Electro legend Arthur Baker & ‘Trainspotting’ author Irvine Welsh play DJ sets in Brighton

ARTHUR BAKER + IRVINE WELSH – BAR 32, BRIGHTON 20.7.24 

We hot-footed it along to Bar 32 which is located at 32 Duke Street in Brighton, having just witnessed a truly awesome live set from electronic dance music legends Underworld on Brighton Beach. You can read that review HERE.

Underworld shot to fame mainly on account of their ‘Born Slippy’ anthem being included in the famous 1996 British black comedy-drama film ‘Trainspotting’ which was directed by Danny Boyle and starred Ewan McGregor as Mark “Rent Boy” Renton. The film is actually based on the 1993 novel of the same title by Irvine Welsh and as luck would have it we are continuing our ‘Trainspotting’ theme for the evening as Irvine is one of the DJ’s on offer tonight. 
The running order being:
Zoe Vice 10:00pm – 11:30pm 
Irvine Welsh 11:30pm – 12:30am
Arthur Baker 12:30am – 1:45am
Steve Mac / Carl Loben – 1:45am – 3:00am
Jamie Mackie 3:00am – 4:00am

Our Underworld concert finished at 10:29pm and then we had to make our way out of the beachside area along with circa 8,800 other folk. We arrived at Bar 32 at about 11pm and (annoyingly) had to supply the door staff with proof of ID (in my case a driving license) and then we had to stand and have our mugshots taken as well. This being the equally most intrusive entry that I’ve ever had to put up with. The other being Patterns, but I don’t think they require this any more. I’m surprised that they didn’t give me a row of numbers to hold up as well. Anyway, rant over!

Once inside, you can see that there has been some serious investment in the joint and this includes tonight’s soundsystem. As it’s my first ever time here, I’m not actually sure if this soundsystem has been brought in especially for tonight or whether it’s a permanent fixture. But it certainly did the job! Beers secured and we absorbed half of Zoe Vice’s set. Before we knew it, I spied Scottish born Irvine Welsh, who is also the co-owner of Brighton-based record label ‘Jack Said What‘, (with Steve Mac and Carl Loben) and was surprisingly taller than I had thought he was. He joined Zoe in the DJ area and after a short while there was a smooth handover as the room began to fill up more and more with glamorous souls. 

The first tune Irvine dropped was the ‘Klub Cut’ version ‘Loneliness’ by Kernkraft 4000 which let’s face it is a bit of a classic and one that sits in my collection. Irvine then segued this into a tune which might have been ‘In De Cat’ by Mita Gami & Mosko, which wasn’t as immediate for me, but the sound quality was crisp clear. Next there was a mix of ‘Smalltown Boy’ by Bronski Beat, with those “To your soul; To your soul; Cry; Cry; Cry” famous opening lines. Before we knew it, he was giving us a particularly decent DJ mix of Depeche Mode’s ‘Enjoy The Silence’…“All I ever wanted; All I ever needed; Is here in my arms; Words are very unnecessary; They can only do harm…” fabulous stuff. 

Irvine then took us up to the new day with a spot of inspiration by dropping ‘California‘ by Jackers Revenge which heavily borrows from the 1965 classic ‘California Dreamin’’ by The Mamas & the Papas…“All the leaves are brown (all the leaves are brown); And the sky is gray (and the sky is gray)…”. The new day was greeted by a dance mix of ‘Gloria’ by Laura Branigan, which went down rather well, especially with the ladies, but the following number increased their involvement as the opening bars of the gay/hi-nrg ‘Can’t Take My Eyes Off You’ anthem by Boys Town Gang was certainly doing the trick. This being a reworking of Andy Williams 1967 hit. A few minutes later we were getting another out there tune, where I commented to one of my mates as to how on earth do these artists grab these old tunes and successfully reinvent them. This time we were now dancing to a new take on The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown’s 1968 epic ‘Fire’, which has been given the new dance treatment by Luca LeBleu and retitled as ‘New Spice (Fire) (Dub)’. 

