Quotes from Paul Young

You can have talent, but unless you're in the right place at the right time, then it isn't going to happen for you.

Although it wasn't my era, Soul is the root of what I do.

If you do something right you get a real sense of achievement and an adrenalin rush.

I started off with a paper round when we were just about old enough to drive. I couldn't drive myself, so someone else would have to drive me and I'd drop off the papers.

Growing up, we visited Devon and Cornwall where I learnt to surf and had my first horse riding lesson. We stayed in caravan parks and I have fond memories of Paignton and Newquay.

I've crossed paths with fanatical fans all over the world.

In the early 1970s, I got a milling machine apprenticeship at Vauxhall in Luton. My dad was a pattern maker at the factory. He worked every day of his life there and my brother worked there, too. I remember the pamphlets on all the new models arriving home.

I'm moved by song lyrics, particularly Tom Waits' 'Take It With Me.' It's about a man on his deathbed, wanting to take the heart of the woman he loves with him when he goes.

You are what you decide you want to be. You can be some horrible, bitter person who's not a pleasure to be with. That's your choice.

I love playing live and I love to travel. I don't get bored by either one.

People think I can burst into song any time of the day, it's crazy.

The availability of downloads is fantastic, but you don't know which musicians are playing on the songs anymore. It's kind of making musicians faceless, you don't get musical solos on records anymore. You know who the singer is but it's the poor old musicians who suffer.

I look after my voice and I warm up... I tend to do it in the car, which must look a little strange!

If you stay in the studio for a long period of time, you start to drive yourself around in circles.

Dad's like the Six Million Dollar Man - as soon as he feels a twinge, he wants it fixed. He's even had laser surgery on his eyes. What really annoys me is that I have to put glasses on to read something to him - but he reads it without glasses.

I don't indulge in anything extravagant but I can't keep money in the bank.

If something great comes off with the potential TV series, I will go straight to an investor this time and put my money in whatever they invest in.

I've done more than a few concerts on the same stage as Nik Kershaw, and I've done a couple with Go West.

I did part-time jobs until my apprenticeship as a milling machinist at Vauxhall when I was 16. I got £15 a week and I used to give my mum a fiver of that.

I do like a good bike ride and my wife Stacey and I also have a personal trainer twice a week to keep our basic fitness up.

In the early 90s, I did not want to get stuck in pop music.

There are people who sit at home and decide to anonymously troll people on the Internet - what is wrong with these people? Or you can be a positive person and put some good energy into this world.

I'm desperate to learn how to sail a boat.

I was in L.A. with my wife in a restaurant, and I spotted my great hero David Bowie at another table. Of course I wasn't going to bother him. Then I felt a tap on my shoulder, and it was Bowie, and he squatted down to talk to me. David Bowie came down to my level - so gentlemanly.