Philip Jap

Does that name ring a bell? Probably not unless you were around in the UK, circa 1982. Philip was in a UK TV singing contest (yes, even then we had such things!) hosted by David Essex, imaginatively titled “The David Essex Showcase”, and was a contestant alongside such esteemed acts as Talk Talk and Thomas Dolby! Philip went on to release a sole, eponymously titled album. Vocally compared to Gary Numan, Philip’s music was decidedly more upbeat but no less powerful and catchy. The album featured three legendary producers, including the late Colin Thurston, Tony Mansfield and none other than Trevor Horn!

Now, I had all but forgotten about Philip until, by complete chance, I heard one of his singles, called ‘Save Us’ and it triggered an old synapse somewhere. I did some Googling and discovered that Philip has recently uploaded his album, along with a collection of B-Sides, Demos and Rarities, to his Tumblr page, for all to download free of charge! How bloody nice 🙂

Philip is now running a company called AUDIOfield who specialise in music supervision, production and sync. Good to see that this talented man is still in the business.

Anyway, get over to Philip’s page, download these tracks and enjoy a little known gem of an exquisite era of new wave music.