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1977

SAILOR: With Phil everything gets better

A few weeks ago the band had to fight for their survival. With a last bit of despair three of them produced the album "Checkpoint" and the single "Down By The Docks". But these two records have not been as successful as "Girls Girls Girls" and "A Glass Of Champagne". Now the SAILORs have finally got new wind in their sails.

Huge and dark clouds can be seen all over the city. It has been raining all day long. But inside a room of the record comapny in London´s Westend the sun starts to shine brightly this afternoon. "Now we can finally start storming up the charts again!" shouts Georg Kajanus: SAILOR celebrate the return of their "lost son" - Nickelodeon player Phil Pickett has just announced his return to the band. "Today´s meeting shows me that I am still a part of you. If you really want it, I will be a part of SAILOR again!" says Phil Pickett suddenly. And Georg, Henry and Grant are too astonished to say a word. But then the friends drink a bottle of champagne and squeeze each other happily.
"Popfoto" has already informed you about Phil´s sudden leaving and the big crisis of SAILOR during the last weeks. At first there was trouble with the manager, who refused to give SAILOR their money. Phil did not even have enough money to get from Cornwall (Southwest England) to London by train. - This was one of the reasons why Phil was fed up and the band had to continue without him. Their roadie was not paid either, and so he took various amplifiers and then disappeared to Australia. The record company helped SAILOR with some money, but in return they asked for a new LP. SAILOR went to the studio completely nervelessly. It is no wonder that "Checkpoint" shows weakness and a lack of concept that we normally don´t know from SAILOR.
Phil was meanwhile working on his solo career. "I composed and arranged a lot and discovered a complete new style which is different from the music of SAILOR. The most important thing is that I finally found back to myself again during this time. Then a record company offered me a contract and everything seemed to work as it was planned. But then I received a phonecall of the other three guys who told me about their future, their new manager and that everything was going to be much better soon. When we met two hours ago in order to go to the record company I suddenly realised that I just can´t live without the band."
Henry starts laughing and agrees: "It has only been half the fun without you!"
Phil continues: "And there was also this terrible feeling of remorse. We have always been good friends and I only left because of this manager. I just couldn´t stand all these problems any more. When you have written some great hits and don´t see any money in spite of this you can really get a feeling of helplessness and think that you are stuck in a dead-end.
Will there be changes in SAILOR now? Georg Kajanus: "At first we want to find back to our old musical way. And in the future we will also play songs that have been written by Phil."
These songs will be rehearsed by the band soon. Henry Marsh admits: "We will never record a single like "Down By The Docks" again. This song was well- produced but it did not fit our muiscal ideas. This discosound was a complete act of musical despair. It should become a hit and hardly reached the charts."
And when will SAILOR go on tour again? "We could go back on stage right now, but we don´t want the fans to connect our name with a bad concert. We are still working on our new show", says Georg. That´s why all concerts of the Germany- tour that should take place this month have been cancelled. SAILOR will probably be seen only on television in England and over here during the following weeks.
Their fans have not forgotten SAILOR during this time of confusion. "Our new manager has planned a Germany- tour for April. Before this tour we want to go back to the studio in order to record a new LP. And on this album SAILOR are going to be better than ever!", the four guys promise.

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