Here's a fun one. Organisers of a new club night in Soho are looking for DJs interested in dipping into a bizarre collection of records and giving them a spin on the decks. We'll let the people behind 'Dead Mans Boots' explain:
'In
August 2000, in the heart of Tony Blairs petrol crisis, a man
(me) saw a collection of 7 inch singles for sale in Loot. £100 for 1400 records, they said. 7p a single, end of story. Turns out the collection used to belong to a DJ who lovingly numbered them all up and played between the 60's and the 80's. Sadly though, he had recently popped his clogs (or should that be boots?) and his beloved records had been shoved into rickety old drawers and driven up from Bromley to me in Sarf London for the small matter of 100 notes. Nice tip, 'ol son. On inspection of the records, it turns out that this 'disco' that this DJ must have played at must have been the most bizarre gathering of people ever, as the collection contained everything from
Smurfs to Sparks to Shalamar to Sex Pistols to Shakin' Bleedin'
Stevens. 'I can do something with these' thought I, and promptly did nothing apart from pick them out at random and collapse in giggles on my bed.'
'Fast forward one year to the summer of 2001 and I have just moved said collection to a converted attic in Brixton with my trusty friends Nathan and Martin, who suggested that we should start up a clubnight and call it 'Dead Man's Boots' on account of said boots needing to be filled. 'Classic, let's do it!' said
I, and promptly started another club night which had absolutely nothing to do with dusty old 7 inches, boots or dead people.
Thank Gawd...'
'Three years later, the records are still there, and I am still having great fun playing the records, but time is ticking away and the boots still haven't been filled. So I decide that what we need to do is find a venue kind (and stupid) enough to let us hijack their fine establishment, and play the records until they have all been played, and then the job will be a good 'un'.
'We charge a minimal amount for entry fee, and all proceeds will go to 'Help The Aged'. With 1400 records to get through the night will only last about 10 weeks or so, and all the records will get played just the once, and then each record will get thrown out to a lucky punter in the audience. We get somewhere that will do 2-4-1 beers to help 'lubricate the mind' and we do it on a school night, 8pm to 1am, how about Monday? Nice.'
And that is what has been happening for the last couple of weeks.
Different DJs take to the decks, randomly select records from the record boxes, play em and then chuck em into the crowd - all in aid of Help The Aged. It's taking place every Monday night at Push from 8pm to 1am, for as long as the records last.
Anyone interested in enjoying the show can just show up. Anyone interested in dipping into the record boxes and selected a few singles to play should email [email protected] for more info. Sorted.
More info on the whole project at http://www.deadmansboots.co.uk