2011 September

Sylvia Robinson

Sylvia Robinson, dubbed ‘the Mother Of Hip Hop’, died yesterday. Along with husband, Joe, she founded All Platinum, one of the leading black music labels of the proto-Disco era, before going on to carve their names in Hip Hop history via their Sugar Hill company, which, along with many other influential recordings, would release a trio of truly seminal singles - ‘Rappers Delight’ by The Sugarhill Gang, the first rap hit in 1979, ‘The Adventures Of Grandmaster Flash On The Wheels Of Steel ‘ by Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five, the herald of turntablism in 1981, and another Flash & The Five track ‘The Message’, presenting rap with a social conscience in 1982.

By Greg Wilson|2025-04-07T10:37:57+00:00September 30, 2011|Black Culture, DJ / Club Culture, Hear, Records, RIP, The Eighties, The Seventies|3 Comments

Music Is Better Re-Edited Highlights

Just dug out a copy of the Music Is Better CD, a limited edition of 500 that followed my DJ comeback on December 20th 2003 at the Music Is Better night in The Attic, Manchester. It’s now been made available on my SoundCloud as exclusive content (which means you can’t see the waveform to stream/download unless you’re signed in).

By Greg Wilson|2025-04-07T10:37:58+00:00September 27, 2011|CD’s / Digital, DJ / Club Culture, DJ Appearances, Hear, Manchester, Mixes, Remixes / Edits|16 Comments

Living To Music – Nirvana ‘Nevermind’

This Sunday (Oct 2nd), at 9pm, you’re invited to share a listening session with some likeminded souls, wherever you might be. This can be experienced either alone or communally, and you don’t need to leave the comfort of your own home to participate. Full lowdown here: https://blog.gregwilson.co.uk/2010/06/living-to-music/

By Greg Wilson|2025-04-07T10:37:58+00:00September 26, 2011|CD’s / Digital, Hear, Living To Music, Photography, Records, The Nineties|11 Comments

Astrid And The Exis

Stayed in a mad hotel last Friday, the Karim Rashid designed Nhow in Berlin. If you like pink, then this is the place for you – it’s literally everywhere. Not really my cup of tea, all a bit garish and, as someone put it ‘Barbie girl in a Barbie world’, but certainly somewhere you’re not going to forget in a hurry. Described as a ‘music and lifestyle hotel’, you can have guitars and keyboards delivered to your room, and the upper section of the building houses two recording studios, which are run by the company that manage Berlin’s legendary Hansa studio (best known for David Bowie and Iggy Pop’s patronage in 1977 - ‘Heroes’ and ‘Lust For Life’, both recorded there, and ‘Low’ and ‘The Idiot’ partly recorded).

By Greg Wilson|2025-04-07T10:37:58+00:00September 22, 2011|Art & Design, Film, Merseyside, Photography, The Beatles, The Sixties|1 Comment

The Mindscape Of Alan Moore

It’s only three months since I blogged about ‘Getting My Dylan On’, setting the wheels in motion for a voyage of discovery that took a turn in a direction I hadn’t anticipated, into the world of ‘Watchmen’ and onto the author behind it, feeding me full of impressions and insights as a whole new vista opened up.

By Greg Wilson|2025-04-07T10:37:58+00:00September 6, 2011|Art & Design, Books, Comics, Documentaries, DVD, Film, Read, See, Video|4 Comments

Mixmagminimix

Something a bit different - Mixmag asked me to put together a ‘minimix’ of twenty minutes duration for their podcast. Given the limited length, I suppose I approached it more as an advert than a mix in the usual sense – a sixty truncated into twenty minute taster, providing the opportunity for me to highlight, to an audience that aren’t generally exposed to this approach, the type of stuff I play in the parties, clubs and festivals.

By Greg Wilson|2025-04-07T10:37:58+00:00September 6, 2011|Hear, Mixes|1 Comment

Everything Is A Remix

Thanks to Vinz on the Brownwood forum I came across this fascinating illustration of how nothing created is truly original. Looking at music, film, literature, science and technology, ‘Everything is a Remix’ is a four part series of visual online shorts produced by Kirby Ferguson, a New York-based filmmaker.

By Greg Wilson|2025-04-07T10:37:58+00:00September 5, 2011|Articles, Books, DJ / Club Culture, Film, Remixes / Edits, Video|4 Comments

2026 DJ DATES:

31.12 Todmorden – NYE @ The Golden Lion

17.01 Belfast – The Deer’s Head

23.01 Bristol – Lost Horizon

05.02 New York – Jeans

07.02 Upstate New York – Disco Chalet

13.02 Los Angeles – Spotlight

14.02 San Francisco – Great Northern

21.02 London – Fac 51 Haçienda @ Drumsheds

06.03 Brussels – C12 Brussels

08.03 Bognor Regis – Bugged Out

21.03 Leeds – Downtown Disco @ Archive

03.04 Carlisle – The Brickyard

04.04 Dewsbury – The Terrace

05.04 Liverpool – Gloria’s

18.04 Margate – Margate Arts Club

19.04 London – Jazz Cafe

24.04 Manchester – Manchester Cathedral

02.05 London – Disco Disco @ Queens Yard

16.05 Bristol – Where We Belong Festival

23.05 Hastings – The Print Works

30.05 Steyning – Steyning Festival

12.06 Stockport – Moovin Festival

20.06 Newcastle – Frate

27.06 Penzance – Golowan Festival

11.07 London – Brixton Freight Island

26.07 Manchester Freight Island

26.07 Hertfordshire – Campo Sanchez

31.07 Oxfordshire – Wilderness Festival

15.08 Newcastle- E-Soul Cultura @ Freight Island

15.08 Warrington- Brickhaus

18.08 Ibiza- 528

23.08 Dorset- We Out Here Festival

04.09 Lindisfarne Festival

05.09 Battle – Crafted @ Powdermills

10.09 Winchester – Mucky Weekender

I’m a DJ from Merseyside. I started out in 1975, but stopped for almost 20 years, between 1984 and the end of 2003, at which point I started again.

One night during the period I wasn’t deejaying, turning off my mind, relaxing, and floating downstream I had what might be termed a moment of clarity. Paradoxically, although I was no longer a DJ in the literal sense I suddenly became aware that I’d never actually stopped being a DJ, for even if I was in a room with just one person I couldn’t help but ask them ‘have you heard this?’, and not only ‘heard’, but ‘have you seen this / read this?’, for it goes beyond music. Already taken somewhat aback by this nugget of self-discovery, I realised, in true eureka style, that this all pre-dates my being a DJ and goes back as far as I can remember – I’ve always had an inherent need to share, it’s absolutely central to my nature. This was quite a revelation.

So it’s no wonder that I became a Disc Jockey, for once I fell in love with those circular pieces of magical plastic during my formative years, it wasn’t a matter of choosing this as a path, the path pretty much chose me.

I don’t intend this to be a DJ blog as such, but more a blog by someone who happens to be a DJ – a place where personal emphasis takes precedence over professional, although, as I’ve already explained, the two aspects are, of course, inescapably entwined.

If you want info about my DJ appearances, email greg@gregwilson.co.uk for regular updates.

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