Paul Carrack – I Need You

You know, some singers’ voices are made for great soul/pop, and Paul has one of those voices. I’ve just rediscovered this song that I have been trying to remember for years. When I heard that bass intro, I knew I hit the right one. This is the one that I have been trying to remember since the 1980s.

Paul Carrack is one of those musicians whose career reveals a series of classic moments in pop and rock history. How Long with Ace. Tempted with Squeeze. The Living Years with Mike + the Mechanics. And in between all that, he made a great power-pop-soul album of the early ’80s: Suburban Voodoo. One reviewer called it “a Nick Lowe album with Carrack singing,” and that is not a bad thing! He and Paul Rodgers get the call when an artist needs a special vocalist.

This song is from that album. Carrack hits the pop-soul sweet spot. It was produced by Nick Lowe; it has that Nick Lowe tight rhythm section, jangly guitars, and Lowe’s knack for making a record sound both edgy and polished. Carrack, for his part, gives a vocal performance that makes you wonder why the song wasn’t all over the charts in the early ’80s. It was written by Paul Carrack, Nick Lowe, and Martin Belmont.

The music was supplied by Nick Lowe and his Cowboy Outfit. It included Lowe on bass, Martin Belmont on guitar, Bobby Irwin on drums, and of course, Paul Carrack on keyboards and lead vocals. The contrast on this album works well. You have Nick Lowe still bringing a little pub rock influence along, backed with Carrack’s smooth voice.

The song peaked at #37 on the Billboard 100 and #20 on the US Rock Mainstream Charts. The album peaked at #78 on the Billboard Album Charts in 1982.

I Need You

Don’t need a RollerOr a LimousineI don’t need my pictureIn a magazineDon’t need approvalFrom a chosen fewI tell you what I do needI need you.

Don’t need no fixturesOr feelings of homeI’m so unfurnishedI’m on my ownDon’t need remindingWhen the rent is dueTell you what I do needI need you

I need youLike a fly needs a planeI need youLike a ball needs a gameI need youLike a pool needs a cueI need you, need you, need youI need you

I don’t need no covered kissesTo comfort meI don’t want no washed up dishesSoft-soaping meDon’t need no CinderellaIn high-heeled shoesI tell you what I do needI need you

Da da da daDa da da daDa da da da da da da daOoh lala la laI need you

I need youLike a fly needs a planeI need youLike a ball needs a gameI need youLike a shot needs to shootI need you, need you, need youI need you

I need you, need you, need youI need you

Said I want youI need youI need you, need you, need youI need youWell I wantI want youI need you

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

42 thoughts on “Paul Carrack – I Need You”

  1. Pingback: Paul Carrack – I Need You – MobsterTiger

  3. Great song Max and I am glad you rediscovered it! Paul has a rare voice and is a go to guy as you said. I am a long time fan and actually attended the launch party for his follow up album in 1987. This band was like Nick Lowe’s Rockpile 2.0 and they played on two of his albums as well. Awesome stuff!

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    1. Thanks Randy I really appreciate it.
      That is so cool you attended the launch party! I’ve never researched it but was Paul in Squeeze as a member or did he just guest with them? I thought they fit each other so well.

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      1. You’re welcome Max. Paul was really a voice and I guess keyboard player for hire with the Squeeze. So I agree with you, it was a guest appearance. Whereas Mike + Mechanics he was a band member.

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  6. Didn’t think I knew this one but a little ways in it did sound a bit familiar. Pretty much everything he touches turns out quite good. He was with Roxy Music briefly (though not lead vocalist) so part of 5 acts with pretty good hits with Ace, M& Mechanics, Squeeze and his solo stuff. Impressive

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    1. I didn’t know about the Roxy Music! He can be a gun for hire so to speak…he is that good. His voice is about as smooth as you can get. I thought you might have posted this one before but I searched.

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  7. On top of all his other musical gifts, Nick can play that bass. I figured that would be a hook for you. Then comes the rest of a great tune with Paul putting the topper on it. Nothing pushed just smoot nand beautiful. Paul is another hidden musical gem. Good stuff Max. The song sounds good tis morning.

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    1. Nick and him went together well. I do appreciate it…when I heard this one…it was relief…this was the song I’ve been trying to remember. The entire album is a great pop record. I was talking to Ron…and he bought this album as well…and loved it.
      He was almost like a gun for hire… I don’t mean that in a bad way either…if you needed a great voice you called Paul just like people calling a great guitar player for a part.

