''Solo in Soho'' is the debut solo album by Irish rock singer Philip Lynott, released while he was still in

Thin Lizzy Thin Lizzy are an Irish rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. The band initially consisted of bass guitarist, lead vocalist and principal songwriter Phil Lynott, drummer Brian Downey, guitarist Eric Bell and organist Eric Wrixon although Wr ...

. Current and former Lizzy members guested on the album, including

Scott Gorham William Scott Gorham (born March 17, 1951) is an American guitarist and songwriter who is one of the "twin lead guitarists" for the Irish rock band Thin Lizzy. Although not a founding member of Thin Lizzy, he served a continuous membership after ...

, Brian Downey,

Snowy White Terence Charles "Snowy" White (born 3 March 1948) is an English guitarist, known for having played with Thin Lizzy (permanent member from 1980 to 1982) and with Pink Floyd (as a backing guitarist from 1977 to 1980), and later for Roger Waters' ...

, and

Gary Moore Robert William Gary Moore (4 April 19526 February 2011) was a Northern Irish musician. Over the course of his career, he played in various groups and performed a range of music including blues, blues rock, hard rock, Heavy metal music, heavy ...

. Brian Robertson also contributed to the writing of one of the tracks, "Girls".

Guest musicians

Dire Straits Dire Straits were a British rock band formed in London in 1977 by Mark Knopfler (lead vocals, lead guitar), David Knopfler (rhythm guitar, backing vocals), John Illsley (bass guitar, backing vocals) and Pick Withers (drums, percussion). Th ...

frontman

Mark Knopfler Mark Freuder Knopfler OBE (born 12 August 1949) is a British musician. He was the lead guitarist, singer and songwriter of the rock band Dire Straits from 1977 to 1995, and he is the one of the two members who stayed during the band's existence ...

plays on the single "King's Call", a lament to

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...

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plays harmonica on "Tattoo (Giving It All Up for Love)" and "Ode to a Black Man". The latter track is devoted to

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ic African, or African

diaspora A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of birth, place of origin. The word is used in reference to people who identify with a specific geographic location, but currently resi ...

freedom fighter A freedom fighter is a person engaged in a struggle to achieve political freedom, particularly against an established government. The term is typically reserved for those who are actively involved in armed or otherwise violent rebellion. Termi ...

s of the 20th century, including

Malcolm X Malcolm X (born Malcolm Little, later el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz; May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an African American revolutionary, Islam in the United States, Muslim minister and human rights activist who was a prominent figur ...

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Haile Selassie Haile Selassie I (born Tafari Makonnen or ''Ethiopian aristocratic and court titles#Lij, Lij'' Tafari; 23 July 189227 August 1975) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He rose to power as the Ethiopian aristocratic and court titles, Rege ...

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and other socially aware or politically

conscious Consciousness, at its simplest, is awareness of a state or object, either internal to oneself or in one's external environment. However, its nature has led to millennia of analyses, explanations, and debate among philosophers, scientists, a ...

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artists from history, such as

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and

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singer,

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. Lewis later covered "Tattoo" on the 1982

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album '' Picture This'', titled "Giving It All Up for Love".

Yellow Pearl

" Yellow Pearl" was released as a single in two remixed versions; the first of these was later used as the theme tune from 1981 until 1986 for the popular

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TV music programme ''

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''. This version was later included on Lynott's second solo album, ''

The Philip Lynott Album ''The Philip Lynott Album'' is the second and final solo album by Irish rock singer Philip Lynott, released in 1982. Not included on the album was the B-side to the "Together" single, "Somebody Else's Dream" and the B-side to the "Old Town" si ...

''.

Critical reception

''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' gave the album a positive review, saying that Lynott's "lyrics have special appeal". He resumed: "There is nothing here even vaguely similar to the dramatic rock energy of "The Boys Are Back in Town" yet this is a bold and interesting batch of tunes aided by uncluttered arrangements and sound playing".

Track listing

All songs by Philip Lynott, except where noted. ;Side one # "Dear Miss Lonely Hearts" (Lynott, Jimmy Bain) – 4:11 # "King's Call" – 3:40 # "A Child's Lullaby" – 2:43 # "Tattoo (Giving It All Up for Love)" – 3:21 # "Solo in Soho" – 4:15 ;Side two #

"Girls" (Lynott, Bain, Brian Robertson) – 4:00 # " Yellow Pearl" (Lynott, Midge Ure) – 4:06 # "Ode to a Black Man" – 4:06 # "Jamaican Rum" – 2:43 # "Talk in 79" – 3:00

Singles

* "Dear Miss Lonely Hearts" / "Solo in Soho" – 7" / 12" (1980) * "King's Call" / "Ode to a Black Man" – 7" (1980) * "Yellow Pearl" / "Girls" – 7" / 12" (1981)

Personnel

* Philip Lynott – bass guitar, rhythm guitar, keyboard instrument, keyboards, Minimoog, vocoder, string machine, percussion instrument, percussion, singing, vocals, Record producer, producer *

– guitars (tracks 1, 4, 8) *

– guitars (tracks 1, 5) *

– electric guitar (track 2) *

– guitar (track 9) *Jerome Rimson – bass guitar (track 5) *

– harmonica (tracks 4, 8) *Fiachra Trench – string and brass arrangements (tracks 3, 4) *Jimmy Bain – piano, Minimoog, string machine (track 6) *Billy Currie – ARP Instruments, Inc., ARP synthesizer (track 7) *Midge Ure – ARP synthesizer, Minimoog, string machine (track 7) * Brian Downey – drums, percussion (track 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9) *Bob Siebenberg, Bob Benberg – drums, percussion (track 6) *Mark Nauseef – drums, percussion (tracks 8, 10) *Tony Charles – Steelpan, steel drums (track 9) *Andy Duncan – percussion (tracks 3 and 5) *Julia – backing vocalist, backing vocals (track 5) *Lena – backing vocals (track 6, 7) *Sophie, Margi, Silver, Christine – backing vocals (track 6)

Production

*Kit Woolven – producer, audio engineer, engineer *Tony Visconti, "Flash" Gordon Fordyce, Will Reid-Dick – engineers *Ian Cooper – mastering *Chris O'Donnell – art direction *Linda Sutton, Roger Cooper – artwork and design *John Swannell (photographer), John Swannell – photography

Charts

References

{{Authority control 1980 debut albums Mercury Records albums Vertigo Records albums Warner Records albums Phil Lynott albums 1980s in Irish music