Magoo

Was one of the original pioneers of House music in the UK. Back in 1987 he co-hosted (with the Swing Family) the first house music show on Sunrise radio, a cult pirate station that till then had only broadcast soul, funk and reggae. The show was very nearly taken off mid broadcast when one an irrate station manager burst into the studio demanding to know "what the hell is this weird crap your playing". Within two weeks of that broadcast Sunrise became London's first 24hr House Music radio station. From 1987 to 1990 Magoo and the rest of the Swing Family held residencies various London clubs notably the Dungeons, Cotton Club and the 4 Aces later to become the Labyrinth. Around 1991 the London scene began to change into what became known as Hardcore & Jungle and House music was pushed to the sidelines. Seeing many of his DJ peers jump from one musical band wagon to the next Magoo could have easily run with the mob but House Music was his passion. Over the next 3 years Magoo and the Swing Family promoted their own underground House night "Shelter" in a disused railway arch as well as playing regular House music slots on a number of leading pirate radio stations which by now predominately played Jungle. It was during this time that he released a number of innovative Drum & Bass tracks under the names of Arabian Nights and Rushour on Soundman Records. This was fun for a while but Soundman's development into a showcase Drum & Bass label meant that the labels energies were no longer being focused on House music and Magoo became increasingly frustrated. However a chance visit to the studio by Chris Simmonds (who was and old friend of the label owner) would soon mean things were about to change. Hearing a demo tape by Magoo, Chris's interest was stirred and a studio and a session was arranged. That first session resulted in Magoo's first release with Cross Section Records but more importantly an instant creative rapport was formed between the two. Over the past five years Chris, Magoo and Dave Ruhi (Magoo's long time studio partner) have worked together on various projects under the names of Private Funk and The Diggers their music being consistently played and talked about by the worlds top DJ's from Tony Humphries to DJ Sneak and Derrick May.