19 (song) recorded in French, Spanish, German and Japanese. The song received the Ivor Novello award for Best-selling single of 1985. The song's English-language release came in three different 12" versions - "Extended Version", "Destruction Mix" and "The Final Story", all with an alternative cover design. Hardcastle was inspired to create the song after watching "Vietnam Requiem", and comparing his own life at 19 to those of the soldiers featured: "...what struck me was how young the soldiers were: the documentary said their average age was 19. I was out having fun in pubs and clubs when I was 19, not being
Vietnam Combat Artists Program Vietnam Combat Artist Team IV (CAT IV), chronicled his experience in an essay entitled "US Army Soldier-Artists in Vietnam" for "War, Literature & the Arts: An International Journal of the Humanities" published by the department of English and Fine Arts, United States Air Force Academy. In the essay Pollock wrote: "The idea of rotating teams of young soldier-artists from a variety of backgrounds and experiences through Vietnam was innovative. Soldier-artists were encouraged to freely express and interpret their individual experience in their own distinct styles. The artists responded enthusiastically to their artistic , and the resulting products were wide-ranging and