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Tag Archives | Colin Curtis

The Psychology Of DJing – Gilles Peterson

By on June 25, 2019 in Black Culture, DJ / Club Culture, Interviews, The Eighties

The Psychology Of DJing

When I was over in Australia last November I was interviewed by Gilles Peterson for his series ‘The Psychology Of DJing’ as part of the Sydney Electronic Music Conference. It was an interview that covered many aspects of my career, much of which I’ve spoken about on numerous occasions previously. However, there was a different context to this – most of the time the interviewer is much younger than me, so they didn’t personally experience the times I’m talking about and the way things worked back then in the specialist areas of black music, whereas Gilles comes from the same roots as me, part of the next wave of DJs that followed-on from the Jazz-Funk era, when I first emerged on the specialist scene.

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John Grant

By on April 17, 2019 in DJ / Club Culture, RIP, The Eighties, The Seventies

John Grant, Colin Curtis, Tony Bowd Rafters

John Grant, one of the UK’s leading black music DJs of the late-‘70s / early-’80s died last month – he was 71. Apart from his family and close friends, his passing went largely unnoticed – his legacy somewhat forgotten. This is because he retired from DJing in 1981, right at what was seemingly the peak of his powers, completely disappearing from sight as he moved to the South coast, as the legend at the time was told, to become a lighthouse keeper, or, in another version, a harbour master (the truth seems to be that he moved to Peacehaven to work for a Hovercraft company).

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50 Years Of Colin Curtis – The UK’s Mancuso?

By on May 8, 2017 in Black Culture, DJ / Club Culture, The Eighties, The Seventies

Colin Curtis

This weekend Colin Curtis celebrates his 50th anniversary as a DJ with a special event at The Exchange in his home city of Stoke-On-Trent. Colin started out in his mid-teens at Newcastle-Under-Lyme’s Crystal Ballroom, before making his all-nighter debut at Stoke’s hallowed Golden Torch, one of Northern Soul’s foundation venues, eventually becoming one of the scene’s leading figures as a result of his legendary ‘70’s partnership with Ian Levine at the Blackpool Mecca. Info about the anniversary date here:
https://www.skiddle.com/whats-on/Stoke-On-Trent/The-Exchange/50-years-of-DJing-with-Legend-Colin-Curtis–Guest-Pete-Bromley/12932290/

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6 Seminal DJs

By on October 9, 2016 in DJ / Club Culture, Magazines

6 Seminal DJs by Pete Fowler for Greg Wilson's Discotheque Archives @ DJ Mag

Just uploaded the 6th digital edition of the Discotheque Archives series I’ve been putting together for DJ Mag with the help of Josh Ray. Each month it focuses on a classic DJ, a classic club, a classic record and a classic record label – these are generally a combination of US and UK, with the odd European inclusion, each concerned with aspects of pre-Rave club culture.

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The Best Is Yet To Come

By on August 14, 2015 in General, Super Weird Substance, The Seventies

BESSIE BANKS & THE REYNOLDS LABELS

‘Don’t You Worry Baby The Best Is Yet To Come’ is a track that was first played at Blackpool Mecca in 1976 following the acquisition of a US promo from fabled Norfolk based Glaswegian record dealer John Anderson (Soul Bowl) by DJ Colin Curtis, and then a release copy via a London based supplier who specialized in importing new American releases to distribute to US Troops in Germany & Europe, specifically black GI’s with a love of Soul and Funk. The Northern Soul sessions at the Mecca were hugely influential, the club revered, along with Manchester’s Twisted Wheel, The Catacombs in Wolverhampton, The Golden Torch in Stoke-On-Trent, and the scene’s most famous venue, Wigan Casino, at the vanguard of the movement.

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The Sudden End Of The Southport Weekender

By on April 18, 2015 in Black Culture, DJ / Club Culture, DJ Appearances

Pontins

Like many in the club community, it was a shock to hear that next month’s Southport Weekender, nowadays held at Butlin’s Holiday Resort in Minehead, and attracting over 6,500 people, will be the final one. This much-loved gathering of black music enthusiasts and aficionados has run since 1987 and celebrated its 50th event only last year. ‘Rising costs and expectations’ have been given as the reason for this sudden announcement – the press statement can be read here at Resident Adviser: http://www.residentadvisor.net/news.aspx?id=28827

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