[citation needed] He worked as a freelance music and screenwriter, writing for Time Out, Variety and other publications while at the same time acting as a consultant on music business issues for bodies such as the Greater London Enterprise Board and the World Bank.
In 1986 he travelled to Eritrea, Ethiopia and Sudan to research and write the documentary film, Food Trucks & Rock 'n' Roll about how the money raised by Band Aid was spent in Africa.
He was the chief editor and contributing writer of The Aurum Film Encyclopedia series that included The Western (vol.
With Dave Laing, he edited The Encyclopedia of Rock (1975), and The Faber Companion to 20th Century Popular Music (1990).
At the time of his death he was working on a history of the Universal Music Group, Building the World’s Largest Record Company.