NO ARTIST bridged the gap between the early techno synth sounds of the early 1980s and the bass/ beat samples that became standard by the 1990s more than Paul Hardcastle.

Blowing Phyllis Nelson’s ballad Move Closer off the UK top spot in 1985 with his electro smash 19, Paul Hardcastle not only turned the UK singles chart on its head for five weeks, but also kept the nation’s then top boy band Duran Duran off the top spot with their theme to the James Bond film A View To a Kill.

Paul took his inspiration for 19 from the television documentary Vietnam Requiem which looked at the post-traumatic stress disorder of war veterans.

It highlighted the difference in the average age of a combat soldier in Vietnam – 19 – to the average of 26 for a Second World War soldier.

“When I took it to Chrysalis Records, they didn’t like it saying ‘you’re joking, right?’” said Paul, “Simon Fuller, on the other hand, was the only one who said ‘I like it’, so he left Chrysalis and becamemy manager.

“Within six weeks it was number one in 13 different countries.”

Although Paul wasn’t surprised when 19 hit the top slot, he felt he had to be pro-active in keeping Simon Le Bon and co fromthe top-slot.

He said: “I thought ‘howamI going to stay there?’ “Then I thought I can change the story so I ultimately produced two further versions The Destruction Mix and The Final Story.” 19 stayed at number one for five weeks.

Paul, who spent part of his formative years in Grangetown recently spent time revisiting his 80s output for a new compilation Electrofied 80s: Essential Paul Hardcastle.

He said: “I forgot how much material I had recorded back then, looking at it there’s something like 260 tracks, so this release is great.”

Electrofied 80s : Essential Paul Hardcastle includes Hardcastle favourites and collaborations including Don’t Waste My Time (with Carol Kenyon) , his reimagining of The Top Of The Pops theme entitled The Wizard (the first of Paul’s records to use a direct to digital system as opposed to tape), and Just For Money (featuring Bob Hoskins and Sir Laurence Olivier).

“Bob was fantastic’ said Paul. “I was careful not to tell Sir Laurence I was going to give him a stutter on the record.”

Although Paul’s profile has remained high in America over the last 14 years having sold more than four million albums he would still like to have more success in his own country.

Electrofied 80s: Essential Paul Hardcastle is a timely re-appraisal of his early work, and a suitable prelude to his recent releases 19 below Zero and Perceptions of Pacha.

●Electrofied 80s : Essential Paul Hardcastle is available nowfrom Music Club Deluxe.