A highly talented 80's band that was victim to one of the worst examples of Executive Meddling in music history.
Or, to be more precise, Paparazzi was an English New Wave group from Birmingham made up of Michael Dorian (singer-songwriter, keyboardist, pianist), Glyn Ricard (drummer, percussionist), David Manray (bassist, backing vocalist) & Nick Eugovni (keyboards). They got their start at the Rum Runner and Duma clubs. Record companies were interested in them early; Mervyn Winwood, the head of CBS, said they had great potential but were not ready for a contract yet. The band disagreed and left, foreshadowing their defiance against corporate suits that would ultimately be their downfall.
In March 1983, they were picked up by Virgin & recorded early versions of "Stop" and "Pictures Of Love". However, they left (again) after disliking Virgin's attempts to dictate their sound, signing to MCA that July. Thereza Bazar from Dollar was their producer at the label's insistence. Whilst Alan Murphy joined the ranks as a guitarist, "Stop" was re-recorded and released as a single. The song received a music video
filmed in Spain. It was popular and requested heavily on MTV and caused the group to be hyped as the new Roxy Music. The band had Creative Differences with Thereza and she left subsequent recordings after the second (and last) single, "Don't Stay All Night" (yet still receiving a producer credit). Nik Kershaw, another MCA artist, became popular and MCA, already annoyed at the group's sacking of Thereza, made an ultimatum: be more successful than him or we drop you. They planned to tour with Simple Minds; unfortunately, the pressure was too much and Nick left. Michael ended the band, refusing to perform without Nick. Thus, a great group was never meant to be.
The band's unreleased album, Cold In a Warm Climate, can be heard at this YouTube playlist.
Paparazzi provides examples of:
- Central Theme: Connecting with others despite the trails and tribulations of human relationships, whether it be convincing others to stay beside you or leaving them when it's time to go.
- The Last DJ: The band stuck to their convictions to have total artistic control over their oeuvre despite pressure by the labels to compromise their vision, even sacking their producer after they disliked her production style. Their steady decline provided a deconstruction of the trope, showing that being artistic in your endeavours is likely to be stamped out by a commercial music industry.
- Mr. Fanservice: Fitting for a New Wave group of the time.
- Questionable Casting: The band reacted this way In-Universe to Thereza being made their producer, as "Dollar" was a cheesy shallow euro-pop band while they were an arty New Wave collective with melodramatic lyrics and sweepingly grandiose soundscapes.
- Please, Don't Leave Me: "Stop" literally commands the subject to "take your time, don't go!", because the speaker wants to stay with her, as he doesn't want "the dream" to end.
- "Shaggy Dog" Story: All the band's hard work and effort was done for naught when the group disbanded.
- Sincerest Form of Flattery: Michael's vocals are obviously imitating David Sylvian's from Japan's post-glam rock era.
