Merry Christmas, this is what i got ya!

I'm celebrating my 5th annual Black Christmas on Black on Red
Saturday, and have done a few mixes to celebrate

It's Christmas songs all the way, but in a reggae, hip-hop, soul,
funk and jazz style

PART 1

KURTIS BLOW-Christmas Rappin’
TREACHEROUS THREE-Xmas Rap
SCOOPY-A Scoopy Rap
POISON CLAN-Christmas Spliff
BYRON LEE-Winter Wonderland
BYRON LEE-Silver Bells
THE GRANVILLE WILIAMS ORCHESTRA-Santa Claus is Ska-ing to Town
WINSTON GROOVY-Merry Christmas
FRANK COSMO-Merry Christmas
ALTON ELLIS & THE LIPSTICKS-Merry Merry Christmas
MICHIGAN & SMILEY-Drummer Boy
JOHHNY CASH-The Little Drummer Boy
DUKE PEARSON-Little Drummer Boy
JAMES BROWN-Signs of Christmas
STEVIE WONDER-What Christmas Means to Me
SMOKEY ROBINSON-Christmas Every Day
OTIS REDDING-White Christmas
THE TEMPTATIONS-Someday At Christmas
STEVIE WONDER-Someday at Christmas
LITTLE JOHHNY TAYLOR-Please Come Home for Christmas
JAMES BROWN-Santa Claus, Santa Claus
JAMES BROWN-Santa Claus is definitely here to Stay
MARVIN GAYE-I Want to come home for Christmas
SMOKEY ROBINSON-Christmas Lullaby
ROTARY CONNECTION-Christmas Love
JAMES BROWN-Let’s Make Christmas mean something
JAMES BROWN-Don’t forget the poor at Christmas
HOPETON & PRIMO-Peace on Earth
JOHNNY OSBOURNE-Christmas Style
TOOTS & THE MAYTALS-Happy Christmas
THE KINGSTONIANS-The Merry Christmas
THE ETHIOPIANS-Ding Dong Bell
THE CIMARONS-Silent Night/White Christmas
KING STITT-Christmas Tree
THE EMOTIONS-Black Christmas
BOOKER T & THE MG’s-Winter Wonderland
CARLA THOMAS-G Whiz
OTIS REDDING-Merry Christmas Baby
DONNY HATHAWAY-This Christmas
DARLENE LOVE-White Christmas
DARLENE LOVE-Christmas (Baby Please come home)
RUN DMC-Christmas In Hollis
JIM JONES-Ballin’ on Christmas
HARD CALL XMAS-My Xmas Bells
JIM JONES-Dipset Xmas Time
PAUL MCCARTNEY-Wonderful Christmas Time
DE LA SOUL-Simply
JAMES BROWN-Let’s Unite the whole world at Christmas


Here's the link, if the download doesn't work let me know!


[url]http://www.bigupload.com/d=739CZ4WGW9[/url]