Irvine’s set was almost at an end and yet there was just time to play another cut and it would be rude if it wasn’t ‘Born Slippy’ by Underworld wouldn’t it! And that’s exactly what we got at 12:27am. 

irvinewelsh.net

Whilst Irvine was in the DJ booth, he was joined by the next DJ, and to be honest the REAL reason I was here. Ladies and Gentlemen I give you the legendary hip-hop / electro DJ and producer Arthur Baker who was making a rare appearance in Brighton. This famous American is responsible for the seminal electro 80s record ‘Planet Rock’ alongside Afrika Bambaataa and the Soul Sonic Force, which kick-started the whole electro phenomenon in the UK and Europe in the early 1980s. The recording came together after Arthur met with Bambaataa and the two bonded over the idea of creating a song about their mutual appreciation for German band Kraftwerk and they recreated the Kraftwerk sound without sampling it. I absolutely love ‘Planet Rock’ and bought the 12” back in 1982 as it sounded like a dance version of Kraftwerk. I stayed with Afrika Bambaataa and the Soul Sonic Force sound produced by Arthur Baker and purchased a number of releases by them, including follow up single ‘Looking for the Perfect Beat’, and ‘Play at Your Own Risk’ (by Planet Patrol) and the later ‘Planet Rock: The Album’ which eventually came out about three years later. In the meantime I did catch Bambaataa live when they played Brighton’s Top Rank Suite (now PRYZM) on 15th October 1984. 

In his epic storied history, Arthur Baker has made scores of dance records and remixed the likes of Bob Dylan, Hall & Oates, Al Green, Bruce Springsteen, The Rolling Stones, Tina Turner, Diana Ross, Cyndi Lauper, The Pet Shop Boys, Fleetwood Mac and Hurts. However, for me, another gem is his New Order mixes on ‘Confusion’ which dropped in August 1983, which was recorded in New York and was the band’s follow up to ‘Blue Monday’. Bringing us up-to-date, Arthur is currently working with New York rapper Nas on a musical of the genre-defining film ‘Beat Street’. Earlier this year, Arthur released an EP on Jack Said What, ‘Sexmachine’, alongside label co-owner and acclaimed house music producer Steve Mac, formerly of the Rhythm Masters.

So back to Bar 32 and Arthur Baker, who could be a dead-ringer for Eric Cantona’s older brother with his rugged looks, takes over the helm from Irvine Welsh as Underworld’s ‘Born Slippy’ is blasting out the speakers. But instead of throwing in a new tune, he continued with the track and made it into his own mix. I was totally absorbed watching the master at work as he tweaked a knob here and there as the punters danced away in front of him. 

After a few minutes he dropped (I believe) the ‘Konstantin Wallner Mix)’ of ‘Yeahhh’ by Whiteliner and segued into his own ‘Angel Of Hell (Paranoid London VIP)’ banging acid house blipping style heavy tune. During his set alas we were not rewarded with New Order’s ‘Confusion’ which I really had been praying for, but we did instead get his extended remix of their ‘Touched By The Hand Of God’ single instead, which sounded terrific. The longer his set went on for, the deeper the cuts got and quite possibly the louder it got as well as my chest cavity was rattling with the sound waves – Fabulous stuff! 

The clock ticked past 1am and Arthur dropped his remix of ‘Sorry I Am Late’ from Kollektiv Turmstrasse and followed it with ‘Powder In The Nose (Extended Mix)’ which he put out with James Hurr. The bangers kept coming and the punters kept on dancing and before we knew it, he was on his final number, which sadly wasn’t ‘Planet Rock’ but his mix of Joy Division’s timeless classic ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’ which chugs along at a similar pace and sounding a tad like Jah Wobble’s Invaders Of The Heart ‘Visions Of You’ and at 1:39am he handed over the reigns to Steve Mac, which was our cue to vacate the building, having been on the go all day. 

In future, when I walk past Bar 32, I will stare into the joint with a beaming smile on my face and recall the time I actually witnessed Arthur Baker in action! A very memorable experience! 

www.instagram.com/arthurhbaker