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=== Musical shaman playing The Rock and The Roll of The World, Globalista Rhythms and The Universal Blues. ===

Biography

A London native renowned dj who toured with the legendary Clash. In an era when just about everyone calls themselves a DJ, Scratchy stands out as a genuine, independent and free-thinking phenomenon. For over 35 years, starting with his first punk gig on July 5th 1976, alongside The Ramones at Dingwalls Dancehall, the famous London club where Scratchy was resident DJ for two years.

It was a consciousness and love of rockin’n’rollin roots music, a formidable reputation from his ongoing club and concert work at major venues and events in London, from the Speakeasy to Dingwalls, from the Roundhouse to the Lyceum plus an initial couple of tours with Dr.Feelgood, that led to two years as the on-the-road tour dj with his favourite band the Clash. He accompanied them throughout the UK and was an essential feature of their first three US campaigns. Meanwhile, between tours, he continued to play London concerts with stellar acts like Iggy Pop, Blondie, the Cramps and Black Uhuru.

Excited by how the punk sensibility had spread across the globe, combining with different local musical traditions to bring about fresh musical forms, in the new millennium he hooked up again with Joe Strummer, himself a great adherent of the new global music. This provided Scratchy with the perfect arena to further develop his own fascination with both roots music and the contemporary and, thus, take The Rock and The Roll of The World back onto a larger stage.

Scratchy had bypassed so-called DJ culture and remains to this day relatively and refreshingly beats-free. He is an unrepentant rock’n’roller. It is that spirit which he still seeks today, in the music of the wider world.

He continues to plays to wild and enthusiastic crowds in clubs and at major festivals across Europe and beyond. Since being back on the road with Joe Strummer’s Mescaleros, Scratchy has also teamed up with the Pogues, played at home and abroad with the Dead Brothers, covered Europe with Groundation.

2004

Scratchy Sounds: Ska, Dub, Roots and Reggae Nuggets on Trojan and was also invited by Piranha Records in 2007 to select the tracks for one of their downloadable Jubilee releases, Rockin’ the Barricades.

He began working with the popular London combo, The Urban Voodoo Machine. With Scratchy as resident dj for the Gypsy Hotel, a monthly club night in London.

Throughout 2006 & 2007, he toured extensively with Gogol Bordello.

2008

Scratchy added to his long list of triumphs by shaking clubs from the Boulevard in Rimini to the Scala in London. He rattled festival tents and stages from Rock for People and Trutnov in the Czech Republic to the Wig-On Casino at the UK’s Endorse-It and he rolled ships from le Bateau Geneve in Switzerland to la Dame de Canton in Paris. Scratchy showcased at Popkomm 2008.

2009

Scratchy captivate audiences at le Festival des Giboulees, the United Islands of Prague and the Gypsy Hotel special at the Hackney Empire.

2010

The Bring On 2010 Tour Scratchy debuted in Athens and Zaragoza, returned to Barcelona for the first time in his own right since playing there with Gogol and premiered in Tirana, Albania and Cosenza, Italy. He entered the new decade in the company of The Urban Voodoo Machine at the The Gypsy Hotel. Scratchy continued his London residencies at the Gypsy Hotel and Big Chill Sundae, as well as establishing a new monthly night, Good Time Religion at Camino Cruz Del Rey. He has regularly guested at the rock’n’roll & rhythm’n’blues night Big Ten Inch and made his first visits to Ukraine to play in Kiev and at the Stare Misto Festival in Lviv alongside Goran Bregovic and The Urban Voodoo Machine. In July he made a two night appearance at Colours of Ostrava.

August saw a series of glorious returns as Scratchy played on Le Bateau Geneve and at the Endorse It and Trutnov festivals, all for a third successive year. He was also back at Sziget for the first time since he debuted there in 2006, with a series of shows over the course of the week.

In October 2010, Scratchy showcased at WOMEX10. In November Scratchy was back in Greece, not only returning to Athens but also playing in Komotini and Thessaloniki. He saw out the year with gigs in London, Berlin, Paris and Geneva, culminating in the traditional Gypsy Hotel New Year’s Eve Party.

2011

The mission continued unabated in 2011, playing with Mama Rosin, whose music he has supported since seeing a nascent version of the band open up for The Dead Brothers at the launch of their Wunderkammer album, visiting Bologna for Irlanda in Festa and running riot across the dancefloors of the World Village Festival in Helsinki and at the World Day Festival, his debut in Tallinn, Estonia.

In July, the 35th anniversary of that notable Dingwalls Ramones gig coincided with the 200th programme of Scratchy Sounds, his radio show on wirelessfm. Scratchy marked this double cause for celebration with a special broadcast of the kind of music that had been on his decks in the five-year period from 1976, spanning the days from that memorable night to the very first series of Scratchy Sounds in ‘80/’81. It also launched the Globalista Rhythms and The Universal Blues World Tour 2011/12. Later that same month, he also revisited the seventies punky reggae rock’n’roll mood, joining his old compadre Johnny Green along with Chuck Prophet & Spanish Bombs on a night of London Calling. In October, he followed up two shows at The Ulsan World Music Festival in Korea by also debuting in Japan at the Asagiri Jam Festival ending with his first ever Tokyo club show.

