"Smile (Chaplin/Turner/Parsons) " on the life of Peter J. Turner Phillips.
It was the autumn of 1940 and a little boy called Peter was being driven away by his father to a boarding school. The boy was crying and did not want to leave his family. The father was trying to calm him down saying that this change was to prepare him to be stronger in his life. The boy was still upset and continued to cry. Suddenly the following words came out of his father's mouth; "Smile though your heart is aching, Smile even though it's breaking.. When there are clouds in the sky, you'll get by ...." The father later finished the song, with the participation of Charlie Chaplin and Geoffrey Parsons that would go on to be one of the most loved songs ever.
The father was Jimmy Phillips, one of the pioneers of British music publishing and the boy was Peter Phillips who went on to become the boss of ATV music. These were the times when the world was a better place and the music industry was led by the likes of Peter, who strived for good music first and dealt with all the related bullshit second. This was a leadership a 180 degrees opposite that of today's world music executives with their destructive and short sighted policies.
Unfortunately we lost Peter. The funeral service was held on Tuesday the 2nd of March in Rottingdean Brighton. We were very lucky to have known him since 1978 and very privileged to be part of his farewell service.
We shall always remember Peter with his wonderful positive attitude and warm personality towards everyone. We will do our best to continue on on the path that we always shared with him, to secure the future for all music lovers.
Our love and sympathy are with his family.
Dağhan Baydur x
