WHEN YOU THOUGHT YOU WERE IN FOR A LIFETIME
Or a henry padovani biography.

1952 :Born 13/10/52 bastia ( corsica)
1963: Being given a guitar at the age of 11 by his uncle .
Left the guitar in a corner until 14
1968 : Formed lapsus , a band with school mates
Playing English pop standards at local dance clubs
1971 : goes to university in aix en provence and ..but became a dj in a club.
Summer 76: plays in a club in calvi and meets paul mulligan.
1976 : autumn : goes to a flaming groovies concert at the university of aix en provence.
Meets them and they get along great. They invite him in London .this encounter will urge him to go to London.
Decide to leave to England in December 76 car packed with a guitar and an amplifier.
Moves in at the English friend he met in Corsica , paul mulligan, in Islington
His first task is to go and see his new friends ‘ the flaming groovies’. He meets there marc zermati who will become a lifetime friend
Paul introduce him to stewart Copeland who is just disbanding curved air.
Hangs around clubs and love the ‘punk’ vibe.
In the meantime , jams with stewart, his brother ian and various friends in stewart’s Mayfair squat. Miles Copeland is setting up management and touring office.
Goes to an audition : London with john moss ( future ex culture club) and ……They want him. Henry hesitates.
tells stewart who ask him officially to join him and form a band . he knows a bass player who will move to London from newcastle..his idea is to form a trio à la Jimi Hendrix.
He knows a bass player who can sing great , who had a jazz rock band Last exit and who will come down from Newcastle
Henry decides to spend Christmas in England.
1977 : January 1977: meet with sting at stewart’s mayfair squat .sting and his wife frances , an actress , just had a baby and they are sleeping at a friend’s in Bayswater.
They jam and they decide to form the police. Repertoire is all stewart’s.
12/1/1977 - The Police had their first rehearsal, held at drummer's Stewart Copeland's London flat, with stng on bss and vocals, stewart on drums Henry on guitar.
They rehearse for a month and start playing in clubs in london and around the country.
March 1977 :sees the electrics at dingwalls. Meet with them ( . wayne county, greg van cook, val haller and J.J Johnson.)
Henri is arrested drunk and driving a mini in kings cross. Bailed out by his friend paul, he spends a month signing on every evening at the clerkenwell police station..
In the meantime, Record fall out / nothing achieving at bazza’s with money lent by his friend paul mulligan. They put it out on miles label created for the occasion: illegal records.Stewart and henry spend their nights tagging the walls of London with a handcuffs logo and the name ‘the police’.
The record comes out to bad critics from press. They have little offers for gigs.
Miles come up with the costs saving idea of several bands on a bill .
The police goes on a European tour with cherry vanilla and plays also some dates with wayne county and the electric chairs. Tours England with johnnt thunders and the heartbreakers and cherry vanilla.
More tours and dates with the police.
May 1977 : meet with andy summers. Gong are doing a reunion in paris and the police will back mike howlett with andy summers in mike’s band strontium 99 .
The police does the gig in paris. They follow with more festivals.
June 77: Andy joins the band. They rehearse and play the music machine, The marquee.
6 aout 1977 : they are invited to play the festival de mont de marsan., punk festival with the clash, the damned? Eddie and the hot rods, etc etc..

Back in london for the recording of visions of the night and dead end job with john cale as producer .at bazza’s studios. It doesn’t go so well as john cale and andy summers go into dispute over and revive a querel henry and andy had in mont de marsan.
After recording sting and henry discuss his future in the police.
Andy brings in session work to sting and stewart..and times are tough….
Andy is bringing session work and money is needed. ..sting is thinking of joining his friend gerry from last exit in billy ocean baking band…

Henry leaves to Corsica after a first year of rock and roll. He is decided to go back there.
He is having a great time and knows everyone. He was to be voted ligger of the year with phil lynnott of thin lizzy , just in front of steve jones of the pistols by city limits magazine…

September 1977: back in London. The electric chairs ask him to join.
First gig at the roundhouse in London.

During that time henry goes and see his friends from the police who are having a hard times making ends meets. Andy takes them in germany to work with eberahard shoener whom with they record 17 songs between 78 and 81.

September 1977 until ….

