Phillip Boa

Phillip Boa

Phillip Boa in 2012
Background information
Born 18 January 1963 (1963-01-18) (age 54)
Dortmund, Germany
Genres Independent
Occupation(s) Singer, guitarist, composer
Instruments Vocals, guitar
Years active 1985-present
Labels Cargo Records, Universal
Associated acts Phillip Boa and the Voodooclub, Voodoocult
Website www.phillipboa.com

Phillip Boa (born 18 January 1963 in Dortmund, Germany) is a German independent music songwriter, musician, singer, guitarist, composer and producer. His current name is unknown after two divorces and name changes. Phillip Boa lives in Dortmund, Hamburg and on the island of Malta. As a songwriter Boa has written over 400 songs, and 21 of his studio albums made it to the top 60 of the charts. He has received several "Album & Single of the Week" awards in British magazines like NME, Sounds or Melody Maker. 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". The style of his lyrics is a mix of irony, love songs, sarcasm and is often of bizarre and deranged content.

Music

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[1] 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. The album was produced by David Vella and Brian Viglione,[2] 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.[3]

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.[4][5]

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).[6]

Phillip Boa was in the top 20 of the survey "Made in Germany – The Most Influential Geman musicians" (laut.de).[7] Furthermore, he stands as one of the sharpest observers of our society and a distinguised 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 Voodoocub "one of the best German bands of the last three decades".[8]

In their song "Wir sind die Besten" (We are the Best), the German band Die Ärzte sing about Phillip Boa, depicting themselves and Boa as the last true musicians.

Discography

Studio albums by Phillip Boa & The Voodooclub

Year Title Official German Charts
1985 Philister
  • Label: Ja! Musik
 —
1986 Aristocracie
  • Label: Constrictor
 —
1987 Copperfield 47
1988 Hair 26
1990 Hispañola 14
1991 Helios 32
1993 Boaphenia 15
1994 God 23
1995 She 32
2000 My Private War 23
2001 The Red 59
2003 C 90 46
2005 Decadence & Isolation 40
2007 Faking To Blend In 59
2009 Diamonds Fall 45
2012 Loyalty
  • Label: Cargo Records
 13
2014 Bleach House
  • Label: Cargo Records
 7
2016 Fresco
  • Label: Vertigo Berlin
 8
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

Solo album

Year Title Official German Charts
1998 Lord Garbage 22

Studio albums by Voodoocult

Year Title Media Control Charts
[9]
1994 Jesus Killing Machine 43
1995 Voodoocult 57

Samplers, live albums and re-releases

References

  1. ↑ Harris, Craig. "Phillip Boa". Allmusic. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
  2. ↑ Heymann, Peter. "Phillip Boa And The Voodooclub – Loyalty". Sonic Seducer (in German). Retrieved 5 July 2013.
  3. ↑ "Boa, Phillip & The Voodooclub" (in German). Cargo Records. Retrieved 3 July 2014.
  4. ↑ "Phillip Boa and the Voodooclub". www.radioeins.de (in German). Retrieved 2017-02-08.
  5. ↑ "Offizielle Deutsche Charts - Offizielle Deutsche Charts". www.offiziellecharts.de (in German). Retrieved 2017-02-08.
  6. ↑ Germany, programm.ARD.de - ARD Play-Out-Center Potsdam, Potsdam,. "Rockpalast: Phillip Boa and the Voodooclub". programm.ARD.de. Retrieved 2017-02-08.
  7. ↑ "Made In Germany: Die einflussreichsten deutschen Musiker – laut.de – Seite 8/25". laut.de (in German). Retrieved 2017-02-08.
  8. ↑ "Phillip Boa & The Voodooclub : big Berlin gig and new single! - Louder Than War". Louder Than War. 2012-12-07. Retrieved 2017-02-08.
  9. ↑ "Voodoocult — Longplay-Chartverfolgung". Musicline.de (in German). Phononet. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
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