PopMaster co-creator Phil Swern dies aged 76

On September 2, 2024, 8:36 AM

Radio presenters Tony Blackburn and Ken Bruce are among those who have paid tribute to BBC Radio producer and PopMaster quiz co-creator Phil Swern, who has died at the age of 76.

The official account for PopMaster shared: “Sadly today, we said goodbye to Phil Swern, the Collector, for many years the driving force behind PopMaster’s content.”

Swern, who was born in Ealing, west London, produced a string of radio programmes including shows for BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 2.

Blackburn was one of the first people to pay tribute to his “dear friend”, while Bruce described Swern’s passing as the “saddest of days”.

Blackburn wrote on Facebook: “I am so sad to say that my dear friend of over 60 years Phil ‘The Collector’ Swern passed away yesterday after a long illness.

“He was very respected in the music business for his music knowledge and professionalism, but above all he was a lovely kind and funny man.

“I was so glad I saw him and his wife Lynsey on Friday and was able to have a final chat with him. He passed away at home with his wife Lynsey who has been at his side looking after him. My love goes out to her and his family we will all miss him very much.”

In 2015 Swern told the BBC how he became known as ‘The Collector’ – by collecting every record that had ever charted.

“I was going the record fairs, shops all over the country,” he said explaining his love for records stemmed from his childhood when he used to be taken to stores “as a treat” by his parents every Saturday.

Swern also came up with questions for PopMaster, which featured on BBC Radio 2’s Ken Bruce Show.

Posting his tribute on social media Bruce wrote: “It’s the saddest of days as my great friend Phil Swern has passed away.

“Phil was a brilliantly inventive man with a passion for music.

“He had a vast career as a record and radio producer, deviser of TV formats and as the guiding light and co-creator of PopMaster.

“He was a one-man fount of all pop knowledge, starting his record collection as a boy and still displaying the same enthusiasm into his seventies.”