POCKET MONEY WAS SAVED & THE FIRST 7" VINYLS WERE PURCHASED... "LITTLE WILLY" BY THE SWEET & "TAKE ME BAK 'OME" BY SLADE... THOSE TWO RECORDS COST ME 98P. VINYLMANIA HAD BEGUN IN THE BAKER HOUSEHOLD!

DURING THE FOLLOWING YEARS, EVERY PENNY WAS PUT TOWARDS BUYING RECORDS... HEARING NOEL EDMONDS, EMPEROR ROSCO, JOHNNY WALKER, D.L.T, TONY BLACKBURN, STUART HENRY & DAVID HAMILTON ON RADIO 1(247 MW) & TONY PRINCE, BOB STEWART & MARK WESLEY ON RADIO LUXEMBOURG (208 MW) HAD MADE ME DECIDE AT THE GRAND OLD AGE OF 9, THAT I WAS GOING TO BECOME A DJ !!!

THE COOLNESS OF PLAYING FANTASTIC MUSIC AND THROWING YOUR PERSONALITY DOWN A MICROPHONE WAS JUST TOO MUCH TO LET PASS, I HAD TO ACHIEVE THIS BURNING DESIRE TO PUT VINYL TO TURNTABLE AND ENTERTAIN THE MASSES!

MY FIRST EXPERIENCE OF A 'DISCO' CAME AT THE LOCAL YOUTH CLUB, AGED 12... I STOOD AND WATCHED THE D.J ALL NIGHT AND HUNG ON HIS EVERY WORD! EVERY YOUTH CLUB DISCO NIGHT WAS THE SAME DURING THE FOLLOWING 4 YEARS...EVERY MONTH I WOULD TURN UP AND WATCH THE D.J BLOKE SPINNING HIS TUNES, THINKING TO MYSELF... THIS IS DEFINATELY THE WAY I'M GOING!

I USED TO PRACTICE AT HOME, PLAYING ALL MY TUNES AND INTRODUCING THEM TO THE DOG & THE FOUR WALLS OF THE LIVING ROOM! TRYING DESPERATELY TO THINK OF ENOUGH THINGS TO SAY WHILE CHANGING THE RECORD ON A SINGLE DECK! (THAT CAME IN HANDY IN LATER YEARS WHEN A STYLUS TWISTED IN THE MIDDLE OF A NIGHT & I HAD TO WORK ON 1 TURNTABLE FOR ALMOST 3 HOURS!)

AND THEN I GOT MY BREAK...AGED 15... I WAS AT THE USUAL YOUTH CLUB NIGHT WHEN I  GOT TALKING TO THE NEW D.J, HE WAS IMPRESSED WITH MY MUSIC KNOWLEDGE AND OBVIOUS PATTER AND TOLD ME HE WAS LOOKING TO SET UP A 2ND MOBILE DISCO AND WOULD I BE INTERESTED IN HIM GIVING ME A BIT OF TRAINING & PUTTING ME OUT ON THE ROAD?  HE DIDN'T HAVE TO ASK TWICE!

WITHIN WEEKS, I HAD BECOME THE 2ND MEMBER OF 'THE CAT'S WHISKERS' MOBILE DISCO SHOW. THE MAIN MAN WAS ADRIAN WILLIAMS, SADLY,NO LONGER WITH US BUT NEVER FORGOTTEN.

I DID A FEW DOUBLE HEADERS WITH ADRIAN & THEN HE UNLEASHED ME TO PERFORM ON MY OWN!   OH MY GOD.... EVERYTHING HE HAD TOUGHT ME WENT RIGHT OUT OF THE WINDOW, MY MUSIC KNOWLEDGE DRIED UP & ALL MY WISE GUY PATTER TOALLY DESERTED ME ALL AT ONCE!

THERE I WAS..STOOD ON THE STAGE OF A LOCAL HOTEL HAVING TO PERFORM & ENTERTAIN REAL PEOPLE ON MY OWN!

I MUST HAVE TOLD MYSELF 30 TIMES IN AN HOUR THAT I WOULD START TALKING ON THE MICROPHONE 'AFTER THE NEXT SONG' !

EVENTUALLY A REQUEST CAME OVER, SO NOW I HAD TO!

IT'S REALLY STRANGE...BUT SINCE THAT VERY FIRST TIME, I HAVEN'T SHUT UP SINCE!

DOZENS OF BOOKINGS CAME IN, I FOUND MY NICHE, GAINED INVALUABLE EXPERIENCE AND BEGAN BUILDING A PRETTY DECENT REPUTATION AROUND THE AREA AS AN 'UP & COMING' DJ.

