It’s been 25 years in waiting, but the time is here for the highly anticipated remake of Paul Hardcastle’s iconic record 19 to be released globally. From today (19th April) you will be able to download all versions of 19. Including “Boys To War”, “The Vision” “Welcome To Hell” mixes and a special remix by Ministry of Sound DJ Richard Murray. The 25th Anniversary Edition has been inspired by the plight of service men and women in Afghanistan.
Show your support to a record and an artist willing to stand up for a subject that too many people are turning a blind eye to. A percentage of profits for 19 will be going to charities dedicated to helping those helping us.
Get your copy TODAY from iTunes (globally) and iTunes, Amazon, 7digital, Play, We7, HMV, Juno (remixes), Beatport (remixes) in the UK.
25 Years ago, I recorded the song “19”. The idea came about whilst watching a documentary which highlighted the plight of young men and women who fought in Vietnam.
“In World War 2 the average age of the combat soldier was 26, in Vietnam he was 19” these words really made me stop and think.
When I first approached Chrysalis Records with the Demo of “19” most people there didn’t believe it would get any attention as there would be no interest from the media, and I quote “the public don’t want to hear a song about war”.
Two people thought otherwise, the promotions guy Ken Grunbaum, and Simon Fuller who was working for the Company at the time. I gave the record company an ultimatum, either release “19” as my first record or I would not sign with them.
As luck would have it they agreed, and within three weeks “19” was at the top of the charts in 13 different countries and Simon became my Manager, he later went on to name his company after the song.
At the time it all seemed a long way from home as Vietnam was an American war, but now it seems “history is repeating itself”.
It’s now the 25th anniversary since the release of “19”, only this time the documentary I am watching is about the British soldiers who would be serving in Afghanistan. I hear the words “I looked at my Men, The average age was 19, my god I’m taking boys to war”, It was unbelievable, almost the same words that gave me the original idea to record “19”, this was all sounding too familiar.
I had it in my mind to do a remix for the 25th anniversary of the original track but after hearing that, I felt it would almost be an insult not to mention the British and others, who have lost their lives in recent years whilst doing their duty so I rewrote the song completely.
This time the song is written from the perspective of how I would see things if I was in the position of a young Soldier being sent off to war.
What’s interesting is the fact that a few years earlier I was approached by the BBC to remake 19 to be included in their TV programme “Power to the People” which highlighted the fact that there were no British hospitals for soldiers returning from duty.
At the time I declined, but having listened to the Soldiers and even high ranking army officials from several TV documentaries, it appears that there are many who are unsure that the way we are going about things is the right way,
Some even believe this can easily become another Vietnam scenario which would be a catastrophe for all involved, I’m not here to preach or impose my opinion on anyone and like with the original record I leave you to make up your own minds.
I am no anti government crusader, but take a look at the video trailer , the similarities between Vietnam and Afghanistan are quite alarming to say the least.
Luckily for me, In America I have been fortunate to have sold more records over the last decade than when 19 was at it’s peak so this is something that I don’t need to do, But on the other hand It’s something I feel I should do.
This is the last time I will ever revisit this song so I hope you like and understand what really are THE FINAL ever versions of “19″.
Paul Hardcastle – Feb 2010
A voice in my head is saying welcome to hell,
Will I get to survive I‘ve got no way to tell,
I’m in a situation where one of us dies
I get a stone cold stare from my enemies eyes,
A voice in my head is saying kill or be killed
But my mind is numb and my blood is chilled,
There’s bodies all around they lie on the ground
And all I hear is silence, and it’s a deafening sound
A voice in my head is saying this ain’t a game
If I survive this Hell I will never be the same,
Should I be here? I can’t say for sure,
If I don’t understand what I’m fighting for
Happy New Year to you all. I hope everyone had a good break and didn’t eat too much! ha-ha!
2010 is definitely going to be a busy year, there is so much I have planned. I’m currently snowed in which has meant I’ve barely left the studio……no change there then ha-ha!
As a special new year treat here’s a taster of the new Jazzmasters 6. I’d love to hear what you all think.
Well I’ve been a busy bee recently and the weeks seem to have flown by! Whilst I’m sure you’ll be amazed that the Christmas shopping is now done in the Hardcastle household, I’m sure you’ll be even more interested in the progress I’m making with Jazzmasters 6. It is sounding so smooth, and I may even post a few snippets online in the coming weeks, as a sneak preview. So watch this space as they won’t stay up for long!
The finishing touches are now in place for my next single, which will be out in the new year. I don’t want to say too much about it now, but I think you’ll all enjoy it.
After all this I think I deserve a break, so I’ll be jetting off to my favourite destination, the Maldives, for a nice little rest. I’m really looking forward to it, well except for the long flight ha-ha!
Ok, you’ve got me, it’s not actually the DVD in it’s entirety due to certain restrictions imposed by iTunes, however you can now download the individual videos from ‘Journey to a Different State of Mind’.
The DVD was a huge hit when first released, featuring not only music, but also videos created by Paul Hardcastle. And now you can have you’re own piece of the action in digital bite sized chunks, perfect for watching whilst on the move. And who doesn’t want a taste of Paul Hardcastle wherever they go?
To take your own journey just click on the links below.
As most of you know I was in the studio last week working on some really interesting stuff. A lot of what we worked on was filmed so I have decided to put together a behind the scenes video for everyone who follows the Chatterbox blogs, so you can watch me work my magic ha-ha!
I’m just editing the footage and then i’ll upload the first bit soon.
With the festive season fast approaching I thought it was time to try my hand at a Christmas song and not just another one of those festive covers that seem to pop up around this time of year. This my friends is a Paul Hardcastle original Christmas track! I am so bored of the usual suspects that are churned out each year so tried to come up with something new and exciting whilst still being Christmassy. This track is available as a bonus track on The Collection which has just been released in the UK for the first time or as a single track here. I hope you like it and as always, would love to hear your opinions.
I feel like I haven’t left the studio recently as there are so many interesting projects planned for 2010 that I am busy working on. All I can say for now is that 2010 is going to be very exciting!
Well it’s been pretty busy these last few weeks. Zero One is still getting great feedback, keep it coming! ha-ha
Right now I’m just preparing for In The City 2009, where I’ll be sat on a panel with Joe Duddell (of Elbow fame!) discussing songwriting and composition. It should be a great day, if not a little cold as it’s up in Manchester, but still I’m really looking forward to it!
For more info on that go to http://www.inthecity.co.uk
I’ve also been working on a little festive number for Christmas that I think you might like, there’ll be more news on that coming soon.
Paul Hardcastle’s ‘The Circle’ is at 738,368 (and counting!) on Radiowave’s top 30 sending it to the top of the chart.
The Radio Wave top 30 represents the 30 most popular titles on satellite and internet radio, across the Radiowave panel. Chart rankings are determined by combining the detected airplay and audience data across all stations, within this format, monitored by the Radiowave system.
