Born in
Normandy and raised on a
fruit farm, Philippe first recorded for Belgian label
Les Disques du Crépuscle, under the names "The Border Boys" (the
Tribute 12-inch EP, produced by
Andy Paley, who had worked with
The Ramones and the
Modern Lovers previously), and 'The Arcadians' (one single and one album, ''It's a Mad, Mad World
, 1986, later re-released on a variety of labels as Let's Pretend
). On the advice of A&R man Mike Alway, Louis Philippe moved to London in late 1986, and soon became one of the major figures of cult indie label él Records (1986–1989), a subsidiary of Cherry Red Records for which he recorded five singles and three albums (Appointment With Venus
, 1987; Ivory Tower
, 1988; Yuri Gagarin'', 1989). He also appeared in one guise or another — as songwriter, arranger, backing vocalist or instrumentalist — on more than half of all the label's releases. él, now considered to be one of the most influential labels of its time, was, however, not a commercial success in the UK; but it scored a string of independent hits in Japan, where Louis Philippe (whose "You Mary You" was él's best-selling single) became an iconic figure for the so-called
Shibuya-kei, or 'Shibuya Sound'. Following the demise of él in 1989, he turned to Japan to pursue his career, with the support of celebrity fans such as
Cornelius. A number of albums followed, all of them released on the Trattoria label:
Rainfall, 1991;
Jean Renoir, 1992, both of them recorded with multi-instrumentalist Dean Brodrick;
Delta Kiss, 1993;
Sunshine, produced by
Bertrand Burgalat, 1994;
Jackie Girl, 1996, the first of his records to feature
XTC guitarist
Dave Gregory;
Azure, recorded with the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, and
Nusch, a collection of
Francis Poulenc mélodies, 1999. All these albums were conceived and realised with the help of long-time collaborator, pianist and double-bassist Danny Manners. Trattoria's help enabled him to find licenses for these records, first in France, Britain and Spain, then in the US. These critically well-received records consolidated his "cult" status in the
indiepop world; a couple of them charted: "L'Hiver te va bien" reached the Top 30 in France in 1994, while "She Means Everything To Me" reached the no.1 spot on the Campus Radio Charts in the US in 1998, following an appearance at New York's CMJ Music Marathon. ==Collaborations==