Congrats..Greg Edwards! The man with the patter that matters.

Recognise this handsome chap??Today we honour a very innovative personality who deserves more credit than he already deservedly gets. In the words of Micheal Caine..”Did you know” that Greg Edwards was practically head hunted by CBS in New York in the early 1970’s and relocated to be the Napoleon Solo secret agent to run their London office and build a strategy to launch their newly acquired enterprise Gamble & Huff’s PIR Records??? Nah I didn’t fink so. And all because he was huge Johnny Mathis fan..seriously!! On arrival to the UK a fresh faced Greg Edwards was met with some adverse discrimination from various parts of the music industry, in trying to promote black soul music, even if it was made by Caucasian artists. It was his constant questioning of the BBC’s lack of support that resulted in him taking over Emperor Rosko’s soul show on Radio One, before he was snapped up to host his now legendary Soul Spectrum brand, on the new emerging London outlet Capital Radio. His bathroom call inclusion, as well as his laid back cool patter that matters, captured an audience that had not experienced that in the UK in abundance, other than seeing it on TV & films, as opposed to radio. Saturday evenings 6-9pm was essential listening and I for one was educated on many great cuts like Walter Murphy’s ‘California Strut’, Mass Production ‘Cosmic Lust’ and the live studio sessions of Incognito and Light Of The World’s ‘Shine On’ and ‘Visualise Yourself And Your Mind’. Greg was successfully ‘turning the mutha out’ with The Best Disco In Town at The Lyceum, and was approached by the Funk Mafia and was part of that firm in their gangster boogie dominance during the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. I’ve interviewed Greg and over the years have managed to form a good relationship when we converse, and on quite a few occasions Dj on the same bill at various events. He’s a funny and intelligent young soul rebel who has for over 4 decades done so much for the ‘soul spectrum’ especially for much of the Brit Jazz Funk movement we now to this day still enjoy. Hence why he is getting  lifetime achievement award at the Soul Survivor Awards 17th Feb 2017..you coming??

http://www.thesoulsurvivorsmagazine.co.uk/product/the-ss-awards-and-debut-of-the-brit-funk-association-17th-feb-2017/

 

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