AND A BRIEF RETURN TO THAT OTHER CAREER

Published by Rick on Tagged Uncategorized

Last Saturday, Christmas Eve, I received a text message offering me a New Year’s Eve gig as a vinyl DJ at the King’s Head in Crouch End, the same gig I had every NYE from 2015 to 2019. My last gig there was aptly enough, Friday, March 13, 2020. A week later, we went into Pandemic-enforced isolation, which Maggie and I were reminiscing about today, and how we could only meet outside and go for walks six feet apart. Ah, remembering the good old days!

In returning to a gig I absolutely loved and wasn’t sure I would ever do again, it’s amazing to think how the gig was offered as an offshoot of a “Bring Your Own Vinyl” night that the club was running one Friday a month. The then-manager of the King’s Head was so impressed by the records I was bringing that one day she texted me to say she thought it would be a great idea to play some of my oldies for a few hours on Sunday afternoons. I thought, “Great! About time this collection of over 30,000 records started paying off!” The gig didn’t start smoothly, though, as I was set up in the downstairs with the music piped in upstairs. Few people would even notice, and it was a waste of time for me, a waste of money for the club. That would change a few weeks later, when the upstairs would be refurbished and a sound system installed that would allow people to see what it was I was doing.

Things went much better, especially New Year’s, where I played dance music downstairs and the place was jam packed. I remember closing the whole night with Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come,” to what could have been called a standing ovation except the people were already standing. Things continued into 2016 and 2017, but a worrying note came when the manager chose to move on. The worry was unnecessary, as the incoming manager stated he wasn’t going to change a thing, and that he specifically enjoyed the music I played. He’s still there, and yes he’s the one that offered me this year’s gig.

I don’t know what to expect this time around, as not every gig has been completely rosy. The last NYE gig in 2019 had its dubious moments, one where there was a fight about to break out and a guy had a beer bottle positioned as a weapon. Somehow, I found the composure to turn on the mic and say “Put the goddam bottle down,” and somehow that worked. But I wasn’t as cool when I announced sometime after midnight, “Hopefully by this time next year, Boris Johnson and Donald Trump will not be running their prospective countries.” That was greeted by one guy saying, “I LIKE Trump,” to which I had the not-so-classy remark of “Well then you probably suck.” I still cringe about that one, mostly because I can’t believe that was the best I could do, but also thank my lucky stars he didn’t want to punch ME out. It was late in the evening would be my excuse.

What I really loved were the silly moments in the weekly gigs. Like the time someone complained about how loud the music was, but was delivering his complaint while I was playing “Unforgettable” by Nat King Cole. What if I had been playing Led Zeppelin?

Or the time I was playing the ridiculous novelty record “Mouldy Old Dough” a 1972 UK #1 by the legendary Lieutenant Pigeon, and someone came up to me and said, “That’s the best one you’ve played today!” He retreated before I had the chance to ask whether he was making a joke at my expense or not.

Even better was the time Maggie and I were at The Railway Tavern, just across the street from the King’s Head, watching the Six Nations Rugby tournament. We got in a bit of a conversation with a guy at the neighbouring table. We were talking about going to King’s Head to watch the match, but it was too crowded, and the man at the table said the Railway was the better pub anyway. Then he decided to add, “Yeah last time I was there, they had this DJ playing some total shite.” I calmly replied, “That was probably me.” Surprisingly, the conversation wasn’t as awkward as it could have been, but it didn’t last much beyond that exchange.

So of course what I do isn’t for everyone. I had a couple of DJ gigs at another venue in Crouch Hill, a pub called Brave Sir Robin. At my second gig there, I had an encounter with someone who very much objected to me playing “Angels” by Robbie Williams, a song of anthemic status in UK but which only reached the lower rungs of the US top 40. I didn’t realise there was a problem, as there were people in the pub singing along with the song at top volume. This guy was persistent, and I said to him, “Hey, it’s only four minutes,” to which he said, “Yeah but it’s four minutes I’ll never get back.” I then pointed to the people that were belting it out and said “I go with what the masses want.” He had no further arguments, but it turned out he was friends with the pub landlord, who agreed with him, and I was never hired back. I did do other things there, but only freebies on special Bring Your Own Vinyl nights.

I’ve written numerous times about NYE comedy gigs, some great, some awful, and a whole lot of them totally forgettable. I’m amazed that when I try to chronicle in particular my 90’s NYE gigs, they disappear into a haze. I’ve done the DJ gig every available December 31 since 2015, and it’s a lot less hassle doing this gig than trying to make people laugh when all they want to do is get nine kinds of fucked up.

All the best to everyone in 2023!

December 29th, 2022



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