Mica Paris [Courtesy of Edward Cooke]

SHE broke the charts with her soaring vocals, and gave the British soul movement a queen of our own.

And now the gloriously silky voiced Mica Paris is bringing a whole new show to Mayfair.

The singer has embarked on residency at Langan’s, and Mica, who first hit the charts in 1988 aged just 19 with the platinum selling album So Good, is a font of knowledge when it comes to soul music, while her journey mimics other greats.

Born in Islington, her grandparents were church ministers and introduced Mica to gospel music at a young age.

Taking the stage in a small club like Langan’s is something of a return for the singer and fits her view that nurturing smaller venues is vital to finding the next Mica Paris.

“Everywhere in London feels like a private members’ club. When I was growing up I went out everywhere, and I see those opportunities for young people disappearing,” she says.

“We went to places like The Wag, The 100 Club, The Met, 10 Rooms, Singers, The Spot… I used to have to climb out of the bedroom window of my grandparents’ house as they did not approve.

“There was a sense of creation, of a reaction to troubles and difficulties.

“Today, it feels everywhere is about high ticket prices, exclusivity. I miss those places you could just walk in, and check out some music. I thought, if I miss it, and others do, why don’t I do something about it?”

Mica recalls how London of the 1980s and 90s had a unique blend.

“That London vibe – you found it at places like the Africa Centre in Covent Garden, The Jazz Cafe. You walked in and the music blew you away. It created a British soul scene, the acid jazz scene – performers like Jamiroquai, The Young Disciples, Soul II Soul.

“I have always preferred more intimate venues. As a performer, and artist, you want to create a connection with the audience. It is different at larger venues – you still want that but it comes in a different way.

“It is why Prince, after playing Wembley, went to the Electric Ballroom. He needed to connect with people in an intimate way.”

And our city has an organic framework that has made it a crucial creator of music, she adds.

“I am a proper Londoner. When I lived abroad, I came home all the time. London is a special place. When you live in many different places around the world, you really appreciate being British.

“Why is London able to produce unique scenes? It comes down to one crucial fact: we were brought up in a working-class environment, and the working class in the UK is from all races and cultures.

“I grew up with English, Irish, African, Caribbean and Asian friends, and that’s what makes London so special and why we got bands like The Brand New Heavies, people like Paul Weller, and why we have created something so unique, so different in British music and our London culture in particular.

“We are all working-class and it is a powerful, powerful mix. It makes music that is really exciting.”

She recalls a childhood shaped by the impact of the Greater London Council under Ken Livingstone, which fostered London culturally.

“We had community centres, youth clubs, events organised by the GLC. It underpinned our lives. We had clubs to give us something creative to do through the summers. Today’s politi­cians don’t seem to get it.

“Sadly in this country – and it has long been like this – people look at the arts and somehow do not think it is a ‘proper’ job.

“When I was growing up, I’d say I want to be a singer, and they’d reply, that’s nice, but what do you really want to do?

“But there is always the need for arts. The powers always react against art because it represents freedom of expression.

“Our political system has a Victorian approach to the arts. But I have hope. Generation Z are amazing and creating change. They are not playing about.

“They remind me of when I was young.”

The show at Langan’s will include guests Mica has chosen – a mixture of new performers she has enjoyed and old friends.

The idea draws on Mica’s BBC Radio Two programme, which she then turned into a live show at the Jazz Cafe in Parkway.

“I had the likes of Mary J Blige, Chaka Khan, and it was the first place I put Amy Winehouse on,” she remembers.

“Island [Records] had sent me some of her early demos and I thought, this girl is fire, send her in!

“In she walks wearing these messed-up ballet pumps. The first thing she said to me is ‘you are a facking legend you are Mica,’ and I thought baby I love you, but you need a new pair of shoes, girl.

“She came to the Jazz Cafe and was shy. I put her up and people said ‘why did you get a skinny little white girl up there?’ Then she started singing. After that, she was everywhere.”

Mica’s talent has seen her perform with bona fide legends. She recalls how aged 20 she had penned a song that her producer decided needed a second voice.

“I remember looking out the window and seeing this really badly parked car,” she says. “Out steps Bobby Womack. He came in and started playing the guitar. He said he liked my tune. I remember my producer, Patrick Moten, said ‘Bobby, just put that guitar down and sing’.

“I’d written the song in half an hour and here was Bobby Womack singing in duet with me.”
Clubs close and opportunities to nurture talent diminish, but Mica says there is hope even in dark times.

“Creativity will always thrive,” she says. “There is a lot of pushing creative people down, but it is what makes the human spirit. The more people said ‘no’ to me, the more determined I was. Challenges make you grow. My grandparents were pure Windrush generation and proper grafters. They would say to me ‘you’ll never sign on, you’ll make your own money’.”

But with neo-soul making a massive impact in the USA, Mica was well placed to benefit.

“It was happening with Whitney Houston. She was blowing up in the States. Whitney was a church girl in a pop world and that’s how I got my look in.

“Music people were looking for the next thing. They are reactive. Whitney was going off globally and they wanted a British version. If she hadn’t been so big, would they have come to me? That’s how it works – if there hadn’t been Blondie, we wouldn’t have had Madonna.”

Mica was able to tell Whitney what an influence she was when they performed on the same show.

“I met her when I was 19,” she recalls.

The singers were booked to appear on a German version of Top of the Pops.

“I got to the studio in a crappy little taxi,” she says. “I was waiting in the green room about to rehearse when this huge limo pulled up. I had never been to Germany, never seen a car like that, the whole thing was exciting. These three giant men stepped out, and in the middle was Whitney.

“She was genuinely the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. Pictures did not do her justice. And she was so humble. She said ‘how lovely to meet you’. She was very kind. She did not act like the star she was.”

• Upstairs at Langan’s Presents Mica Paris, May 8. www.langansbrasserie.com/contact/
• On a bigger stage, Mica will perform at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on June 19. www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/gigs/mica-paris