Known for pop music albums such as the self-titled Simon Turner (1973) and The Many Moods of Simon Turner (1973), he also penned the soundtracks to the films Nadja (1974) and William Eggleston in the Real World (2005). Also an actor, he appears in the movies The Big Sleep (1978) and The End of the Affair (1999). Early in his entertainment career, he played the role of Ned East in the 1971 British television version of Thomas Hughes' novel Tom Brown's Schooldays.