Starshine Promotions are proud to present Ireland’s Music Ambassador Phil Coulter will appear at the Arklow Bay Hotel as part of his Irish Tour “Return to Tranquility” on Thursday 2nd December, 2021. Tickets are currently on sale at €35 and available from www.gr8events.ie Doors open 7.30pm with show starting at 8.15pm.
Special guest on the night will be Geraldine Branagan and this is sure to be a sellout night, so make sure to get your tickets early.
Why not make a night of it and take in a meal beforehand or even make a night of it and treat yourself to a stayover. Special rates with Hotel, just check out at Reception.
Phil Coulter is one of Ireland’s most successful and beloved musicians. As a songwriter, performer and producer, his work has not only deeply enriched musical culture in Ireland but also been a profound influence across the world.
Born and raised in Derry, Phil studied music at Queen’s University, Belfast, where his musical interests ranged from Palestrina to Fats Domino. In the early 1960s he moved to London and began working as an arranger and songwriter for a music publisher. By night, he was playing piano for the likes of Van Morrison, Tom Jones and the Rolling Stones. I’m told that Sir Van Morrison refers to Mr Coulter affectionately as “Cool Philter”. By day, he formed a song writing duo with Bill Martin which would soon go on to become one of the most successful partnerships of all time. With Puppet on a String for Sandy Shaw, Congratulations for Cliff Richard, the pair achieved not just Eurovision glory but major international hits during the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Phil is an extraordinarily versatile artist who relished the challenge of unusual creative partnerships. In the early 1970s, for example, he worked with both the London Symphony Orchestra and the England football squad. In fact, with the song Back Home he and Bill Martin began the tradition of England World Cup songs. Together, the duo also wrote an album for the actor Richard Harris, including the single My Boy, which was later covered by – and became a huge hit for – Elvis Presley.
In writing for and producing the Bay City Rollers, Bill and Phil were responsible for a global phenomenon which changed the lives and broke the hearts of teenage girls around the world. Phil played an important role in the early careers of artists as diverse as Midge Ure and Billy Connolly. He also produced albums for Plantxy, the Dubliners and the Furey Brothers, which helped bring about a popular revival in Irish folk music.
This increasing immersion in traditional music inspired Phil to begin his own recording career. A series of original interpretations of classic Irish tunes, deeply moving in their sincerity and simplicity, became the album Classic Tranquility, which became an international best-seller in the mid-1980s. The follow-up, Sea of Tranquility, was even more successful, and remains one of the best-selling albums of all time in Ireland. Later albums were similarly popular, leading to performances in Carnegie Hall and even the White House. He wrote Ireland’s Call for the Irish Rugby Union team to use in the 1995 World Cup and alongside the national anthem is sung with pride by Irish rugby fans at all their games. It has since been adopted by many sports associations across the nation.
Few popular artists can match the range, longevity and impact of Phil Coulter. Over more than fifty years in the music industry, he has amassed an incredible number of platinum, gold and silver discs, as well as critical acclaim in the form of several Ivor Novello awards. We are delighted to mark his exceptional contribution to culture and the arts Ireland.
