Rest in Peace – 1/31/61 – 6/29/19
PHILIP ALOYSIUS TAGUE IV (PHIL DEVILLE) WAS BORN ON JANUARY 31, 1961 IN NOVATO, CALIFORNIA AT HAMILTON AIR FORCE BASE.
PHILIP’S FATHER IS PHILIP ALOYSIUS TAGUE III, A USAF (UNITED STATES AIR FORCE) JET FIGHTER PILOT. PHILIP’S MOTHER IS JANICE LUCILLE GOLD (NEE), A TEXAS BORN AND RAISED STRONG WOMAN, WIFE AND MOTHER.
THE FAMILY TRAVELED EXTENSIVELY DUE TO HIS FATHER’S MILITARY CAREER, AND THEY LIVED IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS –
- SAINT PETERSBURG BEACH, FLORIDA
- FREDERICKSBURG, TEXAS
- ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO
- NOVATO, CALIFORNIA
- COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO
- AURORA, COLORADO
PHILIP’S FATHER RETIRED FROM THE USAF IN 1971, AND IN 1974 THE FAMILY MOVED TO AURORA, COLORADO.
PHILIP WAS A FREE-SPIRITED, DARING, AND MISCHIEVOUS YOUNG LAD. HE WASN’T AFRAID TO TRY NEW AND CHALLENGING THINGS. HE WAS ALWAYS LOOKING FOR FUN, EXCITEMENT, AND ADVENTURE.
PHILIP TAUGHT HIMSELF TO PLAY GUITAR AT THE AGE OF 14 YEARS OLD. HE PLAYED IN LOCAL DENVER BANDS THROUGHOUT HIS LATE TEENAGE YEARS, HIS 20’S AND EARLY 30’S. HE PLAYED WITH ZEBRA 123 IN THE EARLY 80’S WITH KIRBY (MOJO NIXON), AND HIS OWN KIND OF ROCKABILLY IN MUSTANG LIGHTNING IN THE LATE 80’S AND 90’S WITH MIKE VOELKER, AND LANCE BAKEMEYER. PHILIP PLAYED PUNK, SURF, AND ROCKABILLY MUSIC. HE WAS A DENVER MUSIC SCENE POWER HOUSE GUITARIST IN THE 1980S AND 1990’S.
Guitaro Loco Release Party – Herman’s Hideaway 
Mike Voelker, Phil DeVille, Rex Moser 
IN 1990 MUSTANG LIGHTNING RELEASED THEIR FIRST CD – “TEXAS VOODOO SURF” TO A PACKED HOUSE AT HERMAN’S HIDEAWAY. IN 1991 THE BAND RELEASED AN ALL INSTRUMENTAL CD CALLED GUITARO LOCO WHICH WAS CREATED IN THE SPIRIT OF DICK DALE AND LINK WRAY FEATURING ORIGINAL AND COVERS.
IN THE YEAR 1993 MUSTANG LIGHTNING RELOCATED TO NEW ORLEANS, LOUSIANA, WHERE HE WAS SIGNED TO MONKEY HILL RECORDS AND NEW ROSE RECORDS IN FRANCE. DURING THEIR NEW ORLEANS YEARS MUSTANG LIGHTNING RECORDED 4 CD’S. PHILIP WAS ESPECIALLY PROUD OF HIS WORK WITH PRODUCER ALEX CHILTON (FORMER SINGER WITH THE 1970’S GROUP THE BOX TOPS), ALLAN TOUSSAINT, MICHAEL RAY, ANDRE WILLIAMS, COWBOY MOUTH, AND HE TOURED WITH THE SUBDUDES, COWBOY MOUTH, AND OTHER NATIONAL ACTS.
MUSTANG LIGHTNING’S SELF TITLED ALBUM AND HORSEHEAD WERE RELEASED DURING THEIR STAY IN NEW ORLEANS.
TEXAS VOODOO SURF WAS RE-RELEASED WITH A HEAVIER VERSION OF HANK’S LAST RIDE.
IN THE YEAR 2000 PHILIP TRAVELED TO HOUSTON, TEXAS WHERE HE PLAYED WITH MANY BANDS, AND BROADENED HIS MUSICAL EXPERIENCE BY PLAYING BASS WITH A LOCAL JAZZ BAND, AND THE ALBERT STORO BLUES BAND. PHILIP BECAME LONG TIME FRIENDS WITH HUEY LONG, THE GUITAR PLAYER OF THE LEGENDARY JAZZ BAND THE INK SPOTS.
