BIRTHDAY TRIBUTE TO A GLOBAL RENAISSANCE MAN, PAUL KORDA
His name might not perk your ears, but his talents have gone everywhere
HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the under-celebrated actor, producer, and singer-songwriter Paul Korda. Of Hungarian descent, he was born in Singapore into a creative family of accomplished entertainers, singers, songwriters, and accomplished musicians. From there his family moved around the world but Paul was schooled in England. At age 15, stoking his chops as a guitarist-pianist, he intersected professionally with Jon Anderson, P.P. Arnold, Sandy Denny, Elton John, The Small Faces, and Cat Stevens—who became one of Korda’s best friends. By age 17 he’d released his first single on Columbia. In 1967 he formed his first real band, but he gave his opening night at London’s 7 1⁄2 Club to Jimi Hendrix so that Hendrix could showcase to the English music business. Hendrix expressed his gratitude and referred to the Afro-wearing Korda as his "soul brother.”
Korda’s acting career broke out in 1968 when he was cast in the London musical production of HAIR. Concurrently he collaborated on a series of Parlophone singles with my friend, singer-songwriter Tim a.k.a. Chris Andrews.
Here’s an Andrews/Korda track featuring Paul:
In 1969 Paul became a social activist and started to release solo albums. His song “Seagull” (about an oil spill)
was covered by Love Sculpture. He was briefly in the fusion rock “one album wonderband” Dada.
Then came Korda’s album PASSING STRANGER, backed by Chris Spedding and future members of Average White Band (in the USA the title song was covered by Paul Revere & The Raiders).
Korda continued to produce and write for numerous global artists, most prominently with Roger Daltrey and Frankie Valli. Korda’s 1977 DANCING IN THE AISLES album made Top 10 and was commended by Bruce Springsteen, but the label went bankrupt and pulled support.
Yet he pressed on, doing projects with Phil Collins, Allan Holdsworth, and Mitch Mitchell.
Years later Korda returned to acting by appearing in PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN and SPINAL TAP while becoming an activist for low-income inner-city youth in a project co-piloted by Herb Alpert. By all accounts, Paul had constant brainstorms and bright projects in the works, from musicals to non-profits. He might not be a household name, but his talents have been shared around the world. Sadly, he passed away in 2020. Meanwhile, HB PK and thank you for your huge creative spark.
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