4th SUNDAY of the MONTH 4 – 6pm
SOUL CRUISIN‘
FRIDAY 8 – 10PM (alternating with MICK FARRER)
Steve has been obsessed with music since the mid 60s, taking in all genres of music during those very formative years. In 1973 he began to specialise in soul and jazz and never looked back deciding to try his hand at hospital radio to learn the basics of broadcasting to share his love for the music.
He started deejaying in 1983, joining Solar Radio in 1987, who were one of the leading pirate stations helping to forge the way to getting the authorities to allow incremental stations to finally give the public what they wanted, That transformation came in 1990 and Jazz FM were the first station in London to get one of the new licences and Steve presented the Soul Bowl on Jazz FM for the first 2 years until the station had an unfortunate change in music policy, culling all the non-jazz programmes. The show specialised in lesser know artists from the independent labels and In that short time he interviewed Ronnie McNeir, Sidney Joe Qualls, Rick Webb, Susaye Green, Betty Lavette, Johnnie Wilder, Richard Rogers, Ronald Jones, Roy Galloway, Jan Kincaid, Driza Bone, Donna Gardier, plus Steve Davis, Ian Clark, Bill Shannon and Ian Levine.
One door closes and all that….but the next door opened the way to an 18 year career as a journalist with his own column in Blues & Soul magazine reviewing new soul music, again, mainly from the smaller independent labels on both sides of the Atlantic.
The radio thread continued throughout this period with a return to Solar Radio, ever-present since their return in 1998, and is still presenting today with Soul Cruisin on Friday nights (alternating with Mick Farrer). Too much music and not enough air time!
Club-wise, Steve cut his teeth with the much lauded Red Lion weekly sessions in Horsell, Surrey, in the late 80s, plus many gigs up and down the UK including 15 Southport Weekenders, a few appearances at Thorne, all the Prestatyn Weekenders from 2000-2012, a couple of Caisters, the early Bournemouth Weekenders, all the Soul Cruisin boat parties on the Thames (30+ years!) and most prestigiously, he has been ever-present at the Baltic Soul Weekenders in Hamburg, being one of the four Brits with residency status.