Part 2

A Black Christmas Volume 2

http://www.bigupload.com/d=J6IGPQ4PBQ

DEAN MARTIN-Intro
JAMES BROWN-Soulful Christmas
JAMES BROWN-Hey America
JAMES BROWN-Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto
YELLOWMAN-Santa Claus Never come to the Ghetto
MACKA B-Christms Cancelled
CHAKA DEMUS & INI KIMOZE-Christmas a Come
INI KIMOZE & PATRA-Christmas Time
WAYNE WONDER-Warm Jamaica Chrismas
INI KIMOZE-Love at Christmas
STAPLE SINGERS-Who Took the Merry out of Christmas
THE EMOTIONS-What do the lonely do at Christmas
CARLA THOMAS-All I Want for Christmas Is you
NANCY WILSON-That's what I want for Christmas
LIGHTNING HOPKINS-Santa
FLOYD DIXON-Empty Stocking Blues
MOONGLOWS-Loney Chrismas
LITTLE ESTHER-Far Away Christmas Blues
JIMMY WITHERSPOON-Hope to see Christmas
LARRY DARNELL-Christmas Blues
GATEMOUTH MOORE-Christmas Blues
TITUS TURNER-Christmas Morning
GIL EVANS &MILES DAVIS-Blue Xmas
ELVIS PRESLEY-Blue Christmas
EDDIE COCHRAN-I Want Elvis for Christmas
LYLYOD GLEN-Sleigh Ride
-Let it Snow
ELLA FITZGERALD-God Rest ye Merry Gentlemen
-Baby It's Cold Outside
EARTHA KITT-Santa Baby
PEGGY LEE-Santa Claus is Coming to Town
BIG DEE IRWIN-Swinging On A Star
THE MOONGLOWS-Hey Santa Claus
THELMA COOPER-I Want a Man
J.B.SUMMERS-I want a Present for Christmas
THE CADILLLACS-Rudolp the Red Nose Reindeer
LOUIS ARMSTRONG-Christmas Night in Harlem
LOUIS ARMSTRONG-Cool Yule
BIG JOE TURNER-Chrismas Duke Boogie
SUGAR CHILE ROBINSON-Christmas Boogie
MABEL SCOTT-Boogie Woogie Santa Claus
THE MARSHALL BROTHERS-Mr. Santas Boogie
THE NEW 2 LIVE CREW-2 Live Christmas
SUPER JAY-Santa's Rap Party
THE NEW 2 LIVE CREW-Christmas Time (Megamix)
69 BOYZ-What you Want 4 Xmas
LUDACRIS-Ludacrissmass
SHUKO v DJ MORRISSON-Merry Crunkmas
MACK RICE-Santa Claus Wants Some Lovin'
RUFUS THOMAS-I'll be your Santa Baby
ELVIS PRESLEY-Santa Claus is back in town
JAMES BROWN-Merry Christmas, I love you
JACKSON 5-Christmas won't be the same this year
JACKSON 5-Give Love on Christmas Day
MICHAEL JACKSON-Little Christmas Tree
STEVIE WONDER-Everyones a Kid At Christmas Time
KIM WESTON-Wish You a Merry Christmas
RUPIE EDWARDS-Christmas Rush
THE CIMARONS-Holy Christmas
ALTON ELLIS-Christmas Coming
TOOTS & THE MAYTALS-Christmas Feeling Ska
TENNESSE BROWN-Christmas Bells
FRANK COSMO-Greetings from Beverlys
REUBEN ANDERSON-Christmas Time Again
MILLY & SILLY-Gettin' Down for Santa
HOT CHOCALATE-Brand New Christmas
THE SALSOUL ORCHESTRA-The Little Drumer Boy
JOSE FELICIANO-FELIZ Navidad
THE SALSOUL ORCHESTRA-Christmas Time again
THE AGGROVATORS-Santa Claus Dub
JOHNNY CLARKE-I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
EEK-A-MOUSE-Christmas-A-Come
BRENT DOWE-CHRISTMAS in Jamaica
TENNESSEE BROWN-Real Christmas Rock
FREDDIE MCGREGOR-Irie Christmas
JACOB MILLER-We Wish You A Merry Christmas
YELLOWMAN-We Wish You a Reggae Christmas
JACOB MILLER-All I Want for Christmas
DILLINGER-Hi Fashion Christmas
EEK-A-MOUSE-The Night Before Christmas
SUFJAN STEVENS-Hey Guys! It's Christmas Time
THE BEACH BOYS-Bells of Christmas
LIONEL HAMPTON-Christmas Time
RAY BROWN TRIO-Christmas Rap
THE ORIOLES-What are You doing for New Years Eve
ARETHA FRANKLIN-Winter Wonderland
ROTARY CONNECTION-Silent Night
PHIL SPECTOR & FRIENDS-Silent Night

