No Parlez Explained

No Parlez
Type:studio
Artist:Paul Young
Cover:Paul Young-No Parlez (album cover).jpg
Border:yes
Caption:Vinyl edition
Released:22 July 1983[1]
Recorded:1982–1983
Studio:The Workhouse, London
Length:51:04 (LP) 64:32 (CD)
Label:CBS
Producer:Laurie Latham
Next Title:The Secret of Association
Next Year:1985

No Parlez is the debut solo studio album by English singer Paul Young. Released in 1983, it reached number one on the UK Albums Chart (for a non-consecutive total of 5 weeks) and remained in the UK Top 100 for 119 weeks.[2] The album has been certified quadruple platinum by the BPI for UK sales in excess of 1.2 million copies.[3]

Initially, the first two singles, "Iron Out the Rough Spots" and a remake of "Love of the Common People", had no success, but the third, a cover of the Marvin Gaye classic "Wherever I Lay My Hat (That's My Home)", was No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart for three weeks in July and August 1983, and the first of Young's 14 British Top 40 singles. Similar success followed in continental Europe. In the UK, the follow-up single "Come Back and Stay" reached No. 4, and the re-release of "Love of the Common People" made it to No. 2 in late 1983.

The album was released the year after the introduction of CDs with their potential for a longer playing time. The CD edition of No Parlez featured one extra track (Behind Your Smile) not on the vinyl release. Additionally, five of the other 11 tracks were extended versions compared to the vinyl edition.

The album featured eight cover versions alongside two tracks written by Young and keyboard player Ian Kewley and one written by the guitarist in Young's band at the time, Steve Bolton. Three of the cover versions were written by Jack Lee who also wrote "Hanging on the Telephone" which was a big hit for Blondie.

The album was released with a different cover in North America,[4] and a new video for the single "Come Back and Stay" was made.

In 2008, a promotional CD of the album was distributed by the Daily Mail newspaper.

Track listing

Original UK vinyl edition

Side one
  1. "Come Back and Stay" (Jack Lee) – 4:57
  2. "Love Will Tear Us Apart" (Ian Curtis, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris, Bernard Sumner) – 5:00
  3. "Wherever I Lay My Hat (That's My Home)" (Marvin Gaye, Barrett Strong, Norman Whitfield) – 5:18
  4. "Ku Ku Kurama" (Steve Bolton) – 4:19
  5. "No Parlez" (Anthony Moore) – 4:57
Side two
  1. "Love of the Common People" (John Hurley and Ronnie Wilkins) – 4:56
  2. "Oh Women" (Jack Lee) – 3:35
  3. "Iron Out the Rough Spots" (Steve Cropper, Booker T. Jones, David Porter) – 4:47
  4. "Broken Man" (Ian Kewley, Paul Young) – 3:54
  5. "Tender Trap" (Ian Kewley, Paul Young) – 4:32
  6. "Sex" (Jack Lee) – 4:49

Original CD edition

  1. "Come Back and Stay" (Jack Lee) – 7:56 (scratch mix)[5]
  2. "Love Will Tear Us Apart" (Ian Curtis, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris, Bernard Sumner) – 5:00
  3. "Wherever I Lay My Hat (That's My Home)" (Marvin Gaye, Barrett Strong, Norman Whitfield) – 6:01 (extended club mix)
  4. "Ku Ku Kurama" (Steve Bolton) – 4:19
  5. "No Parlez" (Anthony Moore) – 4:57
  6. "Behind Your Smile" (Ian Kewley, Paul Young) – 4:08
  7. "Love of the Common People" (John Hurley, Ronnie Wilkins) – 5:51 (extended club mix)
  8. "Oh Women" (Jack Lee) – 3:35
  9. "Iron Out the Rough Spots" (Steve Cropper, Booker T. Jones, David Porter) – 7:28 (extended club mix)
  10. "Broken Man" (Ian Kewley, Paul Young) – 3:54
  11. "Tender Trap" (Ian Kewley, Paul Young) – 4:32
  12. "Sex" (Jack Lee) – 6:51 (extended club mix)

