I have been into these genres of music since the early 1970's. I started spinning tunes as a guest DJ in 1986 and turned professional during 1987 - I have an extensive knowledge of dance music of the 1930's through to the 1960's and as a dancer myself, I know what works. My original mentor was the DJ "Fifties Flash" (Mr Keith A. Pinnell, RIP) whom I also had the privilege and honour of sharing his
decks at various gigs, including the legendary "Rockin' Ball" events (Marble Arch) and I still follow his wise approach to being a DJ, he said "If it gets people off of their b*ms and onto the dance floor, I'll play it!"
I also shared the decks with:
"El Nino" (of the "Lady Luck" club - Mr Nino De Gruttola RIP) at "Ruby's" in Carnaby Street and "Zoots" at the Notre Dame Hall (off Leicester Square, run by Jane + Terry (RIP) Smith). Mr Tim Hardy (RIP) at the "Hellzapoppin" club at Cecil Sharp House and "Jitterbugs" at the Notre Dame Hall (Leicester Square). The "P+S Club" at the London Welsh Centre and at a great many other events (Clubs + Rockin' weddings) in and around London during the late 80's and all through the 90's. Some of my 2020 gigs included a handful of the "What's Cookin" gigs upstairs at the Red Lion, E6, with sets between the bands. I have two local residencies;
One is at Red Door Studios pop-up cafe in E6, where I have been spinning tunes since 2016 (once a month). Back in March 2020, there was an article in the Newham magazine (Issue 419, Page 31) which was great exposure for the venue and was very surprised that it featured yours truly a lot more than I thought it would, but then the C19 pandemic kicked in...
Here is a link to that article:
Newham Magazine review - Issue 419 - Page 31 (March 2020):
https://archive.org/details/the-newham-mag-issue-419/page/n29/mode/2up
Another review by Jane + Clive (aka DJ's "King of the Rocket Men") of the cafe event to whet your appetite:
Link to Mid Century Chap review:
https://www.midcenturychap.com/a-little-gem-behind-the-red-door
On 21/05/23, I played an enjoyable afternoon session back at the Red Lion pub, which was met with overwhelmingly positive feedback from customers and staff
and I spin fabulous Rockin' tunes there on a very regular basis. I am also on the DJ roster at the 2R's club in Soho, playing there 3 times in 2024 (2 of them due to my sets going down rather well with the folks who attended) - I will be there in September and December of 2025, amongst many other gigs! "Back in the day" I used to use vinyl, then it was vinyl and CD's, but now I work from my own custom CD's as I am getting too old to be lugging heavy cases of records about! I have to admit that I am a Hi-fi buff and I want to hear a song as close as possible to how it was recorded, without all the clicks, pops and general surface noise that older vinyl can be prone to. Don't get me wrong, I still greatly enjoy spinning slabs of vinyl (and shellac aka "78's" - nostalgia?), but I don't blur the lines between record collecting and attributing superior sound quality to a 'platter' - contentious or what, eh? As long as you can play what has been requested by your customers, that, to me, is the most important thing!
