Overview
Peter William Phipps (born 5 August 1951 in Clapham, South London) is a rock drummer, singer and songwriter known for his work with Gary Glitter, The Glitter Band, and later Eurythmics, XTC and Denim. He is currently a member of both The Glitter Band and Mud.
Biography
Phipps was a founder member of The Glitter Band (originally known as The Glittermen), who started as Gary Glitter's backing band, and went on to success in their own right, having six top ten singles in the UK in the mid-1970s. He was later a member of the band Random Hold, who toured with XTC in 1979, leading to him playing drums on the XTC album Mummer after Terry Chambers left the band, and he returned for the recording of their next album The Big Express. He also played drums for Eurythmics, playing on their UK number one album Touch, joining the band for their MTV-broadcast performance at the Heaven nightclub in London, and playing live with the band into 1984. He was also a member of Lawrence Hayward's post-Felt band Denim, which has been described as "self-consciously ironic glitter-pop revivalist project", playing on the 1992 album Back in Denim and the 1996 album Denim on Ice. Phipps was also the drummer on Liquid Gold's hits which included "Dance Yourself Dizzy".
Musical biography
After learning to play drums, piano and guitar, his musical career took off at the age of 18, he has worked continuously since that time for a wide range of bands and artists. After leaving school in 1969 he joined Black Velvet, a soul/funk band – tours, recording and radio shows. A year later, he toured with the Elgins. Then in 1971, he joined CBS band Heaven and supported Jeff Beck on tour in the UK and Germany.
In June 1972, he began working for Gary Glitter's backing band The Glittermen and, in the same month, they made their first appearance on Top of the Pops with "Rock and Roll Part 2".
The Glittermen were renamed The Glitter Band and established a separate identity consisting of a six-member lineup Gerry Shephard (lead guitar/lead vocals), John Springate (bass/lead vocals ), Pete Phipps (drums and keyboards), Tony Leonard (drums), John Rossall (trombone) Harvey Ellison (saxophone). Tours with Gary Glitter continued.
From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).