{{Short description|German musician and songwriter}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Phillip Boa | image = 13-07-20 Amphi Voodooclub Phillip Boa 08 (cropped).jpg | caption = Boa performing in 2013 | birth_name = Ernst Ulrich Figgen | alias = | birth_date = {{birth date and age text|18 January 1963}} | birth_place = Dortmund, Germany | origin = | death_date = | death_place = | genre = Independent | occupation = Musician, songwriter, composer | instrument = Vocals, guitar | years_active = 1985–present | label = Cargo Records, Universal | associated_acts = Phillip Boa and the Voodooclub, Voodoocult | website = {{URL|phillipboa.com}} }}
'''Phillip Boa''' (born '''Ernst Ulrich Figgen''';<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kalitschke |first=Martin |date=22 November 2012 |title=Boa und die Beatles |url=https://www.wn.de/freizeit/ausgehen/musik/boa-und-die-beatles-2023040 |access-date=2023-01-15 |website=Westfälische Nachrichten |language=de}}</ref> 18 January 1963) is a German independent musician, songwriter, singer, guitarist and composer. The musical style followed by Boa and his band Phillip Boa & The Voodooclub was described in a review by ''NME'' as "a cross between B52's and Captain Beefheart".{{citation needed|date=February 2017}} The style of his lyrics is a mix of irony, love songs, sarcasm and is often of bizarre and deranged content. Boa has written over 400 songs, and 21 of his studio albums made it to the top 60 of the charts.
== Career == In 1985, he founded the independent band ''Phillip Boa and the Voodooclub''. With their album ''Hair'' and the single "Container Love", they experienced a commercial breakthrough and international recognition in 1989.
Boa's music is influenced by British punk rock<ref>{{cite web|url={{allMusic|pure_url=yes|id=mn0001285376|class=artist}}|title=Phillip Boa |first=Craig |last=Harris |work=AllMusic |accessdate=5 July 2013}}</ref> and new wave; its style swings between pop and avantgarde. A continuous charasteric are the catchy and melodic choruses, interrupted or alienated by atmospheric shifts. Thereby the voice of band member Pia Lund and Boa's own throaty singing contrast diametrically. After his most successful album so far, ''Boaphenia'' (1993), Boa made a deliberate musical cut to focus on a Metal project when founded the heavy metal band Voodoocult, consisting of members Dave Lombardo (drums), Chuck Schuldiner (guitar), Waldemar Sorychta (guitar), Mille Petrozza (guitar) and himself as vocalist.
The autumn of 2006 saw Boa and his Voodooclub start their ''Remastered'' tour. They consequently only played songs from the three re-published albums ''Copperfield'', ''Hair'' and ''Hispañola''. Moreover, since 2001, they play two or three annual Christmas concerts at the Leipzig ''Moritzbastei'' fortress. On 3 August 2007, the album ''Faking to Blend In'' was released on Motor Music.
In 2009, the Voodooclub teamed up with Can drummer the late Jaki Liebezeit, who played percussion and drums on their album ''Diamonds Fall''. The album ''Loyalty'' brought them a commercial comeback in Germany (No. 13 in the album charts) and some other countries.{{which|date=February 2017}} The album was produced by David Vella and Brian Viglione,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sonic-seducer.de/index.php/CD-Rezensionen_Reviews_Plattentests_..B..C../Phillip_Boa_And_The_Voodooclub_Loyalty_-_Rezension_Review_Kritik.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130705150443/http://www.sonic-seducer.de/index.php/CD-Rezensionen_Reviews_Plattentests_..B..C../Phillip_Boa_And_The_Voodooclub_Loyalty_-_Rezension_Review_Kritik.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=5 July 2013 |title=Phillip Boa And The Voodooclub – Loyalty |first=Peter |last=Heymann |work=Sonic Seducer |language=German |accessdate=5 July 2013}}<!-- other reviews of this album exist; make sure any replacement(s) supports the preceding text --></ref> who also played drums and other instruments on the album. ''Loyalty'' was mixed by Ian Grimble and mastered by Frank Arkwright at Abbey Road Studios.
