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Radio Jimbo

Le Phunk Cartel: He is always prepared to listen to his fans - a true pro.

In early 2000 I was asked by infamous Shropshire DJ Neal Marsh (aka Le Phunk Cartel) to be a guest star on his highly successful house and techno radio show. The station was Fly FM, a Nottingham based station. The station is hugely popular in the east midlands and when I heard that I was to be given one of their most popular slots, between 2-4am on a Wednesday, I could hardly contain my enthusiasm. I managed to in the end. I wasn't too sure about the whole thing as I'm not a DJ. Neal (sorry Le Phunk Cartel) gave me
a brief of playing some fairly pumping tunes and try not to swear too much as the station sponsors don't like it or something. Here is a selection of the records I played:

Luke Slater - All Exhale (Novamute)
F.U.S.E. - F.U. (Plus 8)
Surgeon - Force and Form (Tresor)
69 - Jam the Box (R&S)
James Ruskin - The Divide (Blueprint)
Aphex Twin - Isropropanol (R&S)
X-Tront - Sea Serpant (Peacefrog)

It all seemed to be going well until Neal got his belt buckle trapped in the coin slot of a drinks machine. I had to run out to the corridor and help free him. By the time I got back to the control room the needle was riding over the label of the record and the phone was ringing. In fact, the phone never stopped ringing! Opinions ranged from "get off" to "would you like to buy a Toyota Celica?"

What a response I thought to my first broadcast! One elderly gentleman from Mansfield later wrote to me though the station claiming that "…the combination of arpeggiated analogue riffs, new Chicago urban house beats and soulful vocal elements induced me in a heavy catatonic stupor. So much so that I left the gas on all night and nearly blew myself to bits." A touching tribute to my efforts I think you'll agree.