In print

These pages provide details of some of the printed publications - books, theatre programmes, newspapers and magazines - that have featured Lyn Paul during her long career.

These pages provide details of newspaper articles, reviews and interviews featuring Lyn Paul or the New Seekers, which appeared in the UK press from 2020 onwards. Scroll down the page or select a year from the table below.

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The Paperboy

On This Day

The Aberdeen Evening Express remembered some of the Number 1 hits from years gone by.

1974 New Seekers featuring Lyn Paul: You Won’t Find Another Fool Like Me

The Daily Mail carried an advertisement for Loungin', a three-disc collection of easy listening classics including the New Seekers' I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing (In Perfect Harmony) (Disc 2, Track 13). The ad appeared in the Daily Mail again the following day (page 46).

Soap actors to appear in hit musical at King’s Theatre

The Glasgow Times brought the news that the UK tour of Calendar Girls The Musical would be at the King’s Theatre from 13th-17th February.

"The 2024 cast includes Laurie Brett from EastEnders, Helen Pearson from Hollyoaks, Samantha Seager from Coronation Street, Maureen Nolan from The Nolans and Blood Brothers, Lyn Paul of The New Seekers and Blood Brothers, and Honeysuckle Weeks from Foyle’s War."

Memories of a show that split families in two
by Mark Drew

An article about Top Of The Pops which quoted from Dave Hill's autobiography So Here It Is, Recalling Slade's first appearance on Top Of The Pops on 15th July 1971, he wrote: "We were on the show with the New Seekers, Labe Siffre, Curved Air, the Dave Clark Five and Middle of the Road. There was nothing like us. Nothing. That was the start of the real breakthrough for us."

This article was also published in the Shropshire Star.

Cast of musical 'Calendar Girls' arrive in Blackpool for their first show at Opera House
by Sean Gleaves

Sean Gleaves heralded the arrival Samantha Seager and the rest of the Calendar Girls cast in Blackpool.

"The Wigan born star, who played Jodie Morton in the ITV soap [Coronation Street], is part of a stellar cast also featuring Laurie Brett of EastEnders and Waterloo Road fame, Honeysuckle Weeks from Foyles War, singer and actress Maureen Nolan, Hollyoaks' Helen Pearson, Liz Carney best known for the The Full Monty and The Mousetrap, and Lyn Paul from the band The New Seekers."

Soap stars announced for hit musical heading to Norwich

The Eastern Daily Press reported the news that the UK tour of Calendar Girls The Musical was heading to the Theatre Royal, Norwich (2nd - 6th April).

"Baring it all in 2024 are Laurie Brett (EastEnders) as Annie, Liz Carney (The Full Monty, The Mousetrap) as Marie Helen Pearson (Hollyoaks) as Celia, Samantha Seager (Coronation Street) as Chris, Maureen Nolan (The Nolans, Blood Brothers) as Ruth, Lyn Paul (The New Seekers, Blood Brothers) as Jessie and Honeysuckle Weeks (Foyle’s War) as Cora."

This news item also appeared in the Norwich Evening News (page 7).

Odds & Ends

Reporting the death of Melanie, the Seattle Times noted: "Among her other compositions was What Have They Done To My Song, Ma, which, as Look What They’ve Done To My Song, Ma, was a Top 20 hit for the New Seekers in 1970."

On This Day

The Aberdeen Evening Express remembered some of the Number 1 hits from years gone by.

1972 New Seekers: I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing

Featured Obituary: 'Melanie', singer-songwriter at Woodstock and on 1970s hits, dies at 76
by Tim Page

"Many artists made their own versions of Safka's songs, including Miley Cyrus, Nina Simone, the New Seekers, Mott The Hoople and Morrissey."

Melanie • 1947-2024
Singer who made a solo splash at Woodstock

A condensed obituary for Melanie, taken from the full version by Alex Williams and Peter Keepnews, which had been published by The New York Times on 24th January 2024.

"Among her other compositions was What Have They Done To My Song, Ma, which, as Look What They’ve Done To My Song, Ma, was a Top 20 hit for the New Seekers in 1970."

New production of smash-hit musical comes to York next month
by Kevin Glenton

The York Press reported the news that Calendar Girls The Musical was on its way to the Grand Opera House, York (6th - 10th February).

"Baring it all in 2024... Lyn Paul (The New Seekers, Blood Brothers) as Jessie and Honeysuckle Weeks (Foyle’s War) as Cora."

