Paul Caplin
Paul Caplin (born 31 December 1954, London) studied as a mathematician at Imperial College, London and Cambridge University.
He began his musical career in his early twenties in New Romantic rock group Animal Magnet, and co-wrote their dance song Welcome to the Monkey House (1981). Animal Magnet supported Duran Duran on their first national tour.[1]
Caplin left Animal Magnet to become the 'secret mastermind'[2] behind the 1980s avant-garde new wave pop project Haysi Fantayzee, the other members being Jeremy Healy and Caplin's then girlfriend, Kate Garner. Their music combined reggae, country and electro with political and sociological lyrics couched as nursery rhymes. Haysi Fantayzee combined an extreme clothes sense — described as blending white Rasta, tribal chieftain and Dickensian styles[3] — with a quirky musical sound comparable to other new wave musical pop acts of the era, such as Bow Wow Wow, Adam and the Ants and Bananarama.[4]
The group disbanded after releasing three hit singles, and an album that went gold.[5] Caplin then launched his own record label, The Love Organization. This had success with Marilyn, an androgynous singer who became popular during the mid-1980s vogue for sexually ambivalent pop stars. Caplin managed Marilyn and co-wrote his hit songs.[6]
Caplin has also been involved in the computer hardware and software industries and in film production. In 1994, he was executive producer of Pavarotti in Confidence with Peter Ustinov for the BBC.
In 2000 Caplin founded software company Caplin Systems Ltd, and served as its chief executive and chairman until 2015. In 2001 he received an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award[7] and the company was featured in the Sunday Times' Tech Track 100 in both 2002 and 2009 as one of the fastest-growing technology firms in Britain.[8][9] In 2015 Caplin Systems was acquired by Ion Capital Management.[10]
Caplin is married to singer Zeeteah Massiah, with whom he writes and produces music.[11] They have released two albums together: Juice (2014) and Maybe Tomorrow (2016).
References
- ↑ "Soul boy makes the money market sing", Tanya Reed, Imperial College Reporter, 23 October 2002
- ↑ Comedy Central
- ↑ "Ad Lib", Peter Holt, Evening Standard, 16 June 1983
- ↑ "Fantayzia", Adrian Thrills, NME, 10 July 1982
- ↑ Cherry Pop Records website
- ↑ Marilyn
- ↑ Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year, 2001: Award Recipients
- ↑ Tech Track 100 - 2002
- ↑ Tech Track 100 - 2009
- ↑ Ion Capital Management acquires Caplin Systems
- ↑ Zeeteah Massiah biography
External links
- Financial Times article about Paul Caplin
- Imperial College article about Paul Caplin
- Caplin Systems company website
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