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What Sideshow Sid lacks in flashy DJ skills, he makes up with a big pie-hole and a love of music. Digging since the age of 11, he has amassed a collection that is the envy of all who see it. He started deejaying at the age of 16, playing rockabilly at a local pub in London for "five pounds and as much booze as my underage belly could take." A live encounter with James Brown in 1979 made him realize that the dogma of rock 'n roll was "empty, joyless, and lacking in crumpet." And then on hearing Sly & The Family Stone's Family Affair in a dark dingy basement packed with shadowy figures "glued together by sex and sweat" he had his "burning bush" moment.

Those early days of the 80's saw him share decks with many who would go on to shape the future of dance culture - Norman Jay, Gilles Peterson, Judge Jules, Paul Daley, Pete Tong, Mark Moore, Jay Strongman, Dave Dorrell, Jazzie B…."Club culture in London was a really small, close knit community." Sid remembers, "Now it's a multi-million dollar industry. But back then, if you had any soul, funk, or reggae records, you were an anomaly. So when things exploded it was just a case of being in the right place at the right time." However, after sampling the early days of Rave, he hung up his headphones to concentrate on married life. "Still buying the music mind. Just not getting out there and experiencing it first hand

In 1994, he left the "septic isle" and brought his family to Calgary. Like most round pegs unable to fit into a square town he found a home on campus radio. His radio show, The Musiquarium (Friday 18:00 MST CJSW 90.9FM/www.cjsw.com) is Sid incarnate. Strangled vowels, non-sequiturs and a wondrous array of music that stretches from Jazz to Jungle. Around town his deejaying is just as eclectic. Fridays is Flashlight at the Hi-Fi (219 10th Ave SW). Nothing but Titty Shakers and Modern Hustle to get that weekend started sweaty. Saturday it's down to the Bungalow (524 17th Ave SW) where obscure Disco meets Justin Timberlake. Not that you can hear much over the often shouted rallying call - "SHOTS!". And to end that weekend right, soothe that hangover on Sunday afternoons down at the Ship & Anchor (534 17th Ave SW), with a soccer breakfast, some pints and Sid; as he returns home for the best of British from the 60's to the 00's. And that's Sid. Self-deprecating yet assured. Funny yet dead serious. Pragmatic yet a risk taker. He's also short, bald, and hirsute; but we won't hold that against him.

E-mail:dustyvibes@yahoo.ca