Actor, stand up comedian, poet, radio presenter and club DJ,Craig Charles, has been a dedicated soul boy from a tender age. In fact, he was raised on the sounds of sweet soul,"My father came over from Guyana in the West Indies and he brought a load of records over with him. There was always Ray Charles playing in the house, The Platters, Aretha Franklin and Otis Redding. My Dad would play all this old stuff. In fact I was very close to getting called Otis when I was born! One of my earliest memories is my mum and dad dancing around the kitchen to Ray Charles' I've Got A Woman. I remember the look of sheer joy and exhilaration on their faces. I was hooked!
"When punk landed I was P-Funking. When young kids where pogoing like morons, I was dusting talc off my shoes. I used to go to an underground black club in Liverpool when I was 14 - I remember dancing to Up for the Down Stroke by Parliament. Everyone thinks of The Beatles or Echo and the Bunnymen when they think of Liverpool, but I remember being so proud when The Real Thing were in the charts, because at least there was one black Liverpool band making it."
After achieving mainstream success with his poetry, and then acting and TV presenting roles in cult sci-fi comedy Red Dwarf, Robot Wars and TV's longest running soap opera Coronation Street - as the taxi driving, soul music fanatic Lloyd Mullaney - Craig's reputation as a fun, funk loving soul boy was cemented with the public. In 2001, as the BBC prepared to launch the new digital radio stationBBC 6 Music, he was asked to present a show. Over ten years on from the debut broadcast, the show is now the award winning station's longest running, and has the biggest share of audience too, a very impressive result for what was originally thought of as a 'niche' programme!
It wasn't long before promoters of club nights and festivals were asking for Craig to bring his'Trunk Of Funk'out on the road, and countless DJ slots across the UK and into Europe included;Mostly Jazz Festival,The Cheltenham Jazz Festival,Kendal Callingand theBig Chill,Vintage at Goodwoodand even the world renownedGlastonbury Festival.
As it was clear there was huge demand for more - monthly'Craig Charles Funk & Soul Club'nights began atThe Wardrobein Leeds,Band On the Wallin Manchester, and attendance records were smashed as eager funk fans created road blocks as they clamoured for the combination of nights of top DJ tunage and blistering lives sets from the likes ofMaceo Parker,The New Mastersounds,JTQ,The Fantastics!, and many of the acts included on this very compilation. Without doubt, his radio show and funky evangelizing is one of Craig's proudest achievements, and it was only natural that Craig andFreestyle Recordswould join forces to bring forth this album album - the closest thing there is to having Craig come round your house and start the party off! Asked to sum up his feelings about his first DJ compilation album and the vibrant global music scene it reflects Craig said: "This CD contains 18 rip snorting, bass drum banging, brass blaring booga-bloody-loo, big beats, bass lines and blooming brilliant vocals. From as far away as Australia withThe Bamboo'sultimate party starter Amen Brother, toThe Excitementscoming out ofBarcelona - boy can she rattle your glasses!
I bring you some cover versions that have surely got to be better than the real thing, likeNostalgia 77 & Alice Russell'stake on The White Stripes'7 Nation Army'. AndT Bird and the Breaks 'The Clap Hands Song',not to mentionThe Incredible Bongo Bands'skin shredding version of The Rolling Stones'Satisfaction'.Bands likeSmoove & Turrellfrom the north east andThe Haggis Hornsprove that Britain's response to the music laid down by legends such asJames Brownhas been truly remarkable. All these tunes are guaranteed to tear the roof off any venue festival or house party in the known universe...;..Enjoy and remember ...no sleep till bedtime!"