ALSO



“[I]This was my first mix in awhile and I had a lot of tunes to get out
my system, probably too much really! I only got about half of them
on so I’ll have to do a part 2 soon-This mix here includes a pretty
good variety of stuff, from funk and hip-hop to reggae and rock.
Soul and jazz run through most of the tunes, which I’ve pretty much
banged together as if it were a live gig.
I could easily have kept it to a smooth and slick 95bpm
hip-hop for the whole thing, but that’s what I was doing ten or
twelve years ago and I wanna play much broader now. That said the
mix kicks off with largely a hip-hop vibe, before proceeding to
some breaks and funk, and eventually on to some rock and Motown
stuff, via reggae and ska. As I said, there are bits of jazz all
along the way, from the early hip-hop prototype Last Poets stuff,
to the heavily jazz influenced stuff from a few of my favourite
modern soul singers, Amy Winehouse and Jill Scott. The jazz funk of
a Marvin Gaye classic gives way to Jazzy Jeff’s pioneering blend of
some of the best 70’s stuff, with “Mister Magic” sitting nicely on
a remix of Jurassic 5’s first single. Cannonball Adderley’s mighty
“Walk Tall” is another jazz classic, as are the two Blue Mitchell
efforts here, both sampled by great hip-hop tracks.
I’m a big reggae and soul fan too, and there’s
smatterings of both, though time restrictions meant these sections
are a bit rushed. Two of the best ever DJ orientated tracks are on
here too, the aforementioned Jazzy Jeff cut-up accompanied by the
still outstanding Cut Chemist remix of DJ Shadow’s classic, a
massive track for me back in the day. From a similar era I’ve
included MC Lyte and Nas, plus a contribution from one of the most
under-rated hip-hop crews of them all, Digable Planets. Modern big
hitters such as Jay Z, Common and Kanye more than merit their
inclusion, while my love for Dilla is evident on about 4 tracks,
the incredible Pharoahe Monch helping out on a track from “The
Shining”
As a teenager who listened to the Velvet Underground non
stop, I’m delighted to include the massive “Rock n’Roll”, a very
big track for me growing up. Van Morrison’s Them, Aretha Franklin,
The Stones, Booker T and Jackie Wilson are all there too, plus
Maceo & the Macks, James Brown and the Four Tops! Apologies if some
bits are a bit rushed, I would love to play the tracks in full, but
it is the Chop Shop after all. Happy Christmas![/I]” - Stevie G

1-LAST POETS-Jazzoetry
2-JILL SCOTT-Let It Be
3-DIGABLE PLANETS-Time & Space (A new Refutation of)
4-BLUE MITCHELL-Flat Backing
5-MENAHAN STREET BAND-Make the Road by Walking
6-JAY Z-Roc Boyz
7-J DILLA FEAT PHAROAHE MONCH-Love Music
8-A TRIBE CALLED QUEST-Love
9-ARTIFACTS-Art of Facts (Remix)
10-MC LYTE-Stop, Look and Listen
11-NAS-Represent
12-PHAT KHAT-Rainy Dayz
13-COMMON FEAT DWELE-The People
14-MACEO & THE MACKS-Cross the Tracks
15-STETSASONIC-DBC (Let the Music Play)
16-DOUG E FRESH-The Show
17-STAT QUO-Here We Go
18-JASON FOX-Aunt Jackie
19-RED ASTAIRE-Move Ya Ass
20-RED ASTAIRE-Mambo El B-Boy
21-HOT 8 BRASS BAND-What’s My Name?
22-DJ SHADOW-The Number Song (Cut Chemist Mix)
23-JAMES BROWN-Talkin’ Loud & Sayin’ Nuthin
24-MARVIN GAYE-T Plays It Cool
25-JAZZY JEFF & THE FRESH PRINCE-A Touch of Jazz
26-GROVER WASHINGTON JR-Mister Magic
27-JURASSIC 5-Unified Magic (Remix)
28-STEELY DAN-Kid Charlemagne
29-KANYE WEST-Champion
30-WADE MARCUS-Spinning Wheel
31-ARCHIE SHEPP-Mama Too Tight
32-INSTITUTO MEXICANO-Hip Hop No Pares
33-MARCIA GRIFFITHS-Feels Like Jumpin’
34-WELTON IRIE-Hotter Reggae Music
35-THE UPSETTERS-Return of Django
36-BIG YOUTH-Hot Stock
37-MARK RONSON FEAT AMY WINEHOUSE-Valerie (Baby J Remix)
38-DELROY WILSON-Dancin’ Mood
39-THE ETHIOPIANS-Owe Me No pay Me
40-BOB MARLEY-Soul Shakedown Party
41-BOB MARLEY-Soul Shakedown Party (Aphrodisiac Mix)
42-ROLLING STONES-Under my Thumb
43-WAYNE GIBSON-Under my Thumb
44-VELVET UNDERGROUND-Rock N’Roll
45-THEM-Gloria
46-ARETHA FRANKLIN-Save Me
47-BOOKER T & THE MG’S-Green Onions
48-JONATHAN RICHMAN-Roadrunner
49-JR. WALKER & THE ALL STARS-I’m A Road Runner
50-DETROIT SOUND-We’re Gonna Party
51-JACKIE WILSON-Soul Galore
52-THE FOUR TOPS-I Can’t Help Myself
53-BARRETT STRONG-Money (That’s what I Want)
54-ARCHIE BELL & THE DRELLS-I Can’t Stop Dancin’
55-LIGHTNIN’ ROD-Sport
56-CANNONBALL ADDERLEY-Walk Tall
57-BLUE MITCHELL-Good Humour Man
58-UMC’s–One to Grow On

