BIOGRAPHY

Norman became hooked on all aspects of black music, becoming increasingly influenced by his father’s huge collection of original 60’s Jazz, blu beat, ska and rock steady reggae from Jamaica. His father also introduced the young Jay to the delights of the powerful new and exciting r&b soul sounds emminating from late 60’s black America from the likes of Sly Stone, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and James Brown et al. This childhood music experience would have a profound lasting effect on the young Jay – thus cementing his love of all kinds of black music forever.
A self confessed ‘Beatle baby’ born in Notting Hill, London of West Indian parents, the young Norman had unwittingly displayed latent deejaying talents even from the tender age of eight. By then, encouraged by his music loving parents, he had bought his first record and played at his first gig – a 10th birthday party for one his female cousins – displaying for the first time, a precocious talent that was later to become the stuff of legend.

Whilst on a first time visit to relatives in Brooklyn he was invited to play at his very first bona fide ‘block party’ alongside his uncle – an accomplished deejay and sound system owner and operator of repute himself – proving the fact that deejaying talent ran very much in the Jay family.
He was later destined to make many more trips stateside, frequenting (and sometimes playing at) most of the seminal New York venues that mattered back in the day, forging lasting personal friendships with the likes of DJ icons such as Larry Levan, Frankie Knuckles and David Morales, Tony Humphries and Louis Vega – years before most of them had ever been heard of in the UK.

His reputation began to grow rapidly, attracting crowds of up to several thousand people whenever he played out at one of his huge itinerant (and illegal) warehouse parties.
This led to an invitation from old London DJ pal Gordon Mac to start their own pirate radio station: Kiss. Completely untrained in any aspect of broadcasting, he presented his very first ‘live’ radio show in October 1985. The rest, as they say, is radio history.

The late 80’s ‘Rare Groove’ scene (a term coined by Norman) was lead by Jay’s much vaunted Shake n’ Fingerpop party crew and Judge Jules’ Family Funktion collective. Purveyors of the funky new underground dance phenomenon sweeping London and the home counties, they played a mainly urban soundtrack from the 70’s and 80’s, mixing it up with the best of what was then and a brand new sound coming out of Chicago and New York: House music.
Amongst the first British deejays to champion this new style of music, they were responsible for the first and largest warehouse parties ever staged in London – preceding the acid house explosion by some three years – creating a huge impression on many of today’s leading British deejays and club promoters.

The Nineties dawned and it was time for Norman to seek new musical challenges, co-establishing the very first ‘Paradise Garage’ style club in Britain called ‘High On Hope’ with ex partner Patrick Lilley, playing a spiritually inspired mix of deep US house mixed with original disco classics.
He was also responsible for introducing emerging US deejays and artists such as Tony Humphries, Marshall Jefferson, Blaze, Ten City and Adeva to the UK for the first time ever. He revived the interest in the careers in the UK of original US dance divas such as Jocelyn Brown, Chaka Khan, Sharon Redd, Loleatta Holloway, Kim Myzelle, En Vogue and Gwen Guthrie, securing for them the UK recognition he felt they richly deserved.

Soon Norman was headhunted by Polygram Records to launch a new label called Talkin Loud with close friend and fellow deejay Gilles Peterson, signing the likes of uk singer/songwriters Omar, Bryan Powell, Young Disciples, Galliano and Incognito.
After four successful years at the label, -and many more happy years at Kiss – he decided it was time to quit both and pursue his first love – deejaying.

Norman Jay MBE is unquestionably one of most respected and popular DJs in the world today. Throughout the late 90s and 00s, Jay continued to build a reputation as one of the world’s most popular DJs, packing clubs to the rafters wherever he played, taking the underground sounds of rare groove and house firmly into the mainstream.
The turn of the century saw Norman Jay assume the role of elder statesman, receiving an MBE from the Queen for services to deejaying and music.

Most recently he has taken his legendary Good Times parties to the East of London, sharing the carnival vibes with venues including St John at Hackney Church, Oval Space and Mick’s Garage. His latest compilation ‘Mister Good Times’ released with Sunday Best Recordings captures the true spirit of Good Times, ‘People who used to come to arrive early doors carnival will know exactly what this is about,” says Norman.
Returning to his work as a broadcaster, and playing an eclectic mix of black and dance music across the globe as the deejay’s DJ, Norman remains at the forefront of club culture continually converting generations of clubbers to the cause, championing new sounds, yet never forgetting his musical roots, thus guaranteeing nothing but the ‘Good Times’.