Welcome to Toffee City.

I forgot I had set this blog up - with good intention of sharing some musical musing.

I've always had eclectic music tastes - and long been an obsessive collector of vinyl. I started buying records in about 1978, aged 7, a choice album which I still have, in mint condition, the Beetles' Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band. It was soon joined by music very much influenced by my Dad. Johnny Cash, Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly, Elvis and Eddie Cochran. Bowie followed, briefly; Earth Wind and Fire discovered and loved; Mantronix and my cousins Sugar Hill records confused but pleased. Through my teens I obsessed with Indy and flirted with Industrial Electronica. It wasn't until I moved to London to study that I developed a love for Miami and New York House music, along with a finer appreciation of Reggae and the soulful side of Funk and Disco. I flirted regularly with more industrial sounds - Hardcore, Drum and Bass, even german techno, but nothing ever got me nodding my head and bobbing a little (i'm a nervous dancer), more than House music - preferably from the USA although by the mid 1990's the UK Deep House movement had matured with rare quality.

I'll try not to make this all about dance music. I still listen to Joy Division, The Cure, Echo and the Bunnymen and The Sugarcubes of my teen years. I'm a big fan of film scores and in particular the work of Ennio Morricone. I like piano - preferably Chopin, although I tend to save it for the more sombre, thoughtful moments in my days. I enjoy Jazz, and play Clarinet and Tenor Sax - though not with any measure of skill. After playing around with lots of different kit in the studio, I settled down with a Nord Lead 2 and we've been happy together ever since.

Building my Vinyl collection started in earnest back in 1990, After 6 months of hanging out in East London's record shops, I blagged the job of running Friday nights at the Student Union and began organising club nights and parties in all sorts of unlikely places. This was a superb period. It was also tiring ;) Eventually I built myself a small studio and began making music with my mate Doss, releasing a few 12"s under the name Service (search: patio of delights), but mostly doing it for love. Artists as diverse as Meco and Tangerine Dream and tunes like Manzel's 'Space Funk' informed our electronic musical noodling - the results of which are dotted around on Dat and ocassionally uploaded to Soundcloud.



I don't get much time for DJ'ing any more and I'm far too 'Pipe and Slippers' to go clubbing. I've packed the mixer and second deck away and rely on a single trusty Technics 1210mkII which I bought when I was 19 and which is still as good as new. This brings me to Toffee City - and what it's about.

I plan to start digitising my Vinyl, and backing it up in the cloud so I can listen to it wherever I am. I have alot of work to do - my collection stretches to in excess of 5000 records. I intend to post the highlights and gems, on here, for you to enjoy - and for me to bathe in fond memories.

I will post other bits an pieces from around the web; tunes that mean something to me - or evoke memories of the various stages of my musical development. I'm not going to be prescriptive of how i'll use the blog - except to say that it will be to share my love of music with anyone who is interested.   It won't always be pretty, or what you'd expect. I don't want to just end up covering the 'cool and the rare', rather I want to share an honest slice of all my likes. This track, for example, is by one of the most derided bands in history, showing their mockers why they are wrong! The track is called Georgie Porgie, the artist Toto. It's a special track with special memories - and if you find yourself Touching your Tummy while it plays, then we've probably been to the same parties ;)

Cheers, Mark