Eddie Richards, also known as Evil Eddie Richards and Jolly Roger, is a British DJ. He was one of the first DJs to champion
house music
House is a music genre characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 120 beats per minute. It was created by Disc jockey, DJs and music producers from Chicago metropolitan area, Chicago' ...
back in the mid 1980s and one of the UK's original mix DJs residing at London's
Camden Palace
Camden may refer to:
People
* Camden (surname), a surname of English origin
* Camden Joy (born 1964), American writer
* Camden Toy (born 1957), American actor
Places Australia
* Camden, New South Wales
* Camden, Rosehill, a heritage resi ...
. Along with being a House pioneer, Eddie is also considered the "Godfather" of a subgenre of house, known as
Tech House
Tech house is a subgenre of house music that combines stylistic features of techno with house. The term ''tech house'' developed as a shorthand record store name for a category of electronic dance music that combined musical aspects of techno ...
.
Biography
Richards was born in
Amersham
Amersham ( ) is a market town and civil parish within the unitary authority of Buckinghamshire, England, in the Chiltern Hills, northwest of central London, from Aylesbury and from High Wycombe. Amersham is part of the London commuter belt.
...
,
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...
, England.
[Gregory, Andy (2002) ''International Who's Who in Popular Music 2002'', Europa, , pp. 429–430] He first came to prominence in the 1980s as a DJ at the
Camden Palace
Camden may refer to:
People
* Camden (surname), a surname of English origin
* Camden Joy (born 1964), American writer
* Camden Toy (born 1957), American actor
Places Australia
* Camden, New South Wales
* Camden, Rosehill, a heritage resi ...
in London.,
[Norris, Richard (2008) ''Paul Oakenfold: The Authorised Biography'', Corgi, , p. 81] whom he credits the late
Colin Faver
Colin Faver (24 December 1951 – 5 September 2015) was a British club and radio DJ, best known for his 1990s cutting-edge show on London's Kiss FM, and an important role in the development of British club culture.
Biography
Colin Faver was bor ...
for getting him a residency at the club.
[Take 10: Eddie Richards](_blank)
DJ Magazine, retrieved 3 June 2015 He became resident DJ at Clink Street (alongside
Mr. C
Richard West (born 2 January 1965), known as Mr. C, is an English house music DJ, producer and rapper. He was the resident DJ at the early acid house "RIP" nights at Clink Street, London, and later was the co-owner/co-founder of London's The En ...
), where he played a major role in introducing house music to the UK, and he has been called Britain's "godfather of house".
[Prato, Gre]
Eddie Richards Biography
Allmusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
, retrieved 2011-07-16[Reynolds, Simon (1999) ''Generation Ecstasy: Into the World of Techno and Rave Culture'', Routledge, , p. 62]
From April 1989 to July 1990, Richards ran a local clubnight ''Outer Limits'' at the
Sanctuary Music Arena
The Sanctuary Music Arena was a 22,000 sq ft, 3,500 capacity music venue in Denbigh North, Milton Keynes in the UK, and most well known for its connection to the rave scene.
Origins
Originally intended for industrial use, the unit was built sp ...
in Bletchley,
Milton Keynes
Milton Keynes ( ) is a city and the largest settlement in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of its urban area was over . The River Great Ouse forms its northern boundary; a tributary ...
.
In June 1990, he also founded the DJ agency Dy-na-mix.
Later, Richards devoted more time to music production, releasing and licensing tracks with labels in the UK, Europe & US including End Recordings, Hypervinyl, SoCo Audio, Northern Lights, LHB, & own labels Lunar Tunes, Dy-na-mix & Storm.
Besides his long standing residency at Wiggle, a series of London underground parties, he spins regularly at Fabric in London and has been featured in the
Fabric Mix CD series.
[Eddie Richards - ''Fabric 16''](_blank)
Resident Advisor
''Resident Advisor'' (also known as ''RA'') is an online music magazine and community platform dedicated to showcasing electronic music, artists and events across the globe. It was established in 2001. ''RA''s editorial team provides news, musi ...
, 21 June 2004, retrieved 2011-07-16
Eddie Richards and the Rise of Tech House
The Roots of Tech House at first, can be rooted in the United Kingdom in the early 90's after the explosion of Acid House. Tech House was seen as the alternative to that, as it didn't have the high energy to be played as much at raves, but seemingly didn't reach it's full potential right away.
Eddie came into the genre and helped it rise by DJ'ing with Mr. C at the Paul Stone and Clink Street RIP parties in 1988, seen as the counterpart to the Shoom events. These were the key to introducing the Acid House culture in London, England. The Clink Street Parties that Eddie and Mr. C threw were what pioneered the Tech House events that soon followed. Eddie became one of 3 residents at the Iconic Wiggle parties in the early 90s, along with the Drop Parties and Heart and Soul/Release events, Tech House shortly thereafter was then incubated.
After playing at Clink Street and
Heaven
Heaven or the heavens, is a common religious cosmological or transcendent supernatural place where beings such as deities, angels, souls, saints, or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned, or reside. According to the belie ...
in London and
The Hacienda in
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
, Richards then went on to headline the legendary
Second Summer of Love
The Second Summer of Love was a late 1980s social phenomenon in the United Kingdom which saw the rise of acid house music and unlicensed rave parties. Although primarily referring to the summer of 1988, it lasted into the summer of 1989, when e ...
parties such as Sunrise, Energy and Helter Skelter among many others.
Remix
A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...
and production work led to the release of club classics such as "Acid Man" in 1988, which reached number 23 in the UK singles charts, followed by other popular remixes of
Ralphi Rosario
Ralphi Rosario is an American house musician and founding member of the influential Chicago DJ group Hot Mix 5.
Biography
When Hot Mix 5 was formed in 1981 on radio station WBMX (now WVAZ), Rosario, the youngest member of the group, was still in ...
,
Orbital and
The Shamen
The Shamen ( ) were a Scottish psychedelic band, formed in 1985 in Aberdeen, who became a chart-topping British electronic dance music act by the early 1990s. The founding members were Colin Angus, Derek McKenzie and Keith McKenzie. Peter St ...
.
Discography
*"Acid Man" (as Jolly Roger) (10 Records, 1989)
*"Why Can't We Live Together" (as Jolly Roger) (Desire Records, 1989)
*''The Dark EP'' (Visitor / N.E.W.S, 2002)
*''9660 EP'' (Household Digital, 2003)
*''Fabric 16'' (DJ Mix) (Fabric London, 2004)
*''Classics EP'' (Bla Bla Music, 2010)
*''"Soul Is Life / Mbaby"'' (Storm Recordings, 2014)
*''"Yeyo / Aaaiii"'' (Storm Recordings, 2014)
*''"Dream2 / Imove"'' (Storm Recordings, 2015)
*''Lost in Time'' (as a Remix on Lost in Time) (Asia Music, 2017)
*''Nocturnal EP'' (Sweatbox Records, 2019)
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Richards, Eddie
British DJs
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
People from Amersham
Musicians from London