Paul Walter Quinn is a Scottish musician who was the lead singer of cult 1980s band Bourgie Bourgie, and also released records with Jazzateers, Vince Clarke and Edwyn Collins and sang on an early track by the French Impressionists.
Biography
Quinn was a classmate of Edwyn Collins between the ages of 11 and 15, and sang backing vocals on "Rip It Up" by Collins' band Orange Juice. After singing with Postcard Records band Jazzateers he formed Bourgie Bourgie in May 1983 along with former members of his previous band. Bourgie Bourgie were signed by MCA Records and released two singles in 1984, both of which charted in the UK, "Breaking Point" peaking at number 48 and "Careless" at number 96. The group began recording an album with producer Mike Hedges but it remained unreleased when they split up. Quinn then collaborated with Edwyn Collins on a version of The Velvet Underground's "Pale Blue Eyes", released on Postcard Records boss Alan Horne's new Swamplands label, which reached number 72 in the UK in August 1984. In early 1985, Quinn released his first solo single, "Ain't That Always the Way", which again featured Collins but was credited solely to Quinn for contractual reasons, which was also a minor hit, reaching number 98 in the UK. He then collaborated with Vince Clarke on the "One Day" single, which fared similarly. Quinn returned in 1992 with a new band, The Independent Group, a supergroup containing former members of Orange Juice, Aztec Camera, Lloyd Cole & the Commotions, and The Bluebells. Signed to a revived Postcard Records, they released two albums in 1992 and 1994. In 1995, Quinn collaborated with Nectarine No. 9 on the Pregnant with Possibilities EP. Quinn has neither recorded nor made any public appearances for many years. He is reported to be in poor health, and to live in Dundee's West End.
Bourgie Bourgie
Bourgie Bourgie comprised Quinn and the following:
All were former members of Jazzateers. They released two singles in 1984, both minor hits, and recorded a session for John Peel's BBC Radio 1 show the same year.
The Independent Group featured James Kirk, Blair Cowan, Tony Soave, Campbell Owens, Robert Hodgens, and Postcard Records founder Alan Horne. The group's first album The Phantoms and the Archetypes was released in 1992. After a further single, "Stupid Thing", Hodgens was replaced by Mick Slaven, Steve "Skip" Reid, Andy Alston, and Jane Marie O'Brien. A second album, Will I Ever Be Inside of You, was released in 1994. The band performed at the Glasgow Film Theatre, playing songs from the album while clips of films including Midnight Cowboy, The Loveless, Taxi Driver, and Un Chien Andalou'' played behind them.
In the satirical 2010 novel Gabriel's Angel by Mark A. Radcliffe, Quinn's "Will I Ever Be Inside Of You" is the song that is playing when one of the characters wakes from a coma.
