Paul Bliss / The Edge Of Coincidence

Birmingham-England born Paul Bliss released nice UK AOR albums with Bliss Band; “Dinner with Raoul” (1978) recorded in Los Angeles and produced by Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, the guitarist for Doobie Brothers, and Neon Smiles (1979) on CBS Records.
One of the Bliss Band song “How Do I Survive” was covered by Amy Holland, the current spouse of Michael McDonald in 1980 on her debut album and the first single from the album, peaking at number 22 on the US Billboard Hot 100. Thus Bliss became recognised as a songwriter and provided a song “Take My Time” for Sheena Easton debut album in 1981, then co-wrote a hit song “Heart Attack” with Steve Kipner, for Olivia Newton John reaching number 3 on Billboard chart in 1982. In 1983, Bliss wrote 3 songs solely and 2 songs with Steve Kipner for Hollies album “ What Goes Around...”. For Al Jarreau, Bliss wrote “Muphy's Law” on the 1984 album “High Crime” it might be interesting to know that Bliss also wrote a song for Janet Jackson; that was “Communication” on her second album “Dream Street” released in 1984. The impressive opening track of Celine Dion’s 1990 English language international debut album “Unison”; "(If There Was) Any Other Way" was his composition. Bliss also co-wrote the following second track "If Love Is Out the Question".
Bliss was however, primarily known for being backup musician for the British Bands, "The Hollies" and "The Moody Blues" from 1989 to 2009.

According to the liner notes with the CD written by. Bliss, "The Edge Of Coincidence" is a collection of demo recordings since 1983. The initial intention was to re-record them all, but apart from being a monumental task time-wise he concluded that many of the original recordings had an atmosphere he did not want to lose. Thus, Bliss’ version of "Castled On Quicksand" is included, which was performed by Think Out Loud, Peter Beckett and Steve Kipner's duo unit on 1997 “Shelf Life” album. “Heartache To Heartache” was recorded by Amii Stewart in 1988. The album also features self-remake versions of three Bliss Band songs; “How Do I Survive”, “Chicago” and “Rio”. “Telepathy” was originally performed by Al Jarreau on 1986 “L Is For Lover’ album. The CD is closed by “Innocent Eyes”, the title song of Graham Nash’s fourth solo album released in 1986.

Release: late 1997 / 25 September, 1999 (Japan)
Label : None, UK (self-release) / Cool Sound Inc., Japan (COOL-036)
Producer: Paul Bliss

Tracks:
1. Castles On Quicksand
2. Heartache To Heartache
3. How Do I Survive
4. Musical Pictures
5. Chicago
6. Rio
7. I Used To Love The Radio
8. One In A Million
9. Valiant Heart
10. The Eyes Of A Child
11. Hand On Your Heart
12. Unsung Heroes
13. If Love Is Out The Question
14. Telepathy
15. Law Of The Jungle
16. Innocent Eyes

Paul Bliss: Vocals, Keyboards
- Musicians -
Lead Vocal: Susie Benson (Track 4), Micky Feat (Track 9), Jackie Rawe (Track 13), Ian Palmer (Track 14)
Back Vocals: Sharon Campbell
Guitars: Phil Palmer

#PaulBliss