This week on The Collection, we are talking one of my all time favorite singers and one of the nicest guys in the world…Paul Laine. I’ve followed Paul since his debut solo album in 1990 all the way to today through his bands Danger Danger, The Defiants, Dark Horse, Shugaazer and everything else. We go through his catalog so join me and I hope you discover something you’ve been missing.
So go check it out as it will be live tonight at 7pm, April 21, 2025 on YouTube. Thanks for stopping by and please click “Like” and hit “Subscribe” as it helps out the site when you do.
And if you want to watch the Interview I did with Mike Ladano 4 years ago with Paul Laine, check it out below…it was a blast!!
For My Sunday Song #419, we have another song from The Defiant’s. This time around it is “Fallin’ For You” from the bands second album, ‘Zokusho’. It was written by Paul Laine and his buddy Bruno Ravel. If you thought the first album was good, then this one will not disappoint. A band that is celebrating that 80’s rock sound and this particular song is all that and more. This one was a single and even had a video. You gotta love that.
Lyrically, the song is about a woman that comes in to his life when he wasn’t looking for love. Heck, she wasn’t either as she just got out of a relationship. They were both wrong place, wrong time, but the heart wants what the heart wants. He has fallin’ for her hard and wants to know what to do. How can they make it work despite everything saying it can’t. A classic love story that has been in every Rom-Com out there.
With a little keyboard opening and then a gritty guitar riff, we get a classic Danger Danger style rocking love song. You get swept up in those big choruses, catchy hooks and that Paul Laine vocal. He was made for these type of songs. The guitar solo is huge, crazy riffs, fast flying fingers. It all screams 80’s and I scream along with it…Hell Yeah!!! A fun song that will get stuck in your head for days.
Give the song a listen and tell me that music doesn’t take you back to the 80’s. 80’s music was the best as it was the most fun and I am thrilled The Defiants are celebrating that sound. It makes you feel so good. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed this week’s song. Have a wonderful and Happy Sunday!!
“Fallin’ For You”
I wasn’t looking for somebody to love me I wasn’t waiting for a second chance You know I’ve never really been that lucky I’d given up trying to understand You were getting over some old heartbreak You never counted on me walking through your door, yeah
I didn’t know I was waiting for you It’s out of my hands and there’s nothing I can do
Girl, I can’t help it (I can’t help it) There’s something in the air tonight I just wanna tell you (wanna tell you) That my heart’s got nothing to hide I can’t hold back even if I tried Tell me what I gotta do ‘Cause girl, you got me Fallin’ for you (fallin’ for you) What’s a boy to do? (Fallin’ for you) You got me fallin’, fallin’ for you, oh
I was runnin’ in the wrong direction I was headed down a dead end road In the mirror was my own reflection Telling me you’re better off alone All I knew is there was someone for me Someone out there with a heart that beat like mine, oh
You were the one I was dreaming about I’m head over heels and there ain’t no doubt
Girl, I can’t help it (I can’t help it) There’s something in the air tonight I just wanna tell you (wanna tell you) That my heart’s got nothing to hide I can’t hold back even if I tried Tell me what I gotta do ‘Cause girl, you got me Fallin’ for you (fallin’ for you) And there ain’t no use (fallin’ for you) You got me fallin’, fallin’ for you
‘Cause that’s the thing about love when you find it Try to hold on and never let go It’s the chance that you take Between love and fate And only your heart will know
I didn’t know I was waiting for you It’s out of my hands and there’s nothing I can do You were the one I was dreaming about I’m head over heels and there ain’t no doubt
Girl, I can’t help it (I can’t help it) There’s something in the air tonight I just wanna tell you (wanna tell you) That I’m ready to give you this heart of mine I can’t hold back even if I tried Tell me what I gotta do ‘Cause girl, you got me Fallin’ for you (fallin’ for you) Girl, I’m stuck on you (fallin’ for you) (Fallin’ for you) and there ain’t no use
what’s a boy to do? (Fallin’ for you, fallin’ for you) oh girl, you got me fallin’ (Fallin’ for you) hey (fallin’ for you) oh, oh, I’m fallin’ (Fallin’ for you, fallin’ for you) fallin’ for you (Fallin’ for you) fallin’ for you (fallin’ for you) fallin’ for you (Fallin’ for you) yeah, you know I can’t help it (fallin’ for you) Oh, I wanna tell you (fallin’ for you) There’s something in the air tonight (fallin’ for you) hoo
Recently, I looked up the definition of the word “fun” in the Oxturd Dictionary and it told me the definition was “to be Defiant”. I thought that sounded about right. So, how could I be defiant. Well, the quickest and easiest way was to pick up the latest release by the band The Defiants. I figured that fit the bill of “fun” quite nicely.
And I was right!
The band consists of three members all stemming from the band Danger Danger. They are Bruno Ravel on bass, Rob Marcello on guitar and Paul Laine on vocals. And to make the Danger Danger connection even stronger, drummer Steve West filled in on the kit for this recording. Since Danger Danger still exists with lead singer Ted Poley, they couldn’t use that name so they came up with their own.
‘Zokusho’ is the band’s second album and the word actually means “sequel” or “next chapter” in Japanese which is actually what this record is. The band picks up right where they left off on their debut. If you liked 80’s rock and the whole melodic rock scene, let me tell you that it doesn’t get much better than this.
After doing the Danger Danger Album Ranking, I thought why not continue and do all of Paul Laine’s albums as well. So, here we are with Paul Laine’s albums ranked Worst to First!. Who is Paul Laine you might ask? I will tell you.
Paul is a singer, songwriter, musician, producer from Vancouver, Canada. He started out as a solo artist way back in 1990 and later joined the band Danger Danger as their lead singer. He also formed a band called Shugaazer, a band called Darkhorse and a band called The Defiants. He likes band names that start with “D” except for Shugaazer so not sure what he was thinking there.
Paul is a gifted singer and sings mostly Rock and his voice has matured nicely over the years. It has gone from a wild-untamed sound to a more controlled, smooth instrument. And he has even delved into Country music (more on that later).
I have followed his career from the beginning thanks to working at Sam Goody back in 1990. His CD came in to the store as a promo copy (and I played it a lot) and when it was time for that CD to retire from the playlist, yours truly got to take it home with him. It was from that point on, that Paul could do no wrong (even though he has had a few missteps).
It is out of that fandom, I bring you this list. Enjoy!!
THE WORST – ANDERSEN, LAINE, READMAN – THREE (2006):
This is an interesting side project from Andre Andersen. Andre is the keyboardist and composer in the band Royal Hunt. Andre brought in two sensational voices to split the songs. You have David Readman of Pink Cream 69 and Paul Laine. They each get 5 songs and for the most part the songs rock and as a set is pretty cool.
2 Loud 2 Old Music 