Dr. Bob Jones Interview
DR. BOB JONES: I had a radio show on London's KISS FM in the late '80s, which at that time was still a pirate (illegal) radio station, but cutting heavy sway with underground black music. In 1990 I was approached by RCA Records UK to remix one of their artists, Gene Rice. This was my first attempt at record production, and the end result was "You're A Victim", released as a single in 1991. The same year a friend, Mervyn Anthony who was working as A&R for Motown UK sent me a copy of the studio mix of The Temptations "The Jones" and suggested it would be a great project for me to get involved with. The end result was the Surgery Mixes of "The Jones", released on Motown in the USA in 1991 and the UK in 1992.
KISS FM went legal in London in September 1990 and the Temptations track was played heavily on the station. I was given my Surgery with Dr Bob Jones radio show on KISS 100FM every Sunday which lasted until January 1999. The success of "The Jones" remix in the UK and Europe opened a lot of doors for me and I went on to produce some of my black music heroes including Al Green, Bobby Womack, Terry Callier and Darryl Hall.
In the mid '90s, I was asked by DJ friend Lofty to produced a tune for his new record label project, Chilli Funk Records. I recorded a version of Teddy Pendergrass "The More I Get, The More I Want" with Lofty and the production team East West Connection was born. After that, Lofty asked me to join him at Chilli Funk and I became assistant A&R for the label. Since then I've gone on to write, produce and record two albums for East West Connection, singles for The Interns and True Spirits and various artists projects for Chilli Funk under "True Spirit" and "Soulful Music For Funky People" (with Lofty).
5: The Southport Weekender is one of the most anticipated events for music lovers around the world. Please tell us a bit about your involvement as a DJ.
DR. BOB JONES: Southport Dance Weekend originally started out as Southport Soul Weekend at a holiday centre in Berwick-on-Tweed in the UK in 1987, by Up North Promotions. Up North Promotions was started by Alex Lowes, whom I knew as DJ. Alex has been a friend of yours truly since the early '80s and I was resident at another Soul Weekender at the time, called Caister Soul Weekend, which was being run at another holiday centre on the UK's East Coast. The first Up North Weekender was put on the same weekend in April 1987 as a Caister Soul Weekend, but Alex wanted me on his team of DJs so he asked Caister's promoter if he could "borrow" Dr Bob to spin at his event. So I played at Caister on Friday night, then was taken to Norwich airport Saturday morning and got a plane to Edinburgh, then a car to Berwick-on-Tweed, which is situated on the Scottish-English border. I then played at Berwick Saturday night, then flew back to Norwich early Sunday morning, then on to Caister in time for the finale on late Sunday afternoon. Crazy trip, but worth all the travel, and Alex showed his gratitude to me by including the good Dr Bob Jones as one of his resident DJs.
Myself alongside Billy Davidson, Bob Jeffries and Simon Mansell have DJed at every event, and are the surviving members of the first Up North Promotions Dance Weekend. It might seem crazy to some of your readers that for 20+ years of our lives, twice a year we've made that journey to Pontins Holiday Centre on the North East coast of the UK.
I'm honoured to have played at every Southport and have watched the party grow into the mammoth event we see today with over 5,000 people at each party. I truly believe that this party is very unique and has definitely stood the test of time. It's retained its soulful roots, yet keeps pushing the music forward. Out of all the residents at the event, I'm the only DJ who has a session in three out of the four rooms. I feel very honoured to be able to do this. Southport Weekender reached 20 years in 2007 - the same year I reached 40 years in the business.
5: You've had a few memorable radio shows, how did they come about?
DR. BOB JONES: 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
5: Tell us about some of the events and weekly parties you've played over the years.
Page 1 | 2 | 3 |
5 Magazine is supported in large part by the patronage of our readers. If you like what you see, consider subscribing to the 5 Magazine Digital Edition and receive the complete contents at the beginning of every month as well as access to members only stories for only $1.50 per month!