After a profitable career running his clothing store, ROCK-A-CHA, selling 1950s style suits to the likes of David Bowie, the Stray Cats, Paul McCartney and hundreds of hip clubbers, Jay started his D.J. career at the infamous DIRTBOX in 1983. Thanks to the wild mix of music played by Jay & fellow DJ Rob Milton, the Dirtbox helped change the face of British clubland forever. Within a year Jay had become a prime mover behind the original '80s warehouse scene , working in groundbreaking clubs like THE WAG, The WAREHOUSE and The MUD CLUB.

 

(Jay as cartoon character on London Club flyer)

 

 

(Rockabilly Rebel goes funk - Jay in the Face 1983)

His pioneering mix of Electro, Rap, Rockabilly, Northern Soul, '70s Funk and House earned him a three page interview in THE FACE magazine and gigs around the world. As a stylish representative of the booming London club scene, Jay was one of the first superstar D.J.s, working in New York, Toronto, Los Angeles, Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo and most of Europe. In ‘87 he DJ’d at the launch party of MTV EUROPE at the Roxy in Amsterdamn. In 1988 he became the first Western D.J. to play a warehouse party in the then Soviet Union & was also the D.J. on the first ever British Rap tour of East Germany with the Stereo M.C.s in 1989. Since then Jay has continued spic mix of uplifting dance music around the world to fashionable, appreciative crowds.

 

(Jay DJing in Leipzig on the British Rap Tour of East Germany 1989)

As co-founder of outrageously successful Rhythm King Records he signed up original gangsta rapper Schoolly D, soul singer Gwen McCrae, and Godfather of Go-Go, Chuck Brown. While at the label he also released his own well-received single "EAST-WEST." In '94 he had a radio hit with "CURFEW" by DRIVE, featuring Mel Blatt of ALL SAINTS. His latest project is as co-founder, co-writer and co-producer for exotica/electronica band SOPHISTICATED SAVAGE with his wife, actress JULIENNE DAVIS.. SOPHISTICATED SAVAGE’S debut album “STRANGE PARADISE” is due for release in Summer 2006

More than just a DJ , Jay has helped spread the word on club culture by writing on dance music and popular culture for : The Face, i-D, NME, Record Mirror, Tiki News, Soul Underground, Vogue, The Observer, The Sunday Times and numerous foreign publications. He was also co-editor of the controversial web-magazine Dischord and has just finished his first novel "Ritual of the Savage" - a noir detective novel set in 1950s Los Angeles. He is currently finishing “Do It ‘Til You’re Satisfied”, a novel inspired by his global travels as a DJ in the excessive 1980s.

 

(Jay with Go Go Musicians he interviewed for UK's Observer Newspaper in 1986)

As befits a guy who was singer with Britain’s first psychobilly band “The Weekend Swingers” and then frontman for funkabilly combo “The El-Trains”, Jay became the first of the new wave of club D.J.s to release a dance single, "Action Style" (1985) on WAR records. Record of the week in Record Mirror, "Action Style" led to Jay doing promotional tours of Canada, Spain and Scandinavia.

 

(Jay on stage with the El-Trains 1982)

As a radio D.J., he had a hugely popular weekly show on Kiss FM for over seven years, and was an integral part of the station's identity from it's early days as a pirate to its legal status in the '90s. While at the station he pushed the boundaries of what was considered dance music by playing the Sex Pistols, The Clash, Rockabilly and Surf Music alongside rare groove, funky house and old school hip-hop. He was also a presenter on Radio 5's "The Mix" as well as various guest shows on BBC World Service and for stations in the U.S.A., Japan & Europe.

 

Besides being fashion editor for dance magazine Mixmag in the early 1990s, Jay has provided music for fashion shows by Vivienne Westwood, Fiorucci, Michiko Koshino, Doc. Martens, and Levis. In '95, he proved the only DJ choice to provide the soundtrack for the Victoria & Albert museum's highly acclaimed "Street Style" exhibition, mixing together 50 years of dance music; from 1940s swing to house, rockabilly to rap, and from ska to jungle.

 

In constant demand for corporate performances, Jay has programmed and D.J'd for a huge list of clients including: The Diamond Trading Company, the Monaco Grand Prix, the British Grand Prix, IPC Magazines, Sony Music, Barcardi, Shepperton Studios, Island Records, IMG Models, M&P Models, Levis, Whitney Houston's Birthday, Playboy Magazine (Hugh Hefner's 70th Birthday Party), the Face Magazine, Time Out Magazine, London Fashion Week, Island Records, Milan Fashion Week, Cartier Polo & a host of other high profile events around the globe.

Jay has also promoted clubs such as London's first Easy Listening club THE LOUNGE, the highly successful & ultra-trendy VAMP, the ska and 60's soul-themed THUNDERBALL, the '70s deep funk IT'S FUNK FELIX with Keb Darge, '80s night DECADE at the Fridge, and the latin "HOUSE OF BAMBOO" at South London Pacific.

Since 1998 Jay has been one of the resident D.J.s at London's legendary CHINAWHITE (voted BEST LONDON CLUB 2001, 2002 and BEST EUROPEAN CLUB 2003 by CONDE NAST), and has been a prime influence behind what is known globally as "the Chinawhite sound". And over the last few months he has also worked at other fashionable venues in London including PANGAEA (voted BEST CLUB 2004), UMBABA and AURA, as well as clubs across Europe.

 

(Jay manning the decks summer 2005)

Although his main music style runs from FUNKY & LATIN HOUSE through to CONTEMPORARY LOUNGE, 70s, 80s & 90s CLUB CLASSICS, R & B, WORLD MUSIC & LATIN , his love of rockabilly, exotica and '60s garage, soul & surf have earned him plenty of gigs playing those genres too. In 2001 he played at the U.S.A's first "Lounge Music Weekender" at the Madonna Inn in California, and in 2004 at the "TIKI OASIS 4" in Palm Springs playing '60s exotica, surf, soul, and lounge. Back in the UK , in 2005 he played surf & exotica at the first LONDON LUAU event which was held at Trader Vic's.