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New hit single for Billy PaulAs the end of 1973 approached, there were those small handful of hardnose, steely eyed profess ion a I cynics, whose duty, at least as they saw it, was to make the cold judgements. and handle the hard duty of handing out the annual “Flash In The Pan Award.” And one person who they had reserved at least an honorable mention was singer Billy Paul. Pauldeserved special attention,it was felt, because suddenly. without warning or fanfare, he produced one of the top ten best selling records of the year, “Me And Mrs. Jones.” -And being non-believers,as cynics normally are,they looked somewhat*askaneed at this phenomenal success story.And Paul, being the artist that he is, just wentabout his work, ignoring the harpies.All in all, this seems to have paid off for Billy. For now he has a new album out called. War Of .The Gods” and a single entitled. “Thanks For Saving My Life,” both of which are already climbing high up on the charts.“Thanks For Saving My Life,” said Paul, silting in the Hollywood office of his press agent, “was first released in England as a single and in less than a month it has become a top record there.”Paul indicated that he and two other of the Philadelphia International Records acts, The O’Jays and the Intruders, have just recentl\ arrived back inIkthis country from a 20 day tour of Eurone.“1 first performed tunes from the new LP, and the single, “Thanks,” in Boston prior to the European tour. But the real excitement was to see all the audiences throughout Europe already familiar with the single In fact, the tune is a best selling record there.”Paul smiled. It was almost as if he had theharpies in mind He wasasked how he thought that the single would do in theU.S.?“I feel that the tune will do very well It has a ja/z feeling that comes from the forties. And the single is dedicated to my wife and it holds true feelings from me to her.”In regard to the critics,Paul's answer was short and to the point.“I'm not trying to compete with the success of Mrs. Jones,” he said, the smile fading somewhat, “I'm just trying to make good music.”Billy said that he is in the process of forming a three woman backup group to travel with him on larger engagements. In addition, he is looking for a new home in the prestigiousarea of Bel Air. California.So, with the new hit record, “Thanks ForSaving My Life,” and the foreign tours (including an upcoming one to Brazil), concert dates and mini e r o us forthcoming television appearances it looks as if the professional cynics will have to put back into their well worn bag. whatever it was that they were so ready to give to Billy Paul This man is noflash in the uan!
Newspaper Details
Chicago South End Review
Chicago, Illinois, US
Thu, Jan 17, 1974
Page 10
Full Page
Clipped by
Sharalynn H.
USA 02 May 2018
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