2010.10.16

GW - it's grim up north!

I'm one hell of a lucky bastard.

Way way back in 1982 I walked into a club in Manchester called Legend for the first time. Over the next 12 months I was lucky enough to go another 12 or 15 times.

The DJ playing was a bloke called Greg Wilson, blond curly perm (at least I assume it was a perm) and that's about all I can say about his appearance as I only ever saw him behind the DJ pult.

It's strange looking back I don't remember much about the club itself - it was somewhere in the city centre, a short queue to get in, bar to the left(?), dance floor to the right.

I remember the huge green lasers and the bass bins set around the floor making it appear a little like a circus ring.

About 6 months back I found the picture of the lights in Legend from the website www.electrofunkroots.co.uk and I was shocked! This club was totally over the top! It must have cost millions.

But it wasn't any of this that left a lasting impression on me - it was the music, the music and the dancing.

http://www.electrofunkroots.co.uk/mixes/the_best_of_82.html

The khazi was always full of black kids changing into fresh clothes - they'd bring at least 3 changes of clothes in sports bags. In fact now I mention it, there weren't many white kids in Legend and for that matter I don't remember many girls either.

Twice a night Greg would play a half hour jazz set (stuff like Groovin' On A New York Afternoon by Rare Silk) and this would sit right alongside stuff like The Smurf by Tyrone Brunson.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=US6QAO9nR8k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouw97qVZZTE

Seems ridiculous in these days of musical conformity - the underground seems a less dangerous place these days.

I still possess one of Greg's mix tapes from Mike Shaft's Piccadilly Radio show that he broadcast one Christmas. I've spent the last 28 years first identifying and then purchasing as many of the tracks from it as possible (thanks to the web it's become a lot easier).

Tom Tom Club's - Wordy Rapping Hood, Linda Taylor's - You and Me Just Started, Jazzy Dee's - Get On Up, Sandy Kerr's Thug Rock and so on and so forth.

I was always into my tunes but the nights spent at Legend span my taste in a totally new direction. I started playing tunes from Legend like Class Action's Weekend at Manchester Poly with a miserable git called Mick Hucknall and after that at another club night in the city centre. But I didn't have the dedication needed to become a DJ.

No the legacy that Legend left me with is a deep love of dance music, club culture and what I hope is an open mind and approach to all musical forms.

Anyway 28 years later it gives me extreme pleasure to be inviting Greg Wilson one of my all time musical heroes to play at mono!