In which emaycee loses what little credibility he has to write about music by admitting that he likes the Paul Young version of this week's tune better than Jimmy Ruffin's original Motown version. The horror!
Paul Young had a brief mention just a few months ago in Friday Night Jukebox (Vol. CDXLII) for his cover version of Hall and Oates' blue-eyed soul classic "Everytime You Go Away." Young was born in 1956 in Luton, England and began performing in bands while still in school. He performed as a bass guitarist with three bands (Kat Kool and the Kool Kats, Streetband, with whom he had a minor hit in the U.K., and Q-Tips) before starting a solo career in 1982. Relying on a knack for recording catchy versions of old soul hits, his first two solo albums went to number one in the U.K., and his next two reached number four. Young's solo commercial success slowed considerably after that, but by then he'd had enough hits to stay on oldies tours forever. For his career, Young has released ten studio albums, fifteen compilations, four box sets, and thirty-seven singles. Young formed a Tex-Mex band called Los Pacaminos in 1992 that released two albums and released his tenth solo studio album just this year.
Fun Fact: Young sang the opening lines of Band Aid's single for Ethiopian famine relief "Do They Know It's Christmas?" because David Bowie was unable to participate. Talk about big shoes to fill! Bowie would later sing the lines at Live Aid.
Paul Young's version of "What Becomes of the Broken Hearted" was originally released on the soundtrack to the movie Fried Green Tomatoes. The single would reach #22 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100; the album did not chart. Needless to say, the song does show up on a number of Young's compilation packages.
As my regular readers know (all three of you), emaycee is a big fan of blue-eyed soul which would seem to make Paul Young a natural for me. Alas, no--many of Young's songs waste his wonderful voice with over production, especially on his soul cover versions (with the notable exception of "Everytime You Go Away"). But for whatever reason (his getting older? the eighties being over?), "What Becomes of the Broken Hearted" doesn't suffer from the usual fate (too much), and Young delivers an impassioned plea for all of those who are unlucky in love. His vocals pretty much carry the day--there's a nice sax solo, but it's mostly Young's velvety voice that captures the pain of a lost love and the hope for another. His impromptu vocal riffs on the lyrics at the end brings it home. God knows there have been plenty of songs about broken hearts--with this one, Young adds a good one to their pantheon. And for those wondering just what does become of the broken hearted? Why they carry one looking for a new love, of course....
Lyric Sheet: "I'll be searching everywhere/Just to find someone who cares/I'll be looking every day/I know I'm gonna find a way..."
Enjoy:
Republicans = Nazis
Peace,
emaycee
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