ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT FIGURES IN THE UK DJ WORLD PASSED IN LATE MARCH, A HUGE INSPIRATION AND INFLUENCE TO MANY, INCLUDING MYSELF STEVE HOWLETT AKA FROGGY WAS ONE OF THE FIRST WAVE OF UK JOCKS TO BRING THE SOUND AND STYLES OF NYC'S INFAMOUS CLUBS LIKE PARADISE GARAGE AND STUDIO 54 TO ENGLAND, HE WAS THE FIRST TO INCORPORATE TECHNICS 1200'S INTO HIS MUCH TOURED, MUCH RESPECTED SOUND SYSTEM SOLELY TO EMBRACE THE ART OF MIXING AND HIS SETS AT PARTIES LIKE CAISTER OR BENTLEYS, MASTERMIXES ON RADIO'S LIKE CAPITAL OR STOMP FM AND EDITS OF CLASSICS SUCH AS LOVE TOWN AND CHANGE OF HEART ARE THE STUFF OF LEGEND. BELOW IS A WRITE UP TAKEN FROM A LOCAL NEWSPAPER THAT EXPLAINS MORE ABOUT HIM FOR THOSE THAT ARE UNFAMILAR WITH THE NAME FROGGY BUT AT THIS SAD TIME I'D LIKE TO PERSONALLY PAY TRIBUTE TOO.

IT'S HARD TO DESCRIBE HOW MUCH OF A MUSICAL INFLUENCE THIS GUY HAD ON ME, I WAS ABOUT 8 OR 9 WHEN I HEARD THERE WAS GOING TO BE A DISCO AT MY JUNIOR SCHOOL IN GOODMAYES.ILFORD WITH A FAMOUS DJ (HIS WIFE AT THE TIME WAS WORKING AT THE SCHOOL), ADMITTEDLY I NEVER REALLY KNEW MUCH ABOUT LOCAL HERO FROGGY THEN, I WAS JUST A KID, IT WAS APPROX 1982 AND ONLY RECENTLY HAD I STARTED COLLECTING TAPES OF ELECTRO MUSIC AND WATCHING TEENAGERS BREAKDANCE OVER THE PARK BUT I WAS EXCITED, I HAD NO IDEA WHAT A REAL DJ DID AND HAD ONLY SEEN WEDDING STYLE DISC JOCKEYS PLAY SHIT POP AT THE LOCAL 'GROVE SOCIAL CLUB'.

I DON'T THINK HE EVEN CARED OR THOUGHT ABOUT THE FACT HE WAS SPINNING TO A BUNCH OF CHILDREN, HE JUST ROCKED IT, HYPED US UP ON THE MIKE, MIXED RECORDS, DROPPED SPECIAL EDITS OF KNOWN CLASSICS AND QUITE LITERALLY BLEW ME AWAY. AFTER A FEW TERRIBLY AMATUERISH BREAKIN' BATTLES WITH HIS SON MARK, I GOT TO MEET HIM AND HE EVEN GAVE ME MY FIRST HIP HOP 12 INCH, (GRANDMASTER MELLE MEL AND THE FURIOUS 5-THE MESSAGE), FROM THAT MOMENT TIL THIS DAY I'VE BEEN A VINYL JUNKIE AND NEVER WANTED ANYTHING MORE THAN TO BE A DJ, A MASTER OF THE MIX.

BY THE TIME OF THE SCHOOL DISCO IN MY FIRST YEAR AT 'BIG' SCHOOL, I WAS THE DJ, WITH MY CRAPPY 'BENSAMONS' DISCO SET UP AND A MILK CRATE FULL OF HIP HOP, SOUL AND ELECTRO.

OVER THE FOLLOWING YEARS I RECORDED HIS MIXES OFF THE RADIO, BOUGHT THE OFFICIAL MIX COMPILATIONS HE WAS INVOLVED IN LIKE 'THE PERFECT BEAT' 'ELECTRO 11' AND THE 'JAMES BROWN MIX' AND WHEN I WAS OLD ENOUGH, GOT TO WITNESS MANY CLUB SETS AND SAW THE KIND OF REACTIONS AND POWER HE HAD AT PARTIES LIKE CAISTER SOUL WEEKENDER (AND HE EVEN WORKED ON SOME EDITS IN MY OLD 'THEORY HQ' STUDIO WITH TONY ANDERSON AND TAGGED THE WALL 'YALE THE FROGG!', SOMETHING I'M STILL VERY PROUD OF).

THE DAY AFTER I HEARD THE NEWS I STOOD ON STAGE AT 'CODE', A TECHNO PARTY IN MADRID HOUSED AT THE AIRCRAFT HANGER LIKE FABRIK CLUB IN FRONT OF THOUSANDS OF HARDGROOVE LOVERS AND ALL THE WAY THRU MY SET I COULDN'T HELP BUT THINK I WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN THERE OR ACHIEVED WHAT I HAVE AS A DJ IF IT WASN'T FOR FROGGY AND OF HOW DIFFERENT MY LIFE WOULD HAVE BEEN IF IT WASN'T FOR THAT EARLY EXPOSURE TO THE 'REAL DEAL' BY A 'REAL DJ', I'M NOT ASHAMED TO ADMIT THAT AFTER MY SET THAT NIGHT, I SAT IN THE VIP ROOM, RAISED MORE THAN ONE GLASS IN RESPECT AND SHED MORE THAN A TEAR FOR A TRUE HERO.

