Wherever I Leave My Hat: the C

With the exception of the "80s cut and paste beats" remixes on cd2 (I would have preferred more album cuts), this is an exceptionally well recorded and arranged collection of songs. I've been only vaguely aware of Paul Young, but most of the recordings here are as impressive as the title track, musically (the instruments) and in terms of singing, while the production is akin to Level42 and/or the jazz-funk or smooth jazz records of the era, with the noticeable difference: this music has "mojo"! If it does "Iron Out The Rough Spots" production wise, it nevertheless has the roots of the music alive and well and it is often arranged in a more musical fashion than one would expect from the vast majority of records of nearly any genre. It is not just that Young has a good voice: it's the delivery and the way the band plays. His covers of well-known songs bring out both different emotions and different arrangements to originals, yet they all seem appropriate. And there's not just r'n'b style numbers here. That approach to music is sometimes typified as "old school". When I grew up, if bands ever tried to be a little bit funky (r'n'b), they'd be jeered along the lines of "who do you think you are? James Brown?" In the same vein, Kraftwerk once said "when Aretha Franklin sings "I really love you", do you believe her?" and many bands that followed in that style in the 1980s (e.g. Depeche Mode) wrote heartless songs that were the opposite of love songs even if they were often described as if they were. This music, however, is all heart and intelligence, not just in song but in musical arrangements. Young's few original songs here are also quite ambitious in their melodic structure. Muddy Waters famously sang "I've got my mojo working but it just don't work on you!" By the sound of this cd, Paul Young had his mojo working and it should work on all those with open musical ears, not only because his voice is better and has no less "mojo" than any blues, r'n'b or rock singer out there, or who has been, but also, and more importantly, because of the generally excellent song arrangements and performances, which had me thinking that Young, if he had a longer career, could have been to popular "band" music since the 1960s what Frank Sinatra was to popular music from the 1930s to the 1950s: the most stylish of interpretative singers. Well worth hearing and a breath of fresh air despite (or perhaps even because of) its 1980s vintage! For me personally, as someone who listens primarily to instrumental music and usually avoids chart pop with a ten foot pole, there's seemed to be at least a dozen real musical gems here.

Paul Youngs albums have been out of print in the US so I was happy to find this overview two CD collection of album tracks and singles. The sound is good and it includes just about every track you'd want on a comp including is solo take on Don't Dream It's Over. Surprised he was not more popular beyond Every Time You Go Away in the states.

Paul young produce good song. this a great collection of his songs.

Ok collection. I just love that song Live for the common people

if you know and like Paul Young then you will like this. Bit of a mix, Some tracks stand out more than others so worth listening to