ON A SATURDAY NIGHT IN JULY 1981 I WAS BOOKED TO APPEAR AT A 21ST BIRTHDAY PARTY AT ANOTHER LOCAL HOTEL, WHICH HAD THE AREA'S MOST POPULAR NIGHTCLUB NEXT DOOR. BOTH WERE OWNED BY THE ENTERTAINMENT GENIUS,THE LATE, LOUIS PARKER. LOUIS WENT ON TO FORM CONCORDE MANAGEMENT IN LONDON & LOOKED AFTER A MULTITUDE OF ACTS SUCH AS, BOYZONE, WESTLIFE ETC... THE GUY WAS A TOTAL GENIUS & A LOVELY MAN.

I TURNED UP AT MY GIG & WAS HAVING A GREAT TIME, FULL DANCEFLOOR, EVERYBODY SINGING ETC...A DREAM GIG IF EVER...AND THEN, IN WALKED LOUIS, THE OWNER, WITH HIS TRENDY CURLY PERM & STATUTORY WHITE SUIT. I WAS IN TOTAL AWE OF THIS GUY COS HE WAS A MASSIVE LOCAL PERSONALITY. HE HAD BEEN IN THE HOTEL BAR 20 MINUTES OR SO WHEN HE CAME OVER TO MY DJ CONSOLE AND ASKED IF HE COULD HAVE A WORD WITH ME...AFTER STUTTERING THROUGH THE NEXT RECORD I ALMOST COLLAPSED WHEN HE ASKED ME IF I'D LIKE TO WORK IN HIS NIGHTCLUB NEXT DOOR...'THE STABLES' ... THAT WAS IT...

I WAS ON MY WAY TO CLUB LAND! I BEGAN AT 'THE STABLES' AS WARM UP FOR A D.J CALLED RAY WHO WAS SPINNING SOME PRETTY COOL TUNES AT THE TIME. I HAD A GREAT TIME LEARNING THE CLUB D.J'S REPETOIRE AND RAPPORT WITH THE CUSTOMERS UNTIL 12 MONTHS LATER, RAY LEFT & I WAS OFFERED THE RESIDENT D.J POSITION. OTHER RESIDENCIES CAME THROUGH, "C.J'S" "JOLLIE NITES" "THE ORANGE PEEL" & THEN "MIRRORS" ASWELL AS VARIOUS 'COVER' GIGS ELSEWHERE, INCLUDING "THE SAVOY BISTRO" "POPPIES" & "SPOOKS"

GIGS WERE COMING IN RIGHT LEFT & CENTRE...I HAD A JOB KEEPING UP! AND I WAS STILL AT SECONDARY SCHOOL, EARNING DECENT MONEY WHILST GETTING THROUGH 'O' & 'A' LEVELS! IT WAS VERY STRANGE TO BE PLAYING AT VENUES AT WEEKENDS AND SEEING MY TEACHERS DRINKING & DANCING...BUT I WAS LOVIN' IT!

FUTURE GIGS INCLUDED "THE TIVOLI" "THE DOWNTOWN" "THE OCTAGON" "REVIVALS" AND THEN "BENTLEYS"

WHILST AT "BENTLEYS" I GOT TO THE FINALS OF THE NATIONAL DJ OF THE YEAR COMPETITION IN BOTH 1986 & 1987.

NEXT UP WERE " THE PARK" NIGHTCLUB & "THE INN ON THE PARK" OWNED BY ANOTHER LEGEND, ERIC O CONNOR.

THE OPERATIONS DIRECTOR OF THIS COMPANY SET UP ON HIS OWN & TOOK ME WITH HIM TO "MAIN STREET" WHERE I REMAINED FOR THE SUMMER SEASON... ON OCTOBER 2ND 1991 I BEGAN A FRIDAY RESIDENCY AT 'RENDEZVOUS' IN CHESTER...MY FIRST PROPER RESIDENCY OUTSIDE THE LOCAL AREA "PARK LANE" IN SHREWSBURY FOLLOWED WHERE I BEGAN A 3 NIGHT RESIDENCY ASWELL.

WORKING OUTSIDE YOUR HOME AREA GIVES YOU A MASSIVE BUZZ BECAUSE IT MEANS THAT YOU'VE BEEN CHOSEN ABOVE THE LOCAL D.J'S & I GOT THE BUG FOR JUMPING IN THE CAR EVERY NIGHT AND TRAVELLING TO WORK.

