Phil Pickett

Phil Pickett is an English composer, keyboard player, vocal arranger and record producer. He is best known as one of the founder members along with Georg Kajanus of the 1970s pop band Sailor, and in the 1980s, as keyboard player and co-writer for Culture Club. "Karma Chameleon" co-written with Boy George, in the words of Richard Branson became “Number 1 in every country that had a chart”. This song became one of the biggest and most defining hits of the decade earning Pickett two Ivor Novello Awards for ‘Best Pop Song’ and ‘Highest Selling A-Side’ in 1984.

Phil married Ann Pickett, (formerly Sinsheimer) also from his home town of Sutton Coldfield, in 1975 at Caxton Hall, London and they have three sons, Jack Philip born April 16th 1976, Augustus Luke (Gus) born August 17th 1981, and Harry James born July 7th 1991.

Philip is the only son of Philip George Pickett, a World War 2 RAF Pilot and jazz pianist, later killed in a flying accident in Bulawayo, S. Rhodesia in 1950, and Eileen Elizabeth Pickett, a Red Cross ambulance driver who after the war became a model. She died in Andalusia, southern Spain in 1993.

"'Background and early years"'Born Philip Stuart Pickett on the 19th November 1946 in the B.A.O.R. Hospital (British Army On The Rhine) in Munster, W. Germany where his father was seconded after the War. The family returned to England briefly and then moved to Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) where his father was killed in a flying accident on the day before his 27th birthday.

Pickett and his mother returned to England in 1950 where he was educated in West Bromwich, Ludgvan near Penzance, Handsworth and Ward End in Birmingham and finally, courtesy of the RAF Benevolent Fund, Wylde Green College for Boys in Sutton Coldfield. Upon leaving school he attended Tamworth Technical College and later, Birmingham College of Food & (Bakery) Technology whilst also a management apprentice at Stanton’s Bakery, Hednesford Staffs. Having gained his apprenticeship, and a growing interest in pursuing a career in music, in 1967 Philip decided to travel across the USA eventually settling in Carmel California. Technically a ‘draft-dodger’ (as his work permit made him eligible for call-up for the US Army) he spent a short time attending courses at Joan Baez’s School of Non-Violence in Carmel and supported himself by cleaning windows. Being finally traced by the FBI Pickett was drafted to join the US Army in Vietnam but was allowed to return to England as the only alternative to Saigon.

Career

Pickett’s first band after leaving College in 1964 was a Rhythm & Blues quintet called The Blues Unit comprised of ex-school & college friends from Sutton Coldfield. It featured himself on lead and 12-string guitars, David Peters on lead vocals and harmonica, Paul Warren drums, Phil Benton rhythm guitar and Mick Robbins on bass, the band playing at many colleges, pubs and clubs around Birmingham including Mothers, The Elbow Room and The Grotto. Other bands Philip led were ‘Workshop’, a jazz ensemble with brass players, Mick and Gerald Kinsella and bass player Denny Ball, and his partnership with a young Irish folk singer called Paddy Maguire, also from Sutton Coldfield later led to Pickett’s first introduction to the music business in London. The duo were talent-spotted by Ian Ralfini and Martin Wyatt of Warner Bros Records, assisted by producer Tony Cox, although the songs recorded, a rock version of William Blake’s ‘Jerusalem’ and one of Pickett’s first songs, ‘Doin’ The Best I Can’ were unsuccessful when released. However, a then obscure “Leaving On A Jet Plane” by Peter Paul and Mary discovered by Phil and featured in the duo’s set was released by Ian Ralfini of Warner Bros and a few weeks later entered at Number 1 in the UK charts.

Phil started prolifically writing songs around 1964-66 and opened a folk club called The Showboat in Sutton, which regularly featured his folk duo, ‘Paddy & Phil’ with visiting guest artists, Ralph McTell, Raymond Froggatt and the Ian Campbell Folk Group. Denny Ball and other members of 'Workshop' helped him to record his first demo, “Time For Me” at Tetlow's Recording Studio in Birmingham leading to interest through a contact of Raymond Froggatt in London, the music publisher Stuart Reid of E. H. Morris.

Reid wrote to Pickett to invite him for an interview in London whereupon he was offered a job at E.H. Morris as an A&R assistant, songwriter and record plugger. This led to Pickett finally leaving Birmingham to live in London on July 21st 1969, the day of the Moon landing. Phil’s A&R duties involved listening and evaluating the hundreds of demo recordings sent in every week, one of which was by Norwegian songwriter, Georg Hultgreen (Kajanus).

Pickett felt a close affinity with Hultgreen’s work and among others, enthusiastically recommended that E H Morris sign the writer, whose music copyrights to this day are sub-published by E H (Buddy) Morris’s son, Steve Morris.

In early 1970 Pickett approached Kajanus, as he was then known, with a view to forming a musical partnership. The two immediately started working together productively, after which Pickett took a demo tape of their songs to GTO Music run by Laurence Myers and David Bowie’s manager, Tony Defries. Pickett negotiated a record deal for “Hi Ho Silver” by ‘Kajanus Pickett’ recorded at Morgan Studios and eventually released in 1971 on Arty Mogul’s Signpost (Atlantic) label.

Lack of eventual commercial success led to the formation of Sailor in 1973 with the addition of Henry Marsh, latterly of the prog-rock band Gringo, and drummer Grant Serpell of Geno Washington’s Ram Jam band and jazz-fusion outfit, Affinity.

With the initial help of Steve Morris securing a contract with CBS/Epic Records under the stewardship of Dick Asher, Sailor then went on to considerable success in the mid 1970s principally with the hits “A Glass Of Champagne” (written by Georg Kajanus) which reached Number 2 in the UK charts (Number 1 in the NME chart) knocking Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" from the top spot, and “Girls Girls Girls” (written by Georg Kajanus) which got to Number 4. Their first album “Sailor” produced by Georg Kajanus was a critical success but fared less well commercially except in Holland where it earned the band their first Gold Album. Sailor’s ‘Traffic Jam’ became a big hit in Holland and a "turntable" hit where it accompanied many traffic reports on UK radio. The second album ‘Trouble’ produced by the US team of Lesser and Holmes was a great success with two big hits (see above) many successful UK and European tours and television appearances.