Mandeep presents the ‘Urban Music Showcase’, each week from 9-11 pm on Wednesdays (Repeated Thursday 11 pm - 1 am and Saturday 2 pm - 4pm).
The Urban Music Showcase is dedicated to airing the following:
BRAND New Music – The latest music from a wide variety of artists whether they are local to Hayes, London, the UK, the US or any other parts of the world in the genre of R&B and Hip Hop. I play my top 3 tracks of the week at the half way point of each hour – the songs to watch out for on the dance floor, those that will be beating their way into the chart or are note-worthy for other reasons. Some weeks (see schedule) this means you get 6 hot tracks to listen out for!
BACK to the Old School - This is normally dedicated to what is affectionately called (by me) the golden era of music (1987 – 1994), playing the tracks that rocked the dance floors, stereos and walkmans, alike, of that time. At the half hour point in this hour I present a ‘featured artist/producer/label or even year’ and play 3 tracks from them, whilst discussing their highs and lows and sharing trivia about them. This hour is a trip down memory lane, where I get to talk (at length at times!) about the music, the people and the times in general. For variety I normally span from the 80’s, 90’s and sometimes creep into those noughties!
STUDIO Guests - Now and again (see schedule), I’ll add into the mix, studio guests from the UK music industry and to that end we have had jaw-dropping live free styling, stellar producers and fierce vocalists joining the show.
The schedule of the show week by week:
1st Wednesday of the Month = 1 Hour of BRAND new music and 1 Hour of BACK to the Old School, specially selected by yours truly (see below)
2nd Wednesday of the Month = 2 Hours of BRAND new music throughout (with an occasional STUDIO guest or two dropping by!)
3rd Wednesday of the Month = 1 Hour of BRAND new music and 1 Hour of BACK to the Old School, specially selected by yours truly (see below)
4th Wednesday of the Month = 2 Hours of BRAND new music throughout (with an occasional STUDIO guest or two dropping by!)
5th Wednesday of the Month = Up to 2 Hours of BRAND new music with a sweep up of any tracks that have not made it into the month but need a mention! and possibly some BACK to the old School tracks to mix it up!
So tune in and check out the most happening Urban radio show around...
A potted history of my musical interest and its origins - for those that are interested or are not tired of reading just yet!
So there I was, in 1984, listening to Electro music, which seemed to be taking the world by storm (after cult films like Wildstyle , Breakin’ Break Dance the movie for us in the UK and Beat Street were encouraging the use of lino on most streets for a healthy attempt at back spinning or the like...) and, that was it, I got hooked on the music, turntablism, the art of rapping and the general B-boy lifestyle!
Move forward a few years and, in 1987, I bought my first vinyl 12 inch- a soulful track by a band I had not heard of before, called Burrell, but I had heard the track several times in between the crackling of the pirate stations of the time. Well, my vinyl adventure had begun and soon I was well on my way to creating the greatest inconvenience for my parents...crates and crates of vinyl. It was only natural that someone with such a fire hazard should do something productive with it and, yes, you guessed it, I got my two turntables and mixer and I became (in my mind) a DJ! Yee-Ha!
This was when, at the same time, we saw the advent of New Jack Swing (Swing Beat as it was known, by some, in the UK). With producers like Teddy Riley transforming the landscape of Soul/R&B + Hip Hop with his fusion of rugged beats, samples and catchy R&B vocals, this was the genre I would be entrenched within, even to this day! This did not mean I stopped collecting Hip Hop and Soul, in any sense, but it just gave me a specific genre of extra interest, as it appealed to my requirement for room-shaking beats with soulful harmonies overlaid...
DJ’ing in many of the London clubs, as well as having road shows, meant I was able to enjoy my music with others at functions as diverse as New Year’s Eve Parties in the Hammersmith Palais, grand openings of stores, residency at London clubs to wedding functions being carried out in a tent at someone’s house! For nearly a decade, I stayed in this scene and built a successful vocation from it. In 1997 I decided to concentrate on developing my other career, as I set up in business and founded a Financial Services firm and I have remained in this sector ever since! However, my passion for music has never defused or relented and I still collect vinyl today- albeit normally rare copies from the days of old (ok 20 years ago is not that old! Is it?!) as well as the mandatory MP3’s of current.