he wrote songs with tony crombie before working in 1961 as a&r man at decca records, the youngest in the country, at 20, in the post. his first production, "love is like a violin" sung by ken dodd, went to #8 in the uk singles chart. it was followed by hits with mark wynter; plus rhet stoller's "chariot", which reached #26 in the uk. wharton gave much needed work to jazz musicians, at a time when they were out of fashion and struggling to find work, by producing a pioneering stereophonic album, "sweet wide and blue", with stan tracy (piano), victor feldman (vibes), lenny bush (bass), tony crombie (drums) and others. he also recorded albums and singles with mantovani, winifred atwell, and several other decca labelmates before leaving decca, disillusioned, and finally outraged when he was not allowed to produce "portrait of my love" with matt monro due to 'office politics'. the song was thereafter released by parlophone and peaked at #3 in the uk chart. he returned to acting and travelled to south africa to visit mickie most who he helped and encouraged to produce his own records, and taught to handle a mixing desk in the studios there.