Song:I Don't Want To Wait
Album:This Fire
I Don't Want To Wait was one of two big hits for singer songwriter Paula Cole. I Don't Want To Wait was best known as the theme for the popular TV series Dawson's Creek. This and her other hit Where Have All The Cowboys Gone? are on the 1996 album This Fire. By the time she released her next album, she was forgotten. She was born Apr. 5, 1968 in Rockport, MA. Her father was a professor of biology and ecology at Salem State University and he also played bass. Paula performed in plays in high school. Then she studied jazz at Berklee in Boston and she turned down a record deal from the jazz label GRP. Paula got her big break when Peter Gabriel invited her to perform on his 1993 tour. This led to a contract with Imago Records. She released her debut album Harbinger in 1994. But Imago soon had their funding pulled by BMG and they went out of business. Paula signed with Warner Bros. and This Fire was released in 1996. In the meantime, Paula was the featured female singer with Peter Gabriel and she appeared in the concert film Secret World Live which won a Grammy. Paula wrote and produced all the songs on This Fire. Where Have All The Cowboys Gone? was the first single and it reached #8 on the Billboard Hot 100. I Don't Want To Wait was the second single and it reached #11 on the Billboard Hot 100. That song got a big boost when it was the theme for Dawson's Creek, a show that was very popular with teens. This Fire was certified 2XPlatinum. It is available as a budget CD. Paula toured with Sarah McLauchlan's Lilith Fair. Ironically, the major criticism of Paula was she was too similar to Sarah. Paula won a Best New Artist Grammy. Then she went on hiatus to raise her daughter. By the time she returned with the 1999 album Amen, she was forgotten. She also tried to add R&B and hip hop elements to her music and it just didn't catch on. She left Warners and returned with the 2007 album Courage on Decca Records. Her two albums on Decca were more jazz influenced than previous albums. Paula currently records for her own label 675. She has funded all her albums through Kickstarter with a new album scheduled for a 2017 release. Paula also teaches at Berklee. So she's still around but I don't think she's going to have any more hit singles. Here's the video for I Don't Want To Wait by Paula Cole.
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