91Èȱ¬

What was the brief?
Paul: I'd just bought this brand new equipment from America called a Synclavier. George Michael had one - Sting and Trevor Horne. It was stupid amounts of money but I though if it's going to help my career... and that was the first thing I did on it. It took me about two days and I sent it over to him and he said: 'Wonderful. It's just what we want! By the way, could you re jig 'The Late, Late Breakfast Show' It's on TV on Saturday' That was on Wednesday, but I just said of course! So we got quite pally after that! I'll let you into a little secret. It was just at the time when everyone was releasing records - like most of the EastEnders cast. Radio 1 all of a sudden said we're not playing anything else to do with TV. We had 'The Wizard' coming out so we knew that no one was going to play it outside the 91Èȱ¬ because it's a 91Èȱ¬ theme so our only hope was Radio 1. So Michael put it on the show - it was the first time a record was played on TOTP before it had actually been released. He said: If they won't play my record, I'll show them! We had girls in T-shirts with 'Paul Hardcastle - The Wizard' on them and balloons. So in the mid-weeks we were at No.74, because no one had heard it, and after that we jumped up to No. 24. That showed me the power of the show. We jumped 50 places!

So you definitely have fond memories of the show then!
Paul: I've still got the whole thing on video! I've got a big collection for my kids. I've got three.

And finally, what's coming next?
Paul: After the Greatest Hits come out I might go for something different. I've been speaking to Simon Fuller and we might be working on something together because we're still best of friends. he was the best man at my wedding so we're still great mates and we may come up with a project. After releasing 'Hardcastle III' it did give me a bit of inspiration. I enjoyed doing interviews in my own country again. I'd been away from it for quite a long time and after two years of manic stuff it's a breath of fresh air. Obviously, I don't get 17-year-olds banging on my door anymore but I look back on it all with very fond memories.

And do you get fed up with people asking you about '19'?
Paul: Not at all. Nobody wanted me to make the record. Chrysalis Records - none of them saw anything in it. It was so different, wasn't it. Basically, there was one guy called Ken, the marketing manager for Chrysallis and he said it was fantastic. This will be a massive hit. He really stuck his neck out and so did I. Everyone said radio 1 won't touch it. And on its week of release it was the most played record on Radio 1. They played the video on VH1 so I think the fact that I stuck with my guns was great. I'm still really proud of that record.

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