Jack Hutton (1928-2008)

Best known as the former editor of the hugely influential music magazine Melody Maker, Jack Hutton, who died on August 24, learned his editorial prowess at Dundee-based D. C. Thomson, where he worked on The Hotspur, Dandy and Beano. Hutton was born on April 17, 1928, in Sydney, Australia, where his father, a ship's engineer, and mother were passing through on their way to Scotland. Leaving school at the age of 15, he worked for D. C. Thomson until he was called up for National Service which he served with the R.A.F. in the south of France. Returning to Dundee, he began working on the Sunday Post newspaper where he was to meet his future wife, Joyce.

A keen jazz fan, Hutton learned to play the trumpet and, with Joyce, launched the Dundee Jazz Club which they ran for three years. Married in 1953, the Huttons moved to London in 1954 where Jack took a job with Melody Maker. He took over the editorship in October 1962, the month that The Beatles' "Love Me Do" hit the charts. He left in 1970 to set up Spotlight Publications with former MM advertising manager Peter Wilkinson and launch their own music paper, Sounds. Spotlight were also publishers of Kerrang! and Popswap. He eventually retired in 1987.

Obituaries: The Independent (28 August), The Guardian (2 September).