Paradise - Superb UK Soul Act 1977 - 1984

[Guest]

Barring their success in 1983, Paradise were a band that went largely under the radar. Their LP from that year, their third, was quite a regular find for me in the 90's, however I still don't own a copy of their first LP and must confess that it was only since the arrival of Discogs that I even found out it existed. I finally found a copy of their second LP World's Midnight in the late 90's through swapping it with another collector friend as I recall.

Thanks to this very informative article https://www.crossrhythms.co.uk/articles/music/Paradise_Britains_gospel_funk_pioneers_of_the_1980s_now_on_CD/40662/p1/ I have finally established why their first two LP's have been nigh on impossible to find. Both were only distributed to, and available from, christian book shops! The record label, Ebony/Pilgrim, didn't have a deal with a distributor to supply record shops and were based in the highly unlikely location of Basingstoke! The premises would appear to have been demolished to make way for alterations to the roads at this junction: 

https://www.google.com/maps/place/3+Beggarwood+Ln,+Basingstoke+RG22+5UD/@51.2331314,-1.1438461,3a,75y,134.5h,85.41t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s1nakiMnpEJyTXvN6O0gVfg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!4m5!3m4!1s0x48741896ec83c66f:0x4b7399f714e0db28!8m2!3d51.2330769!4d-1.1441051 

The two LP's I have, have minimal gospel content. I've played the World's Midnight LP from 1982, 3 times in full over the weekend, it's superb. The midtempo track "I'm Going Away" has had in excess of 10 spins, right in the Earth Wind & Fire pocket. 

The "Love Is The Answer LP" from 1983 is also superb. From this LP 4 of the tracks appear on 12" singles. I will clarify issues regarding two of those:

On the LP, "Just Can't Stop" is 126.8 BPM and a very different version to that which appears on the flipside of the "Love Is The Answer" 12". The version here is 126.0 BPM and has a much smoother feel with some of the instrumentation on the LP version removed, which is noticeable from the start.

As for the track "With You," this is 117.1 BPM on the LP but 116.2 on the 12", however it's simply been slowed down slightly. 

"Back Together" on the flipside of "One Mind Two Hearts," does not appear on the LP and is a must have.

Does anyone have any further info they can share that doesn't appear in the article in the link or on Discogs? Look froward to hearing your comments on this so underrated group that never achieved what they should have. Enjoy:

 

This I confirm is the version on the 12" flipside

 

 

 

Edited December 16, 2018 by Guest