John Walters (11 July 1939 – 30 July 2001) was a British radio producer, presenter and musician. 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.

Biography

Walters was born in Long Eaton, near Nottingham. He read Fine Arts at Durham University, where he worked under Victor Pasmore and as a student had his paintings exhibited alongside the works of David Hockney. 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. He featured on five of the Alan Price Set's British hits,

Walters also produced Vivian Stanshall's first foray into radio, both by overseeing Stanshall's Rawlinson End Radio Flashes when Stanshall stood in for a vacationing John Peel, and Stanshall's Sir Henry at Rawlinson End. He presented the long-running Radio 1 arts magazine Walters' Weekly,

Walters died suddenly on 30 July 2001, from a heart attack, at the age of 62. He was survived by his wife, Helen.

References

  • John Peel's first show after the death of John Walters