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The latest in our series where Sounds of the Sixties presenter Brian Matthew chats about his career to writer and musician Bob Stanley.

Brian Matthew has a wonderful warm voice for broadcasting, but it's not necessarily the greatest vehicle for singing.

Brian Matthew has a wonderful warm voice for broadcasting, but it's not necessarily the greatest vehicle for singing. If you've ever heard - a song about a girl who digs Kenny Ball with such zinging lines as "She used to love old Elvis P, she found him big and tall" - then you'll know why Brian's singing career never took off.

Yet while he never saw himself as becoming a professional musician, Brian has always liked to play about. He has told us before that, growing up in Coventry, he was surrounded by music, thanks to . When he was old enough to start buying records of his own they were "big bands, jazz, a certain amount of pop." His father never showed much interest in Brian's tastes but "he was OK with all this."

eventually took up the trombone. "Half a dozen of us used to congregate in the Memorial Park in Coventry, which is where lads used to meet up with girls from the other schools. And we used to play so loud you could be heard about two miles away! Also, funnily enough a lot of tenor sax players appealed to me too, like Coleman Hawkins.

"Eventually, when we lived where we are now, I got to the stage where I had to get a tenor sax. The guy at Boosey's said" - Brian dips his voice to a conspiratorial whisper - "'Who are your favourites?' And I said (whispering) 'Well... Coleman Hawkins.' He said "Oh? that's pretty old fashioned!' Nearly hurt me that! I thought he was the greatest ever."