#148: Valparaiso by Paula Moore

City: Montreal, PQ
Radio Station: CKOI
Peak Month: April 1984
Peak Position in Montreal ~ #7
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Valparaiso”
Lyrics: “Valparaiso”

Paula Moore was born in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. She grew up in a musical family. Her mother had a passion for opera and lieder (voice and piano). Paula’s family later moved around, including to Chicago, Evanston (Illinois), France, and Spain. Her first stage appearance was at age seven in Evanston, Illinois, in a play based on Richard Wagner’s Ring of the Liebelung. She portrayed the main character The Golden Fish, who narrates the ensuing drama from the depths of the Rhine. After moving to New Hampshire, at the age of sixteen Paula Moore acted in a chamber theater adaptation of James Joyce’s The Dubliners and portrayed Angélique in Molière’s The Imaginary Invalid. She studied French Literature and Fine Arts at the University of Wisconsin for two years, while studying serial music with composer and conductor René Leibowitz.

Next, Moore attended University of New Hampshire for one year before moving to New York in 1968. It was there she modelled and studied acting with Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre. After moving away from New York City, she continued studying Morphology at the Academie des Beaux Arts de Paris, and Etching and Photographyat Central St Martins College in London. In the 1970s, she worked as a model for Vogue, Elle, and Marie-Claire. At that same time, she studied acting with Andréas Voutsinas for several years, taking classical voice training with tenor Enzo Seri, and studying harmony and piano with French jazz pianist Jeff Gardner.

In 1976, she cowrote a song she recorded titled “Pocha”. It was released as a single in France. In 1982, she released a synth-pop single titled “Falling Free”. It was released in Belgium, Denmark, France, and West Germany. The following year she released another song she wrote titled “I’m Gonna Love You”. It was released in Belgium, Canada, France, and West Germany. As well, in 1983 Moore released another single titled “I Feel Good” in Sweden and West Germany. Both “I’m Gonna Love You” and “I Feel Good” were tracks on Paula Moore’s album High And Low.

Late in 1983, Moore released another track as single titled “Valparaiso”.

“Valparaiso” was released in Belgium, Canada, France, and West Germany. Along with Paula Moore, the song was co-written by Daniel Vangarde. Born in Paris in 1947 with the given name Daniel Bangalter. As a child, he was exposed to classical music, with his family listening to records of composers including Bach, Beethoven, Chopin and Mozart. At the age of 18, Bangalter was inspired by The Beatles and decided to pursue a career in music. He changed his name to Daniel Vangarde in tribute to the Vickers Vanguard – a 100-seat airliner flown by British European Airlines and Trans-Canada Airlines. In 1977, Vangarde wrote “Cuba” for the French group the Gibson Brothers. The single reached number-one in Finland. He wrote “D.I.S.C.O” in 1979 for the French band Ottawan. The song topped the pop charts in the Netherlands and Norway, #2 in Belgium, Ireland, the UK, and West Germany, #4 in Austria, #5 in South Africa, and Switzerland, and #7 in France.

In the 1990s, Vangarde became involved in disputes over the restitution of royalties to Jewish composers affected during the Nazi occupation in France. After retiring from music, he moved to Brazil, where he engaged in opening a pizzeria, an inn, and a store. In 2022, Vangarde released a compilation album of his work titled The Vaults of Zagora Records Mastermind (1971-1984).

Valparaiso is the second largest city in Chile, with a population in the metropolitan area of over a million.

Many homes in Valparaiso are colorfully painted

Former home of Pablo Neruda

Nicknamed “The Jewel of the Pacific”, Valparaíso was declared a world heritage site based upon its improvised urban design and unique architecture.

A street in Valparaiso

In 1996, the World Monuments Fund declared Valparaíso’s unusual system of funicular lifts (steeply inclined carriages) one of the world’s 100 most endangered historical treasures.

Valparaíso was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2003.

Built upon 42 steep hillsides overlooking the Pacific Ocean, Valparaíso has a labyrinth of streets and cobblestone alleyways, embodying a rich architectural and cultural legacy.

In the song, “Valparaiso”, the singer wants to go to this city by taking a slow boat.

Ocean liners like the the SS Reina Del Mar, built in 1955 by the Pacific Steam Navigation Company in Liverpool, England, offered a 65 day voyage from Liverpool to Valparaiso. On the way, it stopped in ports in France, Spain, Bermuda, the Bahamas, Cuba, Jamaica, Panama, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru and Chile.

Once in Valparaiso, she wants to find romance in a lover’s arms. In anticipation, she exclaims, “I can imagine that magical moment of thrill. Under the moonlight a rendezvous high on a hill.”

“Valparaiso” climbed to #7 in Montreal.

“Valparaiso” was later used in Chanel’s 2018/19 Croisière fashion show.

Paula Moore’s followup single release, “Many Moons”, was another track from her solo album High And Low. The tune charted in Belgium in 1984. The following year another synth-pop tune, “Wheels Of Desire”, was released in France. In 1986, Moore released “Chains Of Love” in France, the Netherlands and Portugal. And in 1987, “Jamey Don’t Go” was released as a single in 1987. In the 1980s and 90s she sang regularly with a blues band on the jazz and blues club circuit in Paris as well as in hospitals and prisons. She also composed recordings for television shows.

As a visual artist she goes by the name of Paula Moore and since the 1990s has exhibited her paintings throughout France. In 2003, she recorded vocals on her son’s EP, entitled Utopia, by Jackson and His Computerband and in 2005 performed “Fast Life” on his album Smash.

In 2005, she adopted the pseudonym birdpaula as a tribute to her love of Native American art and culture and, according to her biological father and several cousins, to her supposed Native American roots. In 2005, her album Birdpaula was released.

In 2006, she performed the U2 song – Pride (In the Name of Love) on the Nouvelle Vague album Bande à Part. In 2010, she released the album Give in to love. In 2019, she wrote the lyrics of the song “Invincible” for the album Immersion by Na Youn Sun. She has also appeared in five films. Her most recent casting was in The Truth About Charlie (2002).

The Truth about Charlie, starring Mark Wahlberg and Thandiwe Newton, was a remake of the 1963 comedy-mystery starring Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn titled Charade. 

July 11, 2026
Ray McGinnis

References:
“Birdpaula,” EverybodyWiki.com.
“Paula Moore,” Last FM.com.
“Daniel Vangarde: “The Disco Demolition was Homophobic, Racist and Stupid,” MixMag, December 7, 2022.

CKOI 96.9-FM Montreal | Top Ten | April 27, 1984