Category: Phil Wilson

Four months after the solo debut 45 had flopped, it was take 2 for Phil Wilson.

mp3 : Phil Wilson – 10 Miles

This really is one of the great lost singles of the era. It pounds along at a cracking pace, putting to shame so many of the indie-by-numbers efforts that were being lauded in music papers all across the land, demanding to be heard on your radio. Phil still had some fans out there who believed in him, with Janice Long on BBC Radio 1 enthusiastically providing a live session on her early evening show. But it was all to no avail with the single selling dismally, partly as Creation had given up the ghost and offered next to no promotion for the singer.

Phil would leave Creation and head on to the Caff Corporation for which there was one final 45 before he joined the civil service.

Here’s the two tracks that were on the reverse of 10 Miles:-

mp3 : Phil Wilson – A Jingle
mp3 : Phil Wilson – Jackson

The former was is an instrumental which demonstrates he still very much had an ear for a tune and it does seem strange that Alan McGee gave up on him so quickly, but then again this was a time when The House of Love burst onto the scene and bossman was besotted by them.

The latter? It’s the very song that was a hit for Johnny Cash and June Carter. Phil, with the aid of vocalist Joanne Lilley, not forgetting the contribution on violin from Frank Sweeney, delivers something that would be perfect for any hoe-down.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this short two-day series.  Maybe one day, there’ll be a Phil Wilson ICA….

JC

I wrote previously about The June Brides with the posting coming to the conclusion that they really deserved to have enjoyed far more success than they experienced, and I argued that they were maybe just a wee bit too ahead of their time as their sort of sound became more fashionable in the early 90s.

I also mentioned that Phil Wilson, the lead singer and songwriter with the band ended up working in a tax office in the 90s, just when his music career should have been reaching new heights.

Prior to joining Civvy Row, Phil was signed as a solo artist by Creation Records who no doubt expected a continuation of a sound whose influences included Jonathan Richman, The Velvet Underground and Josef K. The first solo record came out in February 1987:-

mp3 : Phil Wilson – Waiting For A Change

Yup… a full-blown country song, complete with steel guitar and fiddle. It was miles removed from the indie-pop that had seen his former band once be the support act for The Smiths.

It seemed all the more incredible as the backing band for the new single were The Triffids, a highly talented and critically acclaimed rock and pop band as well as Frank Sweeney, his old sidekick from the June Brides. Listening now, it feels as if everyone involved just went into the studio and had fun. Here’s the two b-sides from the 12″:-

mp3 : Phil Wilson – Even Now
mp3 : Phil Wilson – A Cowboy’s Lament

Sales were abysmal and it barely cracked the lower regions of the Indie Chart. Maybe there was better luck next time around….tune in tomorrow and find out.

JC