Paul Melvyn Carrack (born 22 April 1951) is an English singer, musician, songwriter and composer who has recorded as both a solo artist and as a member of several popular bands. The BBC dubbed Carrack "The Man with the Golden Voice", while Record Collector remarked: "If vocal talent equalled financial success, Paul Carrack would be a bigger name than legends such as Phil Collins or Elton John."
Carrack rose to prominence in the mid-1970s as the frontman and principal songwriter of rock band Ace, and gained further recognition for his work as a solo artist and for his tenures as a member of Squeeze and Roger Waters' backing band, the Bleeding Heart Band, intermittently handling lead vocals on Squeeze and Waters recordings. From the mid-1980s to the late 1990s, he enjoyed considerable success as the co-lead vocalist (with Sad Café's Paul Young) and a songwriter for Mike + The Mechanics; following Young's death in 2000, Carrack served as the band's sole lead vocalist until his departure in 2004.
Carrack sang some of his affiliated bands' best-known hits, including Ace's "How Long" (1975); Squeeze's "Tempted" (1981); and Mike + The Mechanics' "Silent Running (On Dangerous Ground)" (1985), "The Living Years" (1988) and "Over My Shoulder" (1995). He also performed lead vocals on tracks from the Roger Waters albums Radio K.A.O.S. (1987) and The Wall – Live in Berlin (1990). He has released nineteen solo albums and achieved a major hit of his own with "Don't Shed a Tear" (1988). Carrack's songs have been recorded by artists such as Linda Ronstadt, Eagles, Diana Ross, Tom Jones, Michael McDonald and Jools Holland, and he has served as a session and/or touring musician for Roxy Music, Elton John, Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, B.B. King, the Pretenders, the Smiths and Madness.
Career
1970s: Warm Dust, Ace and Roxy Music
Carrack's recording career began with the jazz-rock band Warm Dust, which released three studio albums of original material between 1970 and 1972. Carrack served as the band's keyboardist and occasionally played other instruments. The band's lead vocalist was Les Walker.
After Warm Dust broke up, Carrack and Warm Dust bassist Terry "Tex" Comer helped found the pub rock band Ace. The band's debut single, "How Long", was written and sung by Carrack and was a 1975 hit in both the UK and the United States. The track was Ace's only hit record and in 1977 the group disbanded. Carrack then worked as a backing musician for Frankie Miller and as a keyboardist for Roxy Music.
1980s: working solo and as a session musician
Carrack's debut solo studio album, 1980's Nightbird, was not a commercial success.
In 1981, Glenn Tilbrook recruited Carrack to join Squeeze as a replacement for long-time keyboardist Jools Holland. This new Squeeze line-up achieved international success with the studio album East Side Story, with Carrack as vocalist on the song "Tempted", their biggest US hit at the time. However, by 1982, Carrack had left the band and was replaced by keyboardist Don Snow.
Beginning in late 1981, Carrack joined Nick Lowe in a band that featured Lowe, Carrack, Martin Belmont on guitar, James Eller on bass guitar and Bobby Irwin on drums. This band, referred to as Noise to Go, existed to back both Carrack on his solo recordings, and Lowe on his, similar to the arrangement Lowe had with Dave Edmunds and Rockpile in the late 1970s. Noise to Go also backed Lowe's wife Carlene Carter on her 1981 studio album Blue Nun.
After Carrack's 1982 solo studio album Suburban Voodoo, Eller left Noise to Go, and Lowe took over bass guitar duties within the band. The band was rechristened Nick Lowe and His Cowboy Outfit, and recorded two studio albums from 1983 to 1985, with Lowe as lead vocalist. The band also backed John Hiatt on side two of Hiatt's 1983 studio album Riding with the King.
During this era, Carrack also worked as a session musician for the Smiths and the Pretenders.
Nick Lowe and His Cowboy Outfit broke up in 1985, and Carrack was contacted by Mike Rutherford of Genesis who asked him to join Rutherford's new side project, Mike + The Mechanics. Initially, Carrack and Paul Young alternated as lead vocalists for the band. Carrack sang lead on their 1985 hit "Silent Running (On Dangerous Ground)". This led to further mainstream popularity and acclaim, with Phil Collins describing Carrack as an "incredible voice" who "could sing the telephone directory".