Get Diverted Celebrates Junior Boy’S Own

 
Art & Culture

It doesn’t get any more HOUSE than a JBO throwdown, especially with hip-house don Tyree Cooper as their guest, so Manu decided to dig a little deeper…

Few house labels can boast the kind of cachet that Junior Boy’s Own does in London clubbing circles. The musical off-shoot of the fabled Boy’s Own fanzine, the ‘village newspaper of the acid house scene’ that gave us DJs like the impossible-to-pigeonhole Andrew Weatherall and London’s favourite house-head, Terry Farley (also an expert on quality denim and London club culture pre-house) which later became a record label (well, actually a selection of labels, but we’ll say for ease that what started as Boy’s Own Recordings in 1990 later became Junior and then Junior Boy’s Own by the mid-90s), releasing seminal works by big-hitters like Underworld and the Chemical Brothers, but also stacks of records that would define British house music: Farley’s output with production partner Pete Heller – under various aliases – has to be mentioned here: Fire Island, Roach Motel and of course Farley & Heller, if you don’t know, get to know…  but there’s also great work from X-Press 2, the Ballistic Brothers, Black Science Orchestra and many more to check out. I could go on, but then I’d be here all day gushing…

Anyway, the above should give you a flavour of why I’m excited about this Saturday 28th June’s shindig at The Prince Of Wales in Brixton, which sees respected new-school London house promoters Get Diverted present a special Junior Boys Own throw-down: Farley & Heller, Rocky & Diesel of X-Press 2 and a special guest, Tyree Cooper, the Chi-town don of hip-house who now resides in Berlin. But how did JBO come to be hooked up with Get Diverted – and why did they choose Tyree as their guest? Terry Farley was kind enough to explain, ‘Myself and Pete Heller did the Terrace for Get Diverted last year and loved the crowd. For a house night it’s very diverse and had a good mix racially. House nights can be somewhat homogeneous and we loved the venue as well – it makes a change to be able to hang out and go for a drink first without being plagued by Essex boys or hen parties! And Tyree has booked me for his night at Tresor in Berlin. He’s a great DJ and such a Chicago icon – and a funny lad as well.’

So does JBO’s outspoken main man think the label’s influence is still felt in today’s many splintered house scene?  ‘I don’t know, to be honest,’ admits Farley. ‘The majority of younger kids really don’t know their own [clubbing] history. Ask ’em about Tee Scott and they will know, but ask them about Froggy or Delirium and they will look at you blankly. It’s a little sad that the rich clubbing history of London is overlooked while New York and Chicago are almost compulsory lessons.

‘Junior Boys Own had a great run and helped cement the foundations of everything we have today, alongside other top UK labels such as Paper, Azuli, Tribal UK etc and many more. What was that old hip hop quote?  “You gotta hear Blue Note to dig Def Jam”? Well, we weren’t Blue Note but you catch my drift…

Rob Alldritt, Get Diverted’s promoter and one of its DJs, shares a different perspective; one which explains his decision to hook up with the veteran label, ‘JBO definitely had a big impact on me as a clubber and DJ for sure – I started going out and DJing in 1995 (Well, bedroom DJing at first, haha) and in fact I recall ‘Ultra Flava’ by Farley & Heller being blasted out of my Kenwood speakers and my mum saying how much she loved that track, so  I’m afraid I can’t give it the typical DJ story of being influenced by my cool parents tastes of funk and rare groove! I hope that doesn’t damage Terry and Pete’s street-cred too much…’

The JBO boys will occupy the Club Room of the Prince Of Wales from 10pm, but the fun starts early from 4pm with music on the Brixton club’s excellent Terrace, featuring South London stalwarts Tim Sheridan (Basement Filth / VeryVeryWrongIndeed) and Elijah Collins, Samantha Blackburn and Get Diverted’s own Mr Alldritt, Ollie Munday & Aaron Dicker.  Meanwhile, the venue’s cunningly hidden Boudoir will feature local lads Le Piscine on the decks. House, house and more fucking house, indeed…  

Manu