![]() There was the event with Prince Charles and Chris Patten, but there was nothing for regular people to mark this bittersweet moment,” explains Bull. “As we got a few months away from this handover date that Hong Kong had been waiting for, for 150 years, I realized that nobody had put on an event. Interestingly, the party itself took shape in Bull’s mind during a trip to Beijing. The opening night saw drag-queen superstar and John Waters’ muse, Divine, play her characteristically raunchy and raucous set, followed by a string of high profile acts, from Run DMC to New Order and Pet Shop Boys to Erasure, not to mention Kylie Minogue’s first-ever live performance, thereby introducing a new wave of music to Hong Kong’s masses.Īs Bull’s profile continued to grow, so too did his parties and ambitions, culminating in 1997’s Unity: The Great Hong Kong Handover Party, an event that would solidify his place in the annals of Hong Kong – and greater China – history books. However, in March 1985, he decided it was time to hang up his headphones and make way for a new generation of DJs and bands by opening his own club, Canton Disco. Throughout the rest of the 70s and into the early-80s, Bull remained a fixture in Hong Kong’s party scene, having found homes at the Peninsula Hotel’s The Scene, Disco Disco, and myriad other clubs. But a schlep that was worth it nonetheless, as Bull cites introducing the 12-inch disco single to Asia as one of his life’s crowning achievements. An impressive feat to be sure, as schlepping a few dozen records to a gig and back is no walk in the park. In order to replenish his coffers and ensure that Hong Kong kept pace with its counterparts in the West, Bull would make thrice-yearly pilgrimages to the US, returning home with 100 vinyl in tow every trip. What’s more, the club scene was beginning to explode at places like Studio 54 in New York and the Trocadero Transfer in San Francisco. Unfortunately, however, the vinyl market inside Hong Kong was limited at the time, reduced to a few local pressings and 45s, altogether bereft of the 12-inch disco singles that were integral to keeping the energy up during a set. The result: Non-stop disco mixing which allowed Bull to “hypnotize audiences and take them on journeys.” It was an experience unheard of in Hong Kong and people went wild for it. Likewise, thanks to the advent of 12-inch singles and Technics turntables with variable speed, a perfect storm was brewing, one from which a new era of parties could emerge. So by the time I came on the scene, it was the early days of Barry White, there was Hues Corporation’s ‘Rock the Boat,’ there was ‘Kung Fu Fighting.’ So it was like: Wait a minute, we need to dance to this!” “Discotheques in the 60s were groovy and sexy, but that burned out pretty quickly because the way the music was presented was basic," explains Bull. "Seven-inches and shouting between the songs, it was destined to fail. To be sure, Bull not only found himself in a place that was leagues behind more established cities like New York and Los Angeles but also during a time in which club music was experiencing some growing pains. “That night transformed me into a DJ,” catapulting the young music fan into a relentless schedule of DJing six hours a night, six days a week, for the next 12 years. “It was the first time I played for a live audience, and from that moment, both me and the audience realized we had something going on,” says Bull. “When my parents ended their tour of duty in ’74, I was about 16 or 17, and I managed to persuade them that I was going to leave school and continue with the stuff I was doing in Hong Kong,” Bull tells the Beijinger.Īt the same time, after a friend of his who served as the resident DJ at The Scene, a club in Kowloon’s Peninsula Hotel “was sick or had a date or something,” Bull was asked to fill in. Needless to say, for a fresh-faced kid coming out of the dreary back alleys of grey-skied Britain, it was the stuff of dreams. Despite only being in his teens, he somehow managed to ingratiate himself into Hong Kong’s radio industry, covering everything from local typhoons to a visit from famed-James Bond actor, Roger Moore. I spoke with Bull over the phone ahead of 50 Years On the Decks: 1970-2020, a celebration of his illustrious and iconic career, at Dada Beijing this Friday.īetween 19, Andrew Bull would spend the holidays in Hong Kong with his father, a member of the British army stationed in the then-UK territory. Whether you’ve spent a night getting lost in the aural euphoria of Aurora, Zhao Dai, Lantern, and Dada, or watched a live band tear the roof off of Tango and Omni Space, you largely have one man to thank – Andrew Bull, aka DJ El Toro – a British native who, 50 years ago, decided to quit school and head for the humid, sub-tropical climes of Hong Kong.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |