Tony De Vit: His Spirit Lives On!
Johnny Dangerous talks exclusively to Tony De Vit’s sister,
Jayne Parkes, her husband, Les, Ian M and the Untidy DJs
about the re-launch of Tony De Vit Records in July…
Tony De Vit needs no introduction. He was to hardhouse what
Eddison was to electricity. He was a true innovator and one
of the most respected UK DJs to ever grace a pair of
technics, not only by those within the hard house scene, but
also by those outside it. Tony’s passion for the music he
played and produced was evident wherever he played. He was
the only DJ who could go to places like Miss Moneypenny’s
and Progress and get away with dropping ‘em hard and fast
like he did at Trade and Sundissential. Wherever Tony
played, a certain special kind of magic filled the
atmosphere. For Tony, music was his life, so much so that he
gave up computer programming to concentrate on his real
passion. Even when he had just finished a set and had to
leave for another venue, he’d risk being a few minutes late
just so he could talk to the people who supported him.
Everybody has a tale to tell of an encounter with Tony. No
matter where, no matter when, no matter the time, he always
smiled and chatted to everyone. Not only was he a fantastic
DJ, he was a brilliant producer and remixer too. Who can
forget the crowd’s response to tracks like ‘Are You All
Ready’ and ‘I Don’t Care’. He was the only real driving
force behind hardhouse and spend a lot of time searching for
new sounds and artists who he helped to break. He’d go as
far as helping them in any way he could, even if it meant
getting them up to his studio in Birmingham to fine tweak
their track. Tony was always a genuine person. His feet were
always placed firmly on the ground, no matter how successful
he became. So the 2nd of July last year was a very say day.
It was the day that the dance scene was dealt one of its
biggest blows, as Tony was sadly taken away from us.
This year, on the eve of his first anniversary, the De Vit
family have ensure that Tony’s memory will live on
throughout the hardhouse scene and beyond. They are
re-launching TDV Records. It was Tony’s pride and joy and a
label that gained so much respect after only a few releases.
It will be re-launched in memory of one of the greatest
pioneers ever in hard house. The family have decided that
Tidy Trax will run the label…
The De Vit family and Tidy Trax chose Wax as the magazine to
break the news to the world. I met up with Tony’s sister
Jane, her husband Les, Ian M and the Untidy DJ’s for the
full exclusive story.
How did the idea for the re-launch of TDV Records surface?
AP: “It came about because the family wanted to keep Tony’s
name alive. So they approached Tidy Trax”.
Ian M: “Chris B from Solid State Records in Bournemouth had
mentioned it to me on the phone. We’d been talking about it
for weeks”.
Jane: “We wanted to do it and Chris suggested to me that we
get in touch with Tidy Trax. So I told him to mention it to
them when he saw them. Chris has been our eyes and ears
regarding info on Tony’s things. If you ever want to know
anything he’ll be able to tell you. We just had to ask him
and he found out for us”.
Ian M: “We had been discussing it and we did say that if we
did anything with Tony’s stuff, then which label could we go
to that would give it a bit of respect. We went through all
the labels. At the end of the day, I’ve worked with Tidy
Trax before and I know what they’re like. I know they had a
lot of respect for Tony’s stuff”.
Was it really hard to turn the initial idea into reality?
AP: “We’re still turning the idea into a reality. Jane and
myself only started discussing the idea last week. It’s
pretty much there. We’ve all got respect for each other and
we understand what we have to do with this. We are producing
the kind of music that Tony was playing and we have great
respect for him. We set the label up because of him. It was
a natural progression for us to take that step further. We
just want to do it right. We reckon the harder end of Tidy
is relevant to what TDV would have been doing. We want Ian
to control the A&R side of it”.
AM: “Don’t forget that it was Tony who recommended Tidy Trax
to Trade when they went to another label. Tony suggested to
Laurence that he get Tidy Trax to run it. If you think about
that for a moment you can imagine that Tony would want a
re-launch to be run by them”.
AP: “We’re looking at re-launching the label in early
summer. It’s going to be a whole new product and not a
re-issue of old tracks. The idea is to progress from here
with the TDV name, but releasing new artists we think are
relevant. The foundation is set for us to build on. We know
how to run a label and we all believe the name of Tony De
Vit needs to live on”.
What was the De Vit family’s reaction to the idea?
Jayne: “It’s something we really want to do as it’s time to
make sure that his name lives on, because he worked so hard.
I didn’t feel like doing anything up till now, because
although it is quite a while ago, it is quite close to me.
That’s what he intended. I know he started off TDV with the
intention of it being big but it never got there. I hope
this can now achieve what he always wanted it to”.
How will you decide what to put out on TDV Records?
AM: “I think it will be a mixture of a few things. One of
them being Ian’s A&R skill. One thing we discovered at Tidy
Trax is that Ian and Tony thought the same way, as far as
music goes. Whatever Tony liked, Ian seemed to like, and
vice versa. I think Ian’s ears will represent Tony’s sound
and what Tony would have wanted. A consortium of us,
including the three of us at Tidy Trax, are making sure we
put out good quality stuff. All of us, especially Ian, will
know when we hear something whether it would sit well with
TDV. With the help of the family and Tidy Trax, I don’t
think you could get a better team”.
Tell us about the teaser release you have coming out in
July?
AP: “For the first release, we wanted to a tribute to mark
Tony’s anniversary. That will be ‘Are You all Ready?’ and an
unreleased track which Ian had called ‘Splashdown’. We will
use that as a big advert to say ‘coming next is the
re-launch of TDV’. The release date will be 5 July which is
the closest Monday to the anniversary of Tony’s death”.
AM: “The two sole purposes of it are the releases to
commemorate Tony’s death and for anyone who forgot, well,
it’s going to be in their face again. Hopefully everybody
will reflect on his death again. The second purpose is to
bounce the re-launch of TDV in September. That one off is on
Tidy Trax and the rest will follow on TDV”.
Jayne: “I can remember when Tony was in the DJ box and he
pulled ‘Are You All Ready?’ out of the record case. He
turned to me and said, ‘Watch them now Jane’. It was
incredible. The place went ballistic!”
AM: “When word did get out that it was being released again
somebody asked if it was going to be re-mixed. The answer is
no. You know there’s some things you don’t touch… that’s one
of them. We sat down and thought about it for 40 seconds. I
would hate to remix it. That track is what it is. Any
reworking would be just a pale imitation of the original.
There’s nothing you can do with it. It’s just perfect as it
is. If you like ‘Are You all Ready?’ then you’re going to
love ‘Splashdown’. It’s exclusive only to this release, so
that’s two good reasons for buying it”.
Are there anymore unreleased tracks in existence?
IM: “Yes, there is… But you’ll have to wait and see.
Jayne: “We have the DAT of that”.
Ian M: “There were about eight mixes of it and it was meant
to be his follow up to ‘Burning Up’. I love it and I’ve got
it on a tape. Tony was always unsure about it and said he
couldn’t make up his mind. That’s why he did about eight
mixes of it. It was like, ‘make up your bloody mind Tony!”
Will TDV records continue to break new artists or will it
concentrate on already established artists?
Ian M: “It will do both. Tony was forever listening out for
new sounds and new people If it’s what I consider Tony would
like, then we’ll go for it”.
Will any of Tony’s tracks be re-released on the label in
their original format or as remixes?
AP: “I think there’s potential for anything on TDV. We
haven’t got any hard and fast rules – just whatever we all
feel is right”.
Ian M: “I know the offers are there to do remixes from
various people. We’ll just take each day as it comes”.
How do you think people will take the return of TDV Records?
AP: “It’s hard to say, but Tony’s name is so well respected
in the hardhouse scene that people will be very, very
pleased that the name is carrying on”.
AM: “We know that just by leaking a few things out on the
web, just mentioning that there may be a return of TDV, just
that one statement drew in a multitude of e-mails from
people wanting to know what’s happening. Everyone wants to
remember Tony and it’s an exciting project. Let’s treat it
as a new and exciting thing to do. It’s a new challenge.
What can we expect on the label?
Ian M: “Good quality music. That’s how we categorise it. We
never call it anything else. We don’t want to label it. But
it’s going to be banging and it won’t be speed garage!”.
AM: “It will be some more stuff that Peter Tong can’t play!”
When did you as a family first become aware than Tony was
one of the UK’s biggest DJ’s and the undispusted king of
hardhouse?
Les (Jayne’s Husband): “The first time I ever went with Tony
was to a gig down in Worcester and they were all waiting for
him to go on stage. When he did, they all went wild for him.
It was unbelievable. When I went back to tell Jane, she was
a bit surprised about this. We knew he was getting a lot of
money for what he was doing but as we started to see his
name in the papers and magazines, that’s when we realised
just how successful he was”.
Jayne: I have a 15 year old daughter and all her friends
were surprised that Tony De Vit was her uncle”.
Ian M: “When ‘Burning Up’ entered the charts, Tony and I
looked at each other in disbelief saying, ‘Nah…nah…’, that’s
how it was”.
AM: “That was one of Tony’s many assets. No matter how many
people were screaming for him, he’d always stop and talk to
them with his feet on the ground”.
Ian M: Even when he was in a rush to get to the next venue”.
Jayne: “Les would say, ‘I’ll carry your box and clear your
way’, because when he left he couldn’t get out for people
talking to him. Yet he’d still stop to talk to them”.
Les: “But it never ever went to his head. He was always the
same Tony”.
Jayne: “I think he was kind of embarrassed by it all. When
he went on and played, he was in his own world”.
How do you feel about the ongoing support by DJ’s and
clubbers for Tony, even to this day?
Ian M: “I love it because it just shows that everyone had
respect for him”.
APL: “It’s the measure of the man at the end of the day.
I’ve never heard a bad thing said against him”.
AM: He’s part of dance history and he’s a legend. I think
the re-launch of his record label will make everyone sit
back for a minute and remember just how good he was”.
Ian M: “I know there’s a lot of clubs around the country
dedicating their night to Tony in July. I’ve been asked to
play a few and I’ve told them to cover my costs and pay my
fee to charity”.
Jayne: “I’d feel awful if the people donated their time and
the money didn’t go to where it should. It seems a shame.
Something has to be done properly. I don’t know how to run a
charity but it does need to be looked at. There are certain
things being done and I don’t know if the money is going to
charity. It upsets me when people pay money expecting it to
go to charities and it doesn’t get there. If the DJ’s are
playing for nothing and it isn’t going where it should, then
that’s very wrong. You also have to pick the charity and
make sure it’s the right charity”.
Les: “It’s why we’ve chosen Tidy Trax to run the TDB Label.
It’s because of their professionalism. We know they will
make a success of it. It’s the same with charities, you have
professionals and those who aren’t professionals.
DJs
