Paul Wickens

Paul Wickens

Paul "Wix" Wickens at RDS Arena in Dublin, Ireland; 10 July 2010.
Background information
Born (1956-03-27) 27 March 1956
Brentwood, Essex, England
Occupation(s) Composer, singer-songwriter, musician, score composer, music producer
Instruments Vocals, keyboards, organ, piano, Mellotron, synthesizer, accordion, guitar, bass guitar, drums, percussion, harmonica, kazoo
Years active 1973–present
Associated acts

Paul "Wix" Wickens (born 27 March 1956) is a British musician, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and composer from Essex, United Kingdom. Wickens has worked with musicians such as Paul McCartney, Nik Kershaw, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Bon Jovi and many other artists. Wickens has been a member of McCartney's touring band since 1989.[1]

Career

In the early 1980s Wickens was a member of Palmer Industries, a group that issued two singles distributed by Stiff Records, "Mumbo Jumbo" and "Identify."

Wickens began touring with Paul McCartney in 1989. As of then, he has appeared on many of McCartney's albums and DVDs, and has become the musical director for many of McCartney's tours. He continues to tour with McCartney (as his keyboardist, occasional guitarist and backing vocalist), and of the four musicians in McCartney's touring band, he has worked with McCartney the longest by a considerable margin.

Wickens recorded on albums by Tommy Shaw of the American rock group Styx, The Damned, Tim Finn, Paul Carrack, Nik Kershaw, Jim Diamond, Boy George, and David Gilmour, and was the co-producer of the first Savage Progress album. He also was the keyboardist and programmer for Edie Brickell & New Bohemians album, Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars – which was where he first met Chris Whitten. Paul was also instrumental in making the BANDAGED album the success it was, in aid of BBC Children in Need.

He attended Brentwood School, Essex where he became a friend of fellow student, the writer Douglas Adams, and performed at his memorial service in 2001. Wickens composed the music for the sequel radio productions of Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, originally broadcast in 2003–2004.

Wickens recorded a version of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit", and has also been known for The The's minor UK hit, "This is the day", from their album Soul Mining.

Selected discography

Music producer

Year Album Artist
1986 Desire For Freedom Jim Diamond
1992 Sleeping Satellite Tasmin Archer
1992 Great Expectations Tasmin Archer
1993 In Your Care Tasmin Archer
1996 Big White Room Melanie Garside
1996 She Knows Melanie Garside

Performer

Year Album Artist
1978 Dynamite Daze Kevin Coyne
1978 Millionaires and Teddy Bears Kevin Coyne
1979 Babble Kevin Coyne And Dagmar Krause
1983 All I See Is You Eddie & Sunshine
1983 Do What You Wanna Do / Movin' On Chris Thompson
1983 Perfect Strangers Eddie & Sunshine
1983 The Golden Section John Foxx
1983 Human Racing Nik Kershaw
1984 Un autre monde Téléphone
1984 The Riddle Nik Kershaw
1985 In Mysterious Ways John Foxx
1986 Hi Ho Silver Jim Diamond
1986 Radio Musicola Nik Kershaw
1987 Blue Slipper Helen Watson
1987 American English Wax
1987 To Be Reborn Boy George
1988 Ain't Complaining Status Quo
1988 What Up, Dog? Was (Not Was)
1988 From Langley Park to Memphis Prefab Sprout
1989 One Good Reason Paul Carrack
1989 Gatecrashing Living in a Box
1989 The Works Nik Kershaw
1989 Flowers in the Dirt Paul McCartney
1990 Other Voices Paul Young
1990 Tripping the Live Fantastic Paul McCartney
1991 A Contraluz La Vela Puerca
1991 Places I Have Never Been Willie Nile
1993 Off the Ground Paul McCartney
1993 Paul Is Live Paul McCartney
1996 Big White Room Melanie Garside
1996 Desire For Freedom Jim Diamond
1997 So Help Me Girl Gary Barlow
2002 Back in the US/Back in the World Paul McCartney
2003 Seven Years - Ten Weeks David Sneddon
2007 Memory Almost Full Paul McCartney
2009 Good Evening New York City Paul McCartney
2013 New Paul McCartney

References

  1. Canhoto, Bela, Interview With Paul "Wix" Wickens, retrieved 19 January 2009

External links


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