[url]http://steviegblog.blogspot.com[/url]

[url]www.thechopshoppodcast.com[/url]

Ya wanna battle?

The recent and much hyped verbal battle between Kanye West and 50
Cent, an admitted publicity stunt, only served to give both of their
new albums more publicity. Kanye sold more albums in the end but
anyone thinking that 50 would keep his word on his promise to retire
if outsold would possibly want to take a closer look at the hip-hop world!
Such promises are nearly always broken and the real winners are the
bank accounts of both. In fairness to Kanye, he kept his silence for
once, but it did get me thinking, what were the biggest rivalries in hip-hop?
Here's a few that got the hip-hop world talking.

1-The Roxanne, Roxanne War
This was a well-known series of hip hop rivalries during the mid
1980s, between UTFO and Roxanne Shante. It helped launch the career
of the fiery young Shante, then only 14 years of age, and one of
the most aggressive MC's of the 80's.

2-The Bridge Wars
This was another early hip hop rivalry starting in the mid 80's
that arose from a dispute over the true birthplace of hip hop
music. The Bridge Wars originally involved KRS One's South Bronx
based Boogie Down Productions and Marley Marl's Juice Crew, hailing
from Queensbridge. KRS-One and Marley Marl have since officially
retired the feud, with the release of their collaborative 2007
album, Hip-Hop Lives. Marley recently had a heart attack but he is
thankfully fine again.

3-LL Cool J v Canibus
Started on a track "4, 3, 2, 1", that both featured on and
developed into a big feud that included thebiggest record that
Canibus ever released, "Second Round K.O." More diss records
followed, but while LL Cool J remains an integral part of hip-hop
history, Canibus has fallen by thew wayside and is most famous for
his battles with the Queens rapper.

4.2 Pac v Biggie
A much misunderstood rivalry and one in which the media helped
become even more misunderstood. 2 Pac was the main protaganist
against his former friend, but was dead before they could squash it
fully. Biggie maintained a dignity throughout most of this rivalry
and only responded subliminally, but sadly both rappers died within
a 6 month period at the end of 1996 and the start of 1997.

5-Nas v Jay Z
Two rappers who's careers have always had many parallels, they are
now on good terms again. For awhile, this dispute got serious and
it helped both rappers to up their game a bit and it certianly
attracted a lot of attention. Both were vying for attention in an
attempt to be seen as the King of New York, after the death of
Biggie. It also resulted in some great records, Nas in particular,
bringing the classic "Ether" to the table. A cynic would say that
commerce was ultimately the winner, and the fact that Nas now
records for Jay Z with Def Jam adds credence to this theory!

