A Shepherds Bush DJ is moving his popular soundsystem night to Goldhawk Road.
Dan Green – who DJs under the name Daddy Long Legs – is moving his vinyl-only 'Top Banana' soundsystem night to O'Donoghues Pub at 174 Goldhawk Road, Shepherds Bush, on Friday (2 February). It follows five years of spinning tunes at the nearby Pocketwatch Pub in Uxbridge Road before the pub recently shut.
Dan said: "After five years at the Pocketwatch watching the nights really take off, it's exciting to move to a bigger venue."
As always, Friday's party is free and is the start of a twice-monthly night specialising in vintage reggae, soul and funk records played on his custom-made soundsystem. The next night will be Friday 9 February. Doors open at 8pm.
On air
When not playing out, Dan also hosts a weekly Saturday radio show on Shepherds Bush-based station HOT 96 from noon to 2pm. His foundations as a DJ can be traced back to an early love of hip hop. "I remember buying my first 12" from Record and Tape Exchange in Goldhawk Road," Dan recalls. "It was Kick-Step by Kid N' Play.
"Most of us had tunes and decks but we never had a proper soundsystem – we always had to borrow some bass bins from other people. But if you were at any house parties in Richford Street, Benbow Road or on the Wormholt estate in the Nineties we most likely had something to do with it. We were young but always had to have some 'big people music' as we were often playing for an older generation – who were big fans of rare groove and lover's rock."
Today the father-of-three who lives in Shepherds Bush can still be spotted scouring the record bins in shops across London digging for lost classics on vinyl – especially on a Friday night down at the legendary Peckings record shop in Askew Road.
"Shepherds Bush was a pretty rich musical environment back in the day. We used to watch the Notting Hill Carnival floats come down Goldhawk Road," Dan says.
Around the time Dan was digging for hip hop 12"s at Record and Tape Exchange, he was also playing for local football team Shaftesbury Headhunters (Simba's Youth Team) which was run by members of Shepherds Bush's biggest reggae soundsystems from the Seventies and Eighties – Sir Jessus.
"We would listen to them in the Emerald community centre in Hammersmith Broadway when it was based next to the Butterwick bus station," Dan says. "Because of all the music and record shops it was an incredible time to grow up in the Bush."
Known for his big smile and (yes) long legs, Dan was born in Queen Charlotte's in Goldhawk Road. He grew up in Hammersmith, attended Lena Gardens primary school and later North Westminster Community School (now Paddington Academy).
Details
For more details or to book Daddy Long Legs, email: topbananahifi@gmail.com
