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Norman Jay

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Norman Jay, born on 6 November 1957 in Acton, London, as Norman Bernard Joseph, is a British club, radio and sound system DJ. His parents come from the West Indies. He played his first party at the age of eight, at a tenth birthday party, influenced by his father's record collection of bluebeat, ska and jazz. He soon developed a love for everything that sounded soulful, especially the music of Black America. In 2019 his autobiography Mister Good Times appeared.

Music and breakthrough

In the early 1970s he built a sound system with his brother Joey, at first called Great Tribulation. After a trip to New York in 1979 he took it more seriously. In 1980 it became Good Times, after the Chic record, and made its debut at the Notting Hill Carnival. The system was innovative because it brought soul and disco to a carnival set, despite initial resistance. Jay also became known at illegal warehouse parties in London and as co-founder of the pirate station Kiss FM in October 1985. His programme The Original Rare Groove Show gave rise to the term rare groove. When Kiss 100 became legal in September 1990, he presented the first Musiquarium broadcasts. Later he worked for BBC London and BBC Radio 2, where in 2006 and 2007 he presented the series The Funk Factory.

Influence

Norman Jay shows how a DJ can shape a culture: he brought old soul, funk and jazz records back to the public and gave them a name. His work linked the Caribbean sound system tradition with the London club scene.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to Good Times by Chic, the record from which his sound system took its name, and notice the pulsing bass guitar and the rhythm. Imagine how that sounds drifting down a street at the Notting Hill Carnival.

In School of Rock

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Categories: Artists