Production

Personnel

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart performance for No Parlez
Chart (1983–1986)Peak
position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[6] 12
Danish Albums (IFPI)[7] 6
European Albums (IFPI)[8] 4
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[9] 7
Italian Albums (AFI)[10] 1
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[11] 2

Year-end charts

Chart (1983)!scope="col"
Position
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[12] 39
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[13] 68
Japanese Albums (Oricon)64
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[14] 46
UK Albums (OCC)[15] 7
Chart (1984)Position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[16] 23
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[17] 3
Italian Albums (AFI)[18] 2
Japanese Albums (Oricon)15
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[19] 16

2008 re-release

The album was re-released on 30 June 2008 in the UK and worldwide on 5 August 2008[20] as a 25th-anniversary edition. It contains the original 11 tracks as well as a bonus 10-track disc with a combination of B-sides, remixes and live tracks. Although the booklet claims that this is the original vinyl album on CD, three songs are shortened from their UK vinyl release; "Come Back and Stay", "Love Will Tear Us Apart" and "Love of the Common People", all of which use the respective single edits found on the original US and Canadian pressings of the album. The original UK vinyl versions of these tracks remain unreleased on CD.

The Extended Club mixes of "Wherever I Lay My Hat" and "Sex", the full version of "Love Will Tear Us Apart" and the Scratch Mix of "Come Back and Stay", which were all included on the original CD and cassette release, were not included on the 25th anniversary edition. However, In 2013 they were all included on the compilation album Remixes and Rarities.

Track listing

  1. "Come Back and Stay" (Jack Lee) (single edit) – 4:24[5]
  2. "Love Will Tear Us Apart" (Ian Curtis, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris, Bernard Sumner) (single edit) – 4:17
  3. "Wherever I Lay My Hat (That's My Home)" (Marvin Gaye, Barrett Strong, Norman Whitfield) – 5:18
  4. "Ku Ku Kurama" (Steve Bolton) – 4:20
  5. "No Parlez" (Anthony Moore) – 4:54
  6. "Love of the Common People" (John Hurley, Ronnie Wilkins) (single edit) – 4:00
  7. "Oh Women" (Jack Lee) – 3:34
  8. "Iron Out the Rough Spots" (Steve Cropper, Booker T. Jones, David Porter) – 4:47
  9. "Broken Man" (Ian Kewley, Paul Young) – 3:55
  10. "Tender Trap" (Ian Kewley, Paul Young) – 4:31
  11. "Sex" (Jack Lee) – 4:49

Bonus Disc track listing

  1. "Come Back and Stay" (Extended Club Mix) – 7:34 [different remix compared to the original CD release]
  2. "Iron Out the Rough Spots" (Extended Club Mix) – 7:28 [same version as on the original CD release]
  3. "Love of the Common People" (Extended Mix) – 5:51 [same version as on the original CD release]
  4. "Behind Your Smile" – 4:10 [same as on the original CD release]
  5. "I've Been Lonely for So Long" – 3:37
  6. "Yours" – 5:39 [extended club mix, B-side from "Come Back and Stay") # "Sex" (Demo Version) – 3:49 # "[[Pale Shelter]]" (Demo Version) – 3:50
  7. "Better to Have and Don't Need" (Live Version) – 5:57 (B-side from "Love of the Common People" 12 inch)
  8. "Wherever I Lay My Hat (That's My Home)" [Live Version] – 5:59 (B-side from "Love of the Common People" 12 inch)

How the different editions compare

Tracks are the same versions unless stated in the notes column.

