ex-professional DJ and part time lecturer... I have been 'into' music since I was a wee boy -  apparently I was asking my parents to buy me records from the age of 2 (all be it an early interest in Glam Rock and the Rollers!) From that I progressed to an enthusiasm for new wave / romantics (with an obsession for Adam and the Ants) until I discovered Northern Soul and Disco in the early 1980s (thanks to a local youth disco that played what was obviously the DJs own passion). I became fascinated with the electronic sound of the 1980s and loved anything that sounded vaguely 'computer created' including music by Joy Division / New Order as well as anything Vince Clarke was involved in.. It was however another youth disco that took place in a nightclub in Newcastle that really captured my imagination - this was a New York inspired disco called Sidewalk in which I was introduced to breakdancing, electro and essentially Hip Hop. There was quite a vibrant scene in Newcastle at the time and this was probably the first real youth culture I was involved in - the whole hip hop culture appealed massively to me. There were real parallels between the two communities of working class northern Britain under Thatcher and the Black ghettos of New York and Los Angeles under Regan and the ability to express yourself via dance and a music made by the people for the people was irresistible at the time. As electro came to an end, the sound went down two distinct paths. The electronic style crossed easily into the genre of 80s funk and soul and indeed there were many tracks that were huge with the breakdance / electro scene as well as the disco scene, while the less electronic hip hop with a reliance on samples of old soul and funk recordings and a more political and culture aware agenda became modern Rap / Hip Hop. I tried to keep involved in both scenes, but it was the electronic route that I followed with greater enthusiasm as Acid house and Ecstasy took me on an unforgettable trip!

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