Post by roxy on Jun 3, 2009 12:42:21 GMT
Roxy Music's Paul Thompson
Feb 6 2009 by Zoe Burn, Evening Chronicle
In the 70s, he was the drummer with one of the UK’s biggest bands. Thirty years on he’s back in his native Newcastle and still making music. Former Roxy Music star Paul Thompson chats to ZOË BURN about fame, Bryan Ferry and being kept off the number one spot by MC Hammer...
WITH his long hair and tight trousers, he certainly looked like a 1970s rock star.
Fans labelled him ‘The Great Paul Thompson’ and as Roxy Music’s original drummer, he wowed audiences across the globe with his skill behind the kit.
“It was always just about the music. I never wanted to be rich or famous, I just wanted to play,” he says with a smile. “It was always what I wanted to do and I got lucky.”
Speaking from his Ponteland home, he’s a world away from what you might expect. He speaks quietly and constantly asks if his story is even interesting. If he has got an ego, he keeps it well hidden.
Perhaps it’s down to his humble beginnings. His family moved from Ponteland to Jarrow when he was six months old and he was drawn to the drums as a pupil at West Simonside infants’ school.
“I remember the music lessons. There were drums, triangles, bells and tambourines. I always wanted to try the drum, but never got picked,” he recalls.
“One day I waited until everyone left the classroom, slung the drum over my shoulder and rattled out a tune – that’s when I knew I could play!”
Bitten by the bug, he set about creating his own kit using a Meccano set, cardboard boxes and biscuit tins. He then honed his skills playing along to The Beatles, Rolling Stones and Tornados.
He says: “The only thing that I hadn’t done was develop enough mechanical skill to make a bass drum pedal so I had to stamp on the floor!
“I used to sometimes go round to see my friend, Bryan Luke, and play on his old kit. He had a bass drum and I learned a lot.”
Paul played with a number of bands through his early teens and got a real kit of his own at 14. He left school at 15 and got a job at Palmer’s shipyard, in Hebburn, as an apprentice metalworker.
Joining a local band called The Urge, fronted by the then unknown John Miles, he worked the clubs and pubs, playing seven nights a week for around £35.
“I was getting home at 3am and had to be up for work at 7am and eventually they fired me for falling asleep on the job.
“I was 17 and used it as the opportunity to become a professional musician. Looking back it was one of the best things that happened.”
Parting company when Miles decided he wanted to go solo, Paul headed to London, got a job on a building site and spotted an advert in Melody Maker which caught his eye.
He remembers: “The ad said ‘wonder drummer wanted for avante rock group’ so I rang the number and a bloke with a posh accent and a slight Geordie twinge answered. It was Bryan Ferry.
“We met up and we got on really well. I think it probably helped that we were both from the north and we both had similar ideas. I auditioned, got the job and I suppose the rest is history.”
It was 1971 and Roxy Music were born. Paul’s skill and dexterity helped underpin the band’s success as they stamped their authority on the Brit music scene.
He remained with the group until 1980 when musical differences saw him part company with Ferry.
“It sounds so naff, but it really was musical differences!” he says. “I wanted to go one way, Bryan and the rest of the band wanted to go another. There was no falling out, no big fights – we just went our separate ways.
“I went off and played with other people including Gary Moore – although he was hard work so I didn’t stay with him long – Jonathon Perkins and Concrete Blonde.
“In many ways, Concrete Blonde was a better time for me. With them I got my first US gold album – something I never achieved with Roxy – and got to number two in the Australian charts.
“We’d have reached number one had it not been for MC Hammer. Can’t Touch This stopped us from hitting the top spot!”
Since then, Paul has continued playing. He worked with Ferry and Roxy Music again in 2001 and then joined Ferry on his Frantic tour of 2003.
His latest project sees him teaming up with fellow Roxy star Andy Mackay and his new band, The Metaphors.
They’re a quirky fusion of rock, classical and soul, performing covers of classics such as Waterloo Sunset and I Love Paris.
“It’s good stuff, something I’ve really enjoyed,” he reveals. “I love playing music and this has been something a bit different. In recent years I’ve filled the house with weird and wonderful instruments.
“I’ve been having lessons on the sax because I’ve got into jazz and I’ve spent 10 years learning about world music.”
It’s a far cry from his Roxy roots.
“You know, I think perhaps I’ve grown out of rock. The more I think about it, I guess I have,” he admits.
He now seems an unlikely music icon.
“I never went into this to make millions or become a star, it was always about the music. I didn’t like the fame much – I remember coming out of filming Top of The Pops in the 70s and girls were shouting and screaming for us.
“I just wanted to hide away. That sort of thing was never me.