In 2014 the studio album ''Bleach House'' was released on Cargo Records, which reached place 7 in the German album charts, the best chart position in the history of the band. The album was produced by David Vella on Malta and was mixed in London, at the Konk Studios London by Dougal Lott. It was mastered by Fred Kevorkian in the New Yorker Avatar Studios.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cargo-records.de/de/item/74073/artist/boa_phillip_amp_the_voodooclub/artist_details.76.html |title=Boa, Phillip & The Voodooclub |publisher=Cargo Records |accessdate=3 July 2014 |language=German}}</ref>
After many intensive years and more than 2 million sold albums, the single collection ''Blank Expression – A History of Singles 1986–2016'' was released on 16 September 2016 on Capitol Records/Universal Music. It reached rank 8 in the German album charts. Apart from the most important singles, the collection included also twelve new songs from the album ''Fresco – A Collection of 12 New Songs''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.radioeins.de/veranstaltungen/konzerte/phillip-boa-and-the-voodooclub0.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20161002163836/https://www.radioeins.de/veranstaltungen/konzerte/phillip-boa-and-the-voodooclub0.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2 October 2016|title=Phillip Boa and the Voodooclub|website=radioeins.de|language=de|access-date=8 February 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.offiziellecharts.de/album-details-314266|title=Offizielle Deutsche Charts – Offizielle Deutsche Charts|website=offiziellecharts.de|language=de-de|access-date=8 February 2017}}</ref>
2018 their Top 3 album "Earthly Powers" (Cargo Records) was the band's last official album. Capitol Records/Universal Music released extensive anniversary editions of "Boaphenia" (2023) and "Copperfield" (2024), followed by the 2025 anniversary edition of their internationally praised, award-winning album "Hair" incl. 10 new songs, which reached the Top 3 of the official album charts.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.instagram.com/p/DJRyvGKCNnT/ |title=Universal Music Universal Music Catalogue Domestic Germany |access-date=2025-05-05}}</ref>
== Reception == "Phillip Boa and the Voodooclub belong to the most prestigious German bands, which is also recognized from international critics and fans." (ARD Germany's and the world's largest public broadcaster).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://programm.ard.de/TV/mdrfernsehen/rockpalast--phillip-boa-and-the-voodooclub/eid_2822911888245412|title=Rockpalast: Phillip Boa and the Voodooclub|last=Germany|first=programm.ARD.de – ARD Play-Out-Center Potsdam, Potsdam|website=programm.ARD.de|access-date=8 February 2017}}</ref>
Phillip Boa was in the top 20 of the survey "Made in Germany – The Most Influential German musicians" (laut.de).<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.laut.de/News/Made-In-Germany-Die-einflussreichsten-deutschen-Musiker-26-03-2011-8055/Seite-7|title=Made In Germany: Die einflussreichsten deutschen Musiker – laut.de – Seite 8/25|newspaper=laut.de|access-date=8 February 2017|language=de-DE}}</ref> Furthermore, he stands as one of the sharpest observers of our society and a distinguished songwriter in Germany, with "a cynical-poetic view, full of mysterious metaphors and sharp wisdom." (NME)
Several of Boa's albums have reached the top 30 of the German Media Control Charts. In 2012, British music journalist John Robb called Phillip Boa and the Voodooclub "one of the best German bands of the last three decades".<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://louderthanwar.com/phillip-boa-the-voodooclub-big-berlin-gig-and-new-single|title=Phillip Boa & The Voodooclub : big Berlin gig and new single! - Louder Than War|date=7 December 2012|newspaper=Louder Than War|access-date=8 February 2017|language=en-GB}}</ref>
In their song "Wir sind die Besten" (We are the Best), German band Die Ärzte sing about Phillip Boa, depicting themselves and Boa as the last true musicians.
