(September 11, 2025) UK singer and songwriter Paul Stuart Davies shared with us the story behind his upcoming single, a collaboration with the late great soul man Tommy Hunt, who died earlier this year. It is a great memory for Paul, and a single that we’re glad will be released, honoring Tommy. Here is Paul’s story:
Whilst Tommy was living and working in Holland during the nineties, he befriended a Greek musician, Mike Silk, and together they wrote a great many songs together. Tommy would fill notebooks with lyrics, Mike would compose music for them, and they would record demos of the songs in Mike’s Amsterdam studio. These songs went unreleased, and Tommy often thought back to the possibility of re-recording some of these songs for release in his later years.
When I first met Tommy ten years ago (almost to the day, at the time of release), after hearing me sing, he showed me many of these songs and asked if I would consider recording some of them. He visited my studio and, with Tommy by my side, I recorded two songs, including ‘Goodbye’s Are So Sad’ and ‘You’ – a song he’d written with Mike.
Fast forward to 2022 and Tommy wanted to try and release one final single as a recording artist. The song was another of his collaborations with Mike – ‘Experience’. I got to work on the music in my studio and enlisted the help of my uncle, Pete Willmott, on bass guitar (Pete has played bass with the BBC Philharmonic for 50 years), and a vocal student of mine, Trudie Rose, on backing vocals. I recorded a demo vocal in Tommy’s style so that I could send the new version of the song to Tommy for his opinion before he came to replace my vocal on the track with his.
Tommy loved the version and came down to the studio to record. He sat with me tweaking the sound of the recorded instruments and getting it to match the sound of the track he envisioned in his mind. Unfortunately, at 88 years old, Tommy struggled to sing his nearly 30 year old song to a level he was happy with. Tommy said to me “YOU should release it!”, to which I replied “Nah, this is YOUR song Tommy!”.
Tommy ended up sharing his 1995 demo online and left the new version with me to do with as I pleased. He encouraged me to release my version but respected my personal reservations about not doing.
Since Tommy’s passing in February 2025, I have been asked regularly about what happened with Tommy’s final recording and have been encouraged to release the demo of the song. I wanted to do something to honour my friend and I know he would have been thrilled with how it has turned out. Tommy’s vocals remain on the background vocals of the chorus, and you hear him play a cheeky little cameo at the end! Add into the mix a brand-new sax solo by Lancashire’s finest, Paddy Higginson, and we have a record that’s ready for the world’s ears.
The single will be released digitally on Sunday 21st September, with the blessing and support of Tommy’s songwriting partner, Mike Silk. I hope you enjoy the peek into Tommy’s final studio ‘Experience’.
Paul Stuart Davies