“I just want to do what I do and enjoy it. As long as I can play and make enough money to survive, I’ll be happy.”
www.chroniclelive.co.uk/north-ea ... -22871436/
Feb 6 2009 by Zoe Burn, Evening Chronicle
In the 70s, he was the drummer with one of the UK’s biggest bands. Thirty years on he’s back in his native Newcastle and still making music. Former Roxy Music star Paul Thompson chats to ZOË BURN about fame, Bryan Ferry and being kept off the number one spot by MC Hammer...
WITH his long hair and tight trousers, he certainly looked like a 1970s rock star.
Fans labelled him ‘The Great Paul Thompson’ and as Roxy Music’s original drummer, he wowed audiences across the globe with his skill behind the kit.
“It was always just about the music. I never wanted to be rich or famous, I just wanted to play,” he says with a smile. “It was always what I wanted to do and I got lucky.”
Speaking from his Ponteland home, he’s a world away from what you might expect. He speaks quietly and constantly asks if his story is even interesting. If he has got an ego, he keeps it well hidden.
Perhaps it’s down to his humble beginnings. His family moved from Ponteland to Jarrow when he was six months old and he was drawn to the drums as a pupil at West Simonside infants’ school.
“I remember the music lessons. There were drums, triangles, bells and tambourines. I always wanted to try the drum, but never got picked,” he recalls.
“One day I waited until everyone left the classroom, slung the drum over my shoulder and rattled out a tune – that’s when I knew I could play!”
Bitten by the bug, he set about creating his own kit using a Meccano set, cardboard boxes and biscuit tins. He then honed his skills playing along to The Beatles, Rolling Stones and Tornados.
He says: “The only thing that I hadn’t done was develop enough mechanical skill to make a bass drum pedal so I had to stamp on the floor!
“I used to sometimes go round to see my friend, Bryan Luke, and play on his old kit. He had a bass drum and I learned a lot.”
Paul played with a number of bands through his early teens and got a real kit of his own at 14. He left school at 15 and got a job at Palmer’s shipyard, in Hebburn, as an apprentice metalworker.
Joining a local band called The Urge, fronted by the then unknown John Miles, he worked the clubs and pubs, playing seven nights a week for around £35.
“I was getting home at 3am and had to be up for work at 7am and eventually they fired me for falling asleep on the job.
“I was 17 and used it as the opportunity to become a professional musician. Looking back it was one of the best things that happened.”
Parting company when Miles decided he wanted to go solo, Paul headed to London, got a job on a building site and spotted an advert in Melody Maker which caught his eye.
He remembers: “The ad said ‘wonder drummer wanted for avante rock group’ so I rang the number and a bloke with a posh accent and a slight Geordie twinge answered. It was Bryan Ferry.
“We met up and we got on really well. I think it probably helped that we were both from the north and we both had similar ideas. I auditioned, got the job and I suppose the rest is history.”
It was 1971 and Roxy Music were born. Paul’s skill and dexterity helped underpin the band’s success as they stamped their authority on the Brit music scene.
He remained with the group until 1980 when musical differences saw him part company with Ferry.
“It sounds so naff, but it really was musical differences!” he says. “I wanted to go one way, Bryan and the rest of the band wanted to go another. There was no falling out, no big fights – we just went our separate ways.
“I went off and played with other people including Gary Moore – although he was hard work so I didn’t stay with him long – Jonathon Perkins and Concrete Blonde.
“In many ways, Concrete Blonde was a better time for me. With them I got my first US gold album – something I never achieved with Roxy – and got to number two in the Australian charts.
“We’d have reached number one had it not been for MC Hammer. Can’t Touch This stopped us from hitting the top spot!”
Since then, Paul has continued playing. He worked with Ferry and Roxy Music again in 2001 and then joined Ferry on his Frantic tour of 2003.
His latest project sees him teaming up with fellow Roxy star Andy Mackay and his new band, The Metaphors.
They’re a quirky fusion of rock, classical and soul, performing covers of classics such as Waterloo Sunset and I Love Paris.
“It’s good stuff, something I’ve really enjoyed,” he reveals. “I love playing music and this has been something a bit different. In recent years I’ve filled the house with weird and wonderful instruments.
“I’ve been having lessons on the sax because I’ve got into jazz and I’ve spent 10 years learning about world music.”
It’s a far cry from his Roxy roots.
“You know, I think perhaps I’ve grown out of rock. The more I think about it, I guess I have,” he admits.
He now seems an unlikely music icon.
“I never went into this to make millions or become a star, it was always about the music. I didn’t like the fame much – I remember coming out of filming Top of The Pops in the 70s and girls were shouting and screaming for us.
“I just wanted to hide away. That sort of thing was never me.
“I just want to do what I do and enjoy it. As long as I can play and make enough money to survive, I’ll be happy.”
www.chroniclelive.co.uk/north-ea ... -22871436/
