Paul Bevoir

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Paul Bevoir

Background information
Born	May 20, 1960
Origin	London, England
Genre(s)	Power pop
Years active	1979-current
Label(s)	Tangerine Records Dance Network Sanctuary Deltic Records
Website	Official Paul Bevoir Site

Paul Bevoir (born May 20th, 1960 in Islington, London, England), is a pop/rock songwriter and musician. Along with school friend Melvyn J Taub, Bevoir formed the Jetset and the band developed their style under the guidance of former Advertising and Secret Affair drummer Paul Bultitude, gaining valuable live experience as a touring support act to Secret Affair in 1981 and 1982. Through their connection with Bultitude, Bevoir and Taub temporarily joined Mari Wilson's Wilsations as backing vocalists in 1981. Bevoir soon left to focus on his own music, while Melvyn J went on to enjoy chart success with the Wilsations, before returning to work with Bevoir in The Jetset. The band went on to record five albums with producer Paul Bultitude before their acrimonious demise in 1988.

The Jetset were grouped with the British mod-revival of the late-70s – the band replicated '60s pop music - but unlike their fellow neo-mods influenced by The Who, The Small Faces and The Creation, The Jetset were decidedly more attuned to The Beatles and The Monkees. The Beatles influence were most apparent in their fourth album, ‘Vaudeville Park,’ which drew on ‘Sgt. Pepper’ and ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ for production inspiration.

From the beginning The Jetset presented themselves as already every bit as famous as their 60s heroes. The band’s marketing sowed the seeds of Jetset myth before they were even well known. An eye-catching EP sleeve included the band clowning around in stills “from their forthcoming TV series”, hanging out of the Monkee-influenced ‘Jetsetmobile’ (a very English Ford Capri with customised ‘JETSET’ number plates). On the musical side, Bevoir penned a quartet of catchy nuggets including “The Jetset Theme,” billed as an “original soundtrack recording”. With an inspired promotional push, the EP was sent to the press accompanied by wacky merchandise including Jetset posters, badges, stickers, key rings and the highly collectible (of course) Jetset bubblegum cards. Mod fanzines enthusiastically follow suit, helping to stoke the fires of Jetsetmania. Soon a suitably barmy Jetset cartoon strip appeared in Shadows & Reflections, the underground magazine of long-time Jetset champion Chris Hunt. The group even released their own Christmas flexi disc through Shadows & Reflections in December 2003. ^[1]

All of The Jetset's material was released on record label the Dance Network, a company jointly run by Bevoir and producer Paul Bultitude. During his tenure with The Jetset, Bevoir found time produce other acts, working alongside Edward Ball to produce The Moment's debut album, The Work Gets Done (Rave, 1985). He also found the time to write and record his own critically acclaimed solo debut LP 'The Happiest Days Of Your Life', which was first released in 1985. Just prior to his debut album, Paul wrote and performed the song “It's Gotta Stop Somewhere”, which was included on two LPs on the highly fashionable Compact Organization record label. When The Jetset went “off the air” in 1988, Bevoir formed a new group Smalltown Parade, releasing three singles in the UK and two albums, which were released in Japan only. The first UK single "Sunday Way Of Life" was released on Captain Sensible's Deltic Records.

In 1992, together with music journalist Chris Hunt and marketing executive John Ashworth, Bevoir formed Tangerine Records. The label specialised in reissuing on CD collectable vinyl recordings, focusing on the mod, psychedelic, power pop and bubblegum pop genres. Much of Bevoir's back catalogue saw its first CD release on this label.

Bevoir’s second solo album of entirely original material, ‘Dumb Angel’, was released in March 1994 on Tangerine Records in the UK and Polystar Records in Japan. After the success of his song “Tadaima”, recorded by the Japanese duo Puffy in 1997, Paul began work on his next solo album 'In Days Of Wonder', but this remains a work in progress.

With his own solo career on pause, Paul Bevoir found time to contribute to the 2005 debut album by Rinaldi Sings, the vehicle for singer/songwriter Steve Rinaldi, who had previously featured on the final Jetset album, Five. Bevoir co-wrote one song with Steve Rinaldi for the album and co-wrote two additional tracks released as b-sides. Rinaldi Sings also recorded the Bevoir composition "Matilda Flies", but this remains unissued.

Bevoir's songs have been recorded by many other artists, including Edward Ball, Mari Wilson, The Candees, Sarah Brookes, Thereze Bazaar and Roy Hamilton. In 1985 "Time Machine", a song that Bevoir had written for the band of an old friend, was released twice in the UK by Paul Hardcastle, under the band names Direct Drive and First Light. The song was credited to Paul Bevoir and Paul Hardcastle.

In addition to his writing and performing credits, Bevoir is a respected CD sleeve designer, having provided the artwork for compact discs for scores of releases, including those by Yes, Ronnie Lane, The Kinks, Family, Lindisfarne, Jeff Beck, The Nazz and Fleetwood Mac. He had gained his experience designing the covers for all of the original Jetset albums.