Phil Coulter (born 19 February 1942) is a Northern Irish songwriter, pianist and music producer, arranger, and director. With his writing partner Bill Martin he penned numerous hit songs for a variety of popular singers in the 1960s and 1970s, and in the 1980s scored major successes performing his own material. He continues to be a popular performer in his native country and around the world.One of Coulter's most popular songs, "The Town I Loved So Well", deals with the embattled city of his youth, filled with "that damned barbed wire" during The Troubles. Another of his compositions, "Scorn Not His Simplicity", pleads for tolerance and understanding of his son, who was born with Down's syndrome. Coulter's father, also called Phil, encouraged music in the house. He played the fiddle whilst his wife played the upright piano — a Challen piano, which the son recalls was "the most important piece of furniture in the house".
