No Parlez

Initially, the first two singles, "Iron Out the Rough Spots" and a remake of "Love of the Common People", had no success, but the third, a cover of the Marvin Gaye song "Wherever I Lay My Hat (That's My Home)", was No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart for three weeks in July and August 1983, and the first of Young's 14 UK Top 40 singles. Similar success followed in continental Europe. In the UK, the follow-up single "Come Back and Stay" reached No. 4, and the re-release of "Love of the Common People" made it to No. 2 in late 1983.

The album was released the year after the introduction of CDs with their potential for a longer playing time. The CD edition of No Parlez featured one extra track ("Behind Your Smile") not on the vinyl release. Additionally, five of the other 11 tracks were extended versions compared to the vinyl edition.

The album featured eight cover versions alongside two tracks written by Young and keyboard player Ian Kewley and one written by the guitarist in Young's band at the time, Steve Bolton. Three of the cover versions were written by Jack Lee who also wrote "Hanging on the Telephone" which was a big hit for Blondie.

The album was released with a different cover with two tracks ("Come Back and Stay" and "Love Will Tear Us Apart") shorter in length in North America,^[5] and a new video for the single "Come Back and Stay" was made.

More information Review scores, Source ...

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[6]
Classic Pop	[7]
Number One	4/5[8]
Rolling Stone	[9]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[10]
Smash Hits	8/10[11]
Sounds	[12]
The Village Voice	B+[13]

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Writing for Sounds, Garry Bushell called Young "a real prospect" and No Parlez "a creditable collection and a worthy launching pad" whose "well-varied contents prove he doesn't want to get stuck in any 'revivalist' rut."^[12] Claire Sheaff of Smash Hits commented that although Young's "velvet voice" rarely "seems to take off" on the album, she was hopeful "that this pop star will mature into a fully-fledged soul man. The potential is there."^[11]

In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Dave Thompson deemed No Parlez "one of the most assured debut albums of the mid-'80s, and one of the finest pop-soul confections of all time".^[6]

• Laurie Latham – producer, engineer
• Tim Young – mastering
• CBS Studios (London) – mastering location
• Jason Bakx – sleeve artwork
• Eric Watson – photography
• Barry Watts – inner sleeve photography,
• Mark Irving – inner sleeve photography
• Martin Serene – inner sleeve photography
• Ged Doherty – inner sleeve photography, management

• Paul Young – lead vocals, backing vocals, guitars (1, 10), arrangements
• Ian Kewley – acoustic piano, Oberheim OB-X, E-mu Emulator, vocoder, atmospheric sounds, strings, marimbas, bells, backing vocals, arrangements
• Matt Irving – ARP synthesizer, Roland MC-4 Microcomposer, guitars, bass guitar (2, 7), backing vocals
• Steve Bolton – acoustic piano doodlings, guitars, lap steel guitar
• Pino Palladino – bass guitar (1, 3–6, 8, 10, 11, 12), Chapman Stick (1, 10)
• Mark Pinder – drums, Simmons drums, Roland TR-808, percussion, cowbells
• Rico Rodriguez – trombone (7, 11)
• Laurie Latham – arrangements
• Kim Lesley – backing vocals, congas (12)
• Marilyn "Maz" Roberts – backing vocals
• Eyethu [Nimsa Calliza, Dagmar Krause, Chief Dawethi, Eyethu, Zundi Lekau, Wally Loate, Jabu Mbato, Fats Mogoboya and Norman Zulu] – backing vocals (5)

The album was re-released on 30 June 2008 in the UK and worldwide on 5 August 2008^[47] as a 25th-anniversary edition. It contains the original 11 tracks as well as a bonus 10-track disc with a combination of B-sides, remixes and live tracks. Although the booklet claims that this is the original vinyl album on CD, three songs are shortened from their UK vinyl release; "Come Back and Stay", "Love Will Tear Us Apart" and "Love of the Common People", all of which use the respective single edits found on the original US and Canadian pressings of the album. The original UK vinyl versions of these tracks remain unreleased on CD.

The Extended Club mixes of "Wherever I Lay My Hat" and "Sex", the full version of "Love Will Tear Us Apart" and the Scratch Mix of "Come Back and Stay", which were all included on the original CD and cassette release, were not included on the 25th anniversary edition. However, In 2013 they were all included on the compilation album Remixes and Rarities.

Tracks are the same versions unless stated in the notes column.

It is possible to create the original vinyl version of the album by using a combination of the original UK and US CD releases together with the 'Full length' version of Come Back and Stay which is included on the 2015 Tomb of Memories career-spanning box set.