. During this time, Bonin worked for

media mogul A media proprietor, media mogul or media tycoon refers to a entrepreneur who controls, through personal ownership or via a dominant position in any media-related company or enterprise, media consumed by many individuals. Those with significant co ...

Clive Banks at his Parker Street offices, taking over the office boy's job from

Gary Crowley Gary Crowley (born 8 October 1961), is an English broadcaster, TV presenter and DJ.Burrell, Ian (2009), ''The Independent'', 9 November 2009, retrieved 2 November 2010 While still at school (Rutherford School, Marylebone, London) in the late 1970s ...

, where several well-known bands (

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) were based. After moving to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

in 1986, he founded the street-punk band " The Magoo Brothers". Before their demise in 1989, the band had toured all over Europe, playing over 400 concerts in the process. They released the album, ''Beyond Believable'', in 1988 on the German Bouncing Corporation label and published by Constrictor. Bonin followed this by forays into the newly independent Eastern European states, playing to a TV audience of 250 million at the Jurmala Festival in

Riga, Latvia Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava (river), Daugava river where ...

in 1992, as well as at the Ukrainian national Festival Maria later that year. Bonin also supported

Marc Almond Peter Mark Sinclair "Marc" Almond, (born 9 July 1957) is an English singer. Almond first began performing and recording in the synthpop/ new wave duo Soft Cell where he became known for his distinctive soulful voice and androgynous image. He ...

at the

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in 1993. He was offered a place at the

Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts The Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA) is a performing arts higher education institution in Liverpool, founded by Paul McCartney and Mark Featherstone-Witty and opened in 1996. LIPA offers 11 full-time BA (Hons) degrees in a range ...

(LIPA) in 1996. This was also the year he began a 15-year performing career on stage at the

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(German National Opera) in

, taking on a variety of roles including ''M. Guillot'' in

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's ''

Eugene Onegin ''Eugene Onegin, A Novel in Verse'' ( pre-reform Russian: ; post-reform rus, Евгений Оне́гин, ромáн в стихáх, p=jɪvˈɡʲenʲɪj ɐˈnʲeɡʲɪn, r=Yevgeniy Onegin, roman v stikhakh) is a novel in verse written by Ale ...

''. Record releases followed throughout the late 1990s with his band "King Bastard" which featured the legendary

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on guitar. Their song "Time on my Hands" was featured in

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's film of

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's novel "

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". Bonin teamed up with Regener in 2001, singing backing vocals on the

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album ''Romantik''. Bonin has continued to write, many of his songs appearing in films and television. He signed to

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in 2004 as a songwriter in his own right. During a period arranging and co-producing with

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( Beatsteaks,

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), and writing with

Christian Geller Christian Geller (born 10 March 1975) is a German record producer, composer, arranger, and music manager, also known under his alias Nick Raider. More than 80 songs that he co-wrote or produced, ranging from artists such as Modern Talking, David ...

(

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and

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, Bonin also found time to tour and write with Ben Hamilton and The Say Highs, playing supports for

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and

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, among others. He has continued to play live and record since then and is now preparing his new bands, The Chosen Few, and The Wildfires for action. The Wildfires released their debut album ''One'' on Amazing Records (Europe) at the end of 2013, produced by David Young. They are currently residing in Berlin and touring throughout Europe. Bonin's career branched out into the field of acting in May 2016 when he took on the role of 'Wally' in

Volker Schlöndorff Volker Schlöndorff (; born 31 March 1939 Friday) is a German film director, screenwriter and producer who has worked in Germany, France and the United States. He was a prominent member of the New German Cinema of the late 1960s and early 1970s, ...

's filming of ''

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''. The film was released in May 2017. Bonin's mastery of the German language also became evident with the publication of his English translation of the autobiography of

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which was published in September 2017.

Discography

Music and/or words (outtakes)

* "At School
Magoo Brothers
(Sanft u. Mutig compilation) * "Beyond Believable"- Magoo Brothers (Bouncing (Pastel)/Constrictor) – album

(Polystar) * "Summer in the Rain" – Paul Bonin (FNAC compilation)
"A Million Places"
King Bastard (EMI – Big Noize compilation) * "Moonman Underground", King Bastard (Virgin Fetensause compilation)

King Bastard (Edel); "Gute Zeiten Schlechte Zeiten" compilation
"Romantik"
Element of Crime (Motor); vocal tracks for album * "Time on my Hands"/"Fly" – King Bastard (Rabazco/BMG single)
"Sensational" (single by Martin Kesici)
Bravo Hits compilation (Polystar) * ''Nitro 17'' (BFS album)
''Blood Runs Cold''
Soul Doctor (Metal Heaven album)
''Back to the Bone''
Soul Doctor (Metal Heaven album) * The Wildfires "One" (Amazing Records Europe)

Film and television outtakes

* "Apocalypso Calypso" – ARD Germany * "America" – ARD Germany * "After the Fire" – Russian State TV * "Somewhere" – Russian State TV * "Miracle" – Ukrainian State TV * "To Be Someone" – Ukrainian State TV * "Rembrandt" – Ukrainian State TV * "Summer in the Rain" – public Polish TV (Sopot Festival) * "Million Places" – Millennium Crash (film), ARD Germany * "Strawberry Parade" – Millennium Crash (film), ARD Germany * "Time on my Hands" – Herr Lehmann (film), Boje Buck Films Germany
"Sensational"
Starsearch 2, SAT1 Germany * Paul Bonin songsearch at the GEMA (German Performing Rights Society)
Paul Bonin and the Chosen Few
(live on German national TV)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bonin, Paul Living people Musicians from London People from Hammersmith Year of birth missing (living people)