The Birth and Adventures of JAZ Promotions - by Jason Bushby

Started DJ’ing when I was 16. It was 1986 and house music was just starting to be heard in this country. The Chicago house scene was the crossover from disco/funk to a more underground dance style.

It was also a time when hip hop/breakbeats were still big and DJ’s concentrated on scratching and various turntable tricks. I entered the DMC national DJ competitions when I was 18. I loved DJ’ing and after a few little clubs started working at Philmores in Saltburn.

This club was way ahead of its time. Even in today’s standards this club would blow anything away if it were still open now. This was nearly twenty years ago and anyone who went there would tell you nothing came close to it. 1400 capacity on split levels a twenty foot balcony overlooked the dance floor. Words cannot describe it.

When I took over the club, dance music (rave) was just starting. Acid house was massive in the big cities but none of the local clubs would dare play it.

I started off the Friday “Big Beat” night which was a mixture of dance/rave/acid/techno which had never been heard before. Week after week the crowds got bigger, people travelled from all over the North East and Yorkshire.

I set up Jaz Promotions to deal with the amount of work I was getting and also to concentrate more on promotions. I started to book PA’s and live artists and eventually had crowds of up to 300 people outside the club. We were a victim of our own success as the police eventually closed the club.

This was 1992 and just as Philmores shut the Eclipse in Stockton was opening. I took the “Big Beat” there every Friday and continued to DJ all over the country every Saturday at sometimes 4 gigs a night.

Obviously along the way I have met some characters. Some good, some bad but also I have made many friends in the rave scene. See Jimmy G Force page for how I met him, a good friend and one of the best MC’s.

I was always involved in the promotions at each club and went from the Eclipse to the After Dark to the Venue and to the Blue Monkey sometimes at the same time.

In 1993 my good friend Adrian Street had had enough of the Blue Monkey as he was resident DJ. The crowds were dwindling and he had got offered another job. In them days you didn’t have 8 DJ’s and 10 MC’s doing half an hour each. You did it all yourself! Even MC’ing sometimes, but we wont go into that.

Anyway I was asked to DJ from 10pm till 6am on my own. Fuck knows how I did it but after a few weeks I got the club bouncing again.

I would always get lads coming up asking for a go on the mic. Most times the answer would be “fuck off!” I will always remember this one lad asking me and for some reason I let him have a go. After a few weeks I got to know him a bit better and then I think I moved on. The next time I seen him he was DJ’ing somewhere; I think it was the After Dark. I was amazed, I told him he was better at DJ’ing than MC’ing and he said my DJ name is Full Effect! I still have the tape of him MC’ing but I have promised not to let anyone hear it.

These were the dark days when rivals were burning down clubs and people were getting shot. I was working for all of them… it was awkward!

I started a club night in Sheffield (Red Zone) in 1994 and took it from being empty to full capacity in weeks. I worked with every big hardcore DJ in the scene, Carl Cox, Fabio, Grooverider, DJ SS, DJ Seduction etc. etc… The night continued until the club was bought and turned into the Music Factory.

Whilst doing this every Saturday I was asked to do a night in Redcar. I wasn’t really bothered but for the sake of it started a brand new dance night with myself, Adrian Street and G-Force as residents. I was amazed at the success and after 4 weeks we were getting over 1000 every Friday….
 

I called the night Powerhouse!

At around the same time I was approached by an old friend, Gary Robb, who I had worked for at the After Dark he asked me to help him open a new club in Stockton.


To cut a long story short… The Colosseum was born and I spent the next year or two organising the promotions and meeting some of the biggest DJ’s to come out of the rave scene. Eventually after a few run ins with the police and the odd shooting I thought it time to move on.

Since then Jaz Promotions has been in the background of many local and national dance events and currently work with the biggest players in the game.

Creamfields, Global Gathering, Goodgreef, Gatecrasher, Sundissential, Retro, Hed Kandi, Hardcore Heaven the list goes on.

In 2004 the Powerhouse took a twist and aimed at the younger generation. The partnership with Daz Effect and Ultimatebuzz has created a following we could only ever dream of. The Powerhouse currently attracts over 3000 people to its events each month and has a fan base covering the whole of the North East and beyond.


I could sit hear for hours telling of different stories of the adventures we had back in the day. Jimmy has already talked to me about writing a book. It would be amazing but not as good as living the real thing.

What does the future hold… ?