Philip Coulter (born 19 February 1942)[1] is an Irish musician, songwriter and record producer from Derry, Northern Ireland.
He was awarded the Gold Badge from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors in October 2009.
Coulter was born in Derry, Northern Ireland[5] where his father (from Strangford, County Down) was one of a minority of Catholic policemen in the Royal Ulster Constabulary.
The younger Coulter recalls this piano, made by Challen, as "the most important piece of furniture in the house".
[7] One of Coulter's most popular songs, "The Town I Loved So Well",[4] deals with the embattled city of his youth, filled with "that damned barbed wire" during the Troubles.
By 1964, his final year at university, Coulter had already written a couple of hit songs in Ireland and he moved to London, where his first job was as an arranger/songwriter with a music publisher in Denmark Street.
From here he was hired to work with acts including Billy Connolly,[1] Van Morrison, Jerry Lee Lewis and Tom Jones.
[11] They wrote Sandie Shaw's 1967 Eurovision-winning entry, "Puppet on a String", which became an international hit which was covered more than a hundred times.
In 2008 a Spanish documentary alleged that Cliff Richard had been robbed of victory after General Francisco Franco fixed the vote.
[14] There were also numerous Top 10 hits including the Bay City Rollers' "Shang-a-Lang",[15] "Fancy Pants" by the glam rock band Kenny,[16] "Requiem" by the Scottish pop group Slik,[17] and "Surround Yourself with Sorrow" by Cilla Black.
[19][20] They also contributed incidental music to the 1967 Spider-Man television series, and Coulter also wrote the score to the 1978 film version of The Water Babies.
In 1984, Coulter launched himself as an artist in his own right and began by releasing a solo instrumental album called Classic Tranquility.
Coulter's official website notes that he has some 23 platinum records, 39 gold and 52 silver albums.
[24] On 28 October 2009, Coulter was presented with a BASCA Gold Badge Award in recognition of his unique contribution to music.
[29][30] Whilst looking for a singer he saw Geraldine Brannigan in a Guinness TV advert in Dublin and felt that he had to meet her.
[31] In November 1998, Coulter married Brannigan in a low-key ceremony at Wicklow registry office, witnessed by their six children, Danielle, Dominique, Alexandra, Daragh, Ryan and Georgina, and 16 guests.
[6] Disregarding the broad international campaign against the Apartheid regime and the imprisonment of Nelson Mandela, Coulter performed in an undemocratic South Africa in May 1983 and his name was included in the register of entertainers who travelled to that country by the United Nations Centre Against Apartheid, which was published in 1986.