MY THOUGHTS ARE WITH HIS FAMILY AND THE MANY PEOPLE WHO LOVED HIM, PERSONALLY AND PROFESSIONALLY. THE EMOTION IN THE ROOM AT HIS FUNERAL REALLY PROVED JUST HOW IMPORTANT HE WAS TO SO MANY PEOPLE, IN SO MANY WAYS.

R.I.P FROGG, YOU'LL BE MISSED.



(AT THE NEXT SPLIT PARTY, MYSELF ALONGSIDE TONY AND PAUL WILL PERFORM AS THE ESSEX RASCALS, A PROJECT LARGELY INSPIRED BY THE MASTERMIXES OF GUYS LIKE FROGGY, AND WE'LL BE DROPPING MANY A FROGG CLASSIC, WE WILL ALSO BE JOINED BY GREG WILSON, MASTERMIXER OF THE NORTH, WHO KNEW STEVE WAY BACK WHEN AND IS AS IMPORTANT AND RESPECTED MUSICALLY IN THE UK IN THE ART OF MIXING AS THE GREAT MAN HIMSELF. WE HOPE YOU'LL JOIN US AND RAISE A GLASS OR TWO).




RIP Froggy - a true legend
03 April 2008 NEWHAM RECORDER NEWSPAPER

The dance music world lost one of its true legends on Friday when infamous Goodmayes DJ, Froggy, tragically passed away. ??I had the honour of being his agent for the latter half of the '90s, presented a Club Mix radio show with him every Saturday for a year and was proud to become good friends with the great man - real name Steve Howlett - in the process. ??Aged 57, The Frogg suffered a massive brain hemorrhage and was pronounced dead on Friday at Queen's Hospital, Romford. He was due to DJ in Leigh-on-Sea the next night. ??A colourful, laugh-a-minute character, to say the least, it's safe to say he lived life to the full. Rarely has someone been so influential for so many DJs and clubbers alike. ??He began in 1973, and by the late '70s was touring the UK, specialising in soul and disco and jazz funk. He had established himself as the tour jock on the Radio One Roadshow, and is pictured here on tour with then presenter Noel Edmonds. He even had his own Radio One segment every Friday teatime on the Peter Powell show - the first regular soul and disco selection on the station. ??He wrote a column for Blues and Soul magazine too, and is pictured here in it with Marvin Gaye.??But it was his trip to New York in 1979 which changed his life. Froggy met pioneering New York DJ Larry Levan, who took him to the legendary Paradise Garage and Studio 54 clubs, and taught him how to mix. ??As strange as it may sound, back in those days, people neither had the equipment, nor ability to mix. It was only when Froggy and co returned from the New Music Seminar in New York with the knowledge and the inspiration, that mixing the different beats of two records over the top of each other really became possible in the UK. ??He returned to his Friday night residency at the Regency Suite, Chadwell Heath, near his Goodmayes home, wowing loyal crowds and fellow jocks, like a teenage Pete Tong, with the mixing. ??And he set about building the now legendary Froggy soundsystem. He said: "I went out and borrowed every penny I could, bought a lorry and built a big system up. A mate of mine in Southend built these big bass bins for me and I took two guys on full time to run it. We fitted it into the Royalty in Southgate every week and people used to come from miles." ??The sound system would go on to be a regular attraction at the Caister Soul Weekenders, as would Froggy, and a big tribute is being planned for the next weekender in May, where he was due to play. Other venues where he and the system were much loved include Oscars, Bentleys, Lords, Ilford Palais and Redbridge Town Hall. ??During the mid-'80s, Froggy was commissioned to by Radio One to produce radio edits of big club 12" mixes like The Real Thing's You to Me Are Everything, Change's Change of Heart and Booker Newbury III's Love Town.??As the '80s came to a close, and with acid house gripping the nation, Froggy was presenting the Saturday night slot on Capital FM. ??I first met him in 1998 during the launch of Active FM in Romford, at a presenters meeting held by station bosses Andy Jacobs and Brian Thomas. Already appearing disinterested by their rules and regulations, he swung back and forth on his chair, chewing his pen like a naughty schoolboy. He promptly tumbled over the back of it, but quickly bounced back up with typical Froggy vigour! ??The next few years would provide some of the funniest moments of my life. Whether it be at a gig, a weekender, or chewing the fat in his local in Ilford, he always had me in stitches at one of his anecdotes. ??Froggy leaves son Mark, 34, and daughters Kelly, 33, and Zoe, 27. ??Mark, fondly known to many as Tadpole, has also DJd in and around the east London area, for most of his life, and is determined to continues his dad's legacy. He told me this week that he and and Froggy had recently been working on new material in his studio, and he hopes to finish those productions, and see them released, hopefully along with original and new versions of Froggy's legendary reel to reel cut and splice mega mixes. ??A funeral will be held at City of London cemetery on Friday, April 11. Family and friends will congregate at The Bridgehouse pub, Goodmayes, after the ceremony.