Henry has just joned the band after they recorded their first album and the infamous single 4if you don’t want to fuck me , fuck off’.
He will stay 3 years with them recording 2 albums and various singles.
Storm the gates of heaven with producer martin birch at the marquee studios at the end of 78 and things you mother never told you with producer david Cunningham of the flying lizards at berry streets studios in .april 79.

During that time, they play up and down the country , Europe , especially in germany where a cover of the electric prunes ‘ I had to much t dream last night ’ hits the charts.
Berlin is their favorite spot and wayne gets henry to meet all the weirdos of this world.
During that time henry has moved from his friend flat in Islington into a posh squatt in queensgate with the electric chairs. Wayne introduces him to psychedelic music and the ventures sound.
Henry writes most of the second album with wayne.
He has finally found his sound and his direction.
The band is doing very well and the gigs are sold out everywhere.
The 2nd album is compared to david bowie’s Low and iggy pop’s Lust for life.
They make the front cover of the NME.
The band record for bbc the john peel sessions with david Cunningham.

Wayne who is more and more into the idea of becoming a woman freaks out and becomes uncontrollable.
Wayne asks henry to join him in new york. He would rather stay in England with the band.

Wayne county and the electric chairs split. Remain: john Johnson, Val haller and henry.
They Record ‘j attends les marines ‘as a trio.
‘J attends les marines’ is single of the week in the New Musical Express.
Safari record doesn4t want to support the band anymore.

They form : mystery 5 (: john Johnson, val haller , chris reeves and henry.)
and record 2 singles for flicknife records? Frenchie’s label.

Val and henry often play in a squatt in shepperd’s bush with henry’s friend chris musto
on drums.

Henry moves from the squatt in queeensgate to a £ 10sordid flat in Vauxhall . Form the flying padovani’s together with chris musto on drums . Record va plus haut and western pasta for demon records with lol coxhill ( legendary soprano sax player – jimi Hendrix, bb king, pink floyd…etc..) , val haller ( from the electric chairs) on synth and james eller on bass as guests.
Audition bass players in Vauxhall and meet with paul slack , ex uk subs.
They into playing instrumenal guitar music.

Va plus haut/ western pasta is single of the week in the New Musical Express.

February 1980 :Record for skydog records ‘the flying padovani’s font l enfer’.
They tour in england, Sweden, france etc etc..support about everyone in England and Europe, bruce springsteen comes to see them play, people talk about them. The only band playing spychedelic instrumental guitar music.
They are rock garden and the venue favorite, play with the pretenders and henry meets a important friend ‘pete farndon’ who is playing bass with the pretenders.

It is duing that period that henry greets the tomcats , to call themselves the stray cats in his flat in vauxhall. He introduce them to Claudine riley who become their press agent.
He followsthem to their London gigs in London where he often meet with pete farndon
And a ever present hord of hells angels.

Henry has moved from Vauxhall in Camberwell new road.£19 a week council house.
Things are getting better.
Tour England with the flying padovani’s. support the jam,stiff little fingers.

1982: the Flying padovani’s split up.
During a short call ? henry, chris musto, glen matlock ( sex pistols) and critic nick kent form the subterraneans but wafter a month rehearsals, nick kent freaks out and disappear on the day of their first programmed gig at the screen on the hill in notting hill gate.

Pete farndon , who has left just the pretenders calls him to joins him, topper ( clash), mickey Gallagher ( session keyboards with clash, ian dury etc…) and they start auditioning for singers.
Meet steve allen ex original mirrors…
Form Samourai. Sign with robby dickens (warner chappell) and clive banks.

Rehearse for recording with the samourai several tracks with producers clive langer and alan wistanley.
14/4/83 : Pete fardon is found dead in his london flat. Henry is the first one on the premises and sees his friend pete , drowned and dead in his bath, his shoulder tattoo the only emerging piece flesh out the filthy water.
Pete townsend comes in as producer
Send topper to California for getting rid of heroin habit
Go and spend 3 weeks with topper in his Corsican village.
Go back to London..it is hopeless .Record several tracks in London with pete townsend.
But nothing can now heal the pain , pete’s death and tooper’s addiction.
Split the band.

