A catholic education, Sir Frederick Gibbard, London transport, Kith and Kin, Ma Rainey and Beethoven, That thin wild mercury sound, The Belfast Cowboy, Ma and Pa’s Dansette and the contents of the sideboard it was sat upon, The Man In Black, The Big O, Brother Ray, The Killer, The Hillbilly Shakespeare, The Memphis Flash, The Thin White Duke, The Little Sparrow, The Georgia Peach, The Godfather of Soul, The Cool Ruler, The Queen Of Soul, The Imposter, The Emperess of the Blues, The King Of The Delta Blues, The Big Nosed Bard Of Barking, William Blake, The Clash, Little Anthony and the Imperials, Nina Simone, The Beach Boys, Sam Cooke, Jacques Brel, Bonnie "Prince" Billy, The Tindersticks, The Waterboys, Christian F Dub Band, Jackie Leven, Dexys Midnight Runners, Scott Walker, Bob Marley, The Dubliners, Seasick Steve, The Fall, Edwyn Collins, Michael Jackson, John McCormack, The Ramones, Chuck Berry, Tony Benn, Leonard Cohen, Steve Earle, The Men They Couldn’t Hang, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Richard Hawley, Nico, Morrissey, Tom Waits, Howlin’ Wolf, Frank Sinatra, Bruce Springsteen, The Neurotics, Arcade Fire, Tim Hardin, The Associates, Gil Evans, Son House, The White Stipes, Attila The Stockbroker, Miles Davis, The Adverts, Mary Margaret O’ Hara, Agnes Bernelle, Ella Fitzgerald, The Pogues, Lieber and Stoller, Paul Robeson, Nat "King" Cole, PIL, Abbey Lincoln, Public Enemy, Donny Hathaway, John Barry, Kate Bush, Bill Medley, Dionne Warwick, Buzzcocks, Burt Bacharach, Marvin Gaye, Ivor Cutler, Motorhead, W.B. Yeats, Iain Sinclair, The Libertines, Phil Spector, The City Waits, Dr Feelgood, Leadbelly, Lucinda Williams, Irving Berlin, Peter Ackroyd, Patti Smith, Brendan Behan, Harry Champion, George Gershwin, The Sex Pistols, The Band, Marie Lloyd, Ron Sexsmith, Smokey Robinson, Christy Moore, Dusty Springfield and on and on and on.....Wow, my tastes are so eclectic. Well done me!
Paul Howard has been toiling in song for more years than he cares to remember. He started out playing bass and writing songs for Dark Horse and This Happy Breed. When he was 20 he summoned up the courage to start singing. Paul started doing solo gigs as well as playing duo gigs with guitarist Jo Clack, and fronting The Tender Trap. His first ever recording, "We Will Win", was included on the compilation LP "Not Just Mandela", alongside The Neurotics, Billy Bragg and The Housemartins. This song brought about the downfall of Margaret Thatcher.
He and Jo Clack won £1,000 in a local talent contest in ’86 and spent the winnings on recording and a new guitar, which Paul plays to this day. Paul and Jo gigged extensively around this time and released "Winter’s Here Again" and "The Unification EP" on Davy Lamp Records. The latter received rave reviews and went about ending Apartheid in South Africa.
Around about this time Paul was regularly playing at The Mean Fiddler. One of his support acts, Tanita Tikaram, remembered Paul and invited him to tour England, Scotland and Ireland with her. The NME reviewed one of Paul’s gigs at the time and proclaimed; "... if there is any justice anywhere then Paul Howard will be massive". In a way the reviewer was eerily prophetic!
Paul and his trusty manager Kevin visited Manchester, Bristol, Cambridge, Dublin, Belfast, Leeds and many more, receiving encores most nights. Meanwhile, Paul’s band the Tender Trap also won £1,000 in a talent competition. Remembering how sensibly he had spent the last prize money, The Tender Trap spent the lot on flowers and circuses. Radio 1 DJ Steve Lamacq was an early champion of the band. Writing in the NME; "... Paul Howard has a voice that could warm a thermometer at twenty paces". Paul and The Trap are name-checked in Lamacq’s biography, Going Deaf For A Living. Other reviews followed in Well Red and The Guardian, bringing the band to the attention of various record labels.
Having read all the music biz self help books, The Tender Trap signed with the first label that offered them a deal! The first single on Musicdisc was "Irish Ivan’s Spirit Song". The song was played widely on Radio 1, Capital, XFM and GLR. Paul played and was interviewed on The Chris Evans and The Johnny Walker radio shows. Good reviews followed in NME and Time Out and that year the band were invited to play the Glastonbury festival. Two further singles were released and the band’s LP were completed at the legendary Rockfield Studio in Wales. The LP was released abroad but was denied a UK release due to legalities. The band broke up after various tours and "The Patron Saint Of Heartache" LP gathers dust in a West London warehouse. For more information on how Musicdisc operated, read "This is Pop" by Ed Jones and published by Cannongate.
