One Step Forward

Paul Young recorded One Step Forward at a time when his career was already showing clear signs of expansion. The track, clocking in at just over three and a half minutes, is part of The Secret of Association, the album that in 1985 topped the UK charts and placed him among the twenty most-listened-to albums in the United States. It wasn’t just another release: the record sold over half a million copies in the UK — certified double platinum — and surpassed 500,000 in the US, where it earned a gold disc. But the most interesting aspect isn’t the figures, but how The Secret of Association balanced covers with original songs: five of the original tracks were written by Young alongside his keyboardist Ian Kewley, cementing a creative partnership that had already shaped his debut, No Parlez.

The song itself stands out for its straightforward structure and a sound that, while rooted in the pop of the era, avoids the production excesses typical of those years. At just 3:42 in length, One Step Forward doesn’t aim to overstay its welcome: its power lies in the punch of the arrangements and that warm, powerful voice Young had honed in hits like Everytime You Go Away, the Hall & Oates cover that, ironically, ended up overshadowing his own compositions on the same album. It’s no coincidence that, amid this mix of originals and covers, One Step Forward acts as a bridge: neither too experimental nor too conventional, right at the point where Young’s pop feels most natural.