Phil Coulter 'thrilled' by Jade Thirlwall single sample

Jade dropped Angel of My Dreams on Friday, her first solo track since Little Mix announced a hiatus

A song written by Northern Ireland musician Phil Coulter in the 60s is being enjoyed by a new generation, 57 years after first being released.

Puppet on a String by Sandie Shaw has been sampled in Jade Thirlwall's debut single.

Jade dropped Angel of My Dreams on Friday, her first solo track since Little Mix announced a hiatus.

Co-written by Londonderry-born songwriter Coulter, and Bill Martin, Puppet on a String rose to fame when Shaw won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1967.

Speaking to BBC News NI Coulter said he was "thrilled" when he found out about the sample.

He said he first became aware of Thirlwall's single from his grandchildren.

"They said the record is getting reviews left, right and centre," he told BBC News NI.

"They said it's going to be the song of the summer, now I would love to tell you that I’m on speed dial with Little Mix and all of those hot producers, but in fact I was completely unaware until one of my kids and grandkids told me," he added.

The songwriter was given freedom of Derry in 2022

'Delighted, flattered and flabbergasted'

"I made a point of listening to the song," he said.

"I am delighted and very flattered and flabbergasted and surprised that I am part of this whole operation," he added.

The songwriter said he was surprised that a song this old was "even on the radar" of a young singer like Thirlwall.

However, the process of sampling the song was completely out of Coulter's hands.

He explained: "I had nothing to do with it, no hand, act or part in it. What would have happened was, in putting together the record and the mix, her producer, who is some current hot shot who has lots of hits in current times, have decided between the two of them that Puppet on a String was going to work at the start to set some kind of mood."

Jade, pictured with Little Mix bandmates Perri Edwards and Leigh-Anne Pinnock

'I am in grave danger of becoming cool'

His family's joy at the news has been unexpected.

"It’s very unusual. I have six kids - it didn’t happen too often that they would bask in the glory of their dad having music in the charts, in fact they would have been embarrassed, they would have preferred if I was an accountant."

He added: "At this stage, if this does become the big hit of the summer, I am in grave danger of becoming cool.

"Secretly they might have been pleased but they didn’t express that too often, so I suppose now at this advanced stage for me to be seen to be trendy and cool, is something that I embrace."

Pictured at the National Concert Hall in Dublin before rehearsals for his concert, in 1987

Life 'breathed into a song that has been asleep'

Longevity in the music industry is not always an easy task, he says, and the industry is still surprising him to this day.

He said: "For every songwriter, every professional career songwriter, the ambition is always to write a song that is going to be around for a long time.

"When you embark on a career as a professional songwriter your goal is always to write what we call pension songs. Songs that have got more staying power."

He describes himself as "lucky" to have a "kitbag" of songs that have outlived their time on the charts.

"I have songs that are still alive and that’s what every songwriter hopes for, some sort of a legacy," he told BBC News NI.

"Nothing makes a songwriter happier than when somebody breathes life into a song that has been asleep for a while".

Describing himself as one of Jade's newest and biggest fans the songwriter said he has been "talking her up to all of my circle of friends and acquaintances".

Coulter is the winner of five Ivor Novello awards, he has 23 platinum, 39 gold and 52 silver discs among his many accolades.