Paris - Music

Louis Philippe Born Philippe Auclair On 24 June 1959 First Recorded For Belgian Label Les Disques Du Crepuscule Under The Names 'The Border Boys' The 'Tribute' 12" EP Produced By Andy Paley Who'd Worked With The Ramones And The Modern Lovers Previously And 'The Arcadians' One Single And One Album 'It's A Mad Mad World' 1986 Later Re-Released On A Variety Of Labels As 'Let's Pretend' . On The Advice Of A&R Man Mike Alway Louis Philippe Moved To London In Late 1986 And Soon Became One Of The Major Figures Of Cult Indie Label Él Records 1986-1989 A Subsidiary Of Cherry Red Records For Which He Recorded Five Singles And Three Albums 'Appointment With Venus' 1986 'Ivory Tower' 1988 'Yuri Gagarin' 1989 . He Also Appeared In One Guise Or Another - As Songwriter Arranger Backing Vocalist Or Instrumentalist - On More Than Half Of All The Label's Releases. Él Now Considered To Be One Of The Most Influential Labels Of Its Time Was However Not A Commercial Success In The UK But It Scored A String Of Independent Hits In Japan Where Louis Philippe Whose 'You Mary You' Was Él's Best-Selling Single Became An Iconic Figure For The So-Called Shibuya-Kei Or 'Shibuya Sound'. Following The Demise Of Él In 1989 He Turned To Japan To Pursue His Career With The Support Of Celebrity Fans Such As Cornelius. A Number Of Albums Followed All Of Them Released On The Über-Chic Trattoria Label 'Rainfall' 1991 'Jean Renoir' 1992 Both Of Them Recorded With Multi-Instrumentalist Dean Brodrick 'Delta Kiss' 1993 'Sunshine' Produced By Bertrand Burgalat 1994 'Jackie Girl' 1996 The First Of His Records To Feature XTC Guitarist Dave Gregory 'Azure' 1999 Recorded With The Prague Philharmonic Orchestra And 'Nusch' A Collection Of Francis Poulenc Mélodies 1999. All These Albums Were Conceived And Realised With The Help Of Long-Time Collaborator Pianist And Double-Bassist Danny Manners. Trattoria's Help Enabled Him To Find Licenses For These Records First In France Britain And Spain Then In The USA Where He'd Assembled A Limited But Devoted Fanbase. These Critically Well-Received Records Consolidated His 'cult' Status In The Indiepop World A Couple Of Them Charted 'L'Hiver Te Va Bien' Reached The Top 30 In France In 1994 While 'She Means Everything To Me' Reached The No.1 Spot On The Campus Radios Charts In The USA In 1998 Following An Appearance At New York's CMJ Music Marathon. However Crossover Success Still Proved And Proves Elusive Despite The Accessibility Of His Music And The Regard He's Held In Among Pop Connoisseurs. Later Releases Include 'My Favourite Part Of You' 2002 And 'The Wonder Of It All' 2004 . A Live Album Was Released In February 2007 And A New Studio Album 'An Unknown Spring' Released In June 2007. His Latest Album A Collaboration With The Night Mail Is Called Thunderclouds 2020 . Collaborations Louis Philippe Has Enjoyed A Parallel Career As An Arranger Producer And Instrumentalist Since The Late 80's. The Artists He's Worked With Or For Include Valerie Lemercier April March P.J. Proby Martin Newell Nina Morato Cinnamon Laïla Amezian La Buena Vida The Clientele And Many Others. A Collaboration Of Note Was The Album '9th & 13th' Tricatel 2001 In Which He Teamed Up With Danny Manners And Novelist Jonathan Coe To Produce Musical Settings For The Latter's Writings. Jonathan Coe Who'd Contributed The Sleevenotes To 'Azure' And Had Used A Verse Of His Song 'Yuri Gagarin' As An Epigraph For His Best-Seller 'What A Carve Up!' Has Also Written A Number Of Lyrics For Him Since 'My Favourite Part Of You' 2002 . Louis Philippe Has Lately Been Working With Ex-Young Marble Giants Leader Stuart Moxham With Whom He Regularly Plays Live And Now Runs His Own Record Label Wonder Records In London. After Two Records With Moxham read less