Paul Gray (English Musician)
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Paul Murray Granville Gray (born 1 August 1958) is an English bassist notable for playing with the rock bands
Eddie and the Hot Rods Eddie and the Hot Rods are a pub rock band from Essex founded in 1975. They are best known for their 1977 UK top ten hit " Do Anything You Wanna Do", released under the shortened name Rods. The group broke up in 1985, but reformed in 1996. Sin ...
, The Damned and UFO.


Biography

Paul Gray was born in
Leigh-on-Sea Leigh-on-Sea (), commonly referred to simply as Leigh, is a List of towns in England, town and civil parish within the city of Southend-on-Sea, located in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. In 2011 it had a population of 22,509. Geograph ...
. Inspired by a
Hawkwind Hawkwind are an English rock band known as one of the earliest space rock groups. Since their formation in November 1969, Hawkwind have gone through many incarnations and have incorporated many different styles into their music, including hard ...
gig he attended, Gray started learning bass guitar at the age of 13, his playing influenced by bassists such as
Steve Currie T. Rex (originally Tyrannosaurus Rex) were an English rock band formed in London in 1967 by singer-songwriter and guitarist Marc Bolan, who was their leader, frontman and only consistent member. Though initially associated with the psychedelic ...
,
Lemmy Ian Fraser Kilmister (24 December 1945 – 28 December 2015), better known as Lemmy Kilmister or simply Lemmy, was a British musician. He was the founder, lead vocalist, bassist and primary songwriter of the metal band Motörhead, of which he ...
,
John Entwistle John Alec Entwistle (9 October 194427 June 2002) was an English musician, best known as the bass guitarist for the rock band the Who. Entwistle's music career spanned over four decades. Nicknamed "The Ox" and "Thunderfingers", he was the band ...
,
Felix Pappalardi Felix Albert Pappalardi Jr. (December 30, 1939 – April 17, 1983) was an American music producer, songwriter, vocalist, and bass violin, bassist. He is best known as the bassist and co-lead vocalist of the band Mountain (band), Mountain, whose ...
and
Roger Glover Roger David Glover (born 30 November 1945) is a Welsh bassist, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as a member of the hard rock bands Deep Purple and Rainbow. As a member of Deep Purple, Glover was inducted into the Rock and Roll ...
. He joined
Eddie and the Hot Rods Eddie and the Hot Rods are a pub rock band from Essex founded in 1975. They are best known for their 1977 UK top ten hit " Do Anything You Wanna Do", released under the shortened name Rods. The group broke up in 1985, but reformed in 1996. Sin ...
as bassist after answering an advert in the ''
Southend Evening Echo Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in south-eastern Essex, England. It lies on the nor ...
''. The band had several
hit single A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single, or simply hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record'' ...
s and
album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...
s in the late 1970s, including " Do Anything You Wanna Do". While working with Eddie and the Hot Rods, he also recorded bass for
Larry Wallis Larry Wallis (19 May 1949 – 19 September 2019) was a British rock guitarist, songwriter and producer. He was best known as a member of the Pink Fairies and an early member of Motörhead. Biography Early bands In 1968, he formed a band calle ...
,
Rob Tyner Robert W. Derminer (December 12, 1944 – September 18, 1991), known as Rob Tyner, was an American musician best known as the lead singer for the Detroit proto-punk band MC5. His adopted surname was in tribute to the jazz pianist McCoy Tyner. ...
and
Johnny Thunders John Anthony Genzale (July 15, 1952 – April 23, 1991), known professionally as Johnny Thunders, was an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He came to prominence in the early 1970s as a member of New York Dolls. He later formed the He ...
, as well as filling in as temporary bassist for
The Members The Members is a British punk rock, punk band that originated in Camberley, Surrey, England. In the UK, they are best known for their single "The Sound of the Suburbs", reaching No. 12 in the UK Singles Chart in 1979, and in Australia, "Radio" ...
. In early 1980, following the departure of Graeme Douglas, Gray left Eddie and the Hot Rods and, on the insistence of
Captain Sensible Raymond Ian Burns (born 24 April 1954), known by the stage name Captain Sensible, is an English guitarist, singer and songwriter. He co-founded the punk rock band the Damned in 1976, originally playing bass before switching to guitar. He is kn ...
and
Rat Scabies Christopher John Millar (born 30 July 1955), known by his stage name Rat Scabies, is a musician best known as the drummer for English punk rock band the Damned. Career Millar was born in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey. He played drums with Tor ...
, joined the
punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...
band The Damned, replacing former bassist
Algy Ward Alasdair Mackie "Algy" Ward (11 July 1959 – 17 May 2023) was an English punk rock and heavy metal bass guitarist and singer. He began his career in 1977, as a bassist for the Australian proto punk garage band the Saints. Afterwards, he jo ...
. Gray contributed to two studio albums, '' The Black Album'' and ''
Strawberries The garden strawberry (or simply strawberry; ''Fragaria × ananassa'') is a widely grown hybrid plant cultivated worldwide for its fruit. The genus ''Fragaria'', the strawberries, is in the rose family, Rosaceae. The fruit is appreciated f ...
