Paul Hardcastle - 19 mp3 album

No CD releases to mention here! Even in 2018. Wow!

Why this version is most wanted than other ones ? Others are really cheapest

If you like this, listen to "The Why Not - Ghedaffi"

This is a great sounding pressing. Just found this one and played it and had forgotten how gritty it is. Had flicked passed it for years thinking it was another track. Smashing production along with bonus of all the samples on it!! Remix anyone??

I always thought this was Hip Hop? I see from the experts in discogs this fell under the 'electronic' genre in 1985. Never heard of that as a genre back then, just me I suppose. Learn something everyday. Thank-you discogs gurus.

In the mid 80s in the UK especially, the catagory was called Electro or Electro-Pop . Bands like New Order, Kraftwerk, Residents, Underworld and others were lumped into the genre.

well, as far as I remember, it was called Electro, it was the 808 drums with lots of synths and rapping, just the drums and some scratching overlays was known as Breakbeat, as a kid I would save up all my money to buy the StreetSound Electro records and would rip tunes from pirate radio stations with a compact cassette recorder, the tunes where based on rhythm and electronic melodies, it was before things went mean and tough with the likes of NWA and Public Enemy who had something to say but ultimately morphed Electro/Hip-Hop into something more political and aggressive, the sound died down for a few years and then re-emerged in 86 as the roots of Rave and Dance which hasnt stopped yet.

Britain's first hiphop number 1. This was so massive on the London dance pirate stations for weeks bedfore its official release that I knew it was going to be a complete phenomenon. And sure enough it didn't just crossover but went all the way to Number 1 on the pop charts. Very deserved after his earlier electro classics 'such as 'Rain Forest'.

An absolutely pivotal release from 1985, this really opened the floodgates for the Techno explosion of the late 80's and early 90's. The A side is "19" the influential anti-war song which makes it's point clear with it's voice sampling and female vocals, the insanity of sending someone to war when they're only 19. This came from a documentary Hardcastle saw, and made him reflect on his life at 19. This statistic has came under scrutiny over the years, but the point still stands. The music itself is very heavy on the synths and funk rhythms, earning it's reputation as a "Electro" track.The B Side depends on the release, but here, it's a great instrumental named "Fly By Night", which is much more pop oriented than 19, and falls much easier into the "Synthpop" category.

Surrealistik version with the famous french journalist Yves Mourousi speaking the intro lyrics, with his legendary voice... A MUST !!! :D

Yeah but c'mon! 23 wouldn't sound as good as 19. And 19 wouldn't be 19 now would it?What's done is done.

There is a promo copy to this spanish maxi version, showing the british maxicover Paul Hardcastle - 19 with print "SUPERSINGLE 45 R.P.M." and having a slightly varied label saying "Disco Promocional - Prohibida Su Venta"

Now I would have never known that! I think this is a great look at electronic music production technique from a time well before sampling became the de facto norm for any type of electronic music. This came along at a time when the sampling aspect of music was mainly coloring and flavor, and not so much the very fabric of the tune as was the case after around '96 or so. What I mean by that, broadly, is that most of the music was in fact, laboriously written, programmed, and executed on real hardware machines and not just sampled off of existing tracks via software and a computer, uh, and the internet. That alone is why I love this track. The samples do get to be cheesy over a period of dozens of repeated listenings, but that is a singular opinion on the matter and not a criticism of the song. The music is great, the samples are the only thing that may cloud this tune - but, they in fact also made the tune, so where do you go from there? Controversy or none, this is a standout track in terms of production clarity and if analog synths are your tune, you will like it for sure. Especially that minimoog-flavored bass.

No minimoog on this. The analog tones are Prophet-5...

Entirely digital. No analog synths can be heard. Even the bassline sounds very digital.