Obituaries: Singer and songwriter who became a star at Woodstock and was later parodied by the Wurzels

"Lay Down (Candles In The Rain), which she recorded in a moving version with the Edwin Hawkins Singers, proved to be her first hit single, reaching No. 6 in the US, while the album Candles In The Rain sold well in the US and in Europe. It also featured What Have They Done To My Song, Ma (written with the musician and artist HM Saffer II), which went on to be covered by the likes of Ray Charles, Nina Simone, Billie Jo Spears and the New Seekers... "

Melanie - Singer-songwriter who played at Woodstock and came to epitomise the peace and love generation

"Her biggest hits came with What Have They Done To My Song, Ma, which was covered by the New Seekers, and the cutely jaunty Brand New Key, which went to No. 1 in the US and No. 4 in Britain in 1971."

The obituary for Melanie from The Times was re-printed in several New Zealand newspapers on 31st January - The Manawatu Standard, Marlborough Express, The Nelson Mail, The Post, The Press, The Southland Times, Taranaki Daily News, Timaru Herald and The Waikato Times.

Melanie: American singer and songwriter best known for her 1970s hits Brand New Key and Ruby Tuesday
by Adam Sweeting

"There was further proof of Melanie's range and ambition in the somewhat Kurt Weill-ish song What Have They Done To My Song, Ma, sung partly in French. It became one of her trademark pieces, reaching the UK Top 40 and inspiring cover versions by numberous artists including Nina Simone, Ray Charles and the New Seekers."

Adam Sweeting's obituary also appeared in the Irish Times (3rd February 2024, page 14).

Calendar Girls the Musical is joyful celebration of female friendship
by Emma Clayton

"Strong performances too from Lyn Paul as Jessie - her performance of What Age Expects was a highlight..."

Theatre Review: Calendar Girls at The Alhambra, Bradford
by Claire Lomax

"Firth and Barlow focus attentions in the first act on scene-setting and characterisation, establishing leads in show opener Yorkshire... Group pianist Cora (Honeysuckle Weeks), is one of the more willing nudes, while ex-teacher Jessie (Lyn Paul) is reluctant."

Why 1974 was the worst year in pop
by Neil McCormick

An opionion piece from the Daily Telegraph telling us what we should or shouldn't have enjoyed listening to in 1974.

"In the top 50 UK best-selling singles in 1974, you'd have to scroll a long way down to find a record that has stood the test of time, The Air That I Breathe by The Hollies. It offers a lonely flash of enduring class, jostled on all sides by the gaudy cheer of The Wombles, The New Seekers, Showaddywaddy and The Rubettes."

Let’s hear it from the boy - as Girls set to take stage
by Karen Roberts

An interview with Colin R. Campbell.

“The veteran of stage and screen appears on the latest tour of the feelgood hit alongside such familiar names as Maureen Nolan, ex-Eastenders star Laurie Brett, Hollyoaks legend Helen Pearson, New Seekers favourite Lyn Paul and Foyle’s War regular Honeysuckle Weeks.

"It was my birthday in Blackpool last week, which is where Maureen Nolan and her gorgeous sisters are based, and we went out and had a lovely Italian meal. We went on to a local place and just danced the night away. And then there’s Lyn Paul - I just remember her from The New Seekers and things like that. Both of them knock out their songs amazingly. All the songs are emotional and often quite funny, and all the girls just do it brilliantly."

Son of Helensburgh man opens up about touring with hit musical Calendar Girls
by Emma Reilly

Another interview with Colin Campbell about his role in Calendar Girls The Musical.

"The production stars EastEnders’ Laurie Brett, Liz Carney of The Full Monty and The Mousetrap, Maureen Nolan of The Nolan Sisters, Lyn Paul of The New Seekers and Blood Brothers, Hollyoaks’ Helen Pearson, Coronation Street’s Samantha Seager, and Honeysuckle Weeks of Foyle’s War."

Calendar Girls slowly works its way deep into your heart
by Rebecca Buchan

"During the second act, the musical comes into its own. I was bowled over by the raw emotion and powerful acting of the leads, in particular Laurie Brett, Liz Carney, Maureen Nolan, Lyn Paul, Helen Pearson, Samantha Seager and Honeysuckle Weeks, and I left the theatre a bit of a teary mess."

Obituaries: Melanie
by Fiona Shepherd

"Another Melanie favourite, What Have They Done To My Song, Ma, has been rendered by Nina Simone, Ray Charles, The New Seekers and Miley Cyrus, while her debut UK hit was her own idiosyncratic cover of The Rolling Stones’ Ruby Tuesday."

