No. 31 - A Guy Called Gerald "Voodoo Ray" Rham

In early 89 I met Gerald Simpson in Manchester. Birkenhead's little Rham label had managed to push 'Voodoo Ray', his sparse house instrumental which had become a Hacienda theme tune, into the lower reaches of the top 60. Gerald had just returned from a trip to New