Chris Lyons DJ

Mar 03, 2025

Radio in the 80s

I started DJing in a small local radio, in the eighties. The radio was named Radio Base Moreno, based in Ferrara, my originary home town, where I was born.

After some initial training I was given a weekly hour time slot where I could play everything what I liked. I had heard of this opportunity from a friend of mine, Alessandro, who already had his time slot, and wanted to make it more fun by sharing the experience with me.

This radio had one rule: only one DJ was allowed in the cabinet at any given time, in order to avoid messing around, making confusion and lowering the overall programme's quality. Of course, given our young brains, we thought the rule could not apply to us.
We were fond of rapping on instrumental versions of tracks and we couldn't miss to make rap duets live on radio!

So we did our best to allocate our weekly time slots one besides the other. This way it was easy to be both present in the cabinet, making absolutely unique live rap versions on instrumentals of tracks like Never Gonna Give You Up by Rick Astley, or Geronimo's Cadillac by Modern Talking!

At the time, the radio owner was running a musical instruments store nearby and was always listening to the programmes. If he thought we were performing together, he was sure to walk at the radio to check out what was happening, but it was usually spotted by us some time before arriving thanks to our motorcycle's rear view strategically parked and positioned in front of the radio cabinet's window. So one of the two of us could walk out of the cabinet just in time!

When he it was not in sight after a live performance it was a good sign: our rap had to be so perfect that he probably thought it was aired directly from some vinyl record!

Parties and Discotheque in early 90s

After realizing I was listening to tons of music every day, I decided to buy a mixer and an additional turntable in order to practice mixing at home.

At the time everyting was on vinyl, and I was regualarly spending my few hard-spared money at the neraby town Bologna at the Nannucci store, chasing the best deals in order to maximize my collection. I was also often practising at home in my bedroom trying to improve my skills, and making mixed tapes for me and my friends with the latest hits.

It was very common at the time (1986-1990) to have parties at friends' house. I often was invited to play and mix music, and it was real fun. I think my passion for mixing was born during that parties.

In 1991, thanks to an ad I had put on a local newspaper, I was spotted and hired by an entrepreneur to play as resident DJ at a disco he was trying to launch some miles outside Ferrara in a small town named Vigarano Pieve.
He was mainly interested in offering an entertainment ("cabaret") venue, but it did include ordinary disco music at the late hours and that was when I got into play.

The place was actully rather far away from Ferrara. Outskirts can be very foggy in the winter. I remember those late night trips back and forth, driving immersed in thick fog.
Of course I wasn't the only one to have difficulties because of the fog: also the customers did.
It was very risky indeed to reach that little disco lost in the foggy countryside. Other already popular alternatives were easier to reach. It turned out to be a hard task to make that place to get known.
That season lasted two or three months, I think.

Then summer arrived, and in June I was contacted for playing as a resident DJ in a discotheque at Jesolo. The opportunity was interesting, but alas, it had come a bit too late.

My life was already pulling me in other directions, and I felt very distracted: the first "stable" girlfriend, the beginning of the university. Time was getting short for mixing and playing in radio, more "important" things seemed more urgent at the time. So I decided to give music a pause. "I will get back when I'll have more time" I thought.

It was summer of 1992.

Actually, more than 25 years passed before I managed before I got back to music. So before you decide to give up on something you really like, you'd better think twice... You never know how fast time passes.

2018, Gran Canaria

I have had several and diverse job opportunities: a few good and exciting experiences, and other rather boring experiences. Luckily enough, paying the bills somehow was not an issue anymore. But a fulfilling job seemed damn hard to find.

2018 looked like a turning point for me: I was married since almost twenty years. I had had a stepdaughter who was growing up and perhaps she was in the best moment to move out and start walking by herself. Economical self-sustain was there and I could work remotely and part-time.

I really felt like it was the good time to make some changes in my life and focus on things I really liked and that I had neglected for quite a long time: surfing and music.

So I planned a winter in Gran Canaria, and I managed to move there with my wife for a few months.

Before leaving Italy, I had bought a brand new Pioneer DDJ mixing console, got all necessary mixing software. I was sure that more than something had changed in music industry since the 90s so I was eager to find out.

Playing as a DJ in Gran Canaria was also a sort of backup work plan. Canary islands are famous for living upon tourists. I have no experience as a cook or waiter, so DJing is something I could do to work in a turistic place, I thought.


(to be continued)

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