Disillusioned with the music industry Paul jacked it in... for about four weeks! He began playing pubs, clubs and parties with Darktown and The Goodfellas. He released an LP of songs called "Wings" and joined The Liberty Cage with Paul and Swill from The Men They Couldn’t Hang. The Liberty Cage released Bob Dylan’s "I’ll Keep It With Mine" as a single, garnering much air-play, and they toured extensively. Also at this time Paul and Jo Clack began writing and recording together, again under the name Lee Boo. They produced an album worth of songs that may soon see the light.
In 2000 Paul formed a punk blues band called Gaffer Hexam. They released a CD of two songs that Paul had written with writer, visionary and psycho-geographer Iain Sinclair, produced by Morrissey guitarist (among other things) Boz Boorer. It was not unusual to see a Bad Seed or a Libertine at their gigs, which were pretty intense affairs. They had two tracks on the "This Is Punk Rock Blues" compilation, toured with the magnificent Seasick Steve and split up.
Now, bruised and bloody, Paul is back for more, returning to what he does best - writing,playing and singing his own songs. Paul has just released an album’s worth of songs produced by William Hayter at R2R Music entitled: "In The Shadow of Christchurch" as well as writing and recording again with Jo Clack (See top friends).
I’m an italian lover of good music, my name is Claude I send you my congratulation for your music I LIKE YOUR TRACKS ON YOUR MySpace PAGE IT’S A GOOD SOUND
I’m a journalist of “BUSCADERO” the very best italian rock magazine, and other, desultorily I wrote on the “FB Folk Bullettin” (folk magazine).
list of my last reviews: BUSCADERO September 2008: Drew Emmitt “Long Road” cd Donna The Buffalo: “Silverlined” cd Feufollet “Cow Island Hop” cd BUSCADERO July/Ago 2008: Floggin Molly: review live concert at Musicdrome - Milano 20,05.’08 Railroad Earth “Amen Corner” cd Michael Doucet “From You Noe On” cd Tony DeMarco “The Sligo Indians” cd Ned Ludd “Lavoro & Dignità” cd Riccardo Tesi “Presente Remoto” cd BUSCADERO June 2008: Davide Van de-Sfroos: review live concert at DatchForum, Assago-Milano 19,04.’08 Yonder Mountain String Band “Mountain Tracks: vol.5” 2cd Flavio Oreglio & LUF “Giù (non è stato facile cadere così in basso)” cd BUSCADERO May 2008: Waybacks: “Loaded” cd Clarence Gatemouth Brown “Live from Austin-City Limits” dvd Flaco Jimenez: “Ya Volvi De La Guerra” cd BUSCADERO April 2008: Eric Sardinas: “Eric Sardinas & Big Motor” cd Lhi Jarris “Cèrcle Libre” cd BUSCADERO March 2008: Flogging Molly: “Float” cd Savoy Family Band “Turn Loose But Don’t Let Go” cd Punch Brothers [Chris Thile] “Punch” cd BUSCADERO February 2008 Johnny Cash: “Music in Review” dvd Various Artists: “Caliente Y Picante” (with C. Santana, R.Blades, C.Cruz, T. Puente) dvd LUF “So Nahit’n Val Camonega” cd BUSCADERO January 2008 Lost Bayou Ramblers: “Live A La Blue Moon” cd Hot Buttered Rum: “Live in The Northeast” cd MARC FORD - review live concert at Music-Drome, Milano 11,26,2007
hasta bien amigos I send you my best and brotherly rockin’ roots regards. ROOTS & RESPECT ALL THE BEST TO YOU God Bless You.
Madam, AKA Sukie Smith, will be doing her dark country/folk thing at The Black Gardenia this coming Wednesday, 3rd September to celebrate the release of her new E.P. "Fall On Your Knees."
Thanks for including us on your friends list. I hope that you liked the songs!
As a Boston radio station said about our first album.........
“This isn't just the best damned drinking album of the year; it's the best damned CD to play before you go out drinking to pump yourself up album of the year”
I reckon it also goes for our live show. So come along one day, see if you can drink us under the table and dance us off of the stage!
Cheers (p.s. the second album is even better!! with free downloads on Myspace)
Hey folks! Come along on Thoisday to witness the beast that is born when you mix 3 parts JOOK and 1 part DOLLIMORE... and it's free before 9pm brothers and sisters!
Paul Howard: Just wanted to stop by and, show some support! I listened to your tracks, again! Great stuff! Very nice, indeed!! Keep on making, the fine, music! Your fan, "Redneck Ronnie & the Stoned Sheep Band"
