JAY’S A GOOD…

STARSANDHEROES talks to DJ NORMAN JAY

It’s Carnival Time! Well, sort of. Norman Jay, the man routinely described as “the world’s best DJ”, “the DJ’s DJ” and just plain “genius”, has kindly decided it was high time Australia experienced some real Good Times. To this end, he’s bringing his legendary Good Times Sound System to Sydney (among other cities – he’s also causing mass rug-cutting frenzies in Perth, Brisbane, Byron Bay and Melbourne) this coming October – are you ready? Well, are you?

For those of you who’ve been living under a particularly unfunky rock for the past 20-odd years, a little explanation: Norman Jay is one of the most important figures in UK and global dance music. Whatever developments, leaps and bounds the partying globe has experienced, since disco first shook its sequined tailfeather in New York back in the late ‘70s, Jay was there, taking in the atmosphere and planning his campaign for world (ok, club) domination. “It’s the vibe - the attitude,” he explains down an anachronistically crackly phone line from his West London home, “What Good Times is about is showing that an eclectic mix of music can work on one dancefloor.” Amen to that.

From co-founding London’s first dance music station Kiss FM in the 1980s, to co-founding the legendary Talkin’ Loud label (home to the likes of Galliano, Incognito and the Young Disciples) with fellow obsessive Gilles Peterson in the ‘90s, Jay has never stopped working, building on his own foundations to give black music to the music-loving public.

He’s now come so far, in the eyes of the UK “establishment” at least, that he has become the first black UK DJ to be honoured by The Queen with an MBE (technically, one below a knighthood). How does that make him feel? “On top of the world, very, very proud - very honoured that my efforts have been acknowledged by the highest authority in the land – I mean, you can’t get higher than that.”

Did he expect it to happen? “I didn’t even know! I was on tour in Scandanavia and I got a call from home. I haven’t been to see Her Majesty yet – I’m hoping I don’t get the invitation while I’m away. That’s my worst nightmare cos I would really literally have to drop everything and rush straight back…” Happily, that potential disaster has now been averted: Jay posted an announcement on his splendid website www.normanjay.com shortly after our interview, saying, “AT LAST! I’ve finally been summoned. My big day at Buckingham Palace takes place on Tuesday 12th NOVEMBER 2002”. Phew.

And while we’re on the subject of awards, does he think DJs get the recognition they deserve? “Ultimately, if you’re patient, or if you die! I mean I’m the first DJ since [legendary septuagenarian UK radio and TV personality] Jimmy Saville to get an MBE ‘for services to DJing and culture’ – that’s the official title – it’s an absolute first. And what it does, is open the door for others in the field to get theirs too.” So who does he think is next up? “Well, I’m not gonna be drawn on that one obviously!” Spoilsport… “But I’m pleased, cos mine was awarded absolutely on merit, and getting it out of the blue makes it even more sweet.”

Naturally, Jay is full of enthusiasm for his forthcoming trip to Buck House, tea with Liz etc, but happily he’s equally excited about coming to Australia in the meantime. “Australia’s never let me down – I’ve been coming there every year since 1994 and I’ve seen how the music scene’s grown and evolved. There basically isn’t any difference between Australia and England is there?” Apart from the weather? “Well no, we don’t get the weather like Australia!”

He’s played here many times before, of course, most recently accompanying Jamiroquai – the man Jay calls “the funkiest man in the world”, no less – at Vibes On A Summer’s Day back in February of this year. So what can we expect this time round? “More of my own style, really” he emphasises. “When I’m part of a revue, I normally taper it for the shorter sets – at Vibes there were lots of other DJs – but essentially it’s just good times!” There’s that phrase again. What does it mean? “A freestyle range, everything – funky house down to old-school dancefloor jazz, and everything in-between.”

He’s not wrong. A cursory glance at Jay’s gargantuan 11-hour playlist across the two days of this year’s incomparable Notting Hill Carnival - over which a perma-grinning Jay has presided since 1994 like a beneficent vinyl-wielding spirit – reveals everything from ‘70s disco and soul to classic house, 2-step garage, ‘60s jazz, reggae, drum’n’bass, hip-hop and probably Japanese folk if we look hard enough. A self-confessed entertainer, suffice to say, if it gets you on the dancefloor, Jay’s gonna play it.

Back in Blighty, the classic Good Times format usually involves an open-topped double-decker bus and thousands of screaming, sweating, dancing, “Norman is God” placard-waving fans. How does he hope to translate that to Sydney’s Greenwood Hotel? “Well, this is just a teaser tour - hopefully the fully-fledged thing will take place sometime early next year. This is a whistle-stop goodwill tour to introduce Good Times, really.”

“Notting Hill Carnival is the highlight of my year,” he offers by way of roundabout explanation. “It’s the biggest thing I do, it’s in my home town, it’s my own flock, and it’s free, so that means all my friends – the ones I do know, and the ones I’m gonna make – can all come. Many, many Australians come every year and it’s fantastic, every year we get people in the crowd holding up banners saying “Sydney”, Australian flags and all that.”

I wonder, is he disappointed that Jamiroquai’s shortly to be touring Australia again without him? “Actually, I’ve been getting emails from Australia already, people asking whether we’re doing the tour together! But I’m not disappointed, cos he’s a band and I’m a DJ – this is my thing. I was happy to support him [at Vibes], but this is my concept, Good Times, and we’re hoping to come back and have parties with a double-decker bus, just like I do at Notting Hill – a converted double-decker bus.”

What, so he can become Sydney’s first drive-by DJ? “No,” Jay sighs resignedly, “It’s a static bus, but it makes a change from just a stage or a club – it’s a different approach.” Then he comes up with an absolute peach of an idea: “It’d be great if we could park a double-decker bus on Bondi, you know what I mean? Do the party there - that’d be wild! But that kind of concept is exactly what Good Times is all about.”

Clearly immensely fond of Australia, Jay sums up the mini-tour thus: “This teaser tour is a sort of sampler tour, an awareness exercise to see if people are interested. We’re hoping it’ll be a long-term thing, and we can get some major corporate sponsorship involved, because if that happens we’ll be able to bring over other DJs and artists in conjunction with using a lot of local talent. And I know there’s an abundance of talent in Australia cos I’ve met them and seen them!” Well, you heard the man – let’s get down to it, boppers.

NORMAN JAY’S GOOD TIMES SOUND SYSTEM APPEARS AT THE GREENWOOD HOTEL, SYDNEY ON MONDAY 7TH OCTOBER 2002 11AM-10PM. GOOD TIMES SKANK, AN ALBUM OF CLASSIC REGGAE HAND-PICKED BY NORMAN AND HIS BROTHER JOEY, IS OUT NOW ON TROJAN RECORDS. SURF TO WWW.NORMANJAY.COM FOR DETAILS.

(originally published 30th September 2002 in 3D World)