Wynford Vaughan-Thomas, whose father was a professor of music and a composer, had few connections with popular music. But he was famous for his work on spoken word programmes for the BBC Home Service and Light Programme during the 1940s and 1950s and was one of the most familiar radio voices during Peel's childhood and youth. His career continued into the 1980s. Peel described Vaughan-Thomas as one of the natural broadcasters he admired on Radio Radio in 1986 and also described him as one of the great broadcasters he'd heard in his life on his 14 December 1991 show.