Phil Coulter

Phil Coulter is a composer, producer and performer from Derry, Northern Ireland, born in 1942. He works across contemporary Celtic music, folk, instrumental and production music, and is also associated with piano and ambient material. He becomes known as one of the most successful Irish artists of his generation and is widely identified with orchestral and Celtic-influenced arrangements.

Early career and songwriting

Coulter begins his career while studying music at Queen’s University Belfast. In the early 1960s he writes the Capitol Showband’s 1963 hit “Foolin’ Time” and later contributes the group’s 1965 Eurovision Song Contest entry “Walking the Streets in the Rain”. He also writes Twinkle’s 1964 hit “Terry” and Them’s garage-rock song “I Can Only Give You Everything”, which becomes a widely covered track.

Partnership with Bill Martin

His greatest pop success comes through his collaboration with Bill Martin. Together they write “Puppet on a String” for Sandie Shaw, which wins Eurovision, and Cliff Richard’s “Congratulations”. The pair are also linked in the verified membership listing as Bill Martin & Phil Coulter.

Work with Irish folk and pop acts

Although he finds major success as a pop songwriter, Coulter remains closely connected to Irish folk music. He works with the Dubliners, Planxty and the Furey Brothers, while also writing a series of hits for the Bay City Rollers. He is associated with Phil Coulter & His Orchestra and with labels including Martin-Coulter Productions and Martin-Coulter Productions Ltd.

Solo recordings

After his partnership with Martin ends in the late 1970s, Coulter focuses more on performing. His solo debut, Classic Tranquility, appears in 1983 and presents meditative, orchestrated versions of traditional Celtic material. He follows it with Sea of Tranquility in 1984 and Phil Coulter’s Ireland in 1985, and these releases establish him as a leading Irish recording artist. Later albums include Words and Music (1990), Recollections (1993), Highland Cathedral (2000) and Songs I Love So Well, issued on Shanachie in 2001.

Later recognition

Coulter’s recordings help bring him to a wider international audience, building on his reputation in Ireland as a major performer and arranger of Celtic-influenced music.