Pete Waterman
| Pete Waterman OBE |
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|---|---|
Waterman in 2008, at the controls of the Stapleford Miniature Railways new East African loco
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| Born |
Peter Alan Waterman 15 January 1947 Stoke Heath, Coventry, England |
| Residence | Warrington, Cheshire, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation |
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| Years active | 1960s–present |
| Title | Chairman of Pete Waterman Entertainment (since 1984) President of Coventry Bears |
| Spouse(s) |
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| Website | pwl-empire |
Peter Alan "Pete" Waterman, OBE (born 15 January 1947) is an English record producer, songwriter, radio and club DJ, television presenter, president of Coventry Bears rugby league club and a keen railway enthusiast. As a member of the songwriting team he wrote and produced many hit singles. He is the owner of significant collections of both historic and commercial railway locomotives and rolling stock.
Peter Alan Waterman was born in Stoke Heath, Coventry, Warwickshire. He was educated at Whitley Abbey Comprehensive School until he left in 1962 to work for British Railways. He became a steam locomotive fireman based at Wolverhampton (Stafford Road) depot. In 2002 he said of his time working for British Railways, "I loved every minute of it. The squalor was unreal, but the camaraderie was phenomenal." After closure of the depot in 1963, Waterman chose to follow a career in music, being inspired by The Beatles. To supplement his income as a DJ, he became a gravedigger and then an apprentice at General Electric Company, becoming a trade union official.
Building a record collection through rare US imports, his DJ work began to take him across the UK, entertaining bigger crowds with a blend of rhythm and blues and soul music tunes he had sourced. Given a residency with the Mecca Leisure Group, he developed new initiatives including discos for under 18s at Coventry’s Locarno club, which gave him a valuable insight into what music interested a younger audience. Waterman noticed that the younger dancers preferred records with high beats per minute and this influenced his later work. It was at the Locarno that Waterman first met Neville Staple, later to be a vocalist for The Specials – a band that Waterman would manage for a brief period. In early 2009, Waterman wrote the foreword to Staple's biography, Original Rude Boy, which was published by Aurum Press in May 2009.
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