| Ph.D. | |
| Background: | group_or_band |
| Origin: | United Kingdom |
| Years Active: | 1980–1983, 2006–2015 |
| Label: | Atlantic (US) Warner Bros. (Canada) WEA Voiceprint |
| Associated Acts: | Jeff Beck Bandit |
| Past Members: | Jim Diamond Tony Hymas |
Ph.D. were a British duo best known for their UK top 10 hit "I Won't Let You Down" in April 1982,[1] which had been a hit the previous year throughout Europe.
The band was a duo, but it took its name from the initial letters of the surnames of the three performers on the group's original recordings: Phillips, Hymas and Diamond. Though drummer Simon Phillips appears on a number of the band's tracks as a session player, he was not an official member of Ph.D., which consisted of keyboard player Tony Hymas and vocalist Jim Diamond.
Jim Diamond formed the group with former Jeff Beck Group member Tony Hymas in 1980. Vocalist Diamond wrote the lyrics, multi-instrumentalist Hymas wrote the music, and all publicity, video clips, and official album credits made it clear that the group was a duo of Diamond and Hymas. Simon Phillips, also a previous member of The Jeff Beck Group, was brought in as a frequent session drummer, though drummer Mark Craney was also used on some tracks.
Their duo's self-titled debut album (1981), spawned a hit with their ballad "I Won't Let You Down", which peaked at number three on the UK Singles Chart in 1982,[1] and number five in Australia. Following the single's success, the album was re-issued and finally entered the UK Albums Chart.[1]
Their music video for "Little Suzi's on the Up" was notable for being the fifth video shown on MTV's first broadcasting day on 1 August 1981, despite the fact that the song did not chart in America (nor did any of Ph.D.'s singles or albums).
Ph.D.released their second album Is It Safe? in 1983, with Phillips and Craney again alternating as drummer from song to song. The first single, "I Didn't Know", failed to make the UK top 40, but did well in Europe.
A short time later Diamond contracted hepatitis. Prevented by his illness from touring, the group disbanded.
Diamond returned some time later as a solo artist and scored a UK No. 1 single in November 1984 with "I Should Have Known Better". Hymas appeared on Diamond's self-titled 1988 album Jim Diamond. Diamond and Hymas reformed the group in 2006. Reissues of the first two albums were released by Voiceprint Records. The label also released Three on 2 February 2009, with Phillips drumming on three tracks. (The duo's other frequently-used session drummer, Mark Craney, had died in 2005.)
Jim Diamond died on 8 October 2015.[2]
Frequent session drummers:
| Title | Details | Peak chart positions | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [3] | AUS [4] | GER [5] | NLD [6] | |||
| Ph.D. | 33 | 29 | 52 | 6 | ||
| Is It Safe? |
| — | — | — | — | |
| Three |
| — | — | — | — | |
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | ||||||
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK | AUS [7] | BEL (FL) [8] | GER | IRE [9] | NLD | SWI [10] | |||||
| "Little Suzi's on the Up" | 1981 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Ph.D. | ||
| "I Won't Let You Down" | 1982 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 14 | 3 | 1 | 2 | |||
| "There's No Answer to It" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "I Didn't Know" | 1983 | 153 | — | 31 | — | — | — | — | Is It Safe? | ||
| "Fifth of May" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||||
| "Drive Time" | 2009 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Three | ||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | |||||||||||
. David Kent (historian). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. illustrated. Australian Chart Book. St Ives, N.S.W.. 1993. 0-646-11917-6. 233.
. David Kent (historian) . Australian Top 20 Book 1940–2006 . Turramurra, NSW . Australian Chart Book . 2007 . 978-0-646-47665-0.