I can't for the life of me remember when I first came to realise that I loved soul music above all other genres. I do remember the first school disco I went to back when I was about 12 or 13 and shaking a wicked hoof to Freda Payne's 'Band Of Gold' and thinking how good a record that was. I also had more than a passing interest in Radio Stations and at that time Radio Luxembourg and Radio North Sea International were stations that I listened to when the reception on the radio would allow it. When I left school I joined the Royal Navy in 1975.

These were the days before iPads, MP3 players and such like so when we were at sea and we weren't busy blowing things up we made our own entertainment. Most of the ships had their own radio and TV station so from about 4 until 8pm we would have radio shows going out with members of the ships crew dong their Tony Blackburn bit and some of the guys were very good.

It was on my first ship that I decided to have a go at DJ'ing and thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. I played all sorts of music then but preferred to play soul music if I could and eventually on later ships did a specialist soul music show. The heavy metal freaks didn't really appreciate it though!! When I left the Navy I got involved with a chap presenting a show on Ocean Sound down here on the South Coast and I was his side-kick. This gave me my first taste of commercial radio and the dreaded playlists, which were about even in the early 90's. The show was to do with the Navy and called 'A Life On The Ocean Wave'. I had quite a fun time helping with this show including doing interviews at various establishments which is another story in itself.

Eventually that came to an end then I ended up on Radio Victory doing an RSL in 1994 then doing a more permanent show in 1996 when they got a license to broadcast on cable, doing my own Soul Show which had always been my ambition. Good things don't last forever and the show only lasted a year or so. After spending time on various Internet stations I am now back with JFSR and I hope to take my Soul Heaven show to new levels. My aim as always is to bring quality soul music to our audience, so I hope you will listen to my show right here on JFSR and I will take you to Soul Heaven. enjoy the ride :-)

Cheers

Mark