'It was no easy feat for us to get our clothes off!'
by Jeffrey Davies

An interview with Maureen Nolan and Lyn Paul.

Comparing the original version of Calendar Girls The Musical with the 2024 touring version, Lyn said: "Before this production the cast was quite large with all the children and the husbands involved, whereas this one is a pared-down version of it based mainly around the ladies and their back stories... "

Lyn also talked about posing nude for the calendar: "It was no easy feat for us [the cast] to get our clothes of. For these older ladies to do so all those years ago is unbelievable. Remarkable. Amazing. It shows the mettle of the women,"

This interview also appeared in the Bristol Post on 1st March 2024 (pages 12-13).

Jam-packed for classic WI show
by Nancy Connolly

"Written by Tim Firth and Gary Barlow, this new show has some golden musical moments with the ensemble cast including Lyn Paul (The New Seekers) and Maureen Nolan (The Nolan Sisters)... All cast members work incredibly hard in what are challenging musical and acting roles. Some of the solo musical hits are a highlight, particularly Lyn Paul as the ageing Jessie who belts out one of the best songs in the show to tumultuous applause from the audience."

This review also appeared in the Western Daily Press with an alternative headline, Re-telling of a legend... but shouldn't it be more daring? (7th March 2024, page 16).

Calendar Girls The Musical
Theatre Royal Bath ****

A four-star review of Calendar Girls The Musical at the Theatre Royal, Bath.

"Showing vocal talents to match their acting ability the seven women and two men do not come up short... Victoria Hay and Jayne Ashley, replacing the indisposed Laurie Brett and Samantha Seager, in the roles of Annie, John's widow, and Chris, the instigator of the nude calendar, led the way. Maureen Nolan, as the indecisive and requiring a little alcoholic courage, Ruth; Honeysuckle Weeks as lovely, independent single mother, Cora; Helen Pearson's Celia, an ex-air hostess unashamedly battling the onset of middle age; Lyn Paul's defiant retired former school mistress, Jessie, ready to take on any ageist opponent; Liz Carney's rule-bound WI president Marie; Colin R. Campbell as the terminally ill John and Andrew Tuton as Chris's long-suffering husband, make up a strong dramatic and vocal team that do justice to the words and music alike."

The Daily Mail carried an advertisement for #1 Seventies, a three-disc collection of pop hits from the 1970s, including the New Seekers' I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing (In Perfect Harmony) (Disc 2, Track 8).The advertisement appeared again in the Daily Mail on 22nd March (page 48) and 26th March (page 40), and in the Mail On Sunday on 24th March (page 36).

'Free to Be … You and Me' Took the Revolution to the Playground
by James Poniewozik

James Poniewozik's article in The New York Times about Free To Be,,, You And Me claimed that the 1972 album and the TV special that followed had paved the way for the Gen X-ers, telling them that they could be, and do, anything.

"Free To Be… You And Me, the 1974 kids-TV special and feminist milestone, begins with footage of children riding a carousel... The theme song, by the New Seekers, imagines a land “where the children are free” and says that “it ain’t far to this land from where we are.” The children transform into cartoons on lively horses. They leap out of the spinning wheel’s orbit, galloping through an animated desert, girls and boys side by side."

The article was reprinted in The Denver Post on Thursday, 14th March 2024 (Life & Culture, page 8).

Calendar Girls a heart-warming smash hit musical
by John Baker

"The driving force behind the calendar is Chris, nicely played by Samantha Seager, ably supported by understudy Victoria Hay as Annie, John’s wife.

But they had some excellent support from Maureen Nolan as Ruth, who downs a bottle of vodka before daring to bare all; Lyn Paul as Jessie, the strict former teacher and one of the older ladies in the group; and Helen Pearson, as the posh Celia, who’s had a ‘boob job’ to increase the size of her bust"

Birthdays today

Keith Potger was listed amongst those with birthdays in The Times newspaper. Ironically he was remembered, not as a member of The Seekers, but as a "musician, the New Seekers, I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing (In Perfect Harmony) (1971)."

An Irishman’s Diary
by Frank McNally

Frank McNally pondered the findings of a survey conducted by the University of Innsbruck, which claimed that the lyrics of pop music have become "angrier, gloomier, and simpler" than they were 50 years ago. Recalling the hits of his childhood in the 1970s Frank concluded: "it was mostly happy ones - like sunny days - that sprang to mind."

