Tuesday, March 14, 2006

Happy Birthday, Phil Phillips!

"Sea of Love" is one of the great ones. It owes a lot of its success to the back-up group, the Twilights, but Phil Phillips was the lead, and he really sold it. Here's a RealAudio clip: streaming mp3

Goldband Artist Phil Phillips: "Born John Phillip Baptiste on March 14, 1931 in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Phil Phillips was a member of the Gateway Quartet and a bellhop before he recorded 'Sea of Love.'

'Sea of Love' was arranged and produced by Eddie Shuler for neighbor George Khoury's label. The first time Eddie heard the song he knew it would be a hit. They took their time with the arrangement, building up the vocal group and trying out different musicians. After three months of work, the song was ready for release. The record sold heavily and was leased to Mercury Records. 'Sea of Love' went to #2 in the U.S. pop charts and spent 14 weeks in the top 40. It sold over two million copies in 1957."

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