Amrando Atkinson
Presenters Name
Amrando Atkinson
Show Title / Genre
Interests & Hobbies
Freelance Photographer, Electrician, Collecting music for listening to as well as for dancing to. Architecture, building etc…
Musical Background / History
In 1969 at the age of seventeen I bought a battery powered record player to play music in the parks of Oxford with my friends. A local sound system operator heard about me and invited me to operate his sound system. By 1970 we were travelling to other towns and cities who had a reasonable West Indian population promoting dances.
After a year or so we moved to Bedford and decided to start a club. Getting a club licence was difficult, so we started with a restaurant, after a short period we applied for a drinks licence to serve drinks with meals. Success! We then applied to get a dance licence. We did really well, except the boss forgot to pay the rent, so we had to close the club. The sound system was sold to a friend in Wellingborough; I stayed with it as the selector.
Around 1977, I often travelled to Leicester to the club Ron-di-voo, I was later offered a full time job as one of their selectors. The Ron-di-voo closed in the late 80’s for re-development; we continued to play at blues parties as well as dancehalls. I left the sound system circle around 1990 to pursue my interest in photography, with some success working for Channel 4 the BBC and many theatre companies as a stills/production photographer.
How did you get involved in GFM?
My family and friends persuaded me to get involved with GFM and I think I have a lot to offer.
Achievements
After sending in a demo, I was invited to do a musical memory by Mr. Francis.
Musical Aspirations
I continue to love playing music, I enjoy providing music for parties and functions and would love to become part of the GFM family in a more committed way
Most influential tracks
Small axe, Wailers, Marcus Garvey, Burning Spear, and most songs by Culture.
Message to GFM Community
We must value our community radio station, make all welcome and embrace our multicultural community by enhancing it with the music of those who live in this varied city. Ensuring that those who are older put a hand out to the young and those who are young learn from the experience of those who have lived longer.