Track Vinyl CD/Cassette CD (US) Daily Mail CD 25th CD Notes
Come Back and Stay4:57 7:56 * 4:26 ** 7:56 * 4:25 **
  • Scratch Mix
    ** Single remix version
Love Will Tear Us Apart 5:00 5:00 4:18 * 5:00 4:18 *
  • 7" version
Wherever I Lay My Hat (That's My Home) 5:18 6:02 * 5:18 6:02 * 5:18
  • extended club mix
Ku Ku Kurama 4:19 4:19 4:19 4:19 4:19
No Parlez 4:57 4:54 * 4:57 4:54 *4:53 *
  • Slightly earlier fade out
Behind Your Smile – 4:08 – – 4:08 *
  • included on bonus CD
Love of the Common People 4:565:52 * 4:56 5:52 * 4:01 **
  • extended club mix
    ** unidentified edit
Oh Women 3:35 3:35 3:35 3:35 3:35
Iron Out the Rough Spots 4:47 7:29 * 4:47 7:29 * 4:47
  • extended club mix
Broken Man 3:54 3:54 3:54 3:54 3:54
Tender Trap 4:32 4:32 4:32 4:32 4:32
Sex 4:49 6:53 * 4:49 6:53 * 4:49
  • extended club mix

It is possible to create the original vinyl version of the album by using a combination of the original UK and US CD releases together with the 'Full length' version of Come Back and Stay which is included on the 2015 Tomb of Memories career-spanning box set.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: British album certifications – Paul Young – No Parlez . . 19 July 2022.
  2. https://www.officialcharts.com/archive/official-albums-chart/ UK Chart Stats
  3. http://www.bpi.co.uk/certifiedawards/search.aspx BPI searchable database
  4. http://www.discogs.com/Paul-Young-No-Parlez/release/1628579 U.S. release with alternate cover
  5. Allmusic.com
  6. Web site: Hits of the World – Australia. Billboard. 58. 21 April 1984. 27 December 2021.
  7. Web site: Hits of the World – Denmark. Billboard. 63. 7 April 1984. 27 December 2021.
  8. Web site: European Top 100 Albums. Music & Media. 17. 9 April 1984. 27 December 2021.
  9. Book: Pennanen, Timo. Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972. 1st. Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. Helsinki. 2006. 263. fi. 978-951-1-21053-5.
  10. Web site: International Bestsellers – Italy. Cashbox. 27. 12 May 1984. 27 December 2021.
  11. Book: Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005. Oricon Entertainment. Roppongi, Tokyo. 2006. 4-87131-077-9. ja.
  12. Web site: Jaaroverzichten – Album 1983. https://web.archive.org/web/20200817120911/https://dutchcharts.nl/jaaroverzichten.asp?year=1983&cat=a. 17 August 2020. dutchcharts.nl. nl. 27 December 2021.
  13. Web site: Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts. 1983. GfK Entertainment Charts. de. 5 April 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20211005040410/https://www.offiziellecharts.de/charts/album-jahr/for-date-1983. 5 October 2021.
  14. Web site: Top Selling Albums of 1983 — The Official New Zealand Music Chart. Recorded Music New Zealand. 2 February 2022.
  15. Web site: Talent Almanach 1983 – Top U.K. Albums. Billboard. TA–31. 24 December 1983. 27 December 2021.
  16. Web site: Jahreshitparade Alben – 1984. https://web.archive.org/web/20181214004454/https://austriancharts.at/year.asp?cat=a&id=1984. 14 December 2018. austriancharts.at. de. 27 December 2021.
  17. Web site: Jaaroverzichten – Album 1984. https://web.archive.org/web/20190817183306/https://dutchcharts.nl/jaaroverzichten.asp?year=1984&cat=a. 17 August 2019. dutchcharts.nl. nl. 27 December 2021.
  18. Web site: Hits of the World – Italy – Top Pop Albums. Billboard. TA–12. 22 December 1984. 27 December 2021.
  19. Web site: Top Selling Albums of 1984 — The Official New Zealand Music Chart. Recorded Music New Zealand. 2 February 2022.
  20. Web site: No Parlez worldwide release date . Amazon . 15 July 2008.

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