Influences: Spencer Parker

At my local “discotheque”, (shout out to Jaz in Purley and Blue Orchid in Croydon (both RIP)) each week, the resident would play half an hour or so of jungle, i heard this record and it blew my mind. I only ever knew it as “31 Seconds” but eventually bought the original 12” and the remix too, one from Wax City in Croydon. I was never a hardcore junglist, as they say, but had some great nights out at Lazerdrome in nearby Peckham dancing to the likes of Jumping Jack Frost and Dr S Gachet (if i remember correctly ?!?!?)
I still think this is a phenomenal record and even played it as my final record the last time i played in Berghain (it was preceded by Underworld “Dark And Long” – see what i did there…?). 😉

I remember going to see Roger Sanchez play at Fabric for Bugged Out, in Room 2 (in the main room was the Chemical Brothers djing, followed by Fatboy Slim !) and this was the first time i heard this record. He seemed to make it last for about 30 mins, playing the sound effects and speech, into 2x copies of the dub etc, before finally unleashing the full version with that immortal speech. By the time he played the actual full version, the entire room was just ready to explode. It was a definitive lesson in drama and working a record from the S Man and I still regularly play this record and its sound effects to this day.

I used to love to go to Ministry of Sound and hear all the big US dj’s like David Morales and Francois Kevorkian but the residents they had at this time were also amazing in their own right. Fridays were Harvey and Saturdays were CJ Mackintosh. I remember standing on the dance floor as Harvey played this Johnny Vicious cut up of The Salsoul Orchestra and my head nearly falling off as the cello line came in.
The actual record (wasn’t on youtube so I had to post the original track it sampled) breaks down to ONLY the cello for about 2 minutes, and in a pitch black main room, it sounded phenomenal. The next day I marched straight into Black Market records in Soho and asked if they had a record with a big cello sound in it, the handed me a double pack Vicious Muzik promo which I immediately bought and have to this day…

Me, fresh off the tills of Marks and Spencers in Croydon, dancing on a Saturday night in the SW1 club, Victoria, in Armani Jeans, a Ralph Lauren shirt, Timberland boots… with curly shoulder length hair… It’s quite an image, isn’t it…?

Panorama Bar, Monday morning, an epic closing set of laaaawd knows how many hours, and Radio Slave plays this as his last record with the blinds full up and everyone dancing away. I’d never heard this version before and the combination of this record, being played at this place, at exactly the right moment, blew my tiny mind…

There used to be a cool little party at Badeschiff on a Thursday when I first moved to Berlin and I played there once with Berghain resident Boris and the aforementioned Radio GaGa. Boris played this record and I will always remember him playing this to a packed dance floor and singing and dancing away himself. I’d never heard the record before but fell in love with it and always play it now, whenever I get the opportunity. And Boris remains one of my favourite ever dj’s to go see play !

I will always remember David Morales playing this to a packed Bar Rumba on a Wednesday night (for Kenny Hawkes and Luke Solomons “Space” night), with half of the London dance music industry dancing away and hanging on his every record. The fact it was made by our very own Daddy Ash made the fact that the US legend was endorsing it all the sweeter.

Memories here of possibly the greatest club night I have ever been to, Lazy Dog at The Notting Hill Arts Club on a Sunday night. The resident djs were Jay Hannan and Ben Watt and this club had just the most amazing atmosphere -no words will do it justice but the closest I can get is to compare it to a particularly insane Sunday at our beloved Panorama Bar, here in Berlin. Mainly/partly responsible for introducing Sunday clubbing to London and definitely responsible for many Monday hangovers for me at my music industry day job (also shout out to Vertigo at The Cross and DTPM at Fabric for the very same hangovers). I have met friends here that are friends to this day and that is something that truly means a lot to me. Some now live in Dubai, some run Oslo’s excellent Jaeger club, while others put on the excellent Secretsundaze parties.
Ben and Jay were playing this record from a promo on the Panorama label and it was completely unknown, but the second I heard it, I loved it. A perfect combination of groove, great, simple hook and catchy vocal. And another record i’ve recently dug out and started playing again – i have very fond memories of playing this at the last Homopatik party at About:Blank, in the open air, with Mr Ties performing the vocal ! 🙂

Erick Morillo playing this on the terrace of Space in Ibiza and my head nearly falling off as it came in ! A record i’ve adored since I first heard it and still regularly play.

The era of “glam clubbing” in the UK, which, i must confess, I did have a soft spot for ! 🙂 Georgie, The Gardening Club, The Velvet Underground, Malibu Stacey, Bambina, The Cross, Maximus… Too many crimes against fashion and music during these times, but a hell of a lot of fun too… and this record is the definition of F U N ! 🙂