00:00Christmas has come early for Kent band Daniel Takes a Train, who have found success in the UK heritage charts more than 40 years after forming.
00:10The group, whose members come from Deal and Warmer, first played together in the 80s, and their latest album has seen a surge of festive support.
00:19Their single, Just Like Patsy Cline, is a retro pop song with a country twist that has charmed listeners from over 100 countries.
00:28But let's take a listen, because it is very catchy.
00:47To talk more about this, I'm joined by one of the band members, Paul Baker.
00:51Paul, how does it feel knowing your song is playing at number one after decades?
00:58On the music scene.
01:00It's crazy, Ollie. I mean, we keep pinching ourselves.
01:04We just can't believe that 41 years after we formed, that suddenly we're number one in the charts.
01:10It's an amazing feeling. Absolutely fantastic.
01:14What do you think has made this song so popular?
01:17It had a pretty good hook, but what do you think has really driven these charts, these sales, these listens?
01:25I think people have loved the 80s, and I think we're an 80s band, and, you know, you can't take the 80s out of an 80s band.
01:34So it's got that sort of retro feel, you know, it's hopefully got a nice catchy hook, and it's got the nostalgia as well.
01:42I mean, a lot of people reminisce and, you know, remember the lovely days of Patsy Cline, and I think we've kind of, you know, crossed genres, really, and that's probably why it's been so popular.
01:53Right. Take me back to the heyday of the 80s. Obviously, your band's been going for quite a while.
02:01Well, how did it form, and what sort of antics did you get up to back in the day?
02:07Well, it was Dan and myself met at the Marquee Club many, many years ago, and we both loved music.
02:13He played this charming man down the phone by the Smiths to me, and I said, that's what I want to be.
02:19I want a jangly pop song band.
02:21So we formed in 84. We had some really good success.
02:26We played at Ronnie Scott's, the Empire Leicester Square, the Astoria.
02:30Perhaps our biggest caper was when we gatecrashed the Brit Awards in 1987.
02:35We saw Meatloaf had a party of 10 ladies with him, and we thought, let's just jump on the end and blag it into the event.
02:43So we got into the event. We gave out our cassettes, because it was cassettes in those days,
02:48to all of the different dignitaries from the music industry.
02:52Got photos with Alison Moyer and the Pet Shop Boys you may have seen there, and wet, wet, wet.
02:57And we heard on Radio 1 the next day that Peter Powell, the Radio 1 DJ,
03:03said it was the best part of the Brits when this young band gatecrashed their way past security.
03:08But sadly, Dan got a job in Barcelona, and in 88, we disbanded, and we thought, that's it, really.
03:15And we got on with our lives, got married, had kids, and did normal jobs.
03:20And then the drummer, in 2018, set up a Facebook page with the one video we'd ever shot,
03:26and a few little pictures of us in the band and what have you.
03:30We had 55 followers.
03:32And suddenly, a German record label got in contact and said,
03:35we love this sound that you've got on this video.
03:38I sent them 20 tracks, I think it was, 18, 20 tracks.
03:42And they came back three days later and said, we want to sign you.
03:45So we got signed 30 years after we'd split up.
03:48And it all went a bit crazy.
03:49But on the back of that, we reformed.
03:52We did three sell-out gigs at the Troubadour.
03:55We brought that new album out that just popped up there called Style, Charm, and Commotion,
03:59with all of the tracks from back in the day.
04:02And then we started writing again.
04:04And this song is the, we've had five top tens in the heritage chart.
04:09This is the first one that's ever gone to, funnily enough, we knocked Wet Wet Wet off the number one spot.
04:16And we met them at the Brits in 38 years earlier.
04:19So life has a funny way of turning around and going full circle.
04:23So it's just amazing.
04:25We're absolutely buzzing, as you can imagine, to have had this success so late in life.
04:31And it's amazing, isn't it?
04:32And we've got a new album out.
04:34It's amazing to see these were your contemporaries back in the day.
04:39And your music's still being listened to by everyone.
04:42And it is really interesting.
04:43Was it different getting the band back together?
04:46Was it kind of like slipping back into the old groove, as it were?
04:51Yeah, it was just like we'd known each other all our lives.
04:54And it's fantastic that you've got that camaraderie and friendships.
04:59I mean, you know, a lot of friendships don't last 40 years.
05:02And it's great that we're sort of still doing it together.
05:05And we're, you know, still friends after, you know, because in the music industry, you know,
05:09you've all got different sort of ideas about music.
05:11But Dan and I are the main songwriters.
05:13And we've kept going.
05:15And I think Dan said the other day that he thinks that, you know, our writing's getting better.
05:20So hopefully that seems to be the case with the chart position.
05:24So we're absolutely delighted.
05:26And we've got a new album coming out next week called The Hit Parade with 11 tracks on,
05:31including the number one hit single, just like Patsy Cline.
05:36So, yeah, we're really excited about doing some gigs next year and, you know,
05:41getting on the road and actually sort of performing to audiences.
05:45So, you know, really exciting times.
05:48Obviously, it's not the same music environment that your band started in all those years ago.
05:54You probably do a sellout tour of Kent back then.
05:57Nowadays, there are only a handful of reasonably sized venues dotted about.
06:02How have things changed, do you think, in this music industry?
06:05Because you were there now and you were here then.
06:08Yeah, you're right.
06:11I mean, in those days, you know, we were playing Ronnie Scott's Empire Leicester Square Astoria.
06:16And we kind of we thought that the chance had come and gone, to be honest with you.
06:22And now, after lockdown, the music venues are not so great.
06:25But then having said that, I was at the Aster Theatre in Deal last night seeing Squeeze play.
06:30So, you know, that would be a great thing for us to perhaps have a chance to play somewhere like that.
06:36So I think we've just got to take it bit by bit.
06:39We're writing new songs and just enjoy the moment.
06:43I think we've learned in this industry that you can never, never kind of get too excited because things, bubbles burst very quickly.
06:50But we're just enjoying the moment.
06:52I think that's the key to this success that we've had.
06:55And, you know, long may it continue.
06:57Well, it's been great speaking to you, wishing your band all the very best.
07:03Hopefully we'll see you on tour next year as well.
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