Hero Worship

What do Steve McClaren, Andrew Weatherall and a Tai Chi teacher have in common?

For The End’s 12th birthday on Saturday 1st December, we’ve decided to celebrate by asking five of the club’s heroes to play. Why heroes? Well, they are five of the people who we consider to be musical pioneers, who have helped make The End what it is today. All of them have been involved with the club since its early days, and all of them create their own particular brand of electric mayhem in the DJ booth. Whether you’ve got lost in one of Layo & Bushwacka!’s all night long sessions, you’ve danced to Mr C at one of the seminal Subterrain parties, you were there on New Years Day when Laurent Garnier was still playing at 10am, or you were one of the club kids who participated in Erol Alkan’s Monday night Trash revolution, these five people are as important to The End today as they have ever been.

This got us thinking, we’ve all got out our heroes – whether it’s some obscure eighties punk band or our gran. So we called up a few of our residents to ask them who their heroes are. And what we got was a bunch of great stories – some moving, some funny, but all an insight into the inspirations behind some of the club’s great dance music talent.

Layo

Who is your hero?
Arsene Wenger

Who are they?
Manager of Arsenal football club

Why are they your hero?
In a world of football dominated by money, lack of integrity, lack of intelligence and class, he stands out. He has a vision for the way the game should be played, which is a spectator sport full of excitement. He is about developing talent, and running the club as an organised business with good practice. He takes huge risks and will stand by what he believes in, even in the face of widespread criticism, he is highly intelligent and articulate. I have never met him, nor feel the need, but stand back to enjoy his work with the team I love, and I have even learned to love the failings which are part of the human face of running something with such noble aspirations. I admire and respect him greatly.

Jimpster

Who is your hero?
Roger Odell

Who are they?
Drummer and lyricist with Brit jazz funk outfit Shakatak.

Why are they your hero?
Obviously most Dads are their sons’ heroes, but the fact that my dad is a musician means he was, and continues to be, a huge influence and mentor for me, creatively and business wise. Not coming from a musical family himself, he had to work extra hard to learn his art, and then continued to carry his drum kit on a wheelbarrow on the tube to get into town for gigs three or four nights a week, whilst working a day job so we had food on the table.

Once the band started to get successful he was always first to embrace new technologies of the time, including drum machines such as the Linn Drum and Roland TR808. Having these in the house was what enabled me to learn the equipment and triggered my passion for music production and electronic music in general.

The fact that he continues to tour with Shakatak to this day, as well as gig several nights a week with his modern jazz quartet, means his devotion to music is still clearly there -something I hope I’ll have when I’m 66.

Luke Solomon

Who is your hero?
It varies depending on moods, moons and state of mind. Currently it is Karen Carpenter (again).

Who are they?
Member of the Carpenters. Wrote classic songs such as ‘Calling Occupants’ and ‘Rainy days and Mondays.’

Why are they your hero?
Firstly she was a beautiful woman that not only had an amazing voice, but she played the drums and sang at the same time. But that’s not the reason that she is a hero. The Carpenters remind me of growing up. I lost my Mum as a child. I remember my Dad listening to them a lot because I think they reminded him of her. I also remember being really upset when I heard she had died. I think it was 1983. She had a troublesome life, and when you listen to her songs and the way she sings them you can hear it. But ultimately, when I listen to her sing, I think about my Mum, and somehow it makes me feel happy. I guess that makes her some kind of a hero to me.

Mr C

Who is your hero?
Steve McClaren

Who are they?
Former England manager, recently fired for England’s abysmal failure to qualify for Euro 2008.

Why are they your hero?
Steve McClaren is my hero because he has exposed English football for being the absolute sham that it truly is, and highlighted the fact that it really needs changing from a
grassroots level. The problem with English football is that all the players have fear bred into them from an early age, so whenever they get the ball they feel the need to boot it up the field, out of the way, and out of danger. This way of playing has been installed in all English footballers since we won the World Cup in 1966. The only way the actual game is going to change is if we change the way football is coached. Croatia deserved to win because technically they are a far superior team, as our players just aren’t taught the right skills. Steve McClaren has exposed this, and now - maybe if we’re really lucky - English football might start to change. Players need to be taught that when they get the ball at their feet they can actually play football with it, not just hump it away into safety.

Paul Arnold

Who is your hero?
John Peel

Who are they?
The late, great Radio 1 DJ playing what was good and otherwise unheard. Legend to most.

Why are they your hero?
I grew up listening to John Peel shows on Radio 1, three nights a week.
He would play such a wide spectrum of music, music I had never heard
before. I think I was drowning in my massive heavy metal record
collection which was bought, borrowed and stolen from just about
anyone. From there I started listening to the John Peel show. He
introduced me to music as a whole, this weaned me off the metal, which
then led on to indie, folk, world, hip hop, US hardcore, house, acid;
John played just about every different style there was. I would tape
his shows obsessively, labeling all the covers with each track and each
different Peel session. I wish I had that tape collection today. It was
an encyclopedia of music which spawned my love for it.

John Peel changed my life and made my life. He influenced me in such a way that he would shape my life for ever.

I met him once when I asked him to sign my ‘Extreme Noise Terror Peel
Session’ – he signed it ‘A Fat! Bastard If Every There Was One’. That
was before I ran record labels, and released music that he would go on
to play and record exclusively for his show. It was my dream to have a
Peel Session. I went on to have four, which is still one of my proudest
achievements to date.