Henry is called by a Corsican bass player , Philippe Quillichini to record a French opera singer Armande Altai. Henry uses that to have all his gear and his guitars repaired and checked, earns some money too. He meets Nico whom with he goes in studio with Philippe..dope is everywhere…

Emotionnally sheltered by his friend chris musto, the flying padovani’s reform, go and record again , add a few tracks to ‘font l enfer’ for skydog records and razor records and bring out ‘ they call them crazy’.
Go back to touring with the padovani’s.
Play a series of dates in france.

1984 : Meet with miles Copeland at a Johnny thunders gig at the London lyceum .
miles asks him to join him at irs records.
April 1984 Move to paris and become head of international for irs records.

Spend 10 years with irs and become vp of international for irs records.
The job takes him to paris 84-86, London 86-89, Amsterdam 89-92, paris 92-94.

During that time , IRS records , probably the best ever independent label discover and sign : the bangles, the gogos, REM, the cramps, William orbit, timbuk 3, the alarm, doctor and the medics, the felshtones, wall of voodoo, stan ridgway , concrete blonde etc etc…

1993 :IRS is slowly absorbed by EMI .Decide to also work with miles on the publishing side.
Create with him and Daniel graeff the songwriters retreats at chateau de marouatte.
Where they put together songwriters and performers. ( cher, Brian adams, Jools Hollands, Jeff beck, Stewart Copeland, chris difford, Kevin savigar, pat mc Donald, etc etc zucchero)

May 94: meet with zucchero.
June : become with miles Copeland managers of zucchero.

June 94 until april 2000 : Management : management of zucchero .About 8 millions albums sold over the world with zucchero, worldwide tours, many number ones with ‘Il volo’ , many duets with buddy guy, eric clapton, tom jones, Pavarotti , bono, sherell crowe, bb king, alanah myles, Johnny halliday, etc etc..
In 1997 picks up management of Corsican band I muvrini and brings their music to radio ( thanks to duet with sting on terre d oru-fields of gold) and to tv ( with video with sting, laetitia casta? Maria grazzia cucinotti etc…) highlights include the playing of 2 consecutive bercy halls on june 5 and 6 1998.

April 2000: totally desillusionned by artist management , goes onto a sabbatical.

2002:
may 2002: produce casa de la trova, Cuban act around the faez sisters for Warner Jazz.
Album ‘ la serenata picante’.

June 2002: jean henri meunier long time friend move to paris to edit a film for jacques perrin. Henry decide to write a song for the movie : Parfois .
September 2002: jean henri doesn’t think the song is right for the movie but asks henry to write an album to a book of poems jena henri wrote.
October –december 2002 : henry writes about 30 songs, one for the movie ‘ ici najac ‘ and the others from which he chooses 12 for an album.

2003
June 2003: the movie ‘la vie comme elle va’ ( life as it goes) , premiered on arte .

2004 :
january : 2004 : henry starts recording the album, with serge veneruso and yves aouizeratte. They first begin at home at henry’s and do the overdubs in paris at ADS studios, with manu katché on drums, glen matlock on bass ( sex pistols) , chris musto on drums ( flying padovani’s, Johnny thunders, joe strummer….) steve hunter on guitar
( lou reed , alice cooper, peter Gabriel etc…) , stewart Copeland on drums and Sting on bass on ‘welcome home’, a sort of a mini early Police reunion.
The album will be called ‘ à croire que c’était pour la vie’(’when you believed it was forever’)…
March 2004 : ‘la vie comme elle va’ goes in the cinemas and obtains the first prize SCAM 2004 and is also shown in films festivals all over the world.
In September 2004, he opens his site ‘ www.henrypadovani.com’ and , pushed by the Police Community surfers starts to write lived stories on the creation and the life of this mythical band and on the inside views of this blessed london new wave period.

2005 :henry finishes the recording and the mix of the album ‘ when you believed it was forever’ , continues and finishes the writing of his musical adventures, past and present, which now constitute a book of the same title ‘ when you believed it was forever’, in french and in english, to be published with french publisher Flammarion, collaborates at the production of a road movie based on the album and directed by Jean Henri Meunier, works on the music of ‘ la vie comme elle vient’, the sequel to ‘la vie comme elle va’, on Jean Pierre Mocky’s next movie and envisage a stage return with friends Steve Hunter, Lol, Glen Matlock and Chris Musto.

April 16 2005: France 3 Corse will broadcast the ‘ flying Padovani’, a 52 minutes documentary on Henry’ life directed by André Marriagi.