Phil_Swern

Phil Swern

Anthony Philip Swern (born 30 June 1948), known as Phil "The Collector" Swern, is an English radio producer and music collector, who earned the nickname "The Collector" from working on Sounds of the 60s with Brian Matthew. Born in Ealing, London, he was formerly a record producer[1] and songwriter,[2] and has also written for television.[3] He produced Pick of the Pops for Radio 1 in the late 1980s and early 1990s and had produced the show for BBC Radio 2 from 1997 to 2023. He has also produced Sounds of the 60s for Radio 2 from 2007 to 2022 and formerly produced the Saturday night Bob Harris Show for the same station, also producing Harris's Radio 1 shows in the early 1990s.[4] He also devised the questions for the PopMaster quiz on Radio 2's Ken Bruce Show until this role was assumed by Neil Myners and Simon Bray. Swern co-wrote the quiz show Pop the Question with Jeremy Beadle and co-created fellow quiz show That's Showbusiness with screenwriter Jeremy Pascall.

Quick Facts Born, Occupations ...

His first record production work was Horace Faith's recording of "Black Pearl" for Trojan Records in 1970.[5] He went on to produce for many other musicians, including the Pearls,[6] Polly Brown[7] and R&J Stone,[8] whose "We Do It", released in 1976, reached number 5 on the UK Singles Chart.[9]

Swern has the world's only complete collection of every UK Top 40 chart hit since records began in 1952.[10] His extensive work within the music industry led to him being awarded a BASCA Gold Badge Award in October 2010.[11] [12]


References

  1. "Tony Blackburn - Chop-Chop (Vinyl) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
  2. "Savoy - Broken-Down Transistor Radio". 45cat.com. Retrieved 30 June 2012.
  3. "Phil Swern". IMDb.com. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
  4. "Bob Harris". Bob Harris. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
  5. "Horace Faith - Black Pearl (Vinyl) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
  6. "Pearls, The - Guilty (Vinyl) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
  7. "R and J Stone We Do It". 45cat.com. Retrieved 30 June 2012.
  8. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 533. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  9. "Phil (The Collector) Swern Interview: The Six Million Record Man". Long Live Vinyl. 3 August 2017. Retrieved 13 May 2018.
  10. "Gold Badge Awards 2010". Goldbadgeawards.com. Archived from the original on 22 March 2012. Retrieved 30 June 2012.
  11. "Gold Badges For Heather Small, John Paul Jones". Billboard.com. 20 October 2010. Retrieved 16 July 2020.

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