This article origianlly appeared in my Downtown clumn in the Evening Echo

Some hot new videos!

Dizzee Rascal with Flex



Snoop on a 80's funk disco tip!



Jay Z with the wicked brass section on Roc Boyz

Amy Winehouse!

She get’s more column inches for her personal problems these days, but that should not detract from the soul phenomenon that is Amy Winehouse. A number of years ago I was waking lyrical about her debut album on my black On Red show and predicted big success for the young singer, but ultimately “Frank” lacked the cohesiveness anddirection that “Back to Black” showcased last year. It is now available
in special edition format, and while I’d normally be dismissive of the cash-in nature of such releases, the extra tracks on this
release justify the move to some extent.


Amy Winehouse is hardly to the first music great to be beset by personal problems. She is different to contemporary troubled females such as Lindsey Lohan, Britney Spears et al, in that she is a genuine music talent, and it is on these terms that she should be judged. Way back in the day
blues and soul singers such as Billie Holiday, Dinah Washington and even Nina Simone went through many of the same difficulties that Amy Winehouse is going through now.


A lot of my other favourite music artists had many negative traits, but that doesn't lesson the greatness of James Brown, Marvin Gaye or Miles Davis. Sometimes the friction caused by personal problems can even benefit art, I somehow doubt that Billie Holiday or Aretha Franklin would have left such a body of work had they been happy all of their lives. The albums that Marvin Gaye released in the 70's are incredibly diverse and fascinating, but his personal demons meant under-rated records such as "I Want You" and "Here my Dear" were given a new dimension.


They were different times though, and the intense media scrutiny that now surrounds so-called celebrities means that such stars every single moves are now there for us all to see. Besides being tiresome and boring, these stories adopt a moral highground that is pretty pathetic to be honest, there are a lot of journalists
who are hypocritical on many issues.


I’m a big fan of Amy Winehouse and hope she continues to release quality music, it’s great to see proper soul in the charts again. The fact that she has blown the stubborn American market apart is even more impressive, they are traditionally very hostile to English soul singers in the States. Let's hope she puts her troubles behind her and gets back to making some exciting music. Behind all of the drama and drink and drugs there lies a singer who may even someday be held in similar esteem to her soul and jazz idols. To me, that's a lot more interesting a
prospect than her boyfriends court problems, but hey, what do I know!

(This article appeared in my coloumn in the Evening Echo a few weeks ago)

Some Rock 'n Roll For a Thursday!

I'm in the mood today for Rock N'Roll

Here's five of my all time favourites!

The Velvet Underground



The Rolling Stones



Them with our own Van Morrison



And some roots from Chuck Berry



and Muddy Waters and Sonny Boy Williamson

Gonna Make You Sweat!

There has been loads of talk lately about Sir Henry’s and the legendary Sweat night, which has just been celebrated in a well-received documentary called 120BPM at the Cork Film Festival. A young filmmaker by the name of Keith O’Shea had the unenviable task of bringing the club night to life again, with little or no footage. Though I was personally disappointed with the documentary, I admire Keith for getting up off his ass and actually doing it. It was not an easy task.


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Sir Henry’s has been a very important part of my life. I rarely look back on those days now but the documentary and the hype surrounding it has stirred up some memories. I DJ’d there for 9 years and was a regular clubber there at least once a week but more often twice or more for over 12 years. Sweat was a religion to me, Greg and Shane up the front and Donkeyman down the back; this was the best club night I’ve ever been at. When Donkeyman handed the headphones to me and I took over the Back Bar, it was important to keep the legacy intact. When I played my last record there in 2001, I was quite content that I had done so, and I was delighted to have been a part of some great nights in Cork. People get all nostalgic and frustrated by this sometimes, but myself, Shane and Greg knew that the time was right to leave and none of us have ever regretted moving on even for a second.