"Weather and optimism combined in Bobby Goldsboro’s Hello Summertime, for example, with its eulogy for “birds and bees and all the flowers and trees"... And I also thought of The New Seekers’ famously romantic ambition to “teach the world to sing” (and later, as adapted for a TV ad, to buy it a Coke).

A blissful era, to be sure. Or was it?"

Fame & Fortune
'I got a year's salary for TV ad with Churchill dog
by John Wright

An interview with the comedian Roy Walker, who recalled his experiences working in the northern clubs of England:

"In the 1970s I was doing social clubs, especially in the North East which was ‘club land’. Then I went to Liverpool and got one week’s cabaret with Dorothy Squires (married to Roger Moore) and Lyn Paul who’d just left The New Seekers."

Soap stars in city

The Eastern Daily Press announced the arrival of Calendar Girls The Musical at the Norwich Theatre Royal.

"Actresses from some of the nation’s favourite soaps are in Norwich this week... Baring it all on the latest UK and Ireland tour are Laurie Brett (EastEnders) as Annie, Liz Carney (The Full Monty, The Mousetrap) as Marie, Helen Pearson (Hollyoaks) as Celia, Samantha Seager (Coronation Street) as Chris, Maureen Nolan (The Nolans, Blood Brothers) as Ruth, Lyn Paul (The New Seekers, Blood Brothers) as Jessie and Honeysuckle Weeks (Foyle’s War) as Cora."

This article also appeared in the Norwich Evening News (2nd April 2024, page 2).

So, is this really the best song of all time?
by Teddy Jamieson

Reviewing Boom Radio's All Time Chart, which was broadcast over the Easter weekend, the Senior Features Writer at The Herald, Teddy Jamieson, wrote:

"Who knew the New Seekers were so loved? (Two entries, admittedly in the lower reaches of the 200 songs voted for, but that’s still one more than Bob Dylan.)"

A spirit-raising performance
by Amy Mackrill

A review of Calendar Girls The Musical at Norwich Theatre Royal.

"Lyn Paul, Maureen Nolan, Helen Pearson, Liz Carney and Honeysuckle Weeks star as the other members of the group who agree to bare all... The cast had great chemistry and each gave it their all, with brilliant individual performances."

Andy Mackrill's review also appeared in the Norwich Evening News (4th April 2024, page 27).

How we made
Life in a Northern Town by the Dream Academy

Dream Academy talked to The Guardian about their Top 20 hit, Life In A Northern Town: “When we recorded it, I told the producer it sounded “like the fucking New Seekers” and he walked out. Then I produced it just like he had.”

Slough man's wish to see daughter perform again comes true
by Nicole McBride

An article describing a visit to the Theatre Royql in Windsor by Lyn Paul's father, 96-year-old Dennis Belcher, who was taken to the theatre by staff from Care UK's Oak House care home to see Lyn in a performance of Calendar Girls The Musical.

"I’ve been watching my daughter perform on stage since she was a small child and am very proud of her and what she has achieved."

Memorial show celebrating variety performer Roy Hudd coming to the West Clif
by Grace Capel

The Clacton Gazette broke the news that on Sunday, 2nd June the West Cliff Theatre would be hosting "an evening of top-class variety entertainment to celebrate the life and work of Roy Hudd."

The Gazette reported that the artists who had been invited to appear included comedian Jimmy Cricket, ventriloquist Steve Hewlett and comedian and actor Richard Gauntlett. "Lyn Paul, a former member of the New Seekers before starting her solo career... is also attending."

Revisiting ‘Free To Be... You And Me’
by Charlotte Robertson

In the wake of the Arizona Supreme Court decision on 9th April 2024 permitting the state to enforce a law from 1864 that made abortion punishable by two to five years in prison, Charlotte Robertson re-examined the impact of Free To Be... You And Me.

"If your childhood was anything like mine, you owned Marlo Thomas’ illustrated book Free To Be... You And Me and its companion CD, featuring recordings by Diana Ross, Shel Silverstein, Mel Brooks and The New Seekers...

The impact of Free To Be was tremendous. The book became a classic. The series won a Peabody Award. And in 2021, the album was inducted into The Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry. Former Supreme Court Justice and trailblazer for women’s rights Ruth Bader Ginsberg called the titular song the definition of feminism."

Popmaster
with Ken Bruce
Questions by Phil "The Collector" Swern

"The New Seekers had two number ones during the 1970s. The first was I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing (In Perfect Harmony), but what was the title of the second?"

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