Not only does Paul Oakenfold produce records, but he also mixes them. In 1987 he spent several months in Ibiza with a few friends and fell in love with dance club music. Oakenfold produced "Happy Mondays' Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches" before producing for U2, Massive Attack, Simply Red and New Order (to name a few).
In 1999 after building an American fanbase he released "Tranceport" which was widely accepted by American trance fans.
After "Tranceport" came "Perfecto Presents Another World" which was arguably his most successful album, as it introduced millions more to his style.
His popularity grew as many of his works were inclulded in movie soundtracks such as Swordfish, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions, Die Another Day (where he remixed the James Bond theme before later going to work on the videogame Goldeneye: Rogue Agent in 2004) and Collateral.
In 2002 he released Bunkka, which featured the hit single 'Starry-Eyed Surprise'. In the same year, Oakenfold was listed in Q's "50 Bands to see Before you Die" compilition.
2004 brought about the double album 'Creamfields', but it was in 2005 that he released the Perfecto Album entitled 'Perfecto Presents The Club'.
He also released the album Great Wall, recorded live at the Great Wall of China.
2006 saw the release of 'A Lively Mind' where he colloborated with, amongst others, Brittany Murphy (for the single Faster Kill Pussycat) and Pharrell Williams. 'A Lively Mind' is an edgier, more club-based album, as opposed to his calmer album Bunkka.
Paul Oakenfold's musical career started from admirably humble beginnings, playing soul and rare groove cuts in a Covent Garden wine bar in the late 'seventies with mate Trevor Fung. By the early 'eighties, having decided that NYC was the place, Paul decamped there armed only with the chutzpah to blag his way into a courier's job in West Harlem. At that time, more than any other, New York was bursting with musical invention: hip-hop was the freshest street sound around, and Larry Levan - arguably the first ever superstar DJ, inspiring a frenzy in the crowd that some guy playing records had never inspired before - was packing out the Paradise Garage every week with the revolutionary, hypnotic mixing style that would become the acid house DJ's stock in trade.
Returning to London, Paul became one of the UK's leading authorities on hip-hop. During his stint as an A&R man for Champion he signed the as-then unknowns Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, and Salt N'Pepa. Oh yeah, and he appeared on Blue Peter with a breakdancing crew who he was looking after at the time.
In 1985 young Paul spent the summer on a beautiful Balearic island called Ibiza. Ever heard of it? Oakey is as much responsible as anyone for making it the clubber's paradise it is today, as two years after that first trip he, alongside mates Trevor Fung, Nicky Holloway, Ian St Paul, Danny Rampling and Johnny Walker, went there for a week to celebrate his birthday. If the first visit had been good, this one changed their lives forever. Dancing in the warm night air beneath stars at the then open-air Amnesia to the oddest mix of music any of them had ever heard, courtesy of island legend Alfredo, Paul's urge to import this incredible experience - and the Balearic sound - back to England became too great to resist.
Prior to his Ibiza trip, Paul had been running a successful soul/jazz night at The Project in Streatham. On his return from the white island he persuaded the owner to let him run an after-hours 'Ibiza reunion' party. An attempt at a Balearic music policy had failed Paul one year earlier: the crowd just hadn't been ready to hear so many musical styles mixed together in one night, let alone in one DJ's set, but by 1987, and coupled with Paul's sheer enthusiasm and showman's talent for setting a musical mood, attitudes were changing. The night was a complete success, and led to what was to be - alongside Danny Rampling's Shoom - one of London's, and England's, first major acid house nights: Spectrum at Heaven in Charing Cross.
Spectrum grew out of Future, a night held in The Sanctuary, which annexed the much bigger Heaven club. Many never thought Spectrum (suitably subtitled 'Theatre Of Madness') would succeed: a 1500+ capacity club on a Monday night? Forget about it. And at first they looked to be right. For the first few weeks, attendance was low, leaving Paul and co-promoter Ian St Paul in dire financial straits. Then, suddenly, the vibe was out and the queues were literally going around the block. And a new phase in club culture had begun.
Spectrum continued for a couple of years, changing its name along the way to Land Of Oz. New initiates to the scene (as almost everybody was) marvelled at the full-on atmosphere of the place: hands reaching up into the sweat hazed air, laser lights pulsing and washing over the smiling crowd. Alex Paterson (later of The Orb) DJed in the VIP chillout area (the White Room), while Paul created his now trademark fervour in the cavernous main room.
Alongside running a seminal club night, Paul's production career had also begun by 1988 under the name Electra, working with long-time collaborator Steve Osborne. By 1990, with his work on The Happy Mondays' frugadelic Wrote For Luck and then Hallelujah (on the Madchester Rave On EP), Paul had created two of the cornerstone records of the indie-dance scene, a hybrid that demystified acid house for kids who'd been raised on a musical diet of guitar, bass, and drums. Paul was one of the guest DJs at The Stone Roses' legendary Spike Island gig, and his work with Osborne on The Happy Mondays' classic Pills, Thrills And Bellyaches LP (NME's 1990 Album Of The Year) won the pair the 1991 Brit Award for Best Producer.
Remix galore followed, for Mondays labelmates New Order; Massive Attack; The Shamen, and Arrested Development among others, as Paul and Steve began trading under the name Perfecto. If the name was little known at first that soon changed with the 1992 Perfecto mix of U2's Even Better Than The Real Thing. The track, with delicious irony, attained a higher chart position on release than the original song, thus signalling a watershed in the history and growth of dance music.
1993 saw Paul hired to provide the warm-up sonics on U2's Zoo TV world tour, and as a result the de facto arrival of the superstar DJ. The past decade has seen Paul rack up a dizzying blur of firsts and foremosts, including, not least, his being voted the number one DJ in the world by the readers of DJ magazine, and has heard the name "Oakey!" yelled hoarsely from clubs, fields (including an epoch-making set on the main stage at Glastonbury Festival, no less) and arenas in every corner of the globe.
On the production front Paul began to release his own tracks as well as continuing to turn in remixes, while Perfecto expanded into a fully-fledged label. Its offshoot, Perfecto Fluoro, became the label of choice in the mid-'nineties for the harder, trippier Goa trance sound. Today Perfecto boasts artists as diverse as Arthur Baker, Harry 'Choo Choo' Romero, and Timo Maas on its roster, and has gone from strength to strength by refusing to pander to only one style of dance music. Alongside the building of the Perfecto brand, Paul released a string of superlative mix CD's, amongst them his awesome New York set for Global Underground - still the series' biggest seller to date. And who else would have been commissioned to write the theme for what was certain to be the biggest TV show of all time? How did you guess? Paul wrote and produced the Big Brother theme, as Element 4, with Andy Gray.
On the club front, well, time for a deep breath...Ready? OK, here we go: Paul undertook a legendary two-year residence at Liverpool's Cream that took residencies in general to another level, from the personally designed DJ booth to die-hard fans (dubbed 'the Oakenfolk' in the press) who would travel the length and breadth of the country week in, week out to hear him whip up a magical musical storm, that would still be ringing in the ears and exciting the mind in the office or the lecture hall on Monday morning. Ever keen to push himself further and harder, Paul decamped in 1999 to become Director of Music at home, the multi-million pound superclub built defiantly - and, as it turned out, problematically - in Leicester Square, the heart of London's West End. That club's immediate downturn in popularity after Paul's departure goes to show the extent of his impact and following. There are but a handful of DJ's in the world who attract the fervour and create the excitement that he is capable of provoking in a crowd. You only have to be there when he plays to feel the electric charge in the atmosphere, more akin to the devotional than the merely appreciative.
Leaving home was a difficult decision for Paul, but he risked his UK and European profile, not to mention turning down the certainty of serious amounts of cash, to decamp to America, one of the few places in the world - ironically, given that it all started there - where dance music is yet to be championed and grasped in the way in which it is elsewhere around the globe. But this was a move typical of the man: where others would sit on their laurels and bathe in their hard-won glory, he has always taken the tougher option, sustained by his belief that greater effort means greater rewards. It's this attitude that saw him leave a huge fanbase in Britain to start all over again in the U.S.; that has seen him play to crowds in the low hundreds in isolated Alaska; and that led him to take a pair of Technics with him when he went on holiday to Cuba, and organise a free, unpromoted and not strictly legal party, purely to spread the word of great, life-affirming music and good, good times. This man lives, breathes and eats his art.
So what now for a man at the pinnacle of his profession, the world's premiere DJ? Why, upward, ever upward of course. 2001 has seen Paul score the Joel Silver-produced and John Travolta-starring Swordfish, remix the theme to Tim Burton's Planet Of The Apes, DJ on Moby's Arena:One U.S. tour, and make a triumphal return to his home shores with a free gig that left tens of thousands sweat-soaked and grinning like Cheshire Cats on London's Clapham Common. We can only expect that the best is yet to come, so stay tuned and prepare to be amazed.
White Lights
Paul Oakenfold Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Everything about you's got me upside down
Stepped into your rollercoaster, can't get out
Everything I'm looking for, I found
Oh, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
Follow me, follow me, follow me to the morning light
Oh, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
Oh, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
Follow me, follow me, follow me to the morning light
Oh, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
All around, all around you see is white lights
Take a minute, try to get my senses back
Take the long way home to find out what I lack
One potion of you mixed with all belief and I get lost
Take me off the radar, I don't care the cost
Oh, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
Follow me, follow me, follow me to the morning light
Oh, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
Follow me, follow me, follow me to the morning light
Oh, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
Follow me, follow me, follow me to the morning light
Oh, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
All around, all around you see is white lights
If you can't find me, that's 'cause I've been here
They can't find me, that's 'cause I've been here
If you can't go where I go, then stay clear
They can't find me, that's 'cause I've been here
Here, here, here, here, here, here, here
Oh, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
Follow me, follow me, follow me to the morning light
Oh, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
Follow me, follow me, follow me to the morning light
Oh, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
Follow me, follow me, follow me to the morning light
Oh, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
All around, all around you see is white lights
The lyrics to "White Lights" by Paul Oakenfold convey a sense of intense attraction and infatuation towards someone, resulting in a mind-altering experience. The opening lines, "Everything about you turns me inside out, Everything about you's got me upside down" depict the overwhelming effect this person has on the singer. They are completely consumed by their presence, and it seems to disrupt their entire world.
The line "Stepped into your rollercoaster, can't get out" further illustrates the feeling of being caught up in a whirlwind of emotions and experiences. The singer is unable to extricate themselves from this intense connection. However, they embrace this feeling, as expressed in the line "Everything I'm looking for, I found," suggesting that they have discovered what they have been searching for in this person.
The repeated chorus of "Follow me, follow me, follow me to the morning light" signifies a desire to be led by this person, to experience something new and exciting. It emphasizes the captivating nature of their presence and the singer's willingness to follow them into the unknown.
In the second verse, the lyrics suggest a temporary loss of oneself: "Take a minute, try to get my senses back, Take the long way home to find out what I lack." It implies that the singer is willing to take risks and explore new territories, even if it means losing a sense of direction or control. They are intoxicated by this person's presence and are not concerned about the consequences.
The line "One potion of you mixed with all belief and I get lost" indicates that the combination of this person's influence and the singer's own beliefs and desires results in a profound sense of disorientation. They willingly let go of their inhibitions and are enamored by the experience, even if it means feeling lost.
The line "All around, all around you see is white lights" alludes to the overwhelming sensation and intensity of being immersed in the presence of this person. It suggests that their aura or energy has a transformative effect, enveloping everything in a surreal glow.
The final verse introduces an element of secrecy and exclusivity: "If you can't find me, that's 'cause I've been here, They can't find me, that's 'cause I've been here." It implies that the singer has found solace or a special connection in this person, and others are unable to comprehend or reach that level of connection. The repetition of "here" further emphasizes the sense of being hidden away and having an intimate bond that others cannot access.
In summary, the lyrics of "White Lights" depict a mesmerizing and transformative encounter with someone who turns the singer's world upside down. The attraction is so overwhelming that they willingly surrender to it, even if it means losing themselves in the process. The song conveys the intoxicating bliss and all-consuming nature of infatuation, symbolized by the metaphorical "white lights" that surround them both.
Line by Line Meaning
Everything about you turns me inside out
Your presence and influence completely overwhelm and change me
Everything about you's got me upside down
Every aspect of you has me feeling disoriented and in a state of chaos
Stepped into your rollercoaster, can't get out
I willingly entered into the turbulence and unpredictability of our relationship and now I feel trapped and unable to escape
Everything I'm looking for, I found
I have discovered everything I desired and sought in you
Take a minute, try to get my senses back
I need to pause and regain control of my emotions and thoughts
Take the long way home to find out what I lack
I am willing to take a detour in my life's journey in order to understand what I am missing or lacking
One potion of you mixed with all belief and I get lost
When combined with my unwavering faith and trust in you, even a small dose of your presence can cause me to lose my sense of direction and purpose
Take me off the radar, I don't care the cost
Remove me from the attention and awareness of others, regardless of the consequences
If you can't find me, that's 'cause I've been here
If you are unable to locate me, it is because I have deliberately chosen to be in this state of emotional absorption
They can't find me, that's 'cause I've been here
Others cannot locate me because I have willingly secluded myself within this emotional state
If you can't go where I go, then stay clear
If you are unable to accompany me on my emotional journey, it is best to stay away and not interfere
They can't find me, that's 'cause I've been here
Others cannot find me because I have intentionally immersed myself in this emotional realm
All around, all around you see is white lights
In this emotional state, all that surrounds me and captures my attention is a dazzling display of metaphorical white lights
Lyrics © Songtrust Ave
Written by: Anthony Robert Crawford, Harry Gregson Williams, Paul Mark Oakenfold, Ryan B Tedder
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Juan Carlos Dunick
on Galactic Mantra (Liquid Soul Remix)
Many small errors in these lyrics. A few big ones.