British Radio Personality Loves It Here

VETERAN British radio personality and record collector, Phil Swern, recently completed a two-week vacation in St. Lucia.

Swern, and his wife Lindsey, stayed at The Royal by rex resorts. It was their second time vacationing at The Royal. Asked what keeps them coming back, he said: “We love the people, we love the food, the rooms are elegant…we just love the whole vibe. We always relax when we come here. The Royal is a fantastic hotel, they have lovely staff, and we always have a great time.”

Phil Swern has been a household name in the UK for decades. He has produced and presented programmes for the BBC and Capitol Radio. He is currently producing two shows for BBC Radio 2. The first is “Sounds of the 60s” which airs on Saturday mornings while “Pick of the Pops” airs on Saturday afternoons. Both shows have very strong following of roughly four million listeners.

Commenting on the longevity of the music of the 60s and why it endures to this day, Swern asserts: “I think it changed the whole face of music. Towards the end of the 50s you had Rock n Roll, and then into the 60s you had the rise of groups like The Beatles, Rolling Stones, and the emergence of ballads. It was a real mix. I think it marked an evolution of the music industry, and I think a lot of the artistes and bands today, take quite a lot of their ideas from that era.”

“I’m not stuck in a time warp. I just enjoy good music. Whether it be the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, or today’s music. I’ve always liked having a touchy feely vinyl record or CD with a picture and information about the artistes. I just find that music today is far more disposable than it used to be, back in the day.”

Swern also has the title of Record Producer in his portfolio. In 1970, he produced Horace Faith’s recording of “Black Pearl” for Trojan Records. He went on to produce other groups and artistes, including The Pearls and Polly Brown. His crowning moment as a record producer came in 1976, when the song “We Do It” featuring R & J Stone, reached number 5 on the UK Singles Chart.

Swern is a real music aficionado. He is one of the foremost music collectors in the UK and the World. By his own admission, he has been collecting records since he was five years old. “My parents picked-up on my love for music very early, so they used to buy me records which I would store and keep. Swern, who is now in his late 60s, is also well travelled. He would buy vinyl records and CDs every time he travelled.

“The Top 40 Charts started in the UK in 1952, and I’ve collected every single record that made the Charts from 1952 to today.”

Swern now has the largest collection of vinyl records in the UK. This includes about 250,000 (45s) and 80,000 (LPs). His CD Collection is also about 250,000. Swern revealed: “My music collection supplies the Digital Library of the BBC. All the producers of the BBC right across the UK and Europe have access to this collection which was digitized by a company that I helped form in the early 90s. So we have about 3 million tracks that are accessible, not only to the BBC, but to commercial television, to advertising companies, and to hotels.”

He added: “Some of the big record companies like Universal and Sony often put together a Big Box Set of an artiste. There are some tracks that they may not have in their archives, which I might have in my Collection. So I would supply them with the missing tracks to complete their Box Set or whatever Compilation they’re putting together.”
Swern says it’s hard to put a monetary value on his collection. Asked what it means to him, he said: “It’s my life. They call me Phil ‘The Collector’ Swern at the BBC. It’s what I’ve done all my life. If it went, it would be like cutting off an arm. It’s been a lifelong hobby, and it’s been very fulfilling for me.”