Eddie Richards

Eddie Richards
Eddie Richards performing in 2007
Background information
Also known as	Evil Eddie Richards, Jolly Roger
Born	Amersham, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom
Genres	Dance music
Occupation(s)	DJ, Producer
Years active	1980s–present

Website	http://www.eddierichards.net

Musical artist

Eddie Richards, also known as Evil Eddie Richards and Jolly Roger, is a British DJ. He was one of the first DJs to champion house music back in the mid-1980s and one of the UK's original mix DJs residing at London's Camden Palace. Along with being a House pioneer, Eddie is also considered the "Godfather" of a subgenre of house, known as Tech House.^[1]

Biography

Richards was born in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, England.^[2] He first came to prominence in the 1980s as a DJ at the Camden Palace in London.,^[2]^[3] whom he credits the late Colin Faver for getting him a residency at the club.^[4] He became resident DJ at Clink Street (alongside Mr. C), where he played a major role in introducing house music to the UK, and he has been called Britain's "godfather of house".^[2]^[5]^[6]

From April 1989 to July 1990, Richards ran a local clubnight Outer Limits at the Sanctuary Music Arena in Bletchley, Milton Keynes.^[7] In June 1990, he also founded the DJ agency Dy-na-mix.^[5]^[8]

Later, Richards devoted more time to music production, releasing and licensing tracks with labels in the UK, Europe & US including End Recordings, Hypervinyl, SoCo Audio, Northern Lights, LHB, & own labels Lunar Tunes, Dy-na-mix & Storm.

Besides his long standing residency at Wiggle, a series of London underground parties, he spins regularly at Fabric in London and has been featured in the Fabric Mix CD series.^[9]

Eddie Richards and the Rise of Tech House

The Roots of Tech House can be traced to the United Kingdom in the early 90s after the explosion of Acid House. Tech House was seen as the direct alternative to acid house, as it did not have the high energy to be played as much at raves that was commonly seen through other genres at the time, and therefore, the subgenre seemingly did not reach its full potential right away.

Eddie soon began experimenting with the genre and helped it gain prominence by DJ'ing with Mr. C at the Paul Stone and Clink Street RIP parties in 1988, then seen as the counterpart to the Shoom events. These sets were the key to introducing the Acid House culture in London, England.

The Clink Street Parties that Eddie and Mr. C threw were what pioneered a road for the Tech House events that soon followed. Eddie became one of 3 residents at the Iconic Wiggle parties in the early 90s, along with the Drop Parties and Heart and Soul/Release events. Tech House shortly thereafter was incubated.^[1]

After playing at Clink Street and Heaven in London and The Hacienda in Manchester, Richards then went on to headline the legendary Second Summer of Love parties such as Sunrise, Energy and Helter Skelter among many others. Remix and production work led to the release of club classics such as "Acid Man" in 1988, which reached number 23 in the UK singles charts, followed by other popular remixes of Ralphi Rosario, Orbital and The Shamen.

Discography

"Acid Man" (as Jolly Roger) (10 Records, 1989)
"Why Can't We Live Together" (as Jolly Roger) (Desire Records, 1989)
The Dark EP (Visitor / N.E.W.S, 2002)
9660 EP (Household Digital, 2003)
Fabric 16 (DJ Mix) (Fabric London, 2004)
Classics EP (Bla Bla Music, 2010)
"Soul Is Life / Mbaby" (Storm Recordings, 2014)
"Yeyo / Aaaiii" (Storm Recordings, 2014)
"Dream2 / Imove" (Storm Recordings, 2015)
Lost in Time (as a Remix on Lost in Time) (Asia Music, 2017)
Nocturnal EP (Sweatbox Records, 2019)

References

^ ^a ^b "Beatport's Definitive History of Tech House". Beatportal. 3 September 2021. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
^ ^a ^b ^c Gregory, Andy (2002) International Who's Who in Popular Music 2002, Europa, ISBN 1-85743-161-8, pp. 429–430
^ Norris, Richard (2008) Paul Oakenfold: The Authorised Biography, Corgi, ISBN 978-0-552-15584-7, p. 81
^ Take 10: Eddie Richards, DJ Magazine, retrieved 3 June 2015
^ ^a ^b Prato, Greg Eddie Richards Biography, Allmusic, retrieved 2011-07-16
^ Reynolds, Simon (1999) Generation Ecstasy: Into the World of Techno and Rave Culture, Routledge, ISBN 978-0-415-92373-6, p. 62
^ Bill Brewster (4 February 2011). "Eddie Richards Interview". DJ History. Archived from the original on 15 March 2012. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
^ "Eddie Richards: DLTM Spends Time with a Pioneer". Don't Lose The Magic. 17 April 2016.
^ Eddie Richards - Fabric 16, Resident Advisor, 21 June 2004, retrieved 2011-07-16