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We learned of the sad passing of Andy Dunkley at the end of April
2011, a very important and
influential DJ who DJ’ed through the early years of Friars. Here
are three tributes from those who knew him:
Kris Needs
When
this gawky, wide-eyed 14-year-old stepped into an empty New
Friarage Hall as the very first night of Friars was getting under
way in June, 1969 the strains of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s
‘Bad Moon Rising’ was filling the hall with its contagious lilt
and portend of both apocalypse and joy. This was a new one on me;
before that night I had only heard records on my record player and
radio in the hands of John Peel.
I took in the Gollies already beaming liquid wheels of colour on
the walls and ceiling, while the red lights of Mandrake Paddle
Steamer’s amps flashed red and ready. To the left of the stage was
a large rectangular box on a table, supporting two turntables,
both topped with rotating black plastic records. Bobbing and
jogging around next to them with a huge grin frequently lighting
up his glasses was a long haired figure sporting Kensington Market
hoop-neck t-shirt and suede fringes, obviously totally into the
music he was playing. He followed Creedence with other sounds I
knew from Peel like Van Der Graaf, but also others I didn’t, like
jazz guitarist Larry Coryell.
By the end of the night I had plucked up enough courage to venture
over to the decks and ask the name of something playing. The DJ
smiled and bellowed some title which was inaudible above the din,
still emanating the same good vibes and, for me in those Phase
one, coming to embody to club as its constant, high-profile
element. This was Andy Dunkley and from then on I wanted to do
what he did.
The tireless trio of John Peel, Jeff Dexter and Andy Dunkley were
London’s scene-stoking DJ giants, who held gigs together at clubs,
the Roundhouse and any place which presenting the volcanic music
erupting between the mid 60s-early 70s [although Andy had given up
a career in accountancy to roadie for the Spencer Davis Group
earlier in the decade]. He championed and hit it with the
newly-formed Mott The Hoople, DJing with them at early gigs [immortalised
on a live album recorded at Croydon in 1971]. It was at the
Roundhouse in early 1969 where Robin Pike was impressed enough by
Andy’s DJing to ask if he would like to play at the new club he
was involved in called Friars. Andy was also warmup sonic
scientist and countdown man for Hawkwind’s legendary Space Ritual
tour, and much more.
By the time punk exploded I’d started DJing myself, albeit at
local pubs, but when I’d go to London gigs like the Roundhouse,
there would be Andy, now spreading his musical knowledge to punk
audiences, still smiling and talking to anyone who approached him.
Sometime in the early 80s I heard he’d moved to New York. When I
first went there then, I found him spinning at venues such as
Irving Plaza. All my friends in groups said what a nice guy he
was. When I moved to New York in 1986, I saw more of him,
especially as his day job was at the Rockpool record pool on
Leonard Street, whose magazine I wrote for. By now he was like a
genial, fatherly fountain of knowledge, still expounding and
laughing, while ferociously keen on checking out new music. He
even got accepted in the fearsome industrial music circles of the
late 80s, I think moving to Chicago at one point to work for the
Wax Trax label. That was the last time I saw him, although I knew
he had come back to London, spinning at clubs and a permanent
fixture at Stranglers gigs. Their drummer Jet Black, describes him
as, ‘the best of the best.’
Sadly, Andy died of heart failure on Saturday. A particularly sad
loss in this unbelievably relentless time of shock deaths. 40
years after that night at the New Friarage Hall, I got to do what
Andy Dunkley was doing when Friars Phase Four started at the
Civic, and still am nearly two years later.. Huge shoes to fill
but I’m dedicating my DJ set at May 28’s not-to-be-missed Hawkwind
night to him, with a major thanks for turning me on to so much
great music, the joys of DJing in a club and for being so
approachable to an awkward teenage music freak. The first record
may have to be ‘Bad Moon Rising’.
Friars founding father Adrian
Roach
I've got many Andy Dunkley
stories but the one I love says a lot about the man he was, his
influence and Aylesbury connections.
Andy was very close in the
early days to all of us who were involved with Friars. He had
access to music we had never come across and was a great
influence. He would also bring 5 or 6 promo albums he'd been
given to air, usually before release, and at the end of the night
distribute them between us. One such album was called Joy Of A
Toy by Kevin Ayers which I was particularly taken by and therefore
presented with. For some reason that night I was walking back
along the towpath of the canal with Lol Coxhill. I'd been hanging
around with Lol for ages by then and used to carry his empty
clarinet case into Ronnie Scotts when he played with the (English)
Steve Miller Band to gain entry as part of the road crew. Lol
quizzed me about the record and I told him Andy had been plugging
it and how refreshing it was. We ended up at Lol's house and
played it. Lol had never heard of Kevin Ayers but by the time the
follow-up album came out he was in the band! With a young bass
player called Mike Oldfield!
Friars founding father Robin
Pike
I
first came across Andy Dunkley at The Roundhouse on a Sunday
afternoon. Around 1968/9 I used to go to The Roundhouse more or
less every Sunday afternoon. At this time it was an 'alternative'
scene, very hippy and very exciting. It was basically an alldayer
with a wide range of music.............think MC5 and Nick Drake.
Besides the live music Andy Dunkley played an esoteric range of
records through an amazing sound system. Partly because of the
inherently wonderful acoustics of the venue with its
circular structure, you heard records with a completely different
dimension of sound. The separation of instruments on each track
was amazing. Couple this with Andy's access to pre-releases and
his range of musical knowledge and we had an unforgettable musical
experience. My vision of Friars from the outset was that of an
alternative, hippy club outside the domain of pop music. So I
spoke to Andy and explained that we were launching a club in
Aylesbury on Monday nights and asked if he was interested. When
he said that he was I gave him David's number and proceeded to
tell David that I thought that Andy would be ideal for Friars.
Fortunately, David agreed.
Andy was an unmistakable figure in the club, with
his long hair, his shoulder bag of records and his clapped out
van. My particular memories are of the music he played,
particularly the long tracks that you would never have heard on
the radio. 'Down by the River' by Neil Young and 'Going down the
road feeling bad' by The Grateful Dead are two that spring to
mind. The booking of King Crimson in 1969 was also down to Andy
as he was sharing a Flat with Bob Fripp at the time and put a word
in. Although I was not there that night, it drew the biggest
crowd of Phase 1. Quite simply Crimson were huge at the time and
I reckon we sold so many copies of their Island album that most of
Aylesbury had one.
Bye Andy and thank you.
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