Profile: Smith returns to the Beeb.

Jeff Smith finds himself in the middle of his own target demographic on returning to his "heartland" as Radio Two's new head of music, and is relishing the challenges ahead

by Paul Williams

Had Jeff Smith followed in the footsteps of his grandfather, he would have ended up working on the trawlers back in his home town of Fleetwood in Lancashire.

But Smith - who started last Monday as Radio Two's new head of music - was a child of the Sixties and, while Fleetwood thrived as one of the UK's major ports, his imagination had been gripped by other, more exciting developments out at sea.

Offshore pirate radio had arrived, ending the BBC's almost total monopoly of the UK airwaves and, for the first time, providing listeners with an all-day diet of pop music. For Smith, tuning into Radio Caroline North and its line-up of DJs including Tony Prince, Dave Lee Travis and a certain Johnnie Walker, it was a development that would have a fundamental impact on his life.

"I was genuinely intrigued by the fact not that it was a pirate station - what worked for me was that from the pier at Cleveland I could look out to sea and see the boat with a mast on it and it was broadcasting to people," says Smith. "I found it absolutely incredible and fascinating as well."

Smith notes that since about the age of seven he has been totally hooked on radio. "It's my heartland industry. I think it's a great medium and it continues to surprise people by always bouncing back and I think that's what we're seeing again now," he says.