While serving an apprenticeship at a Vauxhall car factory, Paul Young played in two local bands before joining a London group called Streetband (with John Gifford, Mick Pearl and Vince Chaulk).
The band released two albums and a single (Toast) before splitting, with Young taking Gifford and Pearl on to form the eight-piece Q-Tips, devoted to performing 60s-style R&B, led by his natural blue-eyed soul voice.
In 1980, after gaining a strong following as a live band, The Q-Tips opened for US band The Knack at London’s Dominion Theatre and released a version of the old Joe Tex song SYSLJFM (The Letter Song) as a single.
Their self-titled debut album charted for just a week at #50. This was to be the band’s only chart appearance, despite a swag of brilliant cover versions on the album, including Tears Of A Clown, Some Kind Of Wonderful and Tracks Of My Tears,
Finally, after playing over 700 gigs in two years, the band called it a day and following the release of the band’s Live At Last album, Young signed a solo deal with CBS Records and went on to huge success.
Young briefly teamed up again with the Q-Tips for a reunion tour in 1993
Paul Young Vocals Barry Watts Drums Garth Watt-Roy Guitar Mick Pearl Bass John Gifford Guitar Ian Kewley Keyboards Tony Hughes Trumpet, trombone Steve Farr Saxophone Nick Payne Saxophone, flute Dave Lathwell
Guitar Richard Blanchard Saxophone Stuart Van Blandamer Saxophone
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