Simon A. Morrison would like to think he was brought up in the discotheques of Upper Manhattan by a family of wild divas. Indeed, such was the perceived peculiarity of his upbringing throughout those shimmering 70s, that for much of his life he believed the moon was a glitter ball and that the walls of his life would forever be mirrored.
However the reality is somewhat more prosaic – the suburbs of north London followed by spells at university in Manchester and Amsterdam - an academic carer that concluded with an M.A. in Novel Writing and a overly serious novel, now gathering dust in a bottom draw.
Having said that, a background in language and literature did lead to a career as a journalist and a love for the media; and always underpinning that was a love of dance music and clubland, which both fed into and influenced what it was he wrote about. The dancefloor called and he answered.
Travel filled much of Simon’s 20s – armed with a backpack and a journal he moved through Eastern Europe; carved a path through South East Asia; toured the South Pacific and hitchhiked across New Zealand. At times Simon felt compelled to put down roots and take a breather. In 1993 he lived in Sydney; through 1994 he lived on Venice Beach in Los Angeles, writing and dancing; dancing and writing (and surviving a 6.8 earthquake).
Perhaps not surprisingly these travels wound up with two summers spent studying at the spiritual headquarters of clubland - Ibiza. There, he ran Ministry of Sound’s Ibiza magazine, reported for Galaxy radio and Rapture TV and progressed further along his path to disco enlightenment. H is career has now become inextricably entwined with the island. Only recently he was commissioned by Future Publishing to write and edit DJ Magazine’s Guide to Ibiza, on the shelves for the summer of 2006.
All of this activity inevitably meant he had stepped over to the Wrong Side - his elastic term for a conceptual habitat - the wrong side of the tracks. A disco desperado, he was destined to pursue the story into the outer reaches of the hedonistic supernova, and then to dispatch his findings back to the Right Side, to reality itself… to the pages of DJ magazine. The column Dispatches from the Wrong Side ran in DJ magazine for eight years, journeys that took Simon everywhere from Las Vegas to Moscow to Shanghai to Reykjavik (stories that can be found elsewhere on this site).
Dispatches drew to a close at the beginning of 2006 and Simon is now scribbling a new column for DJ magazine. Entitled Around The World In 80 Discos, it has already taken Simon to Beijing and much of Asia, turning him into a kind of twisted Michael Palin. To celebrate the end of that first series, Simon is presently compiling a “Best of” Dispatches for the publisher Headpress - the best 50 from those 154 columns - and that book will be out in the U.K. and U.S. in the spring of 2007.
Aside from such grand projects, he still enjoys the challenge of copywriting, and has written copy for album sleeves (two for Ministry of Sound, three for Retro), as well as everything from flyers, holiday brochures, press releases, biographies and web sites. This combination of academic and practical experience has led to an unparalleled understanding of the dynamics operating within night-time and entertainment culture. And, of course, writing entertaining and exciting copy for press releases and promotional material is second nature.
Over the years Simon has written for TV (the ITV networked programme Club-A-Vision, broadcast to an audience of one million); made programmes for Kiss Radio; scribbled words for publications as varied at the Guardian and the Big Issue; and been interviewed for everyone from The Big Breakfast to Radio 1.
However, after ten years gallant service to the Wrong Side, he has now effectively right-sided himself and retired somewhat (dis)gracefully from the dancefloor, to focus on more grown-up, joined up writing, and to the operation of Pad Communications.
We're on a bit of a mission to find some new bands -
....we love working with the ones we have for years but dont you just hate it when promoters put the same bands on each week.... we certainly do which is why there's always been variety on our line ups
WHATS YOUR FAVE NEW UNSIGNED BAND FROM MANCHESTER / THE NORTHWEST?????
