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Stuart
first took to the road with his mobile disco whilst living in Yeovil back
in 1969 and his first gig was at the Quayside Discotheque at
Weymouth
where he was paid just
£5.00
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“In
those days
a fiver was alot of money you
could get to Weymouth and back for less than 50p’s worth of fuel.
My
first set up was a pair of Garrard SP25
decks a 50 watt linear valve
amp, two home made speaker cabs a
pair of light boxes a UV lamp and a microphone. I didn’t have a mixer
and I therefore had to fill in with plenty of chat whilst waiting for the
next record to start playing” said Stuart. “I soon picked up regular
gigs at pubs and signed up to a couple of local entertainment agencies who
kept me busy and it wasn’t long before I was out four or five nights
a week.
In
my early days I backed many bands at the Assembly Rooms including Slade
and Cupids Inspiration”.
Ploughing all the money he made from gigs back in to up grading his
equipment Stuart soon built up a show second to none and signed up to
agencies in Salisbury and Hove where he played the Military establishment
circuit from Bovington to Middle Wallop and Culdrose to Lynham, he also
performed regularly at Bath and Reading University’s and played many
open air gigs with acts such as Wizzard. He also hosted a show on local
Hospital Radio
and did a stint on Radio North Sea. By the mid seventies Stuart was starting to put more
emphasis into the showman and introduced a Crazy World of Arthur Brown
Fire act into his show using pyrotechnics with flashes, smoke and
theatrical maroons. This part of Stuart’s show saw him perform in strobe
lighting and tearing some of his clothes off that were put together with
Velcro. “The audiences that I performed in front of went wild and I can
recall one evening when we had run out of our usual smoke pellets and
substituted them with greenhouse smoke pellets which used to be used for
getting rid of green fly. There was so much smoke that they had to vacate
the club and it took 45 minutes for the smoke to clear needless to say I
didn’t go back there again”. He
also used theatrical make up, blood capsules and false hair which he
ripped out in handfuls... Stuart went up and down the country with
the Bass ‘Carling Black Label Roadshow’ and backed Radio Luxembourg
and Radio 1 DJ’s including Noel Edmonds, Peter Powell, Kid Jensen,
Rosko and the late Stuart Henry
he also travelled to France, Germany, Sweden and Denmark performing in
night clubs. In 1977 his show took on a new dimension ‘Horror’ and
with two suitcases full of masks and costumes Stuart embarked on scarring
and entertaining audiences the likes that had never been seen performed by
a DJ before. “I went from being a Werewolf to a Skeleton and back to the
Incredible Hulk during the course of playing the 12” version of Disco
Inferno
by the Players Association. It
was at the Tavern venue in Dorchester that Stuart first met Screaming Lord
Sutch “He was impressed with my show as I was with his and we struck up
a long friendship that saw him open the Night Club that I managed in
Yeovil in 1979 and then of course
in 1985 he got me into politics
and everyone knows the rest”.
(Loony)
Stuart
kept his hand in DJ’ing in the early 80’s and performed at several
venues including Carinas a club he later went on to manage “I also
played a few clubs between
1989 and 1992
at Bridport and
Nero's Okehampton
and backed the bands including Edwin Starr and Bad Manners at the Sidmouth Caribbean Night”.
Always prepared to give anything a go he made friends with Dave Maughan a
recording engineer from Gateshead and went into the recording studio in
1993 during the run up to the general election to record 'Loony Loony' as Big Benn and the
Pundits, however the project was shelved as the timing for its release was
too close to election day. It was finally released in 1997 on the
Face music label and the CD crept into the top 100. Stuart was of course
hoping he was going to make it to No.10.
One of the other tracks on the CD is Pundifesto which features Stuart
alias Big Benn quoting some of the Loony policies that formed part of his
Raving Loony Green Giant Party's Manifesto several relate to the recession
and it is hoped that in 2009 it will be available to download on Napster
as Stuart feels that at least it will help put a smile on folks faces. The
two tracks can be heard on either the Home or Loony Years pages.
In
2008
Stuart hit the road once
again “There had been
so many
comebacks what
with the Spice Girls and Take
That and it
was definitely
the right time for the return of
Stuart Hughes.
The
smoking ban played its part in my decision plus the fact that both the
Carnival and Tango Juvenile Carnival Club which are part of my life were
and still are
desperate for funds and
this seemed
to be the way to help. I
also hadn’t been impressed with many
of the DJ’s I had seen
as all they appeared to do was put on the music with little or no
chat they certainly
hadn't any personality."
Stuart contacted agent Stephen Paul of Devon Mobile Disco's based in
Exmouth who soon found him plenty of work DJ'ing at venues all over Devon.
This year sees Stuart celebrating his 41st Anniversary since first hitting
those wheels of steel back in 1969 and whilst
not looking to be out every night of the week he
would be happy with one or maybe two
gigs and so
if anyone is looking for a DJ who knows how to
entertain, well he
certainly has all the credentials
and knowledge of music
especially the 60’s 70’s 80’s and 90’s. His
new show has
over 1,000watts of RCF power which is crystal clear and the
lightshow is stunning with lasers and led's playing their part. Special
effects include Snow, Bubbles and Smoke. Stu's back and he's ready to
entertain you.
Now in 2010 Stuart has completed a full circle having joined the team at
Bay FM Exmouth hosting his own show 'Stuart
Hughes Sunday Jukebox' online between 2.00 and 4.00pm. "Community radio is such an
important means of communication and I want to play my part in ensuring
Bay FM receives its FM license".
Roadies
remembered With the amount of gear
that had to be rigged back in the 70's on Stuart's Roadshow it required a
team of committed roadies. The role of honour and thanks go to Dave
Hayward (ahh ahh) Martin Jones (Jonah), Roger Wimlett (Wimole), Gerald
Morton (Gerry), Keith Wayne (KWN) and Terry Robinson (who did all the Carling
shows).
A Top
Class Personality DJ 
Laser
Lightshow, and Special Effects
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