On Paul Young’s last visit to Dublin, he performed after a full day of horse racing at Leopardstown – and his duties entailed more than just reeling off his string of 80s hits like ‘Wherever I Lay My Hat (That’s My Home)’ and ‘Love Of The Common People’.
“I had to give the winner's prizes away” he laughs. “That was quite unusual.”
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Where does that rank among the most surreal experiences during your career? “Well, the minute I'm the support to the puppet show I think it's time to give up,” he says. “I did really enjoy it, I like being around horses. I caught the tail-end of the racing and we put a few bets on.”
Young laments his lack of winners by exclaiming, “I've never won anything in my life!” – but that’s not strictly true. The 63-year-old picked up his fair share of awards during his mid-80s heyday – including huge sales for his 1983 debut album No Parlez, two more UK number one albums and three Brit Awards.
Over three decades on, Young is on his way back to Dublin to play No Parlez in full at a sold-out Olympia. The singer says that he’s relishing the nostalgia trip and the fact that the album is still proving people wrong.
“It's actually quite therapeutic,” he says. “The record company didn't have a lot of faith in it at the time – after 'Wherever I Lay My Hat' went to number one, the A&R guy that signed me said, 'Hurry up and get the album out, and with a bit of luck it might go silver'.
“Well, it's probably quintuple platinum by now – unlike what Wikipedia says!”
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It must be gratifying, too, that although Young’s rate of recording and touring slowed down dramatically after the early 1990s, his core fanbase has stuck with him. “The reaction is fantastic,” he says.
“Somebody on Twitter hashtagged them #cougarmoshpit – he'd come to the show and there were so many women down the front, that had obviously been to the bar, and they were determined to have a good time.
“Sometimes I say, 'Okay, you've grown up now, all your kids have left the nest and now it's time to party!’.”
The 63-year-old seems to be comfortable with heart-throb status now, but that wasn’t always the case. Having been a gigging musician for years before hitting the big-time, he never expected hordes of screaming girls.
“It was quite scary,” he recalls, “I said to my manager – I don't understand it, I haven't done anything any different. All the stage moves are the same but they're going absolutely apesh*t now’.
Three decades on, many of those fans are still with him – though perhaps a little calmer these days: “What's nice is that so many fans seem to have gone with me on these little musical journeys on each album where I try to change and make a difference from what I did before,” he says. “And the fact that they're still around... that’s great.”
Paul Young's gig at the Olympia on May 22nd has sold out. More info here.
