KRISTA HENRY, Staff Reporter
FAME DJ Kurt Riley. - FILE
THE STAR begins a weekly feature on local selectors and disc jocks today with a chat with ace selector Kurt Riley. You can email us with suggestions on who you would like to see featured. Email 'selector' at entertainment@gleanerjm.com
'THE HAND THAT rocks the cradle' could easily be used to describe some of Jamaica's most talented Disc Jockeys (DJs). Disc Jockeys are the hands that mould the entertainment industry as they create new mixes, manipulate crowds and 'buss' the lastest hits.
Traditionally the "selectors", who operate sound systems, have been the real entertainers. The selector would spin the records and 'toast' which evolved into social commentary. This became as important as the music that was being played.
One of the original turntable masters is the "Party Animal" Kurt Riley. Riley started as a DJ over twelve years ago, he describes the decision as being "beyond his control", as his father was a pioneer record producer. Riley has worked with FAME FM since 1999 and has been the premiere DJ at a number of major events.
Riley's expertise at the wheels of steel has been endorsed by at least one world renowned DJ, British 'Roy the Roach'. Roach describes Riley as 'the taxi' due to his ability to transport a party. Roach claims: "That boy is bad. I've crowned him the musical taxi. He can take you on a journey wherever you want to go".
Where the audience wants to go seems to be the aim of the game. Riley describes good selecting as depending on the music played and how it is presented to the audience. It is the job of the DJ to relieve the stress of the patrons for a few hours over the weekend. Thus, changing trends in selecting is partially a result of crowd response.
Riley explains that there is an "early on segment, at the beginning of a party where selectors play some tunes to waste time until the crowd arrives. But the public starts to go to parties earlier by eleven or twelve, so they have to cram the music into three hours. There is too much music, too many bad tunes for only three hours," he says.
Other changes that have taken place in selecting according to Riley, is that DJ's cannot play for more than forty- five minutes. According to Riley, there is now also the technology available for sophis-ticated mixing of music which allows for a different party experience.
According to him, mixing is an evolution from the reactions of people at parties that are tired of hearing one song for three minutes or more. They want to encompass as much as possible into their musical experience.
The musical experience is also littered with the commentary of the selectors. According to Riley, "talking has always been there, uptown parties don't really want talking, while in the downtown there is definitely more talking". Downtown crowds are more open to the opinions of the selectors while the uptown crowds are more involved in the music itself.
In terms of up and coming DJ's Riley says many do not take the business as a "serious art form, they take it as little thing" though selecting is a serious and often profitable enterprise. Disc Jockeys provide the few hours of release in stressful times for the many party going patrons, a release that Riley hopes to continue giving in many years to come.
Do
you have a problem? Is something bothering
you? Write to 
