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A media lawyer by profession
and a dj/writer/album compiler by inclination, John cut his vinyl
teeth playing soul, r & b, reggae and jazz at seminal, late-70s
London spots like the Hampstead Country Club (Fela Kuti, Paul Simon,
Madness, Bob Marley and Alton Ellis all popped in at one time or another)
and Soho's Beat Route (where George Michael first grew a beard and
started Wham). After experiencing an epiphany in the Paris Afro-Antillean clubs of the late 70s ('I couldn't believe how wonderful and exciting the music was, but it was simply unavailable outside Africa, Paris and New York at that time'), Peter Ind, of the legendary Bass Clef club, Hoxton Square, offered John the opportunity of playing African and Caribbean dance music on Saturdays. What started as an experiment (no-one else was focusing on African dance in London at that time) turned into a ten-year residency, and expanded into a Friday night at the Clef playing Latin dance music - again, a first for London in those days. 'It soon became obvious that African music lovers liked Latin music, and vice versa, so eventually both nights acquired a similar play list to each other,' recalls Armstrong,’ which suited me fine, because I've always had a short attention span with music - if I go clubbing myself, I like to hear a little of everything good rather than just one beat all night. After all, the original idea of clubbing was to play your favorite records to your friends on someone else's premises, so you weren't stuck with having to clean your own bathroom and empty your own ashtrays the next morning. I think there's a few high-and-mighty dj’s around who'd do well not lose sight of that! Never mind if you're the only possessor of some rare, white-label promo - is it any good is the real question? And even more important, do you like it yourself? Because if you don't, the punters'll be able to tell immediately, they're not stupid!' Since those heady days, Armstrong has played just about every London venue, plus 'weird and wonderful' tours of Tanzania, Zanzibar, the Gulf, Spain and the Canaries, France, etc. |
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