When he was a young man at Charterhouse school in England, he had a budding music career. He was known as a big man on campus, who was looked up to by amateur musicians. Through his Charterhouse connection, he subsequently discovered and named the band
Genesis. After a very short run as their manager and producer, he passed them along to his friend
Tony Stratton-Smith's management company. The band went on to become a huge success many years later, spawning the careers of
Peter Gabriel,
Phil Collins and
Mike + The Mechanics, all of whom topped the American singles chart.