Magoo

One of the original pioneers of House music in the UK. Back in 1987 he co-hosted, (with the Swing Family), the first House music show on the cult pirate station, Sunrise Radio, that, until then had only broadcast, Soul, Funk and Reggae. The show was very nearly taken off mid broadcast, when, one irate station manager burst into the studio demanding to know ‘what the hell is this weird crap you’re playing?’ Ironically within two weeks of that broadcast, Sunrise radio became London’s first 24hr House music radio station.

From 1987 to 1990, Magoo and the rest of the Swing Family held residencies in various London clubs, notably the Dungeons, Cotton Club and the 4 Aces later to become Labyrinth. Around 1991 the London music scene began to change into what became known as Hardcore & Jungle and House music was pushed to the sidelines. Seeing many of his DJ peers jump from one musical band wagon to the next, Magoo could have easily run with the Hardcore and Jungle crowd, but House Music was his passion.

Over the next 3 years, Magoo and the Swing Family promoted their own underground House night ‘Shelter,’ in a disused railway arch, whilst still playing regular House music slots on a number of leading pirate radio stations, such as Defection FM, which, by now, predominately played Jungle. It was during this time that he released a number of innovative Drum & Bass tracks under the names of Arabian Nights and Rushour on Soundman Records. This was fun for a while, but Soundman’s development into a showcase Drum & Bass label meant that the labels energies were no longer being focused on House music and Magoo became increasingly frustrated. However a chance visit to the studio by Chris Simmonds (who was an old friend of the label owner), would mean that his future was about to change.

Hearing a demo tape by Magoo in the early 90’s, Chris’s interest was stirred and a studio session was arranged. That first session resulted in Magoo’s first release with Cross Section Records under the name of The Diggers but more importantly, an instant creative rapport was formed between the two. Over the past five years Chris, Magoo and Dave Ruhi (Magoo’s long time studio partner), have worked together on various projects under the names of Private Funk, and The Diggers. Magoo also collaborates with Mark Jones as Shuffle and their music at this present time, is constantly being played and talked about by the World’s top DJ’s, from Tony Humphries to DJ Sneak and Derrick May.

Over the last few years Magoo has been delving deep into his crates and early pre-House musical influences such as, late 70’s Disco, Funk and Fusion as well as the latest contemporary Jazz, especially Japanese Jazz. This immersion into other musical influences has given him a new perspective of House music and the current scene, which he hopes will energise his new productions.

Currently, there are plans for a re-vamp of the Black No Sugar alias and continuation of the Private Funk concept, originally conceived on Cross Section Records.
Magoo’s forthcoming projects include alt-boogie house outfit The Push Button Orchestra and Detroit Tech act Jackson Rope.