PHILIP MET MANDY SMITH IN KEMAH, TEXAS AND BECAME A MEMBER OF THE MANDY SMITH GROUP AS THEIR NEW BASS PLAYER AND PRODUCER IN 2001-2002. THEY MARRIED ANDSMITH DEVILLE WAS FORMED IN 2003 AND THEY TOURED EUROPE – AMSTERDAM, ENGLAND, FRANCE, AND IRELAND, AND RELEASED 3 CD’S WITHIN THE NEXT SEVERAL YEARS.
PHILIP CAME BACK TO DENVER IN 2010 TO RECORD TEXAS RADIO. SHORTLY AFTER, HE RECORDED A SURF INSTRUMENTAL ALBUM, CHOPPER SURF GUITAR.
Texas Radio 
PHILIP GAVE MUSIC LESSONS THROUGHOUT HIS MUSICAL CAREER. HE GAVE GUITAR AND PIANO LESSONS TO MANY YOUNG CHILDREN, TEENAGERS, AND ASPIRING ARTISTS. HE ENJOYED TEACHING MUSIC, AND HE TOOK GREAT PRIDE IN HIS STUDENTS.
PHILIP WAS AN EXTREMELY TALENTED ARTIST AND MUSICIAN. HE HAD THE GIFT OF BEING ABLE TO INTERPRET LYRICS, MUSIC, ART, ETC., HE KNEW THE MESSAGE THAT THE ARTIST WAS TRYING TO CONVEY. HE WAS A PERFECTIONIST, VERY CREATIVE, AND HE CLEARLY HAD A VISION FOR HIS MUSIC. ART AND MUSIC WERE HIS PASSIONS, HIS GREAT LOVE. PHILIP FELT THAT THERE WAS SO MUCH TO BE COMMUNICATED THROUGH ART AND MUSIC, HE WANTED TO SHARE THAT WITH THE WORLD. PHILIP WAS A MAJOR INFLUENCE FOR MANY OTHER ARTISTS, AND HE ALWAYS ENCOURAGED OTHER MUSICIANS AND BANDS. HE WANTED EVERYONE TO SUCCEED AND BE APPRECIATED. HE WANTED ALL ARTISTS AND MUSICIANS TO BE RECOGNIZED FOR THEIR UNIQUE TALENT, AND SOUND.
PHILIP’S EARLY MUSICAL INFLUENCES WERE – THE ROLLING STONES, AEROSMITH, LED ZEPPELIN, DAVID BOWIE, THE BEATLES, CHUCK BERRY, MARTY ROBBINS, HANK WILLIAMS JR, ROY ACUFF, BUDDY HOLLY, GENE VINCENT, LINK WRAY, ROBERT GORDON, AND DICK DALE.
SONY DSC
PHILIP MARCHED TO THE BEAT OF A DIFFERENT DRUMMER. HE HAD A VISION FOR HIS ART AND MUSIC. HE MARVELED AT THE WORLD, AND AT WHAT THE WORLD HAD TO OFFER. HE TRULY WAS A REAL-LIFE PETER PAN – THE BOY WHO NEVER GREW UP.
PHILIP’S FAVORITE QUOTE – “LIFE’S BUT A WALKING SHADOW, A POOR PLAYER, THAT STRUTS AND FRETS HIS HOUR UPON THE STAGE, AND THEN IS HEARD NO MORE. IT IS A TALE TOLD BY AN IDIOT, FULL OF SOUND AND FURY, SIGNIFYING NOTHING.” – WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
PHILIP ALOYSIUS TAGUE IV (PHIL DEVILLE) PASSED AWAY ON JUNE 29, 2019, AT THE AGE OF 58-1/2 YEARS OLD, IN DENVER, COLORADO.
IN 2019 THE FORMER MEMBERS OF MUSTANG LIGHTNING (LANCE BAKEMEYER AND MIKE MINNICK) AND PHILIP’S NEPHEW AND PROTÉGÉ, JOSHUA HARRIS, FORMED A MUSTANG LIGHTNING TRIBUTE BAND TO HONOR PHILIP’S MEMORY, AND TO KEEP HIS ART AND MUSICAL LEGACY ALIVE.
