Kiss History

PATRICK FORGE: KISS CONFIDENTIAL 04 October 2008

Patrick Forge is a bit of an underground legend and a true gent to boot. As some of you may know, he has been a part of Kiss since its very beginnings in the pirate era. In late September, however, Patrick hung up his headphones for the last time as he prepares to move to Tokyo. We had a chat to Patrick about where this passion comes from, the early days of Kiss and his future plans.  

Tell us about your earliest musical memory? 

My earliest musical memories are listening to my mum's Beatles records on our Grundig 3-D sound record player, my grandmother singing hymns and trying to make a piece of pipe sound like a trumpet!  

You’ve been involved in the soul jazz scene for a long time now - how did you first decide it was the scene for you? 

It took a while. I was heavily into music from a very young age as I already had a small collection before I even reached double figures. However buying Charles Mingus’ ‘Tijuana Moods’ when I was 16 changed my life, closely followed by the discovery of five Flora Purim albums in a very dodgy second-hand shop (they also sold air rifles, flick knives and porn!) in my native Ipswich.  

And what were your first records that you loved from that scene?

I have a vivid memory of walking into Paul Murphy's record shop, Palladin I think it was called, and hearing Janet Lawson's ‘So High’ as I walked in. I went straight up to the counter and bought it. That shop was a treasure trove and I was pretty deeply out of pocket by the time I left! I already knew about jazz having written my college thesis about jazz culture, but the very underground world of jazz dance was only just opening up for me.

What was happening on the radio (both pirate and public service) before Kiss?

When I was growing up in Ipswich it was all about John Peel and Radio Caroline, and when I moved to London in the early eighties the pirates were so exciting; wow, underground Black music on the radio! That blew me away and I started nurturing an ambition to do that sort of radio!   

How did you first meet the guys behind Kiss? 

I was just really lucky! I'd really only done a handful of DJ gigs and nobody knew me, but I landed a job at Soho's Reckless Records alongside Jonathan More from Coldcut, who was one of the original founders of Kiss. He liked my selections on the tapes I played in the shop enough to do a bit of advocacy on my behalf. I had an interview with Gordon Mac one Saturday afternoon in Camden where both the broadcast studio and the offices of the legit promotions company Goodfoot were in the same building. Anyway, I picked up a copy of the much in demand ‘Gears’ by Johnny Hammond on the way to the meeting, sold it to him (for a small profit but way under what it was fetching at the time), and that's how I got a show on Kiss!

It must have been an exciting time for you, Dingwalls and Kiss all kicking off at the same time. What are your fondest memories from those times?

Well hooking up with Gilles Peterson was a direct result of my landing a show on Kiss and another lucky break for me. Gilles was doing a Sunday evening session back then which finished around the time my show started on Kiss, so his crew would all roll out of their gig and listen to the Cosmic Jam. Next thing I knew Gilles was on the phone inviting me to warm up for him on a Sunday afternoon at Dingwalls. Those sessions were fairly underwhelming to begin with, but they grew into something quite incredible. However my fondest memories were of doing the radio show, an ambition fulfilled, and always such a buzz.  

How did you guys see the acid house scene at that time? Did you ever visit those clubs or mix with Rampling et al?

Well, I was there when Coldcut played at Rampling's Shoom, and those Sunday afternoon sessions at Dingwalls would have been very different if we hadn't been out at Sunrise or wherever the night before. We played 808 State and Mr Fingers to the purists dismay - we were as much a part of it as we were totally different from it!  

Why do you feel Kiss managed to break through to so many young people in London at that time? Looking back it was pretty exciting with hot summers, great music and a certain feeling in the air. 

Even before it all kicked off around 87-88 Kiss represented the original London raving scene, pre-house. This was the warehouse party scene which had a very radical demographic for that time - Hackney meets Hampstead. That was the foundation. It was savvy and street but intelligent and articulate at the same time. Kiss made the other pirate stations sound pretty shambolic and amateur, we took it seriously and as a result became the soundtrack for the weekend in London.   

Kiss has been though a few different stages but it has always remained consistent with one thing - its selection of specialist shows and the best in underground music. How do you think it has managed to do this?

In an increasingly homogenised world it still offers some genuine diversity, and that's something I hope Kiss will always maintain. Over the years there's always been fresh talent coming in and the major developments in dance music have been represented without indulging in too much bandwagon jumping. 

What other shows do you enjoy on Kiss?  

Rodigan, Big Ted and Shortee, MK, EZ. 

Where do you think the future is for radio?

I think the directness of radio is something people will come back to now! I think the whole online thing is beginning to get a bit tedious and music culture seems to have been forced into a "virtual only" existence. Too much choice is not always a good thing! The radio and the record shop were the pillars of the scene back in the day. Knowledge was fought for, and there was a real sense of community (and humour). Now knowledge is there for anyone, the record shop is almost extinct, and one nation plugged into their iPods makes for a pretty soulless culture, so long live radio!

Back to Kiss - it was your last show recently (see video above). How did it feel?

SAD!!!  

What will be your lasting memories of Kiss?

All the time spent listening and selecting tunes for a thousand radio shows, pushing up the mic fader, and… "Welcome to the Cosmic Jam"

Finally, what’s your next move? We hear you are off to the east, in the best sense of the word (i.e. not Hackney) and we have to say we are pretty jealous… 

I'm off to the Japanese (sub-tropical) island of Okinawa, where my wife is from. Sometimes in winter the temperature can get as low as 18 centigrade!!! I have no concrete plans, but no plans to give up either, and I'm sure I'll be playing in Tokyo and the mainland fairly regularly. I'll also be back in the UK from time to time. We have a new Da Lata release ‘This Is Not Your Job’ on the Papa label and I have a small role in the making of the new Vanessa Freeman album, which is awesome. I also want to try and write a book, about music of course.