Paul Hardcastle re-releases 19
25 years ago, we were getting all excited about a song in the charts called “19” by Paul Hardcastle. For us it was a rebellious bit of pop, with a strong anti-war message. We lapped it up. Musically, it got lambasted by many, saying it had set the art of sampling back by 20 years. It had taken this relatively new form of sound design and turned it into a cheap novelty. “19” spurred a thousand record producers into a fit of mimicry and sold tens of thousands of pro and toy samplers. The ability to use sampling to create weird and new sounds never heard before was left to a scant few.
And now we’re in 2010, and after seeing another documentary on the war in Afghanistan, Paul felt it time to revisit his one major solo hit and adapt it for these times.
I try not to do politics on this blog, so I will look at this from a purely musical perspective. It’s hard not to compare this to the original. The beats are different, the tempo more subdued, but the samples are there, along with some new ones. The video is in a similar vein and it really doesn’t push any boundaries musically. I’m pretty nonplussed about it, to be perfectly honest. I’m sure the proceeds will go to some charity linked to veterans of the war and that can only be good.
Judge for yourself.
And here’s the original from 1985….
Paul, I’m a lover not a fighter.
This new remix just sucks badly. I think it just… killed the old song. I’ll remember never to play it again. Don’t take me wrong – I love Massive Attack and their first album. You did a groove here which sounds a bit familiar with one of the tracks there. But it just doesn’t cut. The entire chorus of the original, wonderful and classic “19” is completely lost. It sounds like a remix from someone who doesn’t understand the song at all. I’m sorry. This was among the worst remixes I’ve ever heard. I’m really sorry and I thought it’d be cool but it wasn’t. Thums down for this version.
Sad to say the two other mixes were crap as well. Utter crap. It sounds like something from 1993 that I’d rather forget about right away. This is a message to others who want to put new life into old classic tunes. Stay away. Don’t do it. Unless it gets really good. For that – call a remixer to do it.