IN 1992 I BEGAN WITH "YATES'S WINE LODGES" WHEN THEY WERE IN THEIR HAYDAY, I WORKED IN CHESTER, HANLEY, SWINTON & URMSTON & THEN FRONTED YATES'S CORPORATE ROADSHOW TOURS ALL AROUND THE U.K WORKING AT EVERY TOWN & CITY WHICH HAD A YATES'S WINE LODGE, NORTH, SOUTH, EAST & WEST OF THE U.K

"LIBERTY'S & J.F.K'S" IN SALE, GTR MANCHESTER CAME ABOUT ASWELL, WHERE I WORKED ALONGSIDE PAUL EDWARDS, MY PREVIOUS G.M AT PARK LANE...GREAT GUY!

MY WORK SCHEDULE ENDED UP AT 7 NIGHTS A WEEK EVERY WEEK FOR A LONG TIME BEFORE I DECIDED TO CUT THINGS BACK SOMEWHAT.. IT'S GREAT TO GET LOADS OF GIGS BUT THERE COMES A TIME WHERE THERE'S NO BEGINNING & NO END TO EACH WEEK... YOU'RE CONSTANTLY WORKING, DRIVING, WORKING & DRIVING AND TRUST ME...IT DOES GET TO YOU!

IT WAS TIME TO TAKE A LOCAL GIG, WHICH I DID, "SCRUPLES" OWNED BY BOB WEEKS & MANAGED BY ANOTHER TOP GUY, CRAIG BUCHANNAN. FRIDAY NIGHTS WERE THROUGH THE ROOF AT THIS VENUE AND TO BE BACK IN MY HOME TOWN WAS BLOODY MARVELLOUS!

IN 1999 I WAS APPROACHED BY STEVE DEW (ANOTHER TOP OPERATOR) TO JOIN FIRST LEISURE P.L.C AT THEIR "BRANNIGANS" VENUES... DURING MY EARLY DAYS WITH BRANNIGANS I WORKED AT LEEDS, HANLEY, CARDIFF & CHESTER BEFORE BEING INVITED TO TAKE ON A 5 NIGHT RESIDENCY AND NEW OPENING AT BRANNIGANS IN CROYDON...TIS REALLY WAS THE REAL DEAL, THE MANAGER, STUART BURGESS WAS A DIAMOND AS WAS REGIONAL MANAGER PETER LOADER AND I HAD 12 BRILLIANT MONTHS BEFORE RETURNING NORTH TO TAKE ON 5 NIGHTS AT BRANNIGANS IN MANCHESTER FOR MANGER STEFAN LANGNER & REGIONAL MANAGER JEREMY PARDY.

NEXT UP WAS THE OPENING OF BRANNIGANS IN WARRINGTON FOLLOWED BY A RETURN TO CROYDON FOR ANOTHER 9 MONTHS WITH A BRIEF STINT SETTING UP 'BAR 10' ON THE CHESHIRE OAKS RETAIL PARK IN BETWEEN.

"CHICAGO ROCK CAFE'S" FOLLOWED ON MY RETURN BACK UP NORTH, WHERE I TOOK IN RESIDENCIES IN WARRINGTON, OLDHAM & ROCHDALE WHILST ALSO WORKING AT "OFF THE WALL" IN CHESTER EVERY SATURDAY NIGHT.

AFTER YEARS OF POUNDING MOTORWAYS, LATE NIGHTS, EARLY MORNINGS ETC.. I WAS ABOUT TO TAKE SOME TIME OFF WHEN A NEW LOCAL VENUE OPENED "BAR BLU"...THE PLACE WAS EMPTY AS THE PREVIOUS D.J HADN'T DELIVERED & THE OWNERS WEREN'T SURE WHAT THEY WERE DOING... 8 WEEKS LATER...FULL VENUE EVERY FRIDAY & SATURDAY..JOB DONE! AND MAINTAINED FOR 3+ YEARS UNTIL GREED KICKED IN AND THE OWNERS SPOILED A BEAUTIFUL VENUE WITH SOME HORRENDOUS MANAGEMENT DECISIONS! CONSEQUENTLY, MYSELF & THE OTHER RESIDENT D.J DEFECTED TO THE LOCAL COMPETITION VENUE "THE VANILLA LOUNGE" WHERE WE ARE CURRENTLY BUILDING 3 NIGHTS FROM SCRATCH AFTER THE PREVIOUS RESIDENT DESTROYED A LARGE PORTION OF THE BUSINESS.... AND THAT AS THEY SAY, IS THAT RIGHT UP TO TODAY!