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Sir Henry’s was a lot more than Sweat however. It was a live venue that Dave Fanning reckoned was the best in the country. It played host to an indie night on Fridays called Tight, which was also attended religiously by my friends and me. The Sultans and Franks played some great gigs there in my time. I was one of only a few who went to both the indie and dance events but this divide was later broken and a night run by Joe Kelly on Fridays played host to some great indie-dance stuff, This was an exciting time in music and acts like Primal Scream, My Bloody Valentine, Orbital and Meat Beat Manifesto were combining different styles. This progressed on to more hard-edged stuff but it was always interesting. I’ll never forget Joe playing “Polly” by Nirvana in the main room, the night Kurt Cobain died. He had played on the same stage where I now stood only a couple of years before, warming up for one of my favourite bands, Sonic Youth, and the poignancy was unreal. The Back Bar on Fridays at the time played host mainly to DJ Fork, who had the funkiest of funk at the Funk Shop, another big influence on this young DJ. The Fridays were great, but ultimately the Saturdays were the more well known, as Cork was drawn towards the soulful sounds of house, reggae, soul and hip-hop.
Sweat had started as a Thursday and even at this time, the Thursdays were still strong, the 4th Birthday in around 1992 being one of the best nights I ever had in there. I had been collecting records since I was a kid but had never thought of DJing. I kinda fell into it and suddenly was spinning in the Donkey’s Ears, my favourite bar, where the Donkeyman’s sister Michelle was manager, and where he and local reggae legends such as Kev and Liam spun. This was another massive influence on my underage self and the fact that Michelle was going out with Sean, the boss at Henry’s, gave me a big opportunity one Thursday night when they were stuck for cover for Donkeyman down the Back Bar of Henrys. I took my chance and got a Sunday residency of Sean, who happened to be in for a few drinks with the mighty Laurent Garnier, who I then struck up a friendship with and who was a big fan of the Back Bar when he used visit. This was the Sunday after his legendary first gig the previous night, seen by many as one of the best ever guest sets in Cork. Laurent liked the way I played stuff like Sonic Youth and the Cure next to hip-hop and he insisted I warm up for him when he visited Cork from then on in. I had some great times spinning stuff like the Clash and disco before e him, and he used ask me for mixtapes whenever he came over!

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Before long Mark (Donkeyman) decided to retire from DJing, and he was delighted to ask me to take over on Saturdays. I had been away in the States for the summer of 1994 and was gutted to be out of Cork for the first long spell in my life. My music life had been taking off before I left, and I couldn’t help but think I was losing momentum going away. I had blown up the spot at an after party after the first weekender downstairs and now it was looking like I could live my dream of becoming a regular fixture there. Before I went Sean told me there was a job waiting for me when I came back and this kept me going over the summer in the States. The States changed me musically forever. I was always into soul and stuff like Marvin Gaye and Mary J Blige was always big in the Back Bar, where I in the meantime asked Shane Johnson’s sister Gina, to DJ with me. She was Soul Sister Number One in Cork and an incredible DJ with amazing taste in music. The Young Disciples, Digable Planets, Soul 11 Soul and lots more were big tunes for us, and my musical education was being fine toned like never before, but the States pushed me deeper into soul and r&b.


