You've had a few memorable radio shows, how did they come about?
My radio shows came about due to the fact by the mid '70s I had gained a rep as a spinner of quality black music in clubs. Toward the end of the '70s, the only way to listen to underground black music sounds, especially in the area of London, was through pirate, or "illegal" radio stations, which would broadcast on the FM Frequency mainly on weekends. Various stations started up in London in the late '70s including Radio Invicta (Soul Music), Dread Broadcasting (DBC), which was Reggae-based station, JFM (Jazz Funk Music) and Horizon Radio (Soul) amongst others. I was asked to do shows on JFM and Horizon in the late '70s. When Horizon changed its name to Solar Radio in the early '80s I had a regular show, but it was still illegal. I left Solar Radio around '84/'85 and was asked to join a new station, KISS FM, towards the end of '86. DJs on KISS included Coldcut, Bobby & Steve, Jazzie B (Soul II Soul) and Norman Jay.
By this time the British Government was getting very concerned by the number of pirate radio stations located mainly in London. Towards the late '80s London had over 300 illegal radio stations, broadcasting mainly on weekends and covering all aspects of black music including Soul, R&B, Hip Hop/Rap, Disco, Rave, House and Reggae, and there was also a station called K-Jazz which specialist in all genres of Jazz Music and included DJ's Kev Beadle, Dr Bob Jones and a young Gilles Peterson. So I had two radio shows on the pirates, one for Kiss and the other for K-Jazz.
Around 1988 the UK Government issued some FM licences to try and combat illegal broadcasting. To meet the conditions of obtaining a legal licence, the illegal station had to cease broadcasting for at least 12 months and have financial backing of at least 1 million UK pounds!
On Sept 1, 1990 KISS 100FM switched on legally in London for the first time and I was given a regular Sunday slot, which I called The Surgery with Dr Bob Jones. I stayed at KISS for 8 years, leaving in December 1998. I resigned because I didn't like the way the station was progressing, musically speaking, and in January 1999 was asked by BBC Radio London to join their specialist DJ team, which included Norman Jay. I stayed at Radio London for a further four years, interviewing King Britt and Blaze amongst others, and presented my Surgery Radio show every Thursday evening. In 2003 Radio London gained a new programmer, who admitted that he didn't like the specialist music shows and so I was forced to quit. I've had a regular show on Soul 24-7 Internet station, which unfortunately pulled the plug in 2005. Now I broadcast a monthly "freestyle" Surgery show on Samurai FM, covering all aspects of my black music upbringing from my '60s roots through to the present day. You can check the show on www.samurai.fm/drbobjones
Tell us about some of the events and weekly parties you've played over the years.
This is a tough one, considering the amount of great parties that I've had the pleasure of playing over my 40 years in the business. The original Caister Soul Weekenders (1979 to around 1983) were superb parties, twice a year. The Caister Weekenders were the pre-runners to the Southport Weekender Parties. My own Surgery parties were special, purely because they were a weekly party and also I gained a Best Club and Best Club DJ award from Blues & Soul magazine from co-hosting this weekly event with a good friend, Mr Sav Remzi of Nuphonic Records/Tirk Records fame. Another weekly club I was involved with was Shake It Loose held at London's Bah Rumba Club every Thursday for over two years during the mid-90s. Large parties, or more like music festivals have been Tribal Gathering (1996), attracting over 30,000 party people! I was headhunted to play in the back room at Hard Times, in Leeds UK. The residency lasted from 1996 to 1998. I was also chosen to DJ at the opening of a new Culture Centre in St Petersburg, Russia in Nov 2001 and returned for the city's Nu Jazz Festival alongside musician Nathan Haines and his band in 2002. The year 2003 I DJed at The Gijon Soul Festival and also made another return to Tenerife in May for a 3rd successive appearance at the island's Inspiracion Canaries Festival playing to an audience of over 11,000 black music lovers.
Recent parties have included The Big Chill (UK, 2005), another 25,000+ event; Electric Picnic (Dublin, 2005); and the Isle Of Wight Music Festival (UK 2006). I had a monthly residency at 'Soul Sides' in Cork, Ireland for about 2 years in the late 90's. I recently played at a party in The Hague, Holland with good friend & DJ Keb Darge. This party is a yearly event celebrating Holland's Queen Beatrice's birthday. A massive event that caters for nearly 100,000! Over nine outside stages. Keb and I played back-to-back for around 20,000 partygoers. Last New Year was spent in Moscow - an incredible experience playing in a converted restaurant to around 350 people, the atmosphere was electric and the party was superb.
I am at present one of only four resident DJs at The Southport Dance Weekender, held twice a year in the UK (around May and November) and I also play at a few yearly smaller weekenders in the UK.
How has the UK house scene evolved or changed over the years?
UK House evolved from the heady days of Acid House parties in the mid- to late-1980s. This scene was predominantly fuelled by drugs - mainly Ecstasy. The music back then was a more "freestyle" approach to dance, where the odd hip-hop cut and soft rock track would sit alongside "Love Is The Message".
As the drugs got harder in the early '90s, the music followed, with dancers wanting music of a less soulful variety and more of a "harder" feel to the floor. Out of this scene came Drum and Bass and Break Beat parties. The real Soul and Inspirational parties were driven completely underground. During the early 2000s, UK dance music became completely mainstream - almost a watered-down commodity compared to its black underground roots of the late '80s. Music from the US of A was supplemented heavily with European dance music and also the Techno music of Detroit. Nowadays, there's a real interest in "How did it all start?" with a whole new generation in the UK wanting to know the history of American House Music from New York and Chicago. But most of the large House clubs have folded and the scene has again moved underground with the smaller clubs proving them selves, musically speaking. The "real UK House scene" definitely lies beneath the streets, and that which remains "above" is a poor watered-down copy of a good House Party with very few exceptions.
There's a real interest in Gospel Dance Music, hence the rise in interest in the inspirational sounds of Baltimore, Washington and also Chicago and parts of Detroit.
Yes, UK House is very healthy at the moment, but apart from the larger parties such as The Southport Dance Weekender, it's still more of an underground vibe.
Can you recommend any good/great weekly parties in London for those of us on the other side of the pond?
There are various parties around London that are definitely worth a visit. Firstly, for some of the smaller parties, there's Faith, held at The Lodge in Harlesden (West London). It's an intimate affair with a superb audience, and pure underground vibes. Faith always attracts DJs from across the pond and is one of Quentin Harris' favourite places to go if he's in London.
Two other small, but highly inspirational clubs are Body Music and Soul City, held at various venues around the city on a monthly basis. These two parties are highly inspirational and very soulful in the mix and are more of a word-of-mouth affair, but they always put their parties on the Southport Weekender Forum site. Check southportweekender .co.uk/forum/ for further info.
Larger parties are Defected at the Ministry Of Sound. These are usually a monthly jam, and regularly play host to Timmy Regisford, Frankie Knuckles, MAW, Kerri Chandler, Dennis Ferrer and DJ Spen. If you like your music a little on the hard side then check out Fabric. Fabric has an incredible sound system and hosts two large dance rooms, a capacity of around 1200 in each with a small room that is ideal for smaller parties. I've had the pleasure of hosting Chilli Funk parties at Fabric and cannot recommend it enough - a superb venue, staff, etc. and definitely worth a visit on a Saturday night.
