R.I.P Froggy

[RetroRuss]

More for the UK visitors here but Froggy died suddenly yesterday aged 58. He was a pioneer of mixing in the UK, and a very influential DJ throughout the UK. I had the privilege of chatting to him last Summer and his last radio show was on Jazz Syndicate Radio at the JSR Summer party.

Speaking to friends he was looking forward to Caister in May and discussing a release of his mixes.

RIP Froggy

[Bernie]

Being from the U.S., I am not familiar with Froggy. However, anyone who does his best to spread the joy of music is worthy of acknowledgment and respect. Condolences to Froggy's family and friends on his untimely passing.

[disco-disc]

Yes Froggy, and his Mafia, was BIG back in the day..Condolences.

[SandraDee]

Oh dear, that is sad news. I wasn't part of that South-East soul/jazz-funk scene as I was too young & I lived in the North but I used to listen to him on Peter Powell's Radio 1 show which was quite ground-breaking as it was the first time Radio 1 had a dance music show (& this was in 1982!) & I read about him in Blues & Soul & Record Mirror. That once-a-week slot on Peter Powell's evening show exposed me to alot of import dance material that I otherwise would never have heard at the time (I relied on Radio Luxembourg before that under my bed clothes pretending to be asleep!) so I'll be forever grateful to Froggy for that. I know how much he was respected as a DJ so I know he'll be very missed by many others.

[Zef]

Very sorry to hear this. Fond memories of the frog from my teenage years listening to pirate radio.

[thommy2458]

I have a James Brown 12" that he did years ago-amazing
energy.

[boogyjuice]

My thoughts with his family and friends.
I got familiar with his name by reading it many times in the UK-magazine Blues & Soul




MySpace.com - The Original Funk Master Froggy! - 57 - Male - UK - www.myspace.com/froggy_productions

[Greg Wilson]

Having been away since Friday morning, didn’t hear the sad news until Saturday night - I was told by Alan Arscott after I’d played at Plan B. It came as something of a shock, to say the least, for Froggy was someone I knew and admired back in the Jazz-Funk days. It was only last month that I wrote some words about him on the Brownswood forum – I’ll repeat them here.

RIP Froggy.

It was '78 when mixing first made an impression in the UK. Most DJ's gave it a go, but we simply didn't have the equipment, so all but a few continued the traditional microphone approach. Most club set-ups were basic to say the least, vari-speed turntables a rarity. It wasn't until I started at Legend in '81 that I worked with SL-1200's (although I'd previously used them when I worked overseas in Germany for a couple of months in 1980).

Froggy was ahead of the game. He'd been over to NYC in the late 70's for the New Music Seminar and had seen mixing close up at venues like the Paradise Garage. When he came back he geared his Roadshow to mixing, making sure he had the right equipment. He was involved in the design of the Matamp Super Nova mixer, which I'm using on The Tube clip. I was pretty friendly with Froggy in the early 80's and stayed at his house in Ilford a few times. I also booked him to play at one of the Wigan Pier All-Dayers, a move that caused something of a political North / South stink, via Frank Elson (writer for Blues & Soul) at the time.

I always feel that Froggy was somewhat held back by the Soul Mafia's anti-Electro stance, as this music was geared towards mixing.

He was an undoubted pioneer of UK mixing, certainly someone I had big respect for.

[ashley_k]

Sad news.

I still love his remix of William Bell's "Passion" (The Froggy Mix) a great mix of a great tune.

[buckaroo]

Heard the bad news on Saturday morning...
R.I.P.

[QUINNY]

Gone but not forgotten. R.I.P. Froggy, whose sound system was legendary BITD.

[Broomfield1965]

Froggy did the biz on a remix of "stay with me tonight" by Jeffrey Osborne. He also did a whole LP on Epic reocrds where he uses 2 copies of "juicy fruit" by Mtume to create a new mix that was just a knockout! He was a true innovator - sadly missed...