{{Short description|English songwriter, musician (born 1946)}} {{for|the musician and child abuser|Philip Pickett}} {{EngvarB|date=August 2014}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{Infobox musical artist | birth_name = Phillip Stuart Pickett | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=y|1946|11|19}} | birth_place = Münster, Germany | genre = Pop | instrument = Bass, keyboards, vocals, guitar | years_active = 1973–present | past_member_of = Sailor, Culture Club }}
'''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.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Sailor - Phil Pickett |url=http://sailor-music.com/phil.htm |access-date=2025-09-19 |website=sailor-music.com}}</ref> With his death, Pickett and his mother, Eileen, moved to Birmingham, England in 1950.<ref name=":0" /> His early musical influences included Steve Winwood and the Rolling Stones.<ref name=":0" />
After leaving school, he learned to trade as a baker and moved to San Francisco.<ref name=":0" /> While there, he joined Joan Baez School for Non Violence.<ref name=":0" /> With many young American men being called up to be drafted to Saigon, Phil quickly moved back to England, but not before meeting an idol of his, Duke Ellington, who urged him to "go back home and write your music".<ref name=":0" /> Instead of going back to Birmingham, he moved to London and began his work as a musician.<ref name=":0" />
== 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.<ref name=":0" /> The band originally had fame in just Holland, having two top five hits in 1974 and 1975<ref>{{Cite web |last=Top 40 |first=Stichting Nederlandse |title=Sailor {{!}} Top 40-artiesten |url=https://www.top40.nl/top40-artiesten/sailor |access-date=2025-09-19 |website=Top40.nl |language=nl}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Dutch Charts - dutchcharts.nl |url=https://dutchcharts.nl/search.asp?cat=s&artist=Sailor&artist_search=starts&title=&title_search=starts |access-date=2025-09-19 |website=dutchcharts.nl}}</ref> before achieving nationwide success with their song "A Glass of Champagne", which went to number two in the UK (behind "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-03-26 |title=Official Singles Chart on 11/1/1976 |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/singles-chart/19760111/7501/ |access-date=2025-09-19 |website=Official Charts |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-04-12 |title=Official Singles Chart on 18/1/1976 |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/charts/singles-chart/19760118/7501/ |access-date=2025-09-19 |website=Official Charts |language=en}}</ref>) in 1975.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1975-12-06 |title=GLASS OF CHAMPAGNE |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/songs/sailor-glass-of-champagne/ |access-date=2025-09-19 |website=Official Charts |language=en}}</ref>
Sailor disbanded in 1978<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sailor Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More {{!}} Al... |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/sailor-mn0000239892 |access-date=2025-09-19 |website=AllMusic |language=en}}</ref> and reformed with all four original members in 1989.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Welcome to the Friars Aylesbury website |url=https://www.aylesburyfriars.co.uk/interviewssailor.html |access-date=2025-09-19 |website=www.aylesburyfriars.co.uk}}</ref>
According to the band's own website, Sailor stopped performing in May 2014.<ref>''A Glass of Champagne – The Official Sailor Story'', James McCarraher, Sarum Press, 2004, {{ISBN|978-0952669036}}</ref>
=== 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<ref name=":0" /> and backing vocals initially co-writing "It's a Miracle" and "Karma Chameleon".<ref name=":0" /> 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,<ref name="BBC">{{cite news |title=Casper's stage debut |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/563254.stm |access-date=18 December 2012 |newspaper=BBC News |date=13 December 1999}}</ref> possibly the music industry's most prestigious songwriting award in 1983 – for "Best Pop Song" and "Highest-Selling A-side".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ivorsacademy.com/awards/the-ivors/archive/|title=Archive | The Ivors | The Ivors Academy | Champions of Music Creators|website=Ivorsacademy.com|access-date=5 May 2024|archive-date=8 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200408110558/https://ivorsacademy.com/awards/the-ivors/archive/|url-status=dead}}</ref> 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:
* "Karma Chameleon" (1983) * "It's a Miracle" (1984) * "Move Away" (1986)
=== Other projects === Pickett recorded the 1984 Olympic Games theme song, "Destiny" with MCA. Jon Moss from Culture Club contributed with drums and the single cover was created by fashion illustrator Tony Viramontes.<ref name="Rhys-Morgan, Dean">Rhys-Morgan, Dean. ''Bold, Beautiful and Damned: The World of 1980's Fashion Illustrator Tony Viramontes'', London: Lawrence King Publishing Ltd., 2013 {{ISBN|978-1-78067-3073}}, p. 33</ref> In 1989, Pickett discovered charismatic Nigerian singer songwriter Keziah Jones busking in Portobello Road London,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Keziah Jones {{!}} MyLoveAffair |url=https://mla-agency.com/en/project/keziah-jones/ |access-date=2025-09-19 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Keziah Jones and his dynamic “Blufunk” sound |url=https://melodyvibe.com/blogs/marr-s-guitars/posts/7367967/keziah-jones-and-his-dynamic-blufunk-sound |access-date=2025-09-19 |website=melodyvibe.com}}</ref> a relationship that soon evolved into management. In 1994, he sold his London studio to AC/DC.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">Interview - January 2000</ref>
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''<ref name="BBC" /> and ''The Mask'' and Hollywood movies, including ''Electric Dreams'', ''Top Secret!'', ''White Nights'', and ''The Lost Boys''.<ref name=":0" />
In July 2015, Pickett was invited to join the songwriting fraternity - The Society Of Distinguished Songwriters<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sailor-music.com/news.htm|title=Sailor|website=Sailor-music.com|access-date=5 May 2024}}</ref> or "S.O.D's" as they are commonly known in the business. Other members include Sir Tim Rice, Justin Hayward, Mike Batt, Gary Barlow and Björn Ulvaeus.
== Personal life == With his wife Ann, they have three children: Jack (born 1975/1976), Gus (born 1980) and Harry (born 1991).<ref name=":0" /> In the 1990s, he moved his family from Gloucestershire to Cotswolds.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />
== 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)''
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Other sources== *''Losing My Virginity'' by Sir Richard Branson published by Crown Publishing Group, {{ISBN|978-0812932294}} *''Take It Like a Man'' by Boy George and Spencer Bright published by HarperCollins, {{ISBN|978-0060173685}} *[http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=5775 Karma Chameleon by Culture Club - Songfacts]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pickett, Phil}} Category:1946 births Category:Living people Category:English music managers Category:English new wave musicians Category:English male songwriters