| Phil Swern | |
| Birth Name: | Anthony Philip Swern |
| Birth Date: | 30 June 1948 |
| Birth Place: | Ealing, London, England |
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.
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] In 1972 he formed the studio group Blue Haze with Johnny Arthey; their reggae cover version of "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" reached no. 27 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and no.32 on the UK Singles Chart.[10] [11]
Swern has the world's only complete collection of every UK Top 40 chart hit since records began in 1952.[12] His extensive work within the music industry led to him being awarded a BASCA Gold Badge Award in October 2010.[13] [14]