This was the summer that Nas, Biggie Smalls, Craig Mack, Wu Tang, Aaliyah, Warren G, SWV and Zhane really blew up. I became addicted to U.S. radio and befriended a local DJ, Curty Cuts, who used mix soul, r&b and hip-hop on three decks, and who was almost like a hip-hop version of Shane and Greg, mixing wise. This was a big part of my education and I started buying two copies of records straight away, so I could do long mixes and keep the flow going when I got back. The fact that my mixing was crap at this stage hardly mattered, as I knew that would come with time. Curty Cuts had a record shop too and he looked after me like I was his brother, in fact, the first day I found the shop, which was located deep in the ghetto, he told me I was the first white boy who had been in the shop in over four months! Him and his friends were laughing and expecting some honky to pull up some House of Pain 12”s. but when I arrived at the counter with about 1,000 dollars of the shit he’s been playing all summer, he knew I was for real and took me under his wing. I had been saving all summer and for that moment and spent about 6 weeks worth of work cash right there. On subsequent visits to his shop (One Track Records in Providence, around 100 miles away from where I was staying), he would sometimes give me his own promo copies of records that were sold out, a gesture I will always treasure. The day before I went back home he invited me to a big Hip-hop Basketball event that his station, KIKS106 was organising, with Public Enemy, Wu Tang Clan, and Craig Mack all taking part. All the big hip-hop names were regulars on his show, he may have been out of the hip-hop heartland of New York, but he had a massive standing in the music community. I couldn’t go and never got the chance to say goodbye to him properly. Curty Cuts died a few years ago, but his music will always live on. His mixtapes inspired nit only me but everyone I played them too, I only wish I could find more of them today, though I have a few in my vaults! I came back to Ireland determined to hone what I had learned off Curty, and after a few months of slagging by half of my friends in Cork, who wanted a more macho hip-hop sound, it started to click in the Back Bar of Sweat in Sir Henry’s.

Continue Below..........








By late 1994 the Back Bar was 75% full of girls and the atmosphere was amazing. Sweat had always been soulful and attracted loads of women but even those who didn’t like what myself, Shane and Greg, played used come along now, and many were won over. It was a silly myth that you couldn’t score and meet chicks in Henry’s! The music remained centrefold however, and the team that remained together for the next 8 years or so every Saturday was in place. I became quite close to Greg and Shane, we perfectly complemented each other and were mutually beneficial to each other too, with soul, hip-hop and reggae down the back and house up the front. We later produced some great music together and have worked together since in the Savoy, Fast Eddies, City Limits and of course RedFM. Back then though these were difficult years in Cork and there was a bit of a Henry’s backlash with the place going out of fashion periodically. There were so many times when I was told that the house scene was dead and that Henrys was on the way out. I just laughed, indeed we all did, and we kept our core crowd and went from strength to strength. Other clubs that I was involved in became very big, such as Mor Disco, which packed out the city hall a few Christmas ‘s in a row, and brought the amazing Soul and Disco Festival to Cork too. At this stage I was playing in the Pod, Kitchen and Ri Ra in Dublin, Jazz Juice at the GPO in Galway and loads of other clubs in Limerick, Waterford, Tralee and all around Ireland. Sweat was where it was at though, and it remained my heart and soul, because in both rooms the music was cutting edge. I was working by day in Comet Record with Jim and was well on top of the new music as always, so this helped my DJing in Henry’s, and later on on Radio Friendly, which started in 1996. I did on average two shows a week for 4 years there, but it was Sweat that remained the cornerstone of everything.


The music was the key to Sweat. The music in both rooms was top quality and always new. I used finish my night with old favourites (new to many ears) but it was the new stuff that made the club. In the peak years of Henry’s there was no radio In Cork, except 96FM (no-one of our generation listened to it really). There was no internet and no exposure on T.V. plus no pirate radio. The mixtape culture and Henry’s was everything, as Ronan C rightly pointed out in one of the documentary’s better observations. The only place to get and hear the new music was Henry’s and mixtapes. Gorby’s did a more streamlined thing and eventually clubs like Mor Disco, Freakscene, Rubber Dollie, Citrus, Immramma and Revalation Sound kicked off, but for a time it really only was Sweat. My good friend James McGrath (Ruff Cherry) is a wicked graphic designer, and he designed mixtape covers for me and posters for Henry’s. Even today the designs look great. The music had to match and artists like A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Pharycde, Gang Starr, Mary J Blige, Dr Dre, Snoop, Wu Tang, SWV, Groove Theory, The Roots, Fugee’s, DJ Shadow, Erykah Badu, D’Angelo. Maxwell, Eric B and Rakim, Nas, Yvette Michelle and lots more made up the Back bar sound. Reggae, soul, downtempo (“trip-hop”-terrible term) and even rock was also blended in while pop tracks such as “Fast Car” by Tracy Chapman and “Dreams” by Gabrielle, were also favourites. Cutting edge underground hip-hop was massive there, the late great Jay Dee (J Dilla) was not known back then, but his music was massive in the back bar of Sir Henrys. Labels like Ninja Cuts, Mo Wax, Stones Throw were big, as were loads of underground U.S. jazz and funk labels. The 2 Pacs and Biggie’s of the World were still alive then, and their music was large. The Fugees and Blackstreet and others had anthems that were being spun for months on end on import before gaining commercial release here, and it was always special to see another big hit developing. This had always been the Henry’s way, and it had happened with Donkeyman and stuff like “Jump Around” and “Dre Day”, aswell as with Greg and Shane with countless dance classics. The place was special; there was no doubt about it.

