 In the mid-1960s after leaving Sunshine, he worked in the family business and played occasionally until a winning appearance on Hughie Green’s Opportunity Knocks TV talent show which led to a flood of offers.A facial paralysis forced him to use other mouthpieces, which allowed him to extend the range of his instrument.In 1965 he founded his own band, and from 1970 he played in the Acker Bilk's Paramount Jazz Band, before he founded a band together with Ian Wheeler in 1973.