Paul Ryan (musician)

Paul Ryan (actually Paul Sapherson * 24. October 1948 in Leeds , Yorkshire , England ; † 29. November 1992 ) was a British singer and songwriter , who especially in the second half of the 1960s, especially with his twin brother Barry successes could celebrate.

biography

The identical twins were children of the singer Marion Ryan , who was quite successful in the 1950s, and her first husband Lloyd Sapherson . At the age of 15 they entered show business themselves and from then on took on the girl and stage names of their mother. Initially the brothers called themselves The Ryan Twins .

The Ryan brothers signed a contract with Decca Records in 1965 and released a series of singles with pop hits as Paul and Barry Ryan , directed by producer Les Reed . In 1965/1966 they were able to place three of their records in the British Top 20 , including Don't Bring Me Your Heartaches (1965). Other, smaller hits like Have Pity on the Boy (1966), Missy Missy (1966) or Keep It out of Sight (1967) followed.

However, the hype and stress that came with it allegedly brought Paul to the brink of a nervous breakdown . The brothers decided in 1967 that Barry should continue to be on stage, Paul, however, would withdraw to the background, write and produce songs . They switched to MGM Records at the end of the year . The first single Paul wrote for Barry was his greatest success: Eloise - a world hit and Barry Ryan's breakthrough as a pop star. Eloise was number 1 in the charts in six countries (in its home country Great Britain, however, only number 2). The dramatic, powerful song has sold more than three million singles.

Paul wrote other hits for Barry (like Love Is Love , The Hunt , Kitsch and Zeit macht nur vor dem Teufel ), which appeared on Polydor from mid-1969 , but could not build on the global success - Eloise remained his biggest hit, the 1985 even the punk band The Damned successfully covered and once again brought it to number 3 in the charts. In addition, one of his most famous songs is I Will Drink the Wine , a British top 20 hit for Frank Sinatra in 1971 ; Further chart success brought him Color of My Love , interpreted by Jefferson (1969 / 22nd place) and Who Put the Lights Out ( Dana / 1971 / 14th place).

Paul Ryan lived on the US West Coast for ten years and moved back to London in 1985 , where he opened a chain of hair salons . He died of lung cancer at the age of 44 .

Discography

Studio albums

Paul and Barry Ryan

• 1967: Two of a Kind (as The Ryans)
• 1967: Hey Mr. Ryan
• 1968: Paul and Barry Ryan
• 1976: Scorpio Rising (Solo)

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1965	Don't Bring Me Your Heartaches Hey Mr. Ryan	-	-	-	UK13 (9 weeks) UK	-	First published: October 1965 with Barry Ryan
1966	Have Pity On The Boy single track	-	-	-	UK18 (6 weeks) UK	-	First published: January 1966 with Barry Ryan
	I Love Her single track	-	-	-	UK17 (8 weeks) UK	-	First published: May 1966 with Barry Ryan
	I Love How You Love Me single track	-	-	-	UK21 (7 weeks) UK	-	First published: July 1966 with Barry Ryan
	Have You Ever Loved Somebody? Single track	-	-	-	UK49 (1 week) UK	-	First published: September 1966 with Barry Ryan
	Missy Missy Hey Mr. Ryan	-	-	-	UK43 (4 weeks) UK	-	First published: December 1966 with Barry Ryan
1967	Keep It Out Of Sight single track	-	-	-	UK30 (6 weeks) UK	-	First published: February 1967 with Barry Ryan
	Claire Hey Mr. Ryan	-	-	-	UK47 (2 weeks) UK	-	First published: June 1967 with Barry Ryan

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

Other singles (as a singer)

Paul and Barry Ryan

• 1967: Heartbreaker
• 1968: Pictures Of Today
• 1973: So let's live
• 1973: Won't You Join Me
• 1974: Nothing's Gonna Change Our World
• 1974: Carry The Blues

Paul Ryan (Solo)

• 1972: Natural Gas / Hellow hellow
• 1972: Born On A Beautiful Day
• 1976: The Day That Anastasia Romanoff Died
• 1976: Man In The Crowd

Singles (as songwriter)

• 1968: Barry Ryan - Eloise
• 1969: Barry Ryan - Love Is Love
• 1969: Barry Ryan - The Hunt
• 1969: Jefferson - Color of My Love
• 1970: Barry Ryan - Kitsch
• 1971: Frank Sinatra - I Will Drink the Wine
• 1971: Dana - Who Put the Lights Out

Web links

• Works by and about Paul Ryan in the catalog of the German National Library
• Short biography and information about some songs (English; scroll down to Paul and Barry Ryan )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Chart sources: UK