Phil_Colclough
Phil Colclough
English contemporary folk singer and songwriter (1940–2019)
Phil Colclough (11 January 1940 - 23 September 2019[1]) was an English contemporary folk singer and songwriter. His best known works, co-written with his wife, June Colclough (1941 – 12 October 2004), are "Song for Ireland" and "The Call and the Answer".
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June and Phil Colclough both came from North Staffordshire, England, and both had careers in education. Phil had been a navigator in the Merchant Navy,[2] which provided source material for some of his songs. The Colcloughs founded the first folk music club in Stoke-on-Trent in 1960.
In 1966, they moved to London, where they were members of the Critics Group led by Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger; they eventually left the group due to bitter disputes stemming from MacColl's "authoritarian tendencies".[3]
In the 1970s, the Colcloughs returned to North Staffordshire, where they produced a folk music radio program for BBC Radio Stoke.
"Song for Ireland"[4] was inspired by a trip the Colcloughs took to the Dingle Peninsula. Described as a "modern classic",[5] it has been recorded by numerous artists, including Dick Gaughan, Luke Kelly, Mary Black, Ralph McTell, Celtic Spirit, The Dubliners, Brendan Hayes, Damien Leith, and Scott Appel.