Initially a schoolteacher and a jazz enthusiast, he played trumpet in The Mighty Joe Young Jazz Men and the 1960s pop group The Alan Price Set before joining BBC Radio 1 in 1967, where he was John Peel's producer from 1969 to 1991.

[1] He then taught at a comprehensive in Kenton, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, wrote a jazz column for the Newcastle Journal, gave evening classes in jazz history, played the trumpet with local bands and met Alan Price, then organist with the Animals.

[2] He featured on five of the Alan Price Set's British hits,[2] and played the Albert Hall and the Paris Olympia.

He reportedly regretted this decision later, but was responsible for getting The Smiths their first session after witnessing an early concert.

He presented the long-running Radio 1 arts magazine Walters' Weekly,[2] as well as Loose Ends and Idle thoughts, and was heard reviewing the music papers on the Janice Long show in the 1980s.