Three by Paul Carrack

As I continue our look at Paul Carrack, today I’m featuring three songs by our feature artist across his career.

Squeeze: Tempted

Paul Carrack joined Squeeze in 1981 replacing Jools Holland on keyboards. While the song failed to chart on any nation’s top 40 charts, it is regarded as one of the band’s best known recordings. It was the second single from their LP “East Side Story.” The song peaked at #41 in the U.K., at #45 in Canada, and at #49 in the U.S.

Despite the low chart success, “Tempted” was a frequent played video on MTV during 1981. Carrack handles lead vocals and can be seen in the video playing a Sequential Circuits Prophet 5 polyphonic synthesizer. Carrack left the band after his only LP appearance on “East Side Story.”

Mike + the Mechanics: The Living Years

This is the highest charting song that features Paul Carrack’s vocals. It was a song written by Mike Rutherford and Scottish composer B.A. Robertson about the deaths of their respective fathers. Carrack, who lost his own father at age 11, was a natural to sing lead on this emotional song. Although Mike + the Mechanics was Genesis’ guitarist Mike Rutherford’s side project, the band achieved three top 10 U.S. singles: “Silent Running” at 6, “All I Need is a Miracle” at 5, and “The Living Years” at #1.

Don’t Shed A Tear

Carrack’s highest charting solo single in the U.S. was his 1987 release of “Don’t Shed a Tear.” While the song only peaked at #60 in the UK, it failed to deliver high chart numbers anywhere in the world with the exception of the States where it landed at the #9 position in February 1988.