Musical Musings | David Paton: from Pilot fame to solo success

Not one to rest on his laurels, he’s just released a new solo album, Communication, which not only showcases his influences such as The Beatles, but also, his knack for writing catching pop melodies.

“I compose in various ways,” Paton says of his songwriting process.

“Sometimes a melody and words just pop into my head.”

“On Communication, I composed a song called Heartbeat.

“It came to me as a complete song after I’d been on a night out with my mates.

“Partly inspired by the loss of musicians who I was very close to, and the talk of my friend closing down his studio, which is called Heartbeat Studios.

“The song just came into my head the next day and I immediately set to work on it.

“It was written and recorded in the same day.”

While Paton enjoyed the success Pilot brought, he preferred working behind the scenes, something his decades-long work as a session musician delivered.

“I’m not a comfortable frontman, and fronting Pilot was not easy for me,” he says.

“It was success that I wanted with Pilot, but the fame was never that appealing.

“I tend to shy away from media and attention in general.

“Getting into session work was the real comfort zone for me.

“All I had to do was behave, play well and enjoy the privilege of being a working musician.

“I really found my niche in session work.

“I was much more relaxed working behind the scenes.”

After releasing The Magic Collection in 2022, an album featuring all-new recordings of Pilot songs old and new, Paton had no plans to make another album.

“I really thought that my tribute to Pilot album, The Magic Collection, would be my final album, but the songs kept coming to me,” he says.

“I posted them on social media as I wrote them.

“After posting around eight songs, I began to realise that I was getting close to having a follow-up album to The Magic Collection.

Paton is grateful for the success achieved with Pilot; it allowed him to forge a life-long career in music.

‘’Writing Magic and watching it rise up the charts was a huge moment for me,“ he says.

“And then when January took off, I believed I had achieved my dream, and it’s a dream that almost all songwriters would want to achieve.”

After 50 years in the business, what advice would he give those wishing to pursue a similar path in music?

“I’ve learned that the musicians who try that little bit harder to find success are the ones who have a better chance achieve their goals,” he says.

“There are other elements to finding that success, the right attitude, the ability you have as a player and the drive. Sometimes it’s about the people you meet or work with.

“Being obsessed by music has benefited my career and loving every aspect of the life of a musician. Some of us are just born to be musicians.”

For more on David Paton, go to pilot-magic.com

The view from here

We’ve arrived at the time of year where Christmas-themed songs soundtrack our countdown to December 25.

And while Christmas songs have always been a part of the tradition of the festive season, in the era of popular music, it’s become another medium for artists of all genres to put their own touch on Christmas.

While the number of new Christmas songs increases with each passing year, some remain timeless and a staple of our playlists.

The following are just a few that continue to be popular decades later.

White Christmas (1942), the grandfather of all Christmas songs. By crooner Bing Crosby, it is the biggest selling physical single of all time (over 50 million sales) and one of the most recorded songs in history, with everyone from Elvis to Lady Gaga having recorded their own versions.

Happy Xmas (War Is Over) (1971) by John Lennon and Yoko Ono, is another that has become a yearly standard and a song that even today in 2024, with its message of peace, remains as relevant as ever.

Merry Xmas Everybody (1973) by ’70s glam-rockers Slade is one of the most enduring in the rock genre, and the group’s best-selling single.

The group’s bassist, Jim Lea, came up with the initial idea for the song, while Slade vocalist Noddy Holder helped finish the song after coming home from the pub after a night out drinking whisky.

Very merry indeed.

Last Christmas (1983) by pop duo Wham! was written by George Michael in the bedroom of his childhood, and he plays every instrument on the recording.

For 36 years, it was the best-selling UK single to never have made it to number one, until 2021 when it finally did make it to the top.

It repeated the feat in 2023 and again this week.

Music news

The Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan recently claimed in an interview that Metallica’s 1998 song Fuel sounds “awfully close” to the Smashing Pumpkins song Tales of a Scorched Earth.

Having commenced her Eras World Tour in April 2023 and concluding it earlier this month, Taylor Swift will be celebrating Christmas in style after her record-breaking tour grossed over $2 billion from ticket sales.

And while on the subject of Swift, she has given a special Christmas gift to all her Eras tour performers and crew members by gifting them bonuses of $197 million on top of their salaries.

Will we see Guns N’ Roses in Australia next year? The group recently announced a Middle East and European tour to kick off in May 2025.

Fun fact

Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen was the first song to reach number one in the UK on two separate occasions, and with the same exact version of the song.

The first time was in 1975 and the second was in 1991, after singer Freddie Mercury’s death.