THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

471-Paul Hardcastle-19.

1985-Number 1 single.

Best Bit-At 0.26. Paul Hardcastle’s follow up single release to ’19’ was ‘Just For Money,’ which coincidentally reached Number n-n-n-nineteen.

Paul Louis Hardcastle was born on December 10th, 1957, in Kensington, London, England, he is a composer, musician, producer, songwriter, radio presenter, and multi-instrumentalist. His first professional venture in to the music business came in 1981 when he became the keyboard player for the British Soul band ‘Direct Drive,’ then in 1982 he left that group to form the duo ‘First Light,’ with the vocalist Derek Green, who had also been a member of ‘Direct Drive,’ in order to play ‘Jazz Funk,’ and ‘Electro Music.’ Together they released two studio Albums in 1983, and 1984, before parting ways. Following his greatest commercial success in the mid to late 1980’s, Paul Hardcastle resumed working as ‘First Light,’ this time with Kevin Henry, the results of which became the 1989 Album ‘You Had It All.’ Since the 1990’s, Paul Hardcastle has recorded several ‘Synth Jazz’ Albums, alternating releases under the pseudonyms ‘Kiss the Sky,’ with the British singer Jaki Graham, and also as the ‘Jazzmasters,’ as well as releasing Albums under his real name.

The discography of Paul Hardcastle includes 14 studio Albums released between 1985-2014, a series of 10 ‘Smooth Jazz’ Albums released between 1994-2022, a series of seven ‘Jazzmasters’ series Albums released between 1993-2014, three ‘Chill Lounge’ series Albums released between 2012-2015, and 13 official compilation Albums, covering many aspects of his work released between 1993-2023. Paul Hardcastle has also released 34 singles between 1984-2022, of which four have made the UK top 40, with ’19’ topping the chart for five consecutive weeks in 1985. In America on the Billboard Hot 100, his only charting single remains ’19’ which peaked at Number 15, although four of his tracks have reached the ‘Billboard Dance Club Songs’ top 40, with ’19’ making Number 1. His 1986 UK Number 15 hit single ‘The Wizard,’ was used as the theme tune for the ‘BBC’ music programme ‘Top of the Pops’ between April 1986, until September 1991.

’19’ was the third of five singles released from Paul Hardcastle’s self titled third studio Album from 1985, the song was co-written by Paul Hardcastle, Mike Oldfield, Bill Couturié, and Jonas McCord, with the production being by Paul Hardcastle. Musically the song is ‘Electro-Pop,’ and was inspired by the work of the American ‘Electronic Music’ producer Afrika Bambaataa (see also best songs 716.) Paul Hardcastle had watched a documentary made by ‘ABC’ news in 1982 on television called ‘Vietnam Requiem,’ which had been directed by Bill Couturié, and Jonas McCord, that told about post-traumatic stress disorder suffered by Vietnam veterans.The documentary said that the average age of the soldiers was nineteen, and this struck a chord with Hardcastle who immediately thought of his carefree lifestyle in comparison at that age. ’19’ samples dialogue, and sound effects from ‘Vietnam Requiem,’ and therefore Bill Couturié, and Jonas McCord receive songwriting credits alongside Paul Hardcastle. The narration sampled from ‘Vietnam Requiem’ was voiced by the American narrator Peter Thomas (1924-2016) who also received royalties from the songs release. Also credited as a writer of ’19’ is the English songwriter and producer Mike Oldfield, who receives royalties after he sued Paul Hardcastle over the similarities between ’19’ and his 1973 song ‘Tubular Bells.’

’19’ went on to top the charts in 13 countries, but only made Number 15 in America. In the States a song was placed on the chart not only by how many it sold, but also by how many radio stations played the track. In America many of the radio stations banned the song, claiming it sent out an anti American message, so even so it was the best selling song for three consecutive weeks, it never received it’s full recognition. Alongside ’19’ not receiving airplay on American radio, it also caused controversy when it was aired on ‘MTV’ in the United States. The first version of the video included footage from the television networks ‘NBC’ and ‘ABC,’ including a newscast by ‘ABC’ anchorman Frank Reynolds (1923-1983.) Both ‘NBC’ and ‘ABC’ objected to the ‘bad taste’ of using the serious clips in a ‘trivial’ form of ‘propaganda.’ Jonas McCord and Bill Couterié were forced to produce a new video incorporating public domain footage, but ‘ABC’ permitted Reynolds’ audio to remain. Couterié asserted at the time that the television networks opposed the video because it involved Rock music, and has said, ‘What is the difference between the words in our song and the 7 o’clock news? The only difference is Rock N’ Roll. And why did they love the documentary and hate the video so much? Every word in the song is from the film, and there was never any argument with the facts. The only difference is the music.’

‘In 1965 Vietnam seemed like just another foreign war, but it wasn’t. It was different in many ways, as so were those who did the fighting. In World War II the average age of the combat soldier was 26, in Vietnam he was 19.’