When I first started out wanting to DJ I thought all I’d ever need was a mixer and a pair of decks as I’m sure 99% of wannabes also think.
I got a pair of manky stantons and a shite kam mixer which had nobs missing and a sticky cross-fader that had definitely seen better days. That’s the way isn’t it!? Wannabes don’t start out with a pair of technics and a pioneer mixer for bout a grand and a half! Well maybe they do, but I didn’t.
I plugged away for a year or so playing a mixture of housey-poppy tunes that I’d hear on the radio and MTV Dance. I’d tape Pete Tong, Seb Fontaine and Danny Rampling every week then listen to it in my car all week on the way to work. Why did they leave Radio 1??!?!? Bring back Seb and Danny….and Fergie.
Anyway, I’d listen intently but I could never get any of the tunes they’d play, at least not for months after they’d been rinsed by every radio and club DJ going.
Finally I found a tiny little record shop hidden away around the back streets of Loughborough. I’d always be the only guy in there and I’d pick some random tunes then have to give them to the man behind the counter for him to play for me! We’d stand there and not say much, at times the awkwardness was palpable, he knew I had no clue about DJing! If I liked then I’d nod, if me not like then I sort of screwed up my face in disgust as if to say, ‘oh god no! How could anyone release that??!’ Sometimes I’d find a gem that as it turned out was brand spanking new, but for the most part I was picking up scraps that others didn’t want.
One day I noticed a stack of vinyl behind the counter all of which were brand new!! I asked if I could have one of them, he just shook his head. WHY?!? I was a customer, he was the shop owner, I didn’t understand!!? This incident was my first glimpse into the subculture of DJing.
First Commandment – Thou shalt keep all the best records for the biggest and most famous DJs
As I understand it, every record shop owner has a ‘hierarchy of fame’ (see fig. 1 below) which they use when they receive a brand spanking white label record. They must ask themselves, “who might want this record?” with strict reference to the hierarchy of fame. The record is then located in a suitable position in the store to assure that any wannabe or local DJ doesn’t obtain the fattest, most ‘banging’ tunes first. Please note the shop owner reserves the right to withhold the record for either their best mate, colleague or family member without any need to reference to the hierarchy.
Filed under: Rewind
