Actor, stand up comedian, poet, radio presenter and club DJ, Craig Charles, has been a dedicated soul boy from a tender age. In fact, he was raised on the sounds of sweet soul, "My
father came over from Guyana in the West Indies and he brought a load
of records over with him. There was always Ray Charles playing in the
house, The Platters, Aretha Franklin and Otis Redding. My Dad would play
all this old stuff. In fact I was very close to getting called Otis
when I was born! One of my earliest memories is my mum and dad dancing
around the kitchen to Ray Charles' I've Got A Woman. I remember the look
of sheer joy and exhilaration on their faces. I was hooked!
"When punk landed I was P-Funking. When young kids where pogoing
like morons, I was dusting talc off my shoes. I used to go to an
underground black club in Liverpool when I was 14 - I remember dancing
to Up for the Down Stroke by Parliament. Everyone thinks of The Beatles
or Echo and the Bunnymen when they think of Liverpool, but I remember
being so proud when The Real Thing were in the charts, because at least
there was one black Liverpool band making it."
After achieving mainstream success with his poetry, and then acting
and TV presenting roles in cult sci-fi comedy Red Dwarf, Robot Wars and
TV's longest running soap opera Coronation Street - as the taxi driving,
soul music fanatic Lloyd Mullaney - Craig's reputation as a fun, funk
loving soul boy was cemented with the public. In 2001, as the BBC
prepared to launch the new digital radio station BBC 6 Music,
he was asked to present a show. Over ten years on from the debut
broadcast, the show is now the award winning station's longest running,
and has the biggest share of audience too, a very impressive result for
what was originally thought of as a 'niche' programme!
It wasn't long before promoters of club nights and festivals were asking for Craig to bring his 'Trunk Of Funk' out on the road, and countless DJ slots across the UK and into Europe included; Mostly Jazz Festival, The Cheltenham Jazz Festival, Kendal Calling and the Big Chill, Vintage at Goodwood and even the world renowned Glastonbury Festival.
As it was clear there was huge demand for more - monthly 'Craig Charles Funk & Soul Club' nights began at The Wardrobe in Leeds, Band On the Wall
in Manchester, and attendance records were smashed as eager funk fans
created road blocks as they clamoured for the combination of nights of
top DJ tunage and blistering lives sets from the likes of Maceo Parker, The New Mastersounds, JTQ, The Fantastics!,
and many of the acts included on this very compilation. Without doubt,
his radio show and funky evangelizing is one of Craig's proudest
achievements, and it was only natural that Craig and Freestyle Records would join forces to bring forth this album.
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