CLUBS LIST
CLUBS
PREVIEW
Juan talks to Club Sandino DJ Nick Peacock and discovers a jazz revival, whilstColin
Steven charts
the demise of the ‘smiley’ T-shirt in a review of 1989.
LISTINGS: GLASGOW AND EDINBURGH DIARY 64
Talkin’ Jazz
Juan gets chatting with Nick Peacock, the Club Sandino DJ.
According to the hip media. there is another jazz revival ahead. the last one being circa ‘84/‘85. But to some people whose love of jazz music is boundless. the ‘revival‘ of a style of music which has influenced every musical style over the last fiftyrs. including the latest trends 0‘ House and Hip Hop. is a question which is swep ' aside faster than you would brush dandruffoff your best Armani jacket.
Nick Peacock has been around the Glasgow club scene for a long time. His involvement with bands like Joseph K. (he made a video for them while still in college) and his association with known Glasgow faces like Graham Wilson before he had the Sub Club. and Andrea Miller former writer on NME. has made him a known face around town. As DJ Ordc from Slam says ‘respect is due‘.
By his own admission. Nick has not been into
jazz that long ‘only about eight years‘ and his DJ-ing technique ‘could be better‘. When I asked him about his record collection. he laughed and compared my question to the way clubs these days print on their leaflets the size of their PA.
‘The jazz thing more or less came about. maybe
a year after I started DJ-ing. at the time I was just getting into black music— I was going to Soul Funk and Jazz Alldaycr's. At that time. the jazz that was being played came under the jazz/funk banner — the more you got into it. the more you wanted to get the records. You wanted to find out where these sounds were comming from.‘
In 1983 a London DJ by the name of Paul Murphy was asked to do an all-daycr in Coatbridgc. Paul Murphy was probably the main initiator ofplaying hard Latin Jazz. which at the
time was not really being heard in clubs.
‘At first your reaction would be to think of Carmen Miranda. but as you listened to the tracks Murphy was playing. you thought — forget the jokes— these tracks are brilliant. What Paul Murphy was doing was a whole new avenue which he opened up for people to explore.‘
With the opening of the Sub Club by Graham Wilson. Nick was given his first chance to DJ. ‘1 could play the records I wanted. I was also working in Virgin Records. so I was picking up some really good tunes. The first record I ever played was the Otis Redding version of Papa 's 001A Brand New Bag. I was a total bag of nerves! It was great to see people dancing to something you were playing. From then on I played what I wanted.‘
In 1986 Club Sandino put an ad in NME asking for people who were interested in setting up Sandino in Edinburgh for the festival. ‘I phoned. told them that I was DJ-ing at the Sub Club and the guys who ran the club got back in touch with me. Here I was, in a sitation where you could be very self-indulgent and still go down a storm. Six hundred people going wild!‘
Club Sandino ploughs back the profits of the club into Nicaragua. ‘At that time [knew nothing about the Nicaraguan cause. but as time went on. I began to get interested in the political side of it. I have never been that politically motivated before but the more I heard about the situation. the more I was interested in helping out.‘
Nick Peacock‘s dedication to his music as well as the Nicaraguan cause. is evident in Club Sandino‘s four year success and if you can‘t make it on a Saturday night you can catch him at the Liquor Shack ‘Jazz Chill Out‘ in Hope Street. Glasgow, every two weeks.
REVIEW OF ’89
Ahhh! 1989, the year house bounced back from the smiley ridicule with a vengeance. it had to adapt to a hostile environment, but it resurfaced in the spring along with the pulsating sound of techno. To me, this was a major achievement, further revolutionising the music industry and regaining its credibility in such a short space of time.
Club tashlon had to adapt as well; gone were the obvious, ultra nafl ‘get on one matey' smiley T-shirts and all the other offensive accessories. At first, as a natural reaction, slightly conservative, smart designertogs were in, but by the summer casual sportswear was beginning to filter through again: enormous white trainers (preferably Travel Fox), tracksuits (preferably Troop), baggy hooded tops and T-shirts. The idea of
dressing up for the night has now become obsolete, the emphasis being on comfort for hours of solid dancing (albeit serious designer comfort). Of course, come the autumn, the really trendy ones had thrown their white trainers to the back of the wardrobe and went out and bought Kicker boots (yeuuch). What will be next year's fashionable footwear? Wellington boots maybe?
The importance placed on dancing in 1989 was an incredible phenomenom. The seed had been planted during the acid phase, but the ‘rave mentality' of people wanting to do nothing but dance the night away had never been seen on this scale before. Scotland never really had any raves like the headline grabbing ones in the south of England, but the infectious enthusiasm of the clubbers did manage to cross the border (along with quite a lot of
could explain this).
clubbing.
‘artificial stimulants' as well, which
Highlight of the year: SLAM'S Blast Off night in June for their summertour in the Winter Gardens—l missed the Stone Roses for this, but it was easily the best night of a hectic year’s
Downer of the year: SLAM'S Splashdown night at the Tramway- an absolute disaster security-wise, which left myself and hundreds of others from all over Britain wandering the streets.
Hopes? More venues; diversity; open minds; individuality; originality; peace; love; happiness; a new LP by Happy Mondays; Scotland doing well in the World Cup. . . (Colin Steven)
The List -