Phil Rainford is a British former singer and music producer, who formed part of the

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

music scene, in late 1970s and early 1980s. He was the original singer of

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...

band

The Durutti Column The Durutti Column are an English post-punk band formed in 1978 in Manchester, England.Strong, Martin C. (1999) "The Great Alternative & Indie Discography", Canongate, The band is a project of guitarist and occasional pianist Vini Reilly who ...

who were signed to

Factory Records Factory Records was a Manchester-based British independent record label founded in 1978 by Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus. The label featured several important acts on its roster, including Joy Division, New Order, A Certain Ratio, the Durutt ...

, having joined the band in early 1978. He was sacked in July of that year, for not being a considered correct choice. He did not release any material with the band other than a couple of pieces on a

sample release. At the time he was also known as "Phil Raincoat". He later reappeared as producer for two albums for singer

Nico Naftiran Intertrade Company Société à responsabilité limitée#In Switzerland, limited (NICO) is a Switzerland, Swiss-based subsidiary of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC). NICO is a general contractor for the oil and gas industry. NIOC bu ...

: ''

Live Heroes ''Live Heroes'' is a compilation album recorded by Nico with the Blue Orchids partially at the København Saltlagertet, Rotterdam, Netherlands, on October 5, 1982. The two tracks "Procession" and "All Tomorrow's Parties" come from a studio se ...

'' and ''Femme Fatale''. He engineered and mixed another Nico's live album, '' Do or Die: Diary 1982''. Phil is one of the "stars"/driver in James Young's book about Nico's time in Manchester and touring Europe "Songs they Never Play on the Radio". He also mixed the ''

Musical Revue A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own durin ...

'' album for

Suns of Arqa Suns of Arqa are a world music collective founded in 1979 by Michael Wadada. Since the group's formation, over 200 people from around the world have played and recorded with them, and in many cases these were like-minded musicians Wadada met ...

, also known as ''Live with Prince Far-I'', although his surname is curiously misspelled 'Qainford' on the credits. He recorded with the post punk band "Pure Product" . They released two albums ''Dreamworld'' and ''Rejection'' between 1978 and 1981. He has lived in Edinburgh for the last 23 years and was involved in the club scene there. Occasionally being a DJ but mainly involved backstage. In 2010, he took up acting and attended the PASS "Performing Arts Studio Scotland" and has pursued this profession ever since.

References

British record producers British rock singers Living people Musicians from Manchester The Durutti Column members Year of birth missing (living people) {{UK-singer-stub