SEND ME FULL NAMES FOR THE GUEST LIST (FREE UNTILL 3AM) TO: face.of.ibiza@googlemail.com ENVIARME LOS NOMBRES COMPLETOS PARA LA LISTA DE INVITADOS(GRATIS HASTA LAS 3) : face.of.ibiza@googlemail.com
Thanks so much for the Add.. I'm hoping there was some music on my page that you enjoyed. Have a Wonderful and Positive week! New Albums on iTunes, Rhapsody, Amazon, eMusic, & My Snocap Store. Check them out! Download NoW! Tell A Friend! Feel Free to Choose One for Ur Playlist or Even Better.. Consider Adding me to your TOPS!! (tyronesmith@tsgroove.com)
Remember that "Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born." Take Care and Stay Positive :)
WE'VE GOT LOADS ON IN JUNE / JULY SO HERE'S JUST A HANDFUL OF THE GIGS SO FAR - CHECK THE MYSPACE PAGE OUT FOR THE FULL LISTINGS
LOTS LOTS MORE GIGS ON THE MYSPACE SO CHECK THE FUL LISTINGS......... IF YOU WANT TO PLAY A GIG FOR US MESSAGE US VIA THE MYSPACE
Xxx
ADVANCE TICKETS
June 19th - The Ruling Class @ Manchester Roadhouse - Just been on tour with, Glasvegas, The Charlatans and The Twang - £5 tickets from http://www.wegottickets.com/event/47829
June 20th - The Sand Band @ Roadhouse - one time Coral guitarist and just played Manchester gig with Nick McCabe / The Black Marquee - £5 tickets from http://www.wegottickets.com/event/48101
WE'VE GOT LOADS ON IN MAY / JUNE / JULY SO HERE'S JUST A HANDFUL OF THE GIGS SO FAR - CHECK THE MYSPACE PAGE OUT FOR THE FULL LISTINGS
LOTS LOTS MORE GIGS ON THE MYSPACE SO CHECK THE FUL LISTINGS......... IF YOU WANT TO PLAY A GIG FOR US MESSAGE US VIA THE MYSPACE
Xxx
ADVANCE TICKETS
June 19th - The Ruling Class @ Manchester Roadhouse - Just been on tour with The Charlatans and The Twang - £5 tickets from http://www.wegottickets.com/event/47829
June 20th - The Sand Band @ Roadhouse - one time Coral guitarist and just played Manchester gig with Nick McCabe / The Black Marquee - £5 tickets from http://www.wegottickets.com/event/48101
The site that we have been working on for some time is now on-line....theres still along way to go BUT its getting there. Today we have 14 clips of the BEST CLASSIC CLUBBING TV EVER!
90% of the clips online here will NOT be available anywhere else, all you have to do is register and then spend a few hours checking it out.
CARL COX just uploaded:
Back in 1997, we met COXY in Manchester just before the massive FANTAZIA event at the G-MEX, Lisa chats to him about his ticket selling days for Sunrise back in 88, the release of the top ten hit "I Want You Forever', his many awards, record label, DJ agency, filling in for Danny RAMPLING on the Love Groove Dance Party and his perception on the many different genres of music and how insular it can be, plus we get the lowdown on his ballroom dancing days with his 2sisters, was he any good and has he still got the shiny shoes?
Thanks for the friend request Simon Morrison! Hope you have an awesome day!
If you haven't seen our web site yet, and you want to hear some funky ass electro house music then check out www. thefreshpage. com. Let us know what you think! We'd love to hear your feedback as the site is getting over 4million hits/month now and DJ's on our site are getting gigs all over North America and Europe!
See what all the fuss was about! A taste of Creamfields 1998 here, just click on my icon to see Graeme Park, Oaky, Tongy, Judge Jules and Amanda, Jon Carter and Dave Beer 10 years ago..
Let your eyes sparkle gladness, Smile never goes down from lips. Able, when and it is difficult to begin to the laugh, to liquidate any ailment Smile. Able to love and wait, and to trust people, hiding Neither malice nor profit, Able to breathe freely, by a complete breast, And happiness, trust, will not go round you. Happy Valentines day!
Hey Hey big guy, just wanted to drop by and say hello, hope all is well, i still want to get some promo stuff done in the future , lets make it happen- happy new year!!-S
oi smelly bum, in indo n china at the mo, feeling sweaty betty. Looks like u r going to be arski fc soon! at least you'll be able to afford some players over 15 years old again. xx
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