Danny Love
DJ Profile Biography
Danny was born in London, and as a teenager moved to Oxford with his mum & brother.
His first encounter of what you would call urban music was a 7” single of Milli “my boy lollipop” and this was to change his life forever. Once old enough to have pocket money he was spending it all on the Windrush generation of “Rock Steady”. Going to school in Cowley, a very cosmopolitan area of Oxford he was in his element, sharing his love of reggae music with his new friends, taking them back to London to show them the shops he used for buying records.
A young David Rodigan (an Oxford boy) had set up a stall at blackbird Leys market every Sunday, this saved him money by not traveling to London and not going out with his mates on a Friday and Saturday night so that he had more money to spend on Sunday buying the rarer pre-released Jamaican records.
Danny started going to local Oxford dances and blues parties, and the main club in those days was the Catacombs Club in Oxford. There he witnessed sound system clashes for the first time whilst watching from the balcony of floor to ceiling banks of speakers! He got involved with the local sound system “Black Harmony” (which after becoming a complete nightmare they only wanted me for my music) he decided to start a sound system with old school friends, setting up kitties and meetings to work out their way of building the best sound system they could with 10 strong members.
He learnt how to build speaker boxes, string up and got introduced to amplifier builders. Now playing in local halls and blues parties along with an occasional sound clash. Danny says “I can’t think of a better introduction for an apprenticeship in music”.
By now Danny is also working and started to buy soul and funk music, and this is where his love for philly sound began, which he still loves to this day as everyone knows!
Mid to late 70’s he realised he could do this alone and with the help of his mum and my brother, he bought a disco outfit and started to discover night clubs, traveling to London to Global Village, The Royalty, 100 club and Crackers. Here he was listening to George Power, Froggy, to a young Pete Tong. He was also discovering the cream of soul record shops; Groove Records, City Sounds, Bluebird Records.
On a regular basis he was playing locally in Oxford to a Soul, Jazz, Funk and Reggae crowd.
Jaffa’s at the Horseshoe, Tottenham Court Road was where he got to know Paul Murphy, and the love for Jazz Fusion/Dance, following him to the Jazz rooms at Electric ballrooms, Camden, along with alldayers in Nottingham and Birmingham.
By now Electro Boogie started to gather pace, and he couldn’t get his head round it and was firmly locked into the world of Jazz dance. He got to know local Jazz dancers, where the moves were called “Fling Foot” you needed legs like a spider to get down. Some of these dancers went on to form the dance troop IDJ.
About a year ago Danny and Jason Hardy formed SugarShack, together they have been putting on events in and around Oxfordshire.