Born in Kensington in London on 10 December 1957,[4] Hardcastle is the son of Joyce (née Everett, 1930–1991) and Louis Hardcastle (1915–2000).[1]
Career
Hardcastle began his career in 1981 when he became the keyboard player for British soul band Direct Drive.[3][2] In 1982, Hardcastle and lead vocalist Derek Green left the band to form a duo under the name First Light. They achieved some minor success in the UK charts, but the project was abandoned after two years and Hardcastle pursued a solo career.[3]
Hardcastle is best known for the 1985 single "19", which went to No. 1 in the UK (for five weeks),[10] as well as several other countries worldwide. It also reached number 15 in the U.S. Pop chart and number 1 in the U.S. Dance charts. The song received the Ivor Novello Award for Best-selling single of 1985.[11] The follow-up single to "19" was "Just for Money", which reached No. 19 in the UK. It also charted in several other European countries.[5]
In 1986, Hardcastle released a remix to "One Wish" by Hiroshima.[12] In the same year, Hardcastle's "The Wizard" was adopted as the theme tune for the BBC'sTop of the Pops weekly chart show. The theme tune was used from 3 April 1986 to 26 September 1991.
The song "Don't Waste My Time" became Hardcastle's second UK top ten in March 1986.[5] It featured singer Carol Kenyon, a backing vocalist of Heaven 17. In late 1986, Hardcastle collaborated with the supergroup Disco Aid (later rebranded as Dance Aid in 1987) co-producing the charity single "Give Give Give".[13]
In 1989, Hardcastle resumed working on First Light, collaborating with vocalist Kevin Henry, whom he had worked with on previous recordings.[14]
Using his alias Deff Boyz,[2] Hardcastle released the single Swing in 1990. It reached number 84 on the UK charts,[15] number 27 in Germany,[16] and number 18 in the US Dance charts.[17]
Since the 1990s, Hardcastle has recorded several synth jazz albums, alternating releases under the pseudonyms Kiss the Sky (with Jaki Graham) and the Jazzmasters, as well as under his real name.[3]
Personal life
Hardcastle married Dolores Baker in 1985,[18] and they have three children including British DJ and singer Maxine as well as musician Paul Hardcastle Jr. who both contributed vocals to Hardcastle's Transcontinental, a 2011 collection of new music recorded with Ryan Farish.
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.
Unreleased promotional tracks
This is a list of several unreleased tracks that were made by Paul Hardcastle that were originally intended to have been used to promote the LegoBionicle toyline in 2001.
These tracks were originally meant to have been included with the Bionicle Power Pack CD package that was later released in the same year.
Killing Machines (also known as the original full version of The Bionicle Music track that was cut following the final release of the CD & later uses in commercials for the toyline)
2001
Extreme Global Hardcore
Warner Chappell Music (division of Warner Music Group)
^McAleer, Dave; Gregory, Andy; White, Matthew (15 November 2010). The Virgin Book of British Hit Singles, Volume 2. Random House. p. 210. ISBN9780753522455.
