Musician Phil Coulter has revealed the secret to his success as he prepares to go on tour at 80.
The Derry composer admitted it’s the “fear of failure” that keeps him on his toes after six decades in the industry.
Taking time out as he organises his set list for his upcoming tour he told the Irish Sunday Mirror: “It’s a big mistake to think you can do your gigs on autopilot.
Read More: Phil Coulter reveals he still receives hate mail over rugby anthem 'Ireland's Call'
“Audiences are very smart, they can tell if you’re making an effort or if you’re not.
“This tour is called Phil Coulter at 80 so I can’t lie about my age any more – not that I ever did.
“I feel comfortable in my own skin, but what it is is retrospect in a way.
“It tells a lifetime of songs and stories, memories and melodies.
“That’s really what it is.”
Asked how he stays vibrant at 80, the man who penned The Town I Loved So Well said: “It’s the fear of failure.
“I’ve got good genes and my health is good. And I’m very fortunate that my fans are loyal.
“I do exercises in the morning to stop the body from getting too creaky.
“It’s about being diligent and serious about your job.
“I’ll tell you the secret – I turn up for work on a Monday morning.
“The greatest misconception among talented people, because they’re talented, is they have a sense of entitlement.
“You’re entitled to nothing, you’re entitled to get out of any project what you put into it.
“Anyone who has had a career as long as mine has had a fair few flops, disappointments, screw ups.
“Get up off your ass and get back on the horse.”
Phil has a string of plaudits to his name having co-written Sandie Shaw’s 1967 Eurovision winner Puppet On A String as well as Cliff Richard’s 1968 runner-up, Congratulations.
But his proudest moment came just last month when he was awarded the Freedom of his native Derry.
Reliving the high points of his career he added: “There’s been a few, the great thing about what I do for a living is those moments are still happening.
“A high point would have been playing for President Clinton in the White House or selling out Carnegie Hall.
“But getting an award from your own people in your own place, that was a bit special. The following day, with the choral festival, we had an epic singalong – 2,500 people singing The Town I Loved So Well.
“In the open air in Ebrington Place, which overlooks the whole city and beautiful river, that was exceptional.
“There were people who lived through the Troubles, people who lived in the shadow of the Troubles and kids who only heard about the Troubles.
“To look down and see them singing the song I wrote 50 years ago was really heart-warming.
“That it still had relevance, still had the power and it still moves people. It was a big struggle to get through it, I was choking up a few times.”
The singalong took place outside the former Ebrington Barracks.
It was where British soldiers amassed before entering the Bogside and shooting dead 13 unarmed civilians on Bloody Sunday in 1972.
Phil said: “There was that feeling of gloom that descended over Derry, where there was an army presence everywhere, there were helicopters overhead.
“Whatever else that is, it’s not normal. Kids were going to school ducking under rifles.
“I was living in London but I went home very regularly, there was an air of resignation about the place. That musical happy place that it once was, was very under heel.
“That’s really what prompted me to write The Town I Loved So Well.
Acclaimed musician Phil has won five Ivor Novello awards and has 23 platinum, 39 gold and 52 silver discs among his many accolades.
But the humble songwriter said music has been his saviour on many occasions and helped him through the darkest periods of his life.
He added: “When I lost my sister and brother through drowning in Lough Swilly in Donegal I could turn to music. I’ve just done a radio promo for the RNLI. If there had been a lifeboat when my brother drowned, he’d be here today. We lobbied to get a boat at the station and I did a concert to convert the boathouse.
“The lifeboat has saved 50 lives since then. The song I wrote has become the lifeboat anthem, it’s called Home From The Sea.
“Music has saved my life and saved my sanity on more than one occasion in my life.”
And he opened up about the haunting ballad Scorn Not His Simplicity, which he wrote for his son Paul, who had down syndrome, and who died at the age of four.
He said: “That song means a lot to me. I still get emails and messages from families who have had that experience of a mentally challenged child.
“They relate to the song. You don’t get that from every song you write.
“For me living through that particular trauma, writing the song was by way of therapy for me to get through the whole thing. It’s very close to my heart.”
Phil moved to London in his 20s and played keyboards on Van Morrison’s first hit.
He added: “There was a great can-do attitude, recognising an opportunity and having the courage to get stuck in. It was a cottage industry back then, a solidarity about the songs. There was no begrudgery, if one got a hit we all celebrated, it was a case of, ‘Well if he got a hit I can too’.”
The former You’re A Star judge admitted while he “had his fair share of drink” and still loves “a nice pint” he never got involved in the drugs scene.
He once said when asked about his career that his smartest move was being born in Derry.
Asked about the hit show Derry Girls he said: “It was perfectly judged.
“From Lisa McGee it was pure genius to extract from the dark hours of the Troubles something as light-hearted as this show.
“It could be related to by people far and wide, such a great achievement.
“I wouldn’t miss it.”
