Paul Young talks to Linda Jobling about hitting the 1980s reboot button in Newcastle

THERE’S something about the 1980s that makes everyone want to don the big shoulder pads and do it all again, an era bursting with colour, fluffy curls and overstated fashion where we all just wanted to have fun.

Those days are about to be re-created with the announcement of the 80s Invasion Tour which is taking place in March next year, including Newcastle City Hall. The line-up is an exciting cross-section of nostalgia, including Martika, Toyah, China Crisis and Paul Young.

Asked what what made this particular decade so memorable, Young replies; “I think it’s got the attraction, that it was an era where there was an explosion of technology, drum machines and synthesisers, and the fashions, everything was exaggerated. So, people love to go back to an era where they can personify what that era was and people like to throw 1980s parties and dress up, and I think musically it had a lot of vibrancy about it. I think we all felt that anything was achievable”.

The singer, who is famous for being at home anywhere he lays his hat, says of his early career: “It was just a big learning curve really. I started off playing the bass, but always wanted to sing and I was in a couple of local bands and I moved to London and spent seven or eight years moving around different bands by which time I became a singer."

Even when he got his “first proper break”, Young was not one to be reaching for the stars, but happy to be giving his audience what they came for. “The second band I was in was called the Q-Tips. Although we never had a big record, we could fill places the way that successful bands could, because we became famous by word of mouth, so everybody wanted to come and see this band because it was such a good night out.”

Only later, did he become famous for the unforgettable hit Wherever I Lay My Hat (That’s My Home) which dominated the summer of 1983, and the equally outstanding follow-ups Love Of The Common People and “Come Back And Stay, plus the hugely successful debut album No Parlez, released that same year. Young went on to release a second album The Secret Of Association, which also reached number one and secured his place in the 1980s history book.

His boy-next-door image is still apparent today, as he reveals he likes nothing more than to tinker with his motorbike in his spare time. “I’ve got an old Harley Davison,” Young adds. “I do basic servicing on that, I like to ride it, it’s like an antique, so you take your life in your hands. Apart from that I spend most of my time with my family, my kids and my wife”.

Young was also at the forefront of the famous Live Aid campaign, which was the brainchild of Midge Ure and Bob Geldof, something which continues today and which he can proudly look back on, having been the pioneer for one of music’s biggest fundraising events.

In 1995, Young formed his own backing group Los Pacaminos, and first performed with the group in Hyde Park, London the same year, and was recently seen entertaining at Stockton.

Accompanying Young for the evening at Newcastle, in March, will be American singer and songwriter Martika, whose classic Toy Soldiers provided a cultured contrast to the quirky and equally memorable Martika’s Kitchen. Also appearing will be the vibrant and nonconformist Toyah. Her distinctive vocal talent and off-the-wall character were responsible for her biggest hits, including It’s A Mystery and the rebellious I Want To Be Free. And who could forget the Liverpool-based smoothies of synth China Crisis, with their iconic and sonically beautiful Wishful Thinking, as well as the powerful Black Man Ray, the meaning of which remains ambiguous, but a great tune nonetheless.

  • 80’s Invasion Tour – Newcastle City Hall, Saturday, March 18. Box Office: ticketmaster.co.uk

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