I’ve had a varied professional life, but at the centre of most of it has been music. Before I left school, I had started writing songs and had formed a band. Later I performed solo with just an acoustic guitar. Then I got a job at Music Week, the industry trade magazine which gave me access to every record company in London. Later I was snatched away by Dan Loggins, Kenny’s brother, to work in a&r at CBS Records (now Sony BMG). After that, heading for my late 20s, I realised if I wanted to make records, I’d better get on with it. I got a deal and released my first single in November 1978, two months shy of my 30th birthday. My birthday present in January 1979 was to be hovering outside the top 30. When the first chart of 1979 was published – in Music Week, of course – I was in the top 20. Life, you would think, couldn’t get much better. But, in fact, it did. Later I had success as a magazine publisher and found that just as exciting, and much longer-lived. Now I’m back to music, after a nearly 30-year break, and loving the freedom of not worrying about charts, and of having the world of recording at my fingertips, on my desk, in my spare room. Oh, technology! How do I love thee….
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DRIVER 67 
loving your music great…can’t get enough of “more like that”fantastic
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Wow, thank you Malcolm. That’s warmed my cockles!
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Hi Paul. Recently downloaded your album from the play store, and its great… I’ve just discovered “The Secret”. What a fabulous song, why didn’t this become a million seller I’ll never know… I’m a 70s born 80’s child, and Car 67 moulded me into who I am today along with Boney M and the like. Headlights was discovered much later in 2009, and copies of that, Car 67 and Going my way ( on the logo label ) all reside on my display of childhood memorabilia. I can’t find ‘The Secret’ though, is this available on vinyl? I tried to play music, I’m just not a musician simple as! Even some real professional kit didn’t help me on that venture. You’ve either got it or you haven’t, and sometimes not everyone appreciates it… So I’m Still stuck in a pretty grim job but making sure I always have the things I always wanted! After appreciating your music for years, it was good to see this blog appear…. That’s how I discovered the Driver 67 catalogue of tracks unheard by myself, and its always a ‘hair standing up on the back of your neck’ feeling when you’ve appreciated something for so long and you hear stuff that did exist, but you never knew about.
Keep up the good work buddy, and don’t let life grind you down…!
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Paul, I’m afraid your memory is playing tricks on you. Your record was at number 40 on the 1st chart published in 1979, and then went 27-10-11-7-9-10-21 before dropping out of Top 40 at the end of February.
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Lee, I thought I’d replied to you, but obviously didn’t. Thank you for your kind wordsl The Secret may be available on vinyl from discogs or similar. Really pleased, obviously, to hear that the other songs made their mark with your also.
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Richard, part of the fun of this blog is testing my memory, and seeing if people either know better, or remember better. So thanks for updating the chart thing. All I remember – apart from making the top 10 – is dropping down the chart in the week I’d had 120,000 orders. That’s when I knew I was with the wrong record company!
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