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There are a million stories I could tell but I’m getting restless now. The building was a kip but I spent many days in there alone, up front in the main club, making mix tapes and practicing mixes. I did workshops in there, formed the basis of Jam Junior at teenage discos (Susie K and my Jam Partner Colm Kenefick started their careers at these), and made many many friends. I met girlfriends in the club and met a million other friends too. Of the DJ’s, Claude Young, Eric Rug, Jon Aquaviva, Laurent Garnier, Nelson Rosado and of course Kerri Chandler, became good friends at various points. The Back bar, like the front, was never primarily about guests, but Mark Rae, Aim. YZ, Tracy K (with Dextris) Firing Squad, Spikee Tee Marcus Valentine, Harry J, Mikki Dee and many others played there. I have the recordings and a million more pics than I have posted here (pardon the bad quality). The best nights were with the residents though, I’ll always remember Shane playing hip-hop with me one Saturday down the Back, as Greg, who was "in the zone" that night did the front by himself. Both rooms rocked as usual.


I was interviewed a few times for the documentary and I’m sure I mentioned some of what I’ve said today but it didn’t make the cut. In fact the Back Bar was mentioned in a “blink or you’ll miss it” once at the start by Jim, and in passing by Shane and Greg, who like myself, were very disappointed by the documentary. In fairness to Keith, he told me straight up that he didn’t have time to include the Back Bar, so fair enough. He also gave me tickets, which was a nice gesture. Regarding the documentary, I was more concerned with how the club itself was represented. Fair enough about leaving out myself and Donkeyman and Fork and Marq Walsh and everyone, but Shane and Greg were talking for about 2 minutes, and there was more talk about drugs and violence than music in the whole thing. It was more Ball and Chain than Greg and Shane, and for me that was a big disappointment. Despite an impressive interview list, only a few ended up making the cut, so a narrow view of Henry’s was portrayed. To me, it looked like a pretty depressing place. The footage at the start, which I could have seen at Paul Mulvalaney's place if I really wished, was impressive, but I thought the documentary could have done a whole lot better. Interviews with Mike Pickering and Grahame Park were ultimately boring and adding nothing to the mix, it would have possible been better to interview a few more people who went there as clubbers though the years. But hey, what do I know, I’m no filmmaker. Keith, who hadn’t attended Sweat, obviously worked hard to get it done and did it off his own back, so I admire him for that. Most of the people who went seem to have liked it, and I’ve always felt that as an entertainer you should please the crowd rather than the one or two DJ’s in the corner. On that note, he got it right and deserves praise.


As Marq Walsh said last week though, there is no way anyone could hope to capture the memories we have in our minds, as those of us who were there will know exactly how what Sweat was to Cork. I felt privileged to have played there on the 10th Birthday in 1998, one of my best ever gigs, and felt that each one after that was a bonus. We made another three but enough was enough, we have all moved on and while we will celebrate the 20th anniversary next year with a number of low key events, there is no point in trying to bring back the memories forever. I was there. And for that, I will be forever thankful.