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 was guest + main DJ at Red Door Studios pop-up community cafe in E6, where I was spinning tunes from 2016 until May 2025 (9, yes, NINE years!). 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:
Link to Mid Century Chap review:
https://www.midcenturychap.com/a-little-gem-behind-the-red-door
On 21/05/23, I returned to the Red Lion pub to play an enjoyable afternoon session, which was met with overwhelmingly positive feedback from customers + staff and now I am in the third year of my residency and they have recently confirmed my 2026 dates too. I am also on the DJ roster at the fabulous 2R's club in Soho, playing there 3 times in 2024 (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 also 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 vinyl can be prone to. Don't get me wrong, I still greatly enjoy collecting and spinning slabs of Vinyl + Shellac (aka "78's") and like to keep them in the best condition possible as well as treating them with a certain amount of respect when handling/playing them - but I don't blur the lines between record collecting and attributing 'more authentic' or 'superior' sound quality to a 'platter' - I find the 'vinyl only' clubs rather elitist - contentious or what, eh? My top priority is: as long as you can entertain and play what has been requested by your customers, that, to me, is the most important thing!
