No Parlez - Paul Young

Paul Young seemed to rise from nowhere in 1983 with his hit cover version of Marvin Gaye's Wherever I Lay My Hat (That's My Home), but that wasn't quite the case. Hailing from Luton, Young was involved in several bands prior to his big break including a stint leading popular live act The Q-Tips and a brief spot in the UK charts as part of Streetband with unlikely hit Toast. In 1978. His debut number one wasn't his debut single release either, with earlier flops with two tracks from debut album No Parlez: Iron Out The Rough Spots and Love Of The Common People (both covers).

Still, it all came together in the end and Paul Young was here to stay - for a while at least. The heart of Young's success was his writing and production relationship with both keyboard player Ian Kewley (ex-Q-Tips) and Laurie Latham. Also a large part of the musical harmony were veteran bass player Pino Palladino (a name familiar to fans of Gary Numan) and Young's backing singers The Fabulous Wealthy Tarts (Kim and Maz).

Paul Young's debut album is almost full of cover versions, in fact only two tracks on the album itself were not covers. What is great though is that bar Joy Division's Love Will Tear Us Apart, I hadn't heard any of them upon initial release in 1983. Speaking of Joy Division, I'm still very much of the opinion that the version captured here is much better than the original, the soulful vocal and warm music more palateable than the stark iciness of Ian Curtis' original vision. I recognise that I'm probably very much in the minority though.

Young's voice is so much better with the slower tempo songs, projecting a real warmth and longing. The only I don't really like is first single and cover version Iron Out The Rough Spots, and the 12" mix doesn't really improve it unfortunately. There are two other 12" versions included here on disc 2, Come Back and Stay and Love Of The Common People, and they are prime examples of how good extended versions could really be back in the day.

Disc 2 also features a number of b-sides, rare tracks and a couple of live numbers. None of the extra tracks are a match for those included on disc 1, but none are that bad that I'd have preferred them not to be included, which is as much as you can hope for I guess. There are also two demo tracks; the first is a demo of Sex that is far better than the version on the album and a cover of Pale Shelter, a much inferior version than the Tears For Fears original.

The second disc close with two live tracks from 1983. The first is a track I've not heard before and is a corking track that is only really let down by an ending that takes forever. The closer is a brilliant version of Wherever I Lay My Hat that the audience are quite happy singing along to. The sound quality of both is fantastic and the playing very tight and a good choice to close this album.

Well worth picking up at this price, whether double dipping (or in my case triple dipping) or if you missed it first time round.