GordonSharpe.com

It all started back in about 1974. I had been invited to a friend's birthday party, which was being held in a local nightclub. Her Mum worked there so had managed to get the place for the party, which was on a Sunday night when the club was normally closed. In came about 100 people plus the bar staff and DJ and we settled down to have a few drinks and a chat, as you do. The night went on and I wandered over to look at how the disco worked - very limited equipment then as it was two basic turntables bedded into the DJ box, with a small mixer unit that had rotary controls (may have been valves too, can't really remember!)

We got talking. The DJ, Kenny, asked if I was interested and I said 'sort of', I watched him putting records on for a while then he asked me to watch on a minute or two while he went to the toilet - so I put the next record on, and the next, and the next - he didn't come back for half an hour! This was about midnight on a Sunday, a lot of people had gone home by then, some others were quite drunk and nobody was really bothered with the disco anyway. He came back and said I'd done OK, did I want to come down and help him at weekends?! I had to tell him I was only 17 at that time, it was a friend's 18th. He said to call him when I was old enough...

A few months later I did just that, and caught him at the club, talking to the boss of the place. I was introduced to Billy, the owner, and he asked what work I'd done so far - which was zilch apart from the one night I'd worked with Kenny and some messing about in my bedroom! I then learned that Kenny was leaving the club that weekend and they needed someone to put records on, would I like to do that and let the boss be the (talking) DJ as neeed? Talk about dropping lucky! That club was opening a new spot downstairs at the time, aimed at an older end rather than disco-dancing kids. I became the first DJ to work in a club called Caesars Tavern in Dewsbury back in May 1975. The music style, if you can call it that, was a mix of oldies as the customers were all of the pub landlord/landlady type.

I stayed there for the next two years, building up from just playing records to using the mike, developing a new venue in the upstairs room (Ma Peels) in place of the one I'd started in and even taking on new DJ's to work with me. We got up to having two rooms at the one club in Dewsbury, with a second club in Hightown that also had two floors - meaning we needed 4 DJ's. I left my daytime job at the supermarket to DJ 6 nights a week. I also took on a 7th night at Upstairs Downstairs in Leeds some Sundays, when their DJ wanted a night off. The Sundays I didn't work I went to Batley Variety Club to see the big acts of the time. Hey, this was the 70's remember!

Over the years I worked in many pubs and clubs, moving from Dewsbury to Brighouse, then Halifax, Barnsley and finally (for now) Doncaster. When I arrived in Donny I was still using vinyl (records) so wasn't able to get work straight away, other than parties. I was introduced to Chris Bennett and he took me into the Kings Head (no longer there) and showed me how to use CD's and the new style mixers. Over the next few years I took on several nights there and in other venue's in the area and picked up the Doncaster DJ of the year award in 1997! Yes, those Budweiser girls were on hand to pose for the picture when I got the award.

I've worked in many venues since, quite a lot of Doncaster pubs saw me work for them, but I'm now on a back burner as far as a residency, or any regular work goes. I had been resident at one pub in the town, and then they were taken over by a new company. I worked my socks off over Christmas and New Year and was then told I wasn't wanted, week after week, to the point where I left there and tried to get some other work. I don't think my heart was in it, I lost a lot of money through not doing the regular work and couldn't afford to keep up with new tracks so I sort of dropped out.

Over the next couple of years I've helped out a freind on his disco nights, which saw me heading for such delightful places as Grimsby, Stockton-on-Tees and Chesterfield usually limited to changing tracks now and again and working the lights and camera. To me it was a free night out, transport to and from the club, free admission, even free drinks! If the club was short of a DJ I've been known to stand in for odd nights, I can still do it! I'm talking about a nightclub, playing pop/party, for a full stint. Yes, new music too - I re-loaded my collection with some newer tracks, thanks to the Now series and some help from my radio work ;-)

So - will I ever give up? I'm 55 now, have been a DJ for thirty seven years and I still enjoy it. I could do with some work on a regular basis and may try and find some for myself. OK, so I'm not into banging house music, top tunez and that sort of stuff - I like doing party stuff, songs everyone knows and loves, as well as some of the better chart tracks. Maybe if someone wants an oldies DJ?

Because I was working fulle time and more with the radio station, I had to give up my DJ work in late 2009 as TMCR was about to launch and I knew I couldn't do both.

The story continues...