'', as well as numerous singles and the ''
Friday 13th EP ''Friday 13th EP'' is a four-track EP by English rock band the Damned, issued as the result of a one-off deal with the NEMS Records label. It was released on 13 November 1981, which fell on a Friday. The EP was released in the UK and Sweden ...
''. Frictions in the band led to Gray's departure in February 1983. Shortly afterwards, he joined UFO and remained until their split in 1987. In 1989, after brief stints with Heavy Load,
"Fast" Eddie Clarke Edward Allan Clarke (5 October 1950 – 10 January 2018), better known as "Fast" Eddie Clarke or simply "Fast" Eddie, was a British guitarist who was a member of heavy metal bands Fastway and Motörhead. Of Motörhead's classic lineup, which ...
's Fastway and
Andrew Ridgeley Andrew John Ridgeley (born 26 January 1963) is an English musician, best known for his work in the 1980s in the musical duo Wham! consisting of Ridgeley and George Michael. Associated with the MTV-driven Second British Invasion of the US, th ...
, Gray rejoined The Damned, ostensibly for a one-off reunion tour of the UK, US, and Japan. This tour reunited Gray with Captain Sensible, and the two worked together on Sensible's solo material, as well as touring together. This Sensible-led group briefly evolved into another reunion of The Damned, with Gray concurrently reforming Eddie & the Hot Rods for one album, '' Gasoline Days'', for which he contributed the song writing, and supported the album with several tours in the UK and Germany. In between these high-profile projects, he also played bass with Canvey Island Allstars, and René Berg, and began producing local bands.
With the onset of severe
tinnitus Tinnitus is a condition when a person hears a ringing sound or a different variety of sound when no corresponding external sound is present and other people cannot hear it. Nearly everyone experiences faint "normal tinnitus" in a completely ...
and
hyperacusis Hyperacusis is an increased Hearing, sensitivity to sound and a low tolerance for environmental noise. Definitions of hyperacusis can vary significantly; it often revolves around damage to or dysfunction of the Stapes, ''stapes'' bone, stapedius ...
interrupting his live music activities, Gray became Lead Tutor for Community Music Wales – a charity aimed at helping young bands based in
Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...
– on a variety of national and international projects between 1995 and 2004. In 1997, Gray formed Mischief with Alan Lee Shaw, a studio-based project allowing him to write and record without damaging his hearing further by playing live. In 1998, he appeared alongside Barry Masters of Eddie & the Hot Rods on the Identity Parade round of British comedy panel show ''
Never Mind the Buzzcocks ''Never Mind the Buzzcocks'' is a British comedy panel game show with a pop music theme. It has aired on Sky Max since September 2021, having originally aired between November 1996 and January 2015 on BBC Two. The original series was first host ...
''. In 2005, he took up the post of Regional Officer, Wales & Southwest England for the British Musicians' Union. Gray reunited with Captain Sensible in 2013 to form
psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...
band The Sensible Gray Cells with drummer Ant Thickett. After the release of debut album ''A Postcard from Britain'', Gray was diagnosed with throat cancer and had to cancel tentative plans to return to playing live music. He has since recovered. On 27 February 2014, Gray joined fellow original Hot Rods Barrie Masters, Steve Nicol, and Graeme Douglas on stage at The Oysterfleet,
Canvey Island Canvey Island is a town, civil parish and reclaimed island in the Thames Estuary, near Southend-on-Sea, in the Castle Point district, in the county of Essex, England. It has an area of and a population of 38,170.Office for National Statistics. ...
to play in tribute to the late Dave Higgs, founder member of the band. Gray joined Professor and the Madman in 2017, alongside former Damned drummer Rat Scabies, and featured on their albums ''Disintegrate Me'' and ''Live at the Hundred Club''. In September 2017, Gray rejoined The Damned following the departure of Stu West, recording the album '' Evil Spirits'' and returning to full-time touring for the first time in nearly 15 years. Gray appeared on stage for the final Eddie and the Hot Rods show in April 2019, alongside founding members Barry Masters, Graeme Douglas and Steve Nicol. In 2020, both The Damned and The Sensible Gray Cells released new material, the latter including Gray's first lead vocal performance on "What's the Point of Andrew?". The Damned's 2020 EP ''The Rockfield Files'' included two tracks written by Gray, entitled 'Manipulator' and 'The Spider & the Fly'. During the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, Gray opened up Paul Gray Bass Online, a website offering services as a session bassist to recording artists. In 2020, Gray formed the side-project Wingmen with guitarists
Baz Warne Barry "Baz" Warne (born 25 March 1964 in Sunderland, England) is an English musician, best known as the current guitarist and vocalist of The Stranglers. Earlier in his career, he was the guitarist and frontman of numerous bands. His first rec ...
(
the Stranglers The Stranglers are an English rock music, rock band formed in 1974. Scoring 23 UK top 40 singles and 20 UK top 40 albums to date in a career spanning five decades, the Stranglers are one of the longest-surviving bands to have originated in the ...
) and Leigh Heggarty ( Ruts DC), and drummer Marty Love ( Johnny Moped). The band released their self-titled debut album in 2023. Gray is scheduled to tour with The Dammed in 2024-2025 with shows focused on their 1980s era albums.


