Date: 16.06.07
Interviewer:
Northern Nights
"I think the first house track I bought was in 1986," DJ Eddie Richards says as we accompany him on a trip down memory lane. "Yeah, it was by Sleazy D and called I’ve Lost Control. It was basically a squelchy 303 acid line with a strange vocal repeating the title. But I loved it."
Enough, it seems, for him to become such a champion of this sound that Record Mirror would come to dub him ‘Britain’s Godfather of House and Techno’. A major accolade you might think, but back then there were few willing to contest that particular title. There was Colin Faver – who actually partnered Richards at the man’s own Camden Palace residency – but few others appeared to have been bitten by the bug.
"After about 1987 the music from the USA producers just kept coming: from house to Detroit techno to hip-house," he recounts. "Even the major labels started hiring them for remixes to give some credibility to their artists."
Richards was right in the thick of this growing interest with his Dy-na-mix – the first ever DJ agency – orchestrating European dates for American talent. As he puts it, "we had the parties and they had the music". But just as he was personally rivalling their mixing abilities on the decks, the relatively inexpensive equipment needed to make house and techno records would inspire British bedroom producers to address the lack of UK tracks. Richards himself contributed Acid Man under his Jolly Roger guise.
Originally made for playing at the Camden Palace (where Richards – who’d trained as a photographer - first started spinning records by the likes of Yello, Yazoo, Soul Sonic Force and Alexander Robotnick for promoters Steve Strange and Rusty Egan back in 1982), Virgin Records snapped it up for a commercial release. Reaching the Top 20 just as the exploding rave culture had prompted the tabloids to take an interest, Radio 1 swiftly banned the use of the word ‘acid’ on the station.
"Lucky for me in a way as Virgin were expecting me to have something ready for Top of the Pops," says Richards, "and I wasn't really into the idea of embarrassing myself in front of a million people."
Then as the hysteria died down and promoters, DJs and producers were able to make an even more lucrative impact on the mainstream [even the Daily Star started a column called ‘Rave’ while The Sun allowed ‘e’ to return to a simpler role as a vowel], Richards was found continuing his avoidance of TOTP. Instead he’s since stuck to quality underground sounds and become a continued supporter of funky bass-driven house and techno.
"I’m hanging in there," he confirms. "For the last 20 years I’ve been doing what I like pretty much so I’m happy. I’m grateful to have had that luxury."
Evil Eddie Richards plays at Stylus on Saturday 14th July 2007
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