Scratchy continued to be active on the recording front, contributing two dub mixes for the album Re:Plugged – Remixes of Jaune Toujours & Mec Yek and in March 2011, releasing the album Gypsy Hotel: Bourbon Soaked, Snake Charmin’, Rock’n’Roll Cabaret Vol.1 with some of the finest bands to have played live or been featured on the Gypsy Hotel’s decks as selected by Scratchy and the club’s host & booker Paul-Ronney Angel.

2012

The Treble Top Tour was a celebration of his own sixty years rockin’ on the planet, with a particular nod of respect and remembrance to Joe Strummer, who’s sixtieth birthday was noted at The Strummer of Love Festival in August. Also, as part of paying a tenth annual tribute to Joe who left us in December of 2002, Scratchy took part in Arms Aloft in Acton Town in November, marking the 10th Anniversary of the Fire Brigade Union support gig that Strummer, the Mescaleros and Scratchy participated in, as part of the Bringing It All Back Home Tour, a short month before Joe passed on. To commemorate the 10th anniversary of Joe Strummer’s death, Scratchy was in France, on the eve of that occasion, to play a special DJ set in Paris back at L’Alimentation Generale, travelling to Angers the following day, December 22nd, for a tribute event, Strummer’s Xmas Party, in front of a packed 700-strong crowd.

Scratchy made a spellbinding return to Japan, playing at Fuji Rock, touring with Argentinian/Puerto Rican legends Mimi Maura and he rounded off with his own showcase night back in Tokyo. To celebrate turning sixty himself, at the September Gypsy Hotel, Scratchy fronted a band made up of some his buddies from The Urban Voodoo Machine as 60 Scratch, playing a set of garage, rockabilly and reggae tunes, specially selected by him for the occasion.

2013

2013 got underway with Scratchy’s first visit to South America, showcasing and delivering a conference talk, When Worlds Collide, at Porto Musical, the music event in Recife, Brazil. Making steps towards Africa, he performed in April, at the Kriol Jazz Festival 2013 in Praia, Cape Verde.

Summer 2013 found Scratchy back in Japan for his own storming 11-11 Tour, named for 11 sets in 11 days, which climaxed back on the Crystal Palace Stage of Fuji Rock, for a second successive year.

Whether on his weekly internet Scratchy Sounds radio show, on wirelessfm, or in the flesh, Scratchy’s legendary and vibrant selections will delight, make you want to dance to some of the greatest music on the planet and take you places where others fear to tread.

Scratchy is renown for his constantly shifting and never predictable, Rockin’, Roma, Dubbed-Up, Mestizo mixes which take a voyage through the sound-scapes of “London to Louisiana, Kingston to Colombia, Bucharest to Bollywood.” Scratchy taste is eclectic. Ska, Dub & Roots Reggae Nuggets and Back In The Garage sets that take the 50s and 60s Rockin & Soulful Rhythm & Blues as their launch pad, or those that follow The Road of the Roma, or any combination from all the vital elements that make up The Rock and The Roll of The World.

Present

Nowadays, it is not unusual to hear Selecta Scratchy segue from the honking horns of the Skatalites into the pumping brass of Fanfare Ciocarlia. The frantic sounds of New Orleans’ Zydepunks might give way to some classic cajun, whilst the loping bass and accordion stabs of a Colombian cumbia may hand over to Mano Negra’s jumped-up mestizo-punk. One thing is for sure, his mixes are unique. They are neither predictable nor are they one-dimensional. No two sets are alike. In pushing his audience, Scratchy is always pushing himself. He passionately believes that whilst being there to entertain, his role can also be to open minds whilst, of course, having fun. Scratchy spins The Roots, Rockin’ Rhythms of Rock’n’Roll, Rhythm’n’Blues and Reggae on Vinyl.

Discography

Scratchy Sounds: Ska, Dub, Roots & Reggae Nuggets, double CD on Trojan Piranha Jubilee Vol.7: Rockin’ the Barricades [http://www.allmusic.com/album/piranha-jubilee-vol-7-rockin-the-barricades-mw0001285095 Re:Plugged: Remixes of Jaune Toujours & Mec Yek incl. two Scratchy Dubs on Choux de Bruxelles)] Gypsy Hotel: Bourbon Soaked, Snake Charmin’, Rock’n’Roll Cabaret Vol.1.

Collaborators

Is Saitch Yer Daddy

Bands & Artists

The Clash Gogol Bordello The Dead Brothers The Pogues The Urban Voodoo Machine

Clubs & Events

http://wearebigchill.com/ Gypsy Hotel

Scratchy Links

Scratchy Sounds Mixcloud Scratchy Sounds Facebook Scratchy Sounds Myspace Scratchy Sounds Playback