Discography


With Eddie and the Hot Rods

*"Writing on the Wall" (1976) *"
Wooly Bully "Wooly Bully" is a song originally recorded by rock and roll band Sam the Sham, Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs in 1964. Based on a standard 12-bar blues progression, it was written by the band's frontman, Domingo "Sam" Samudio. It was released as ...
" (1976) *''Live at the Marquee EP'' (1976) *"Teenage Depression" (1976) *'' Teenage Depression'' (1976) *"I Might Be Lying" (1977) *''At the Sound of Speed EP'' (1977) *" Do Anything You Wanna Do" (1977) *'' Life on the Line'' (1977) *"Quit This Town" (1977) *"Life on the Line" (1978) *"Media Messiahs" (1979) *"Power and the Glory" (1979) *'' Thriller'' (1979) *''Curse of the Hot Rods'' (1992) *'' Gasoline Days'' (1996)


With Robin Tyner and the Hot Rods

*"Till the Night is Gone (Let's Rock)" / "Flipside Rock" (1977)


With Larry Wallis

*"Police Car" / "On Parole" (1977)


With Johnny Thunders

*'' So Alone'' (1978)


With The Damned

* "White Rabbit" (1980) *"
The History of the World (Part 1) "The History of the World (Part 1)" is a single by English rock band the Damned, released in September 1980 by Chiswick Records. It was co-produced by the band with Hans Zimmer and was included on the band's '' The Black Album''. The record was ...
" (1980) *'' The Black Album'' (1980) *" There Ain't No Sanity Clause" (1980) *"Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde" (1981) *''
Friday 13th EP ''Friday 13th EP'' is a four-track EP by English rock band the Damned, issued as the result of a one-off deal with the NEMS Records label. It was released on 13 November 1981, which fell on a Friday. The EP was released in the UK and Sweden ...
'' (1981) *" Wait for the Blackout" (1982) *" Lovely Money" (1982) *" Dozen Girls" (1982) *''
Strawberries The garden strawberry (or simply strawberry; ''Fragaria × ananassa'') is a widely grown hybrid plant cultivated worldwide for its fruit. The genus ''Fragaria'', the strawberries, is in the rose family, Rosaceae. The fruit is appreciated f ...
'' (1982) *" Lively Arts" (1982) * "Generals" (1982) *''Mindless Directionless Energy – Live at the Lyceum 1981'' (1987) *''Sessions of the Damned'' (1993) *'' The Radio One Sessions'' (1996) *"Standing on the Edge of Tomorrow" (2018) *'' Evil Spirits'' (2018) *'' The Rockfield Files'' (2020) * '' Darkadelic'' (2023)


With Dolly Mixture

*"Everything and More" (1982)


With UFO

*"This Time" (1985) *''
Misdemeanor A misdemeanor (American English, spelled misdemeanour elsewhere) is any "lesser" criminal act in some common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished less severely than more serious felonies, but theoretically more so than admi ...
'' (1985) *''The Misdemeanour Tour'' (1985) *"Night Run" (1986) *'' Ain't Misbehavin''' (1988) *"Between a Rock and a Hard Place" (1988) *''Heaven's Gate (Live)'' (1993) *''Headstone: Live at Hammersmith 1983'' (1989) *''At The BBC on Air 1974 – 1985'' (2013) *''"Hot 'N' Live" The Chrysalis Live Anthology 1974-1983'' (2013)


With Captain Sensible

*'' Revolution Now'' (1989) *'' Live at the Milky Way'' (1994) *'' Meathead'' (1995)


With Andrew Ridgeley

*'' Son of Albert'' (1990)


With Canvey Island Allstars

*''Escape from Oil City'' (1991)


With René Berg

*''The Leather, The Loneliness And Your Dark Eyes'' (1992)


With Mischief / Wicked Gravity

*''Hubble Bubble'' (2002) (later reissued as ''Wicked Gravity'')


With The Sensible Gray Cells

*'' A Postcard from Britain'' (2013) *"So Long" / "What's the Point of Andrew?" (2020) *"Get Back into the World" / "World of Confusion" (2020) *'' Get Back into the World'' (2020)


With Sir Silence and The Hush

*''End of the Pier'' (2015)


With Rachel Taylor-Beales

*''Stones Throw, Lament of the Selkie'' (2015)


With EVO

*''Warfare'' (2017)


With Professor and the Madman

*''Disintegrate Me'' (2018) *''Live at the 100 Club'' (2019) *''Séance'' (2020)


With Nick Toczek & Signia Alpha

*''Walking The Tightrope'' (2021) *''The Columbus Memoirs'' (2022)


With Wingmen

*''Wingmen'' (2023)


With Signia Alpha

*''Entropy'' (2023) *''Wonderland'' (2025)


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, Paul 1958 births Living people English rock bass guitarists English male bass guitarists UFO (band) members The Damned (band) members People from Rochford Eddie and the Hot Rods members