This week's chron rant... So Much Love To Give? Another weekend, another wrath of DJ glory hunters. After a fairly strung-out weekend taking in the spectrum of clubs and parties in the region I’m in a reflective mood about the mentality of DJs who insist on, for want of a better phrase, ‘selling out’. I like anyone else love a good knees up, but when the most that’s on offer might as well be club anthems ’98 across the PA you really begin to wonder about the true intentions of the DJ who is battering the dance floor with all too often aired big tunes. The conclusion I came to is that these individuals, far from lacking skill, are in this business in a vain attempt at receiving the adoration they once paid their own heroes. The problem is the result invariably sounds like a heavy-handed lesson in commercial club classics. The main reason I feel so aggrieved by this state of affairs is that the answer to fulfilling their dream is starting them right in the face. If they want to be adored and blow away the competition, they should take a leaf out of their hero’s book and play what they love. In the process we’ll all be more likely to benefit from hearing something fresh and distinctive. American DJ legend Tony Humphries summed this situation up perfectly “Anybody can play last week’s hits and have people screaming. But people won’t remember you; they’ll remember the records”. Your crowd will remember the first time they heard the tune you just dropped, or the DJ they love who dropped that tune. You’ll be just another wannabe adjusting the EQ’s in the shadows. The late great Hard House DJ Tony De Vit did it for the love in the days when he used to have to sweep the floor and collect the glasses at the end of the night. He now occupies a pedestal in the dance hall of fame. For many the bottom line may be to keep the bar manager happy by getting your crowd dancing, but at the end of the day if you disregard quality and fail to develop an individual style it’s only a matter of time before ten younger (and cheaper) wannabe’s muscle in to take your place.
Stop me and buy one... Simon, as a fellow respected member of the music journalist industry, can you not give me a sly hint as this post is intriguing? Lee 'Stop me and buy one' Foster
Respected at Muzik? Being in with the DMC massive trading secrets with IPC crew would be suicide The person who sparked my thinking lives and works in Camden. He is a proper caaant, as they like to say in those parts.
an official response Got in last night to find 30 emails in my inbox regarding my column for wed's Chronicle that I posted yesterday. Can I first up just say thankyou all for the response, glad there's so many varied people out there who totally agree with me but can I also clarify the situation as some of you have maybe allowed your imaginations to run riot. I wasn't baseing the article on anyone I know in the region, it was triggered by someone I met a few weeks ago down south, a fairly nice bloke but maybe a little misguided. Out of all the emails I got, wroughly fifteen of them assumed I was talking about someone in particular, though each one thought it was someone different. I'm sure this suggests something, not quite sure what as yet, but can I kindly ask all of you to keep any opinions about who you may have connected this with to yourself. Some of the people mentioned were way off the mark and others even suggested friends of mine which was a little out of order. Newcastle clubland is a small community and really could do without spiteful gossip See you all this weekend, Simon
Re: an official response maybe it means there a lot of dj's out there playing easy to drop crowd-pleasers and floor-fillers? I thought it could apply to a few DJs I've seen, but though it unlikely it was directed at anyone in particular. When you assume you make an ass out of u and me!
