Philip Stuart Pickett (born 19 November 1946) is an English songwriter, musician, vocal arranger, producer and artist manager.
Pickett is best known for being the bassist for the glam pop band Sailor, who had a number 2 UK chart song in 1975 with "A Glass of Champagne". In 1982, Pickett joined Culture Club as a keyboardist, and co-wrote their song "Karma Chameleon".
Early years
Pickett was born in Münster,
Germany. His father, Phillip George Pickett, was a jazz pianist and RAF pilot who died in a plane crash in
Rhodesia in 1950 a day before his 27th birthday.
With his death, Pickett and his mother, Eileen, moved to
Birmingham,
England in 1950.
His early musical influences included
Steve Winwood and the Rolling Stones.
After leaving school, he learned to trade as a baker and moved to San Francisco.
Career
Sailor
Moving to London in 1969, Phil met
Georg Kajanus, who was from
Norway. They formed the duo Kajanis/Pickett but after meeting Henry Marsh and
Grant Serpell, became the glam pop group Sailor.
The band originally had fame in just
Holland, having two top five hits in 1974 and 1975
before achieving nationwide success with their song "A Glass of Champagne", which went to number two in the UK (behind "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen
) in 1975.
Sailor disbanded in 1978
According to the band's own website, Sailor stopped performing in May 2014.[ A Glass of Champagne – The Official Sailor Story, James McCarraher, Sarum Press, 2004, ]
Culture Club
On returning to England from the US in 1982 Pickett, by now in demand as a session player and arranger, joined
Boy George's band,
Culture Club on keyboards
and backing vocals initially co-writing "It's a Miracle" and "
Karma Chameleon".
The latter song, according to Sir Richard Branson (in
Losing My Virginity) to whom his label Culture Club were signed "Became Number 1 in every country in the world that had a chart, selling 1.4 million records in the UK alone". This earned Pickett two Ivor Novello Awards,
possibly the music industry's most prestigious songwriting award in 1983 – for "Best Pop Song" and "Highest-Selling A-side".
Pickett played extensively on all of the band's records throughout this period. He also co-wrote many other songs with the band including "
Move Away" produced by
Arif Mardin which, in 1986, climbed to Number 7 in the US
Billboard chart before the lead singer's drugs conviction in the UK, which eclipsed the band's career and prospects for several years afterwards.
Notable songs written by Pickett for Culture Club:
Other projects
Pickett recorded the 1984
Olympic Games theme song, "Destiny" with
MCA Records.
Jon Moss from Culture Club contributed with drums and the single cover was created by fashion
illustrator Tony Viramontes.
[Rhys-Morgan, Dean. Bold, Beautiful and Damned: The World of 1980's Fashion Illustrator Tony Viramontes, London: Lawrence King Publishing Ltd., 2013 , p. 33] In 1989, Pickett discovered charismatic Nigerian singer songwriter
Keziah Jones busking in Portobello Road London,
a relationship that soon evolved into management. In 1994, he sold his London studio to AC/DC.
[Interview - January 2000]
Throughout a long career in the music industry, Pickett has also been associated with a variety of artists, writers and producers including Phil Ramone, Quincy Jones, Arif Mardin, Stewart Levine, Paul McCartney, Joe Cocker, Jeff Beck, Take That, Malcolm McLaren, BA Robertson, Robbie Williams, Van Morrison, and Sheena Easton and has written songs for West End musical theatre Casper
In July 2015, Pickett was invited to join the songwriting fraternity - The Society Of Distinguished Songwriters
Personal life
With his wife Ann, they have three children: Jack (born 1975/1976), Gus (born 1980) and Harry (born 1991).
In the 1990s, he moved his family from
Gloucestershire to
Cotswolds.
Discography
Sailor
-
Sailor (1974)
-
Trouble (1975)
-
The Third Step (1976)
-
Checkpoint (1977)
-
Hideaway (1978)
-
Dressed for Drowning (1980)
-
Sailor (1991)
-
Street Lamp (1992)
Culture Club
-
Kissing to Be Clever (1982)
-
Colour by Numbers (1983)
-
Waking Up with the House on Fire (1984)
-
From Luxury to Heartache (1986)
Other sources
