While arrangements were being made for their debut album, Phillips played Logo's managing director a demo he had made of a novelty song called "Car 67", written during idle moments in a three-month stint as what he has called "possibly the worst cab driver London has ever known".
Recorded for £850 and released in late 1978, it went on to sell nearly half a million copies, peaking at number seven in the UK Singles Chart.
BBC Radio refused to play the follow-up, "Headlights", because of its controversial content (a truck driver menaces lone girl on isolated back road), and because it was completely at odds with the novelty aspect of "Car 67".
A subsequent dispute over royalties dragged on for two years, after which Phillips, completely disillusioned with the record industry, returned to journalism.
The album he and Zorn made, Hey Mr Record Man, included a satire on A&R men, and a spoken word playlet in two acts about the end of the world.