Backin
the mid seventies, three DJ's, Robbie Vincent from Radio London, Greg
Edwards from
Capital and club DJ Chris Hill started to collect a gathering
of record promotion men, artists,
promoters, DJs and journalists for regular
get-togethers at a London late nightvenue called Gulliver's. This crew
had a profound effect on the soul music scene of the times. Between them,
these guys could push record companies to release more black products
and break these tracks in clubs and on radio, and even chart obscure artists
nationally. When it came to working in clubs, they drew in other DJs:
Chris Brown, Jeff Young, Sean French, Tom Holland, Froggy and created
a network of clubs where they could all work and (for the first time)
demand fairer fee. After the famous first all dayers at Reading, where the new jazz funk scene kicked off, one promoter approached Robbie Vincent and Chris Hill with ideas of bigger events, more clubs and the concept of a Soul Weekender (which Robbie had once suggested). While trying to negotiate to get everyone involved,
he uttered the immortal words: "You're like a bleeding Mafia, and Hilly, you're the fuckin'
Godfather!"
The name was born, the Soul Mafia and the Family were the most influential
DJs in the South.
The next generation of DJs came from the dancefloors of those early Mafia
gigs
and now a new crew has emerged -
