Edinburgh-born singer, bassist and guitarist David Paton has played on countless great records throughout his career. First striking gold as the voice and writer of Pilot’s 70s power-pop smashes Magic and January, he went on to work with The Alan Parsons Project, Kate Bush, Camel, Rick Wakeman, Fish, The Pretenders and more. Paton has played Scalextric with Paul McCartney, performed at Live Aid with Elton John, and once politely declined to join a surgeon in an impromptu rendition of Magic while having a tiny camera inserted into his urethra. Now 73, but still remarkably well-preserved, he’s just written his star-studded autobiography Magic: The David Paton Story.
Why publish your memoir now?
I found myself relating stories about my career at dinner parties and friends and family said, “Why don’t you put them in a book?” I started 20 years ago and eventually got up to 60,000 words.
Pilot songs January and Magic never seem to get old. Are they the gift that keeps on giving?
Even now, Magic still gets used for so many things. In the US the manufacturers of the drug Ozempic have been using it to spearhead their campaign since 2018. It’s a diabetes drug, but one of the sideeffects is weight loss, so the Kardashians are [allegedly] using it!
You made nine albums with The Alan Parsons Project…
Eye In The Sky was probably the pinnacle. Everybody was really focused and after that we seemed to wane a bit because Eric [Woolfson, APP pianist] wasn’t writing songs of the same quality. He had a fall out with [record industry bigwig] Clive Davis and that was reflected in his writing. A few of the songs had a dig at Clive and I found it petty.
Which of the songs that you sang with APP is your favourite?
Maybe Children Of The Moon. It was very difficult to sing, and in those days you couldn’t tweak it after the event. You had to do it until it was perfectly in tune and perfectly in time, but Alan was brilliant to work with on vocals – he made you a perfectionist.
Your book expresses disappointment that the 1993 to 2013era concerts by The Alan Parsons Live Project didn’t involve any original members other than Alan…
Yes, because that cheats the public. They think they’re going to hear The Alan Parsons Project, but they’re actually seeing Alan miming to a piano part. Alan’s not an accomplished singer, and his musicianship is not accomplished either. The Project was Eric, Ian Bairnson [guitar], Stuart Elliott [drums] and myself, and Eric is no longer with us. We created that sound and it can’t be recreated without us. But Alan would dispute that, of course.
What were your thoughts when you first met Kate Bush at Air Studios in 1977 to begin work on The Kick Inside?
I’d already worked with a lot of good songwriters, but Kate was brilliantly talented and we all saw it immediately. She was an English rose, an angel… totally fantastic in every way.
Your bass part on Them Heavy People is wonderful.
Thanks. If the song is great, you get inspired. I loved the reggae feel so to have a chance to express myself like that was a thrill.
Were you pleased to see Kate top the charts again recently?
Absolutely. I wasn’t involved in Running Up The Hill, but it’s something I could listen to over and over and it was great to see a younger audience grasp the importance of what she does. After playing on The Kick Inside and Lionheart I watched Kate...
Why publish your memoir now?
I found myself relating stories about my career at dinner parties and friends and family said, “Why don’t you put them in a book?” I started 20 years ago and eventually got up to 60,000 words.
Pilot songs January and Magic never seem to get old. Are they the gift that keeps on giving?
Even now, Magic still gets used for so many things. In the US the manufacturers of the drug Ozempic have been using it to spearhead their campaign since 2018. It’s a diabetes drug, but one of the sideeffects is weight loss, so the Kardashians are [allegedly] using it!
You made nine albums with The Alan Parsons Project…
Eye In The Sky was probably the pinnacle. Everybody was really focused and after that we seemed to wane a bit because Eric [Woolfson, APP pianist] wasn’t writing songs of the same quality. He had a fall out with [record industry bigwig] Clive Davis and that was reflected in his writing. A few of the songs had a dig at Clive and I found it petty.
Which of the songs that you sang with APP is your favourite?
Maybe Children Of The Moon. It was very difficult to sing, and in those days you couldn’t tweak it after the event. You had to do it until it was perfectly in tune and perfectly in time, but Alan was brilliant to work with on vocals – he made you a perfectionist.
Your book expresses disappointment that the 1993 to 2013era concerts by The Alan Parsons Live Project didn’t involve any original members other than Alan…
Yes, because that cheats the public. They think they’re going to hear The Alan Parsons Project, but they’re actually seeing Alan miming to a piano part. Alan’s not an accomplished singer, and his musicianship is not accomplished either. The Project was Eric, Ian Bairnson [guitar], Stuart Elliott [drums] and myself, and Eric is no longer with us. We created that sound and it can’t be recreated without us. But Alan would dispute that, of course.
What were your thoughts when you first met Kate Bush at Air Studios in 1977 to begin work on The Kick Inside?
I’d already worked with a lot of good songwriters, but Kate was brilliantly talented and we all saw it immediately. She was an English rose, an angel… totally fantastic in every way.
Your bass part on Them Heavy People is wonderful.
Thanks. If the song is great, you get inspired. I loved the reggae feel so to have a chance to express myself like that was a thrill.
Were you pleased to see Kate top the charts again recently?
Absolutely. I wasn’t involved in Running Up The Hill, but it’s something I could listen to over and over and it was great to see a younger audience grasp the importance of what she does. After playing on The Kick Inside and Lionheart I watched Kate...
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