Will Saul

Who is your hero?
Vangelis (or Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou to his Mum)

Who are they?
Producer extraordinaire that became best know for seminal soundtracks such as Bladerunner and Chariots Of Fire.

Why are they your hero?
Seeing Blade Runner as a kid fascinated me, but it was the music that captivated me most. I began to collect all his soundtracks and his other more abstract works. Living just outside Glastonbury this was easy, as the ‘out there’ experimental sound he achieved seemed to really appeal to hippies, so the local second hand record store was awash with his music. He was entirely self taught with no formal music training, which appealed to me because I was being forced into piano practice from an early age. On all the sleeve notes he looked like a mad professor (he had a massive beard) locked away in a room full of synths and weird electronic gadgets. This looked like great fun to me as a boy and is pretty much what I set out to achieve - massive beard and a room full of synths...I’ve now ticked both those boxes. His introspective melodies still have a massive influence on me when I write music now.

Dollz at Play

Who is your hero?
David Bowie

Who are they?
A rebel, a musical innovator, a legend.

Why are they your hero?
David Bowie is one of the icons we both love, mostly because of the way he expresses himself year after year - from Ziggy Stardust ‘till now, always looking incredible. We love the kind of fantasy that he represents - as if he's from a different planet. Like in the films he starred in – in most of them as characters from different dimensions, we like that. Our style is definitely influenced by him. We want to be rare creatures from different worlds, with a rebellious attitude.

Kid Blue, Chew the Fat!

Who is your hero?
Andrew Weatherall

Who are they?
Legendary Producer/DJ.

Why are they your hero?
Where do I start? Because he’s had such a diverse career, from
producing Primal Scream to founding Junior Boys Own, Sabres of Paradise
to Two Lone Swordsmen, and remixing pretty much all of the coolest
bands in the world (his remixes of My Bloody Valentine are some of my
favourites). As a DJ he has played some of the best house and techno
sets I’ve ever heard, and his downtempo mix on the Back to Basics ‘Cut
The Crap’ compilation was jaw-droppingly original and seamlessly mixed.
He could have been a Paul Oakenfold-type, but he always chose the path
less-trodden and never sold out. And he wrote Smokebelch.

When you’ve followed someone’s career that closely you feel like you
know them. I’ve met him a few times, and I generally don’t know what to
say and act like a star-struck teenager. He probably thinks I’m some
weird stalker.

Jimmy K-Tel, Sancho Panza

Who is your hero?
Chris Ray Chappell

Who are they?
Chris is a Tai Chi instructor with schools in Brick Lane and Charing Cross Road. He grew up in the North East of England before going to Rambert School of Ballet and competing nationally at kickboxing.

Why are they your hero?
Chris is basically a real life Billy Elliot only harder. I’ve been a pupil at his school for six years. He has a superb and very positive teaching style and an absolute dedication to his art. He’s humble, yet he has such presence that you can sense him coming into the room before you actually see him.

Raymundo Rodriguez, Jaded

Who is your hero?
Danny Rampling

Who are they?
A pioneer, an innovator, an ambassador for dance music, a globally respected DJ and a house music stalwart.

Why are they your hero?
I have collected all kinds of music since I was 11 years old, spending my pocket money on early electro and real hip hop. As I got older I got into soul, rare groove and disco, although I remained a true hip hopper at heart. It wasn't till the late 90's that I truly got sucked into the world of house music. Initially I got my house fix via mixes from my good friend Nick Standen, and it was Nick that put me onto Danny's ‘Love Groove Dance Party’ show on Radio 1. I was literally hooked from the first show I listened to, and would record it every week to trainspot all the tracks, and drive my local record store crazy by demanding music that obviously wouldn't be out for months. The thing I most loved about Danny's show is that he incorporated so many different styles of house, from the soulful and deep to the more tribal, techier sounds, not to mention the wealth of guests he had swinging by for guest mixes. I was blown away by the likes of Jeremy Newall, David Morales, Erick Morillo and the rest of the Subliminal crew.

I remember when I first met Danny, it was back in 2000 at Vertigo at The Cross, I was obviously a bit star struck, but he was as cool and down to earth as I thought he would be. When I went from a raver at Vertigo to a resident DJ he became one of my biggest supporters, even going as far as naming me as a ‘future hero of house’ in the DJ Mag top 100.

So this is why I have picked Danny Rampling as my hero. Everyone who knows me can tell you that I still rant about how great his radio shows were, and I like to think that his influence can be felt when people hear my own radio shows, and even when listening to me play in the clubs. So thanks Mr Rampling...and by the way....I still need a copy of that Constipated Monkey show!

Jim Wood, The Players

Who is your hero?
Cyclon...aka The Disco Daddy

Who are they?
Sound engineer for AKA and The End

Why are they your hero?
Because he's my Disco Dad! Like an angel looking over me... always there when I forget my headphones, always there when I'm playing too loud, full of stories of rock n roll excess whether from 20 years ago or 20 minutes ago, full of obscure rock n roll trivia and endless dull technical knowledge. I want to still be on the scene like he is when I'm his age – thanks Disco Dad!!

Published: 26/11/2007

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