Paul Riley is an English

English people

The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...

 bassist

Bassist

A bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...

, singer and record producer

Record producer

A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...

. He was a member of Chilli Willi and the Red Hot Peppers

Chilli Willi and the Red Hot Peppers

Chilli Willi and the Red Hot Peppers were one of the main British pub rock groups of the early 1970s. Later managed by Jake Riviera, who first worked for the band as a roadie, they reached their peak as part of the "Naughty Rhythms Tour" of 1975, along with other stalwarts of the same scene, Dr...

 and Roogalator

Roogalator (band)

Roogalator was a pub rock band formed in London in 1972, by the US born guitarist, Danny Adler.That same year, Adler had recorded demos with 10cc's Graham Gouldman at Strawberry Studios. Prior to Roogalator, Adler had also played with Smooth Loser, a band formed with BBC DJ Emperor Rosko's brother,...

 in the 1970s.

Biography

His career in music began at the beginning of the 1970s as bass player with various visiting blues artists, notably: Albert Collins

Albert Collins

Albert Collins was an American electric blues guitarist and singer whose recording career began in the 1960s in Houston and whose fame eventually took him to stages across the US, Europe, Japan and Australia...

, Champion Jack Dupree

Champion Jack Dupree

William Thomas Dupree, best known as Champion Jack Dupree, was an American blues pianist. His birth date is disputed, given as July 4, July 10, and July 23, in the years 1908, 1909, or 1910. He died on January 21, 1992.-Biography:...

, Bobby Parker, Lightnin' Slim

Lightnin' Slim

Lightnin' Slim was an African-American Louisiana blues musician, who recorded for Excello Records and played in a style similar to its other Louisiana artists.-Career:...

, Homesick James

Homesick James

Homesick James was an American blues musician. He most notably played slide guitar, and recorded covers of "Stones In My Passway" and "Homesick"...

 - and continued through the decade with seminal pub-rockers Chilli Willi and the Red Hot Peppers

Chilli Willi and the Red Hot Peppers

Chilli Willi and the Red Hot Peppers were one of the main British pub rock groups of the early 1970s. Later managed by Jake Riviera, who first worked for the band as a roadie, they reached their peak as part of the "Naughty Rhythms Tour" of 1975, along with other stalwarts of the same scene, Dr...

, Robin Scott

Robin Scott

Robin Scott , lead singer and founder of a music project he called M, is a singer originally from the United Kingdom. His career encompasses four decades.-Early life:...

, the embryonic Rockpile

Rockpile

Rockpile were a British rock and roll group of the late 1970s and early 1980s, noted for their strong rockabilly and power pop influences, and as a foundational influence on new wave...

 (as featured on the album

Album

An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...

 Get It), and with guitarist Danny Adler's Roogalator.

By the closing years of the 1970s he'd become involved in record production and (briefly) artist-management, co-managing and producing The Sinceros

The Sinceros

The Sinceros were a new wave, power pop band from London, England, who recorded two albums for Epic Records, The Sound of Sunbathing and Pet Rock . Both albums were released worldwide and achieved moderate commercial success...

.
As the 70s moved into the 80s he took over the running of Nick Lowe's

Nick Lowe

Nicholas Drain "Nick" Lowe , is an English singer-songwriter, musician and producer.A pivotal figure in UK pub rock, punk rock and new wave, Lowe has recorded a string of well-reviewed solo albums. Along with vocals, Lowe plays guitar, bass guitar, piano and harmonica...

 'AMPRO' studio, and was recording full-time - subsequently producing and/or engineering records for Lew Lewis, Carlene Carter

Carlene Carter

Carlene Carter is an American country singer and songwriter. She is the daughter of June Carter and her first husband, Carl Smith....

, Elvis Costello

Elvis Costello

Elvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...

, Nick Lowe

Nick Lowe

Nicholas Drain "Nick" Lowe , is an English singer-songwriter, musician and producer.A pivotal figure in UK pub rock, punk rock and new wave, Lowe has recorded a string of well-reviewed solo albums. Along with vocals, Lowe plays guitar, bass guitar, piano and harmonica...

, Johnny Marr

Johnny Marr

Johnny Marr is an English musician and songwriter. Marr rose to fame in the 1980s as the guitarist in The Smiths, with whom he formed a prolific songwriting partnership with Morrissey. Marr has been a member of Electronic, The The, and Modest Mouse...

