Classic Songs: “19” by Paul Hardcastle.

To a younger generation of music-lovers the name Paul Hardcastle probably doesn’t ring a bell. He first emerged in late 1981 and since then has released over a hundred albums, singles, compilations and sold over 20 million albums. Does that help? No? But if I was to mention an infectious hook to a song that went ‘N-n-n nineteen’ some of you might recognise it. I believe that’s because Hardcastle is best known for really only one song ’19’, which the British pioneering music producer owes an incredible debt to. It gave him one of music history’s most surprising No.1 hits, first in the U.K and then around the world in eleven countries including the US.  

’19’ was a song unlike anything else on the radio in 1985 with its electronic rhythm, sampling, spoken-word and references to the Vietnam War. Initially when Hardcastle shopped it around to record companies they thought he was mad. Not even the BBC’s Radio 1 would touch it. But two men had faith in it – video editor and promoter Ken Grunaum, who pieced together footage for a music video (from a Vietnam War documentary called Vietnam Requiem) and DJ Tony Blackburn, on his Radio London show, who played it, setting in motion sales records and renewed interest in the Vietnam War. (’19’ was curiously released before the glut of memorable Vietnam War movies that were released in the mid to late 1980s. Platoon, Full Metal Jacket, Hamburger Hill and Good Morning Vietnam all come to mind.) 

Objections to the war in Vietnam wasn’t anything new in popular music at the time Hardcastle released ’19’. For instance, the late 1960s and early 70s counterculture was the first breeding ground for musicians to voice their protest against the Vietnam War. Songs like Edwin Starr’s War and Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Fortunate Son led the way in stirring up attention about the social and political fallout of the Vietnam War. Hardcastle’s ‘19’ was also in a way admirable in its attempt at rekindling interest in the Vietnam War, some ten years after the conflict ended, but did it have that same sincerity as classic protest songs of the past? Cynically ’19’ at the time of its release could have been viewed as a purely a commercial venture and money maker, and there is some truth to that, but Hardcastle’s inspirations were initially different and admirable. 

After a motor cycle accident, Hardcastle was bedridden for four months. He spent his time listening to dance music and thought it was something he could create on his own with a synthesiser. While he toyed with this idea, he was watching television one night and recorded a Vietnam War documentary (ABC’s Vietnam Requiem) to watch later. It was here that Hardcastle was so moved by the documentary, especially the unnerving fact (according to the documentary at the time) that the average age of a combat soldier was nineteen. (This claim has been corrected in recent decades. The average age of American G.I.s in Vietnam was actually about twenty-two.) 

In an interview for The Guardian in 2012, Hardcaste said, “I was out having fun in pubs and clubs when I was 19, not being shoved into jungles and shot at. One line – “None of them received a hero’s welcome” – really struck a chord. When the soldiers came home, people wondered what had happened to the smiling kids who went out there. What did they expect if they’d been through that shit?”

And so, inspired and shocked by the documentary, Hardcastle took samples of the narration and dialogue (voiced by Peter Thomas) and mixed it with his own electronic dance music with additional words and a female singer contributing backing vocals. As for the song’s famous stutter (N-n-n-nineteen), it was created using an early type of sampler called an Emu Emulator.    

There are so many great songs that have been forgotten over the years. Occasionally they resurface and ‘19′ is one of them. Today, Hardcastle is still very proud of the song and he has even more recently reissued language versions of it in French, Spanish, German, Japanese and Italian. Interestingly, no matter what version you listen to, its commentary on the effects of war still resonate with listeners old and new and those affected by war. Is it one of the best anti-war songs ever made? Probably not. But it’s a classic one-hit wonder that’s worth a spin.