Chris Sullivan
Sullivan began collecting records and Djing as a 12 year-old young ska-loving moon-stomping suedehead in South Wales in the early seventies and, after a spell as first a Northern soul boy and then a rare funk fan, was DJing in London from 1978. In 1981 he signed a significant record deal with his Latin funk jazz combo, Blue Rondo a la Turk, and in 1982 opened the Wag Club in Wardour Street, which he ran until 2001- DJing, organising nights and booking bands etc. Since then he’s DJ’d at events for the likes of Italian Vogue, The Face, ID and Sade - often slipping off to work in New York, Ibiza, Paris and LA. Today, he has his own radio show every Wednesday on Soho Radio, enjoys weekly residencies in Novikov and the Vinyl Bar and regularly plays the Groucho, the Thirst Bar in Soho and many private events and launch parties. He lives with his good lady Leah, 9-year-old son Finbar and cat Tuesday in West London.
Selected releases
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"DJ Snowboy presents The Good foot"
"Dj Snowboy presents The Good foot" (CDBGPD 280 and BGP2 280) – A truly great compilation from one of the UK’s most informed DJs, this features previously hard-to-find classics such as little Eva’s ‘Get Ready’/ ‘Uptight’ a phenomenal mix of the two songs, James Brown’s swinging latin-influenced ‘Bring It Up’, Aretha Franklin’s rocking ‘Rough Lover’ of 1962 and two boogaloo classics -Hank Marr’s The Watusi-Roll and Mongo Santamaria’s ‘Sweet ‘Tater Pie’. Every track is a cracker.
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Mod Jazz
"Mod Jazz" (CDKEND 139 and HIQLP2 011) – One of the finest anthologies ever, featuring a barrage of essential swinging sixties jazz dance tunes that were huge at the one nighter Jazz Room at The Wag such as Mark Murphy’s ‘Why Don’t You Do Right?’, Cal Tjader’s Evil Ways and Willis Jackson’s Pool Shark.
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The Beat Goes On
"The Beat goes On" (CDKEND 191) – Atlantic’s dance through the 50s,60s and 70s. Worth buying if only for The Coaster’s ‘Shopping For Clothes’ but then add ‘Philly Dog’ by the Mar-keys and of course ‘The Beat Goes On’ by Sonny &Cher. Yet another storming compilation.
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The Jazz Hits
Golden Age Of American Popular Music – The Jazz Hits (CDCHD 1188). What a compilation. ‘Walk on The Wild Side’ by Jimmy Smith, ‘The Sidewinder’ by Lee Morgan, ‘The “In” Crowd’ by Ramsey Lewis, ‘Exodus’ by Eddie Harris, ‘Wack Wack’ by the Young Holt trio. Jeez ! In fact every one of the 28 tracks is a work of brilliance.
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Hot Barbeque
"Hot Barbeque" Brother Jack McDuff (CDBGPD 053) – Few swing like the great McDuff, as this album testifies. Listening to this makes me smile.
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Lorez Alexandria
"This Is Lorez/ Lorez Sings Prez" - Lorez Alexandria (CDBGPD 174) - So happy to have found this on CD. One of the great jazz vocalists singing the likes of the sublime latin-tinged ‘Baltimore Oriole’ and the swinging ‘You Make Me Feel So Young’. Lordy lordy, this chick swings.
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Gaz’s Rockin Blues
"Gaz’s Rockin Blues" (CDCHD 1071) - I bought this when it came out ten years ago and still play a good 80 percent of the tracks when DJing. Simply the best ska, jump, rhythm and blues collection ever.
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Stax Gold
Stax Gold: Hits 1966-1974 (CDSXE 043) – Another essential collection that features the likes of Booker T’s ‘Time is Tight’, the mighty ‘Respect Yourself’ by the Staple Singers and Jean Knights floor-filler ‘Mr Big Stuff’.
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Keep on Steppin'
Fatback Band – "Keep on Steppin'" (CDSEWM 001 and SEW 001) - An essential release that I originally bought on vinyl in 1974 which features the great ‘Wicky Wacky’ and the deliciously funky ‘Feeling’. This was the album to have back in the seventies soul boy days and still is.
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Hot Buttered Soul
Isaac Hayes – "Hot Buttered Soul" (CDSXE 005 and SXE 005) - I would buy this if only for the brilliant ‘Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic’ which is not only the best-ever name for a song but is so excruciatingly funky it is unfathomable. Then you have his epic versions of ‘Walk On By’ and ‘By The Time I Get To Phoenix’. Goodness gracious me!
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Little Richard
Little Richard – The Original British Hit Singles (CDCHM 729) I just love the sheer exuberance of the man. Some of the roughest, swingingest rock’n’roll ever made. ‘Lucille’, ‘Long Tall Sally’ and ‘Kansas City’ just knock the ball out of touch.
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24 Carat Black
‘24 Carat Black’ (SXD 090). An utterly brilliant track named after the band that recorded it. In truth a great little known gem that we all should own.
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Best of Acid Jazz
"Best of Acid Jazz" (CDBGPK 123) A fantastic selection of the finest funk jazz such as ‘Theme From Shaft’ by Bernard Purdie Idris Muhammad’s ‘Super Bad’ and Funk Inc’s ‘Chicken Lickin’’.
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Latin Jazz Vol 2
“Latin Jazz Vol 2” (BGP 1027) Crikey... A collection of some of the best Latin Jazz tracks ever made. Art Blakey ,Art Farmer, Brother Jack Mc Duff....
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Shorty the Pimp
"Shorty The Pimp"- Don Julian (CDSEWD 122). One of my favourite movie scores with versions of ‘Inner City Blues’ and ‘Respect Yourself’ as well as the title track which is one of my favourite all-time tracks.