, The Anti-Nowhere League

The Anti-Nowhere League

Anti-Nowhere League is an English punk band, formed in 1980 by lead singer Animal , guitarist Magoo , Tony "Bones" Shaw on drums and Chris "Baggy" Elvy on bass.-Early days:...

, The Ruts

The Ruts

The Ruts were a reggae-influenced British punk rock band, notable for the 1979 Top 10 hit "Babylon's Burning", and an earlier single "In a Rut", which was not a hit but was much played and highly regarded by the UK BBC Radio 1 disc jockey, John Peel.-Career:...

, Robert Wyatt

Robert Wyatt

Robert Wyatt is an English musician, and founding member of the influential Canterbury scene band Soft Machine, with a long and distinguished solo career...

, Edwyn Collins

Edwyn Collins

Edwyn Stephen Collins is an Ivor Novello Award winning Scottish musician, playing mostly electric guitar-driven pop. Collins formed the musical group Nu-Sonics in 1976, which later became Orange Juice...

, Squeeze, Paul Carrack

Paul Carrack

Paul Carrack is an English singer, songwriter and musician. Carrack has been a member of several bands including Ace, Squeeze, Mike + The Mechanics, and Roxy Music, been a session and touring musician for several others including Nick Lowe, and has enjoyed success as a solo artist as well...

, Kirsty McColl and more.
In 1985 he was invited to join the staff of Demon Records to add some technical understanding and help enable production of the brand-new compact-disc format, to assume responsibility for all mastering issues and to become archivist of the burgeoning tape archive (a legacy of the prodigious output of Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe and all former Riviera Global artists).
Three years later he could be found moonlighting on bass with The Tex Pistols (alongside former Chilli Willi

Chilli Willi and the Red Hot Peppers

Chilli Willi and the Red Hot Peppers were one of the main British pub rock groups of the early 1970s. Later managed by Jake Riviera, who first worked for the band as a roadie, they reached their peak as part of the "Naughty Rhythms Tour" of 1975, along with other stalwarts of the same scene, Dr...

 drummer Pete Thomas

Pete Thomas

Pete Thomas is best known as the longtime drummer for Elvis Costello. Tom Waits has referred to him as "one of the best rock drummers alive".-Career:...

 ), and later, in 1992, continued moonlighting activities with The Balham Alligators

The Balham Alligators

The Balham Alligators were a band from London that mixed rock 'n' roll, cajun, country and R&B. The band centred around singer and instrumentalist Geraint Watkins.-Career:The band came together by chance at a London pub in 1983...

, playing alongside Geraint Watkins

Geraint Watkins

Geraint Watkins is a rock and roll pianist and accordionist backing artistes such as; Nick Lowe, Dave Edmunds, Van Morrison, Mark Knopfler, Paul McCartney, Roy St. John and Shakin' Stevens...

 and Bobby Irwin with whom in 1994 he would serve as a member of Nick Lowe's

Nick Lowe

Nicholas Drain "Nick" Lowe , is an English singer-songwriter, musician and producer.A pivotal figure in UK pub rock, punk rock and new wave, Lowe has recorded a string of well-reviewed solo albums. Along with vocals, Lowe plays guitar, bass guitar, piano and harmonica...

 Impossible Birds, his last regular gig as a musician.

He left Demon in 1995, and after the dissolution of the Impossible Birds was co-opted into the business of his old pal, Malcolm Mills, founder of Proper Records

Proper Records

Proper Records is a record label founded in 1988 by Malcolm Mills and Paul Riley. Commencing with a handful of releases, including The Balham Alligators and Chilli Willi and the Red Hot Peppers, the label grew in stature and renown through its reissue marque, 'Proper Box', whose 4CD boxsets for...

.

Since the building of Specific Sound, Proper Records' in-house recording facility, he has recorded the following albums:

• "All Is Know", Tony Kofi Quartet
• "Yeah", Alan Barnes
• "Noted", Anita Wardell
• "Future Passed", Tony Kofi Trio
• "Hammer Of The Honky-Tonk Gods", Bill Kirchen (recorded and produced)
• "Kinda Blue", Anita Wardell
• "The Silent Truth", Tony Kofi Quartet
• "The Lost Gershwin", Victoria Hart
• "Word To The Wise", Bill Kirchen (recorded and produced)
• "Jaywalkin'", Jay Phelpps