Coventry Music Museum Curator, Pete Chambers BEM, writes for the Observer.
I’ve known Phil for many years, since the Still Life days when I had the pleasure to take some promo photos for them.
So some 45 years later, Phil is number one on the Hillz FM chart, like the saying goes: ‘you can take the boy out of Coventry etc’.
I asked him to tell me about his career to date.
Philip Solman was born in Coventry in 1964 and began a life in music with a school band at age 15.
Little did he know he would top the local charts in February 2024, days after his 60th birthday.
In the mid 80s, Philip was bass player/vocalist with Still Life, a well-supported band which played sell-out gigs at iconic venues like The General Wolfe on Foleshill Road, Coventry. This venue hosted bands includingTalk Talk and U2 over the years.
Highlights for Still Life (later renamed ‘Noise Like Noise’), included headlining a Coventry version of Live Aid in aid of famine relief and being invited to London to record a demo for Chrysalis Music.
Philip left Noise Like Noise and formed a blues band called The Mustang Brothers. The band gigged widely and went through personnel changes, but the core remained Phil on bass and vocals, with Steven Stubbs on drums.
Highlights of The Mustang Brothers’ time included playing live on-air for Mercia FM’s 10th birthday celebrations and headlining an open-air concert inside the old Coventry Cathedral in aid of Amnesty International.
After The Mustang Brothers, Philip became another kind of brother when he was offered the role of Elwood in a Blues Brothers tribute act.
The act performed all over the UK for many years, culminating with a rowdy final show at The Albany Club, Earlsdon in 2005. It was the final show, because in his early 40s, Philip was leaving Coventry to be with his Canadian sweetheart in Vancouver.
Life and business in Canada pushed music into the background for almost two decades, until the pandemic changed everything.
With time on his hands, Philip started writing, recording, and producing tracks as ‘The English Assassin’. The music has a strong 80s feel and Philip’s sonorous voice has been compared to late Bowie, Nick Cave, and Scott Walker.
A childhood friend suggested Philip should submit songs to Hillz FM Radio out of Hillfields, Coventry, as they run a weekly local chart (Coventry kids from outside of the city are allowed to submit).
‘Is There Enough of Me?’ by The English Assassin was submitted and in its first week it topped the charts.
This happened exactly three days after Philip’s 60th birthday.
It may not be Top of the Pops, but for Philip, topping the charts in Coventry is a dream come true – even if it took 45 years.
The English Assassin currently has 10 original songs and a cover of Radiohead’s Creep available on streaming platforms.
An album called ‘The Genes for Violence’ will be released later in 2024 and there are plans to do some production for Coventry singer, Ruth Kelly.