== Discography == [[File:Voodoocult.png|thumb|Boa performing with Voodoocult in 1995]]
=== Studio albums by Phillip Boa & The Voodooclub === {|class="wikitable" |- ! Year !width="200"| Title !style="width:5em"| Official German Charts |- align="center" | 1985 |align="left"| ''Philister'' *Label: Ja! Musik | — |- align="center" | 1986 |align="left"| ''Aristocracie'' *Label: Constrictor | — |- align="center" | 1987 |align="left"| ''Copperfield'' *Label: Polydor / Universal | 47 |- align="center" | 1988 |align="left"| ''Hair'' *Label: Polydor / Universal | 26 |- align="center" | 1990 |align="left"| ''Hispañola'' *Label: Polydor / Universal | 14 |- align="center" | 1991 |align="left"| ''Helios'' *Label: Polydor / Universal | 32 |- align="center" | 1993 |align="left"| ''Boaphenia'' *Label: Polydor / Universal | 15 |- align="center" | 1994 |align="left"| ''God'' *Label: Motor / Universal | 23 |- align="center" | 1995 |align="left"| ''She'' *Label: Motor / Universal | 32 |- align="center" | 2000 |align="left"| ''My Private War'' *Label: RCA / BMG Sony | 23 |- align="center" | 2001 |align="left"| ''The Red'' *Label: RCA / BMG Sony | 59 |- align="center" | 2003 |align="left"| ''C 90'' *Label: RCA / BMG Sony | 46 |- align="center" | 2005 |align="left"| ''Decadence & Isolation'' *Label: Motor Music | 40 |- align="center" | 2007 |align="left"| ''Faking To Blend In'' *Label: Motor Music | 59 |- align="center" | 2009 |align="left"| ''Diamonds Fall'' *Label: Rough Trade / Constrictor | 45 |- align="center" | 2012 |align="left"| ''Loyalty'' *Label: Cargo Records / Constrictor | 13 |- align="center" | 2014 | align="left"| ''Bleach House'' *Label: Cargo Records / Constrictor | 7 |- |- align="center" | 2016 | align="left"| ''Blank Expression'' *Label: Capitol Records / Vertigo Berlin | 8 |- align="center" | 2018 | align="left"| ''Earthly Powers'' *Label: Cargo Records / Constrictor | 3 |- align="center" | 2023 | align="left"| ''Boaphenia (Re-Edition)'' *Label: Capitol Records / Vertigo Berlin | 10 |- align="center" | 2024 | align="left"| ''Copperfield (Re-Edition)'' *Label: Capitol Records / Vertigo Berlin | 12 |- align="center" | 2025 | align="left"| ''Hair (Re-Edition)'' *Label: Capitol Records / Vertigo Berlin | 3 |align="center" colspan="3" style="font-size: 8pt"| "—" denotes releases that did not chart |}
=== Solo album === {|class="wikitable" |- ! Year !width="200"| Title !style="width:5em"| Official German Charts |- align="center" | 1998 |align="left"| ''Lord Garbage'' *Label: Motor Music | 22 |- |}
=== Studio albums by Voodoocult === {|class="wikitable" |- ! Year !width="200"| Title !style="width:5em"| Media Control Charts<br /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.musicline.de/de/chartverfolgung_summary/artist/VOODOOCULT/longplay|title=Voodoocult — Longplay-Chartverfolgung|work=Musicline.de|publisher=Phononet|language=German|accessdate=1 June 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140606202138/http://www.musicline.de/de/chartverfolgung_summary/artist/VOODOOCULT/longplay|archive-date=6 June 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> |- align="center" |- align="center" | 1994 |align="left"| ''Jesus Killing Machine'' *Label: Motor Music | 43 |- align="center" | 1995 |align="left"| ''Voodoocult'' *Label: Motor Music | 57 |- |}
=== Samplers, live albums and re-releases === * 1986: ''Philistrines'' (Red Flame, UK) * 1989: ''30 Years of Blank Expression'' (DiDi, Greece) * 1991: ''Live! Exile On Valletta Street'' (Polydor) * 1994: ''Hidden Pearls'' (Fanclub Release) * 1996: ''Hidden Pearls & Spoken Words'' (Fanclub Release) * 1997: Fine Art On Silver ''Best Of'' (Motor Music) * 1997: Aristocracie ''Remastered'' (Indigo) * 1998: Master Series ''Best of'' (Re-release "Fine Art On Silver") (Motor Music) * 2001: Singles Collection 1985–2001 ''Best of'' (RCA/BMG) #28 * 2005: BOA Best Singles ''Best of'' ''Remastered'' (Polydor/Universal) * 2006: Copperfield ''Remastered'' (Polydor/Universal) * 2006: Hair ''Remastered'' (Polydor/Universal) * 2006: Hispañola ''Remastered'' (Polydor/Universal) * 2011: Helios ''Remastered'' (Vertigo/Universal) * 2011: Boaphenia ''Remastered'' (Vertigo/Universal) * 2016: Blank Expression: A History Of Singles 1986–2016 ''Best Of'' (Universal) #8
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == {{commons category}} * {{Official website|http://www.phillipboa.com}} * [http://www.voodoophenia.de/ Official archive] * [http://www.facebook.com/phillipboaandthevoodooclub Phillip Boa and the Voodooclub] at Facebook * [http://www.laut.de/wortlaut/artists/b/boa_phillip/ Phillip Boa at laut.de] {{in lang|de}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Boa, Phillip}} Category:1963 births Category:21st-century German male singers Category:German heavy metal guitarists Category:German male guitarists Category:German heavy metal singers Category:Living people Category:Musicians from Dortmund Category:Voodoocult members Category:20th-century German male singers