'Padovani has a voice that just envelops you;
deep and dark and with a beautiful Corsican accent, even when he whispers he
resonates.' - Music News
Listen to
'I Love Today':
From The Police, to
Wayne County and the Electric chairs,
to The Subterraneans, to The Flying Padovanis to releasing a solo
album, Henry Padovani, known as the only Corsican punk, has carved out an
impressive career to rival all within the music industry.
Henry hit London in 1976, only coming for a week, but
extending his stay, the first gig he saw was The Damned and the next day Henry was a changed man, he cut his
long hair and shaved his beard, he was going out every night to a different gig
and began meeting members of The Clash,
it was not long after Henry met Sting and
Stewart Copeland and formed the
legendary The Police. London punk
gigs were legendary and they soon built a following until Henry decided to go
his own way, He continued his punk career with the ground-breaking Wayne County and the Electric Chairs, a
major part of the androgynous glam-rock, proto-punk hangover, and succesful on
both sides of the Atlantic, who even then hired The Police to support them on a major tour, still following his
punk dream, Henry became a member of The
Subterraneans, the band formed by NME journalistic legend Nick Kent.
Not long after Henry took a punk hiatus and re-invented himself and emerged with The Flying Padovanis - London's cult psych-punk superstars of choice, with their wild, dark, reverb-drenched, thrash-punk, instrumental music. After all of this Henry was invited to join IRS a record label where Henry was VP of international for ten years, Henry describes the label as 'Only signing bands they liked' this included the likes of The Go Go's, Fine Young Canniballs and even discovered the brilliant R.E.M. Henry's career was really taking shape and fast forward a few years and he was the 'Rock' judge on 'The X Factor' France. Along the way he has also been an artist manager for Italy's biggest star Zucchero. One of the creators of a 'songwriters retreat', A Radio and TV presenter, A book writer, 'The Secret Police Man', A major film-soundtrack conposer and the star and subject of the Cannes Film Festival listed documentary of his life - 'Rock and Roll... Of Corse' which hits movie theatres all over France from September 21st.
Henry is the strange, enduring link between many artists such as Sting, Cher, Bono, Jeff Beck, Alice Cooper, Kim Wilde, The Pretenders, The Sex Pistols, B.B. King and countless other players in rock's rich history. Music has clearly only been Henry's one true calling and with 'I Love Today', Henry has finally recorded his first full 'solo' album. A rich and sometimes dark mix of unique and emotive, original songs, coupled with some favourites of his long journey on the road - encompassing delta blues, rock and chanson, all flavoured and impregnated with Henry's unique guitar style, his huge, dynamic voice and irrepressible Corsican personality all in time for Punk's 40th anniversary. In amongst Henry's own songs are covers of songs as diverse as 'Into My Arms' - Nick Cave to 'Jealous Guy' by John Lennon, and he even teamed up with Jef Aerosol also known as the 'French Banksy', a charismatic, outlaw street artist to create the album artwork.
Henry is a true punk legend, full of the wildest stories, best friends with numerous legends, and the only way to find out more is to talk to the man himself.
Website:http://www.henrypadovani.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/henrypadovani