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      1. Agreed on Nick and him. I watched a clip of Claptons band from a recent tour and Paul was his keyboardist so he had the chops there too.
        I’m a big Squeeze fan so when he turned up with them it was a cool surprise. ‘Tempted’ is such a great song. 3 distinct voices.

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      2. I’m a huge fan of Squeeze as well. There was a lot of talent in that band. I had East Side Story and loved it. I never knew that about Carrack’s keyboard playing…that is saying something.

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  8. I’ve known about Paul Carrack since the ’80s and have always loved “How Long”, “Tempted” and “The Living Years.” And yet I really know next to nothing about his solo catalog. I don’t remember having heard “I Need You.” I like it – quite soulful!

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    1. I remember it from the 80s and have been trying to remember it since! It has a little of the Tempted vibe in it which only makes it better. His voice is pure gold. I like the album as well…you know this is pretty commercial…I don’t get why it didn’t do better.

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  9. Carrack is like a lot of Brit soul singers, a great talent that you;d think would have been, you know, stars…..I remember seeing the Squeeze open for the Kinks on tour, and years later friends I was with couldn’t remember that singer nor the band, maybe the one song….

    I don’t know how some become stars and some not…..I used to be a huge fan of two singers, Gus Harden, and Carolyn Mas, bought everything they did, and thought they’d eventually break through, and just never did

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    1. You saw Squeeze? Man I wish I could have back then.

      I think part of the reason was overhype by magazines like Rolling Stone….The Beatles comparisons..when East Side Story came out it was all of these Beatles comparisons which wasn’t fair. I could see why but I don’t think it helped.
      They had some picture perfect pop songs though.

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      1. ah yes I am that old….it’s funny I got caught in that ‘who was that band’…..it would have been probably I’m going to say 1980 in Vancouver, and I think early this year, along with friends I spent a day trying to remember the name of that band that toured with the Kinks (it would have been the come dancing era tour I think)….they had that sounds, and yeah writers always look for that easy comparison…there’s a band here, the Grapes of Wrath, and I think they apprecated the comparison because of course they learned how to write by listening to the Beatles….it’s unreal how people that’s weren’t alive and maybe were familiar with Wings, go to Lennon and McCartney to learn how to be songwriters…and learned how to harmonize…..I think when people cringe when they’re compared to the great composers, but I don’t think that comparison is wrong….it’d be neat to be able to travel 100s of years from now and just see if their influence will still be felt…

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      2. I do think it will be felt even then. They are the benchmarks I guess for most songwriters.
        I saw the Kinks on their 1983 tour…a band named The White Animals opened up for them. They were a local band here…a punk/pop/rock band. I still list it as the best concert I’ve ever seen probably. Even over The Who, McCartney, and The Stones.

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      3. I have seen the who and the stones (steel wheels tour) man it would be so cool to see McC…I keep thinking in a small club with just him and a guitar, and maybe thinking about it in a Austin City Limits kind of setting…man the stories he could tell.

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      4. Oh I wish I could have seen him in a small setting. I saw him twice but in an arena…I’ve also seen the Who and Stones twice but The Kinks only that one time they came through. They are also the only huge band I saw that was still in the prime, although latter half, of their career with songs on the charts. I would have liked to see the Stones on that tour…they still had Bill Wyman.

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      5. one of the best shows ever was Bob Welch (French Kiss was a hit) and Canadian Jerry Doucette opening (he had a huge hit here with Mama Let Him Play) ..it was a night of guitars. I really didn’t know much about Welch’s history, but I remember things like Miles Away and even For Your Love, I don’t know who else as in his band but was obviously memorable…if I had to pick one band if I could go back in time it would be to see the Peter Green, Danny Kerwin, Jeremy Spencer era Fleetwood Mac….I saw that band so many times with Nicks and Buckingham, and with Bekka Bramlett and Billy Burnett, and back again with….thinking about it though, Jackson Browne, Running on Empty with Dave Lindley opening and then then Browne joining is… I saw Lindley here at our folk fest , so glad I had that chance…..

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      1. Lots of those guns for hire… the first time I realized guns for hire was reading a Rolling Stone article back in 1989 on Bon Jovi and in it it was mentioned that all the members were on salaries and Jon was the boss.
        I was like … so much for the we are a band of equals portrayal to the public. lol…

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