The 1985 release of "19", a dance record from the british keybord Wizard Paul Hardcastle, featuring stuttering samples of a ABC television interview with Peter Thomas speaking about Vietnam war veterans suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder. Initially unhappy about having his voice used in this way, Peter Thomas relented and allowed the single to be released. A number one hit for Chrysalis Records in the United Kingdom. "19" was supposed to be the average age of the soldiers during this Vietnam War. Very young in comparison with the age of 26 during World War II. Later on, some statistics told us that the real average age of the vietnam soldier was 23. A mistake by ABC television during the interview. Mike Oldfield claimed that a melodic element of "19" had been copied from a sequence of his multi-million selling concept album "Tubular Bells", and a settlement was made. Simon Fuller, who was his manager at the time of "19"'s release would later adopt the song title for his company, 19 Management. The song won an "Ivor Novello award" for the best selling single of 1985. Rory Bremner parodied this song later on in 1985, based on the England Cricket team's poor performance in the 1984 Test series against the West Indies. Released under "The Commentators", Bremner's version, entitled "N-N-Nineteen Not Out!" made No.13 in the UK, three months after Harcastle's version. The parody was based on the fact that the English batsmens' average runs per head in each innings was a paltry 19, compared to the 35 they averaged in 1968. Against the record company's wishes, Paul Hardcastle actually contributed to this remake! A song with some controverses, but a real catchy, original & great record!

Paul Hardcastle's 19 is a great record that is completely surrounded in controversy that serves to increase the popularity of the record, and also tarnish its image. The criticism of this record, as good as the production is, is deserved however. The average age of a Vietnam soldier according to KIA statstics was not 19. Statistics from the Combat Area Casualty File (CACF) as of November 1993 indicate the average age of the 58,148 U.S. soliders killed in Vietnam was 23.11 years. It can be blamed on Hardcastle for using the "nineteen" spoken sample from ABC's Vietnam Requiem documentary, but most of the blame though should be placed on ABC for not correctly fact checking their sources and claiming falsely the age of the average combat solider to have been 19, when in fact it was closer to 23. But what can be critiqued about this record is that the spoken sample's from ABC's Vietnam Requiem documentary were used without permission by Hardcastle. Mike Oldfield also sued and won a settlement with Hardcastle when Oldfield charged that Hardcastle had stolen melodic elements of the famous Tubular Bells release of Oldfields for the song 19. So two samples were used without permission for this record, and the entire basis for the record (19) was an inaccurate basis to begin with. A great and classic electronic record, but controversial nevertheless.

Hardcastle did originally get permission for the documentary sample. It was only when 19 was successful that the narrator, in Hardcastle's words "got himself a clever lawyer" who argued that it wasn't being used for the purpose that it was originally intended and that the narrator was therefore entitled to more money. It was settled out of court as Hardcastle would lose more money fighting it than just paying the royalties.

i see no difference between 19 and 23.

Inaccurate statements and copyright issues not withstanding does not diminish the entire point of this record. When this thing dropped the United States was still licking its wounds from Vietnam and in the 21st Century now have a better understanding that is was wrong and murderous among other issues like Monsanto's invention of Agent Orange. By pointing out the factual errors and possible "thief" of copyrighted material seems to me a shot at trying to discredit this record and its powerful message. Maybe because I'm Black in America and I see things DIFFERENTLY than many others, I raise a fist when I hear this, instead of search Google to find errors in it. Peace

An instant classic which drew me instantly to electronic music in the first place, I remember this hearing for the first time at a friends place who had an older brother DJ’ing... Never heard anything like that before. We just didn't have acces to that kind of music at that time, the charts were full with cheesy artists, and then there it was: a bit dark and heavy basslines with a sinister voice over. Shivers down your spine!, and this is the feeling I still have today when I’m listening to this real beauty. Recommended food for the ears (and for the brain to, "19" was the average age of combat soldiers in the Vietnam War).

In an interview, Paul Hardcastle stated the only reason '19' sounds as it does is because even top-of-the-range samplers at the time could only handle a second or twos worth of sound. Nineteen, nineteen, ni-ni-ni-ni-nineteen.

Hello everybody. I am shocked by this sound. Just because one uses really shocking pictures for a clip that is definitely free. Have the poor soldiers been paid for this? Make money like that frankly ....There is no real message in this musical creation, it is ambiguous. And then it is not because it is so-called a precursor piece that must be put forward. It's still inaudible to my ears. Too repetitive, soft, and copied more ... I have just been offered the vinyl, I will put it directly in the trash ...