He is a songwriter, music publisher, drummer and record producer born Philip Neil Wainman in West London, England, who left school at 15 and worked at various US naval bases in Europe as a member of cabaret acts.
In the early 1960s he was a member of the group The Quotations that toured with American artists such as Jerry Lee Lewis and Brenda Lee and after joining the High Grades in 1964 he quickly moved onto The Paramounts who saw success with their cover of “Poison Ivy” before later re-naming themselves as Procol Harum.
He had left the band before that time though and concentrated on writing songs such as “Little Games” that became a chart song for The Yardbirds. At the same time he was following his solo career as a drummer as well as a session musician and released the song “Hear Me A Drummer Man” which became a minor hit.
His career as a songwriter and producer was at its height in the 1970s when his first chart success came with the Brotherhood of Man’s “Where Are You Going To My Love” which reached No. 22 in 1970. During this decade he had his own production company, Newtone Productions, started the record company Utopia Records, co-wrote in collaboration with John Goodison, and worked with many successful British artists, writing songs such as the No. 1 “Bye Bye Baby” for the Bay City Rollers and writing and producing for Mud, Generation X, The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Sweet and XTC. His biggest production hit was “I Don’t Like Mondays” which was a No. 1 for The Boomtown Rats followed by “Classic” which was a No. 1 for Adrian Gurvitz.
He gave up the production business after an incident that caused him to fear for his family’s security and in the 1980s he started a video company. He later moved into a completely new line of work where he owned a successful property business and a small car importing business.
Richard Myhill recordings
It Takes Two to Tango (Richard Myhill/Phil Wainman)
I Wanna Know Why (Richard Myhill/Phil Wainman)
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