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I have always done technical work, having become interested in electronics at the age of 11. I became interested in "pop" music a few years later, and joined the BBC as it seemed a good place to mix music and technology. I have few claims to fame during my work at the BBC. I accidently switched off the Saturday night play, and I met Paul McCartney and George Harrison in the canteen! Neither of these events has proved useful in later life....

I got the job with the BBC as a result of my interest in music, radio and electronics; as a result I moved to a small flat in London, from where I commuted into the centre and worked as a technical operator in Broadcasting House. This involved recording and replaying tapes, general operation of studio equipment, etc. which is where I chopped the Saturday night play, which was a Rudyard Kipling story called, I think, "Kim".

The plays were recorded on large reels of 1/4 inch magnetic tape, in mono, and would last for typically 3 reels; as one tape came to an end, I had the job of performing the changeover to the next reel, set up on another tape machine. I changed over tapes o.k. but then stopped and rewound the wrong machine!

I met the two Beatles in the canteen just at the time their popularity was just beginning to rocket. I think we talked about guitars and cameras.....

As a job, one of the worst things was that (at that time) most radio and television activity took place in the evenings; hence, we worked more in the evenings, which played hell with my musical and social life.

The best thing about working there was the opportunity to join lots of clubs (such as Ronnie Scott's and the 100 club) at a reduced fee. I also spent many days going round the music shops, trying guitars and things.

It was while working for the BBC and attending a training course that I (literally!) cut my first and only record. This was a multitracked version (about 4 parts, I think) of "Sweet Georgia Brown", recorded (in the style of Les Paul) using half track tape recorders and a disk cutting machine. We were encouraged to use the equipment outside of normal training hours, and I seem to remember spending half the night getting the old - and it was old, even then, - disk cutter to work, cutting a 78 rpm shellac disk. Many years later, I lent the disk to a friend, and never saw it again. Such is the stuff of history!

Working for the Beeb didn't last, as I couldn't really afford the flat and the expensive guitars and things! The BBC was renowned for slowness of response in those days, nothing much seemed to change, you had to wait years for promotion, the organisation seemed very bureaucratic, and so a chance meeting with a friend persuaded me to join the Post Office.