And he says the lead vocals to which the group mimed, including that memorable falsetto, were the ones he’d recorded earlier.“It was very unfortunate timing, really,” he says with understatement. Daughter Claire Prewer-Jenkinson is an opera singer (due to appear at the Royal Albert Hall next year) and grandson Aaron Prewer-Jenkinson is also skilled in that direction, as well as playing bass, saxophone and harmonica – and singing – in Paul’s band.“I think the business has become very, very polished and ultra-professional, in every aspect,” he says.Would he prefer to be in his pop pomp now or in the 1960s?“I think it was a much more pure, organic form of expression in the ’60s and ’70s, and the ’80s to an extent, than what it is now. If you value what this story gives you, please consider supporting the Norwich Evening News. This newspaper has been a central part of community life for many years. I said ‘Hey, guys, it’s got to be higher.’ And they went ‘Yeah… right!’ And I sang it.”And that seemed to be it. The song came from nowhere to spend … Love you baby love, sugar baby love Love her anyway, love her ev'ryday. Of the Original Rubettes line-up only John Richardson, Alan Williams and Pete Arnesen participated in the recording of "Sugar Baby Love" with the falsetto lead vocal performed by Paul Da Vinci (legal name: Paul Prewer). Paul Da Vinci sang on The Rubettes 1973 mega-hit Sugar Baby Love You will… you will remember it…especially if you were a child in 1974, witnessing The Rubettes’ debut on Top of the Pops. Ahead of a visit to The Talk in Norwich with his 60s and 70s show, he explained the background to that strange Sugar Baby Love story.Actually, his own story really begins in the late 1960s, when Paul Prewer (as was) sang with “1984”. It’s a long way from Paul’s Essex roots in Grays – he was born in the same road as Denise Van Outen and Russell Brand – but they love it.
We can also hear him sing on some records by Dexy’s Midnight Runners. The Rubettes’ first (and biggest hit) was “Sugar Baby Love” (released in 1974) which was a UK no. His falsetto voice definitely hits the spot! He’s sung on albums by Ringo Starr, blues legend Gary Moore and Jeff Wayne, and did backing vocals on Top of the Pops for Elton John and Justin Hayward, and on an album by David Essex.
“When I fly to Spain (there’s a date due at Benidorm Palace) it will take a couple of days to get over the air-conditioning from the plane. In 1973, Wayne Bickerton, then head of A&R at Polydor Records, wrote four songs in an "American 50's type" sound with co-writer Tony Waddington. In 1974 Wayne Bickerton, the then head of A&R at Polydor, and his songwriting partner Tony Waddington hired session men to play a song they'd written, "Sugar Baby Love." In hindsight, not being a member of the original Rubettes didn’t appear to dent his career at all. Until he learned The Rubettes, a band made up of session singers, were going to be on Top of the Pops. I won’t say who it was, but a friend of mine went to see someone who had won X Factor and this particular singer, she said, was fantastic for two songs, but then they were bored because this person hadn’t trodden the boards and learned their craft. Was he interested in doing some sessions?
His long list of achievements includes being the narrator in The Who’s rock opera, Tommy, in the West End and Essex, and having his own band open for Fats Domino at the Royal Albert Hall.Paul now performs with his own band, but he still sings that song. “We were flying from Stansted all the time, so it was ridiculous coming from Somerset. Our industry faces testing times, which is why we're asking for your support. Click the link in the orange box above for details. “It was a long time ago, but it was a defining moment in my career,” Paul says. It’s the second-anniversary celebration of the Facebook-born group We Love Bury St Edmunds, but is open to all.It’s all in a good cause, too. “Sugar Baby Love” – by a studio act put together as a glam cash-in – is impeccably generic and a total candyfloss rush all at once: the rock’n’roll revival in a bubblegum pile-up. The counter-melody comes to dominate and you think ‘Ah…!’”Paul says he’s not musically trained, but would find himself working until 4am or 5am as it all flowed. Can somebody please answer a question for me that has always puzzled me about The Rubettes, and it is this: I know Paul Da Vinci did sing the falsetto on their first hit, Sugar Baby Love, but at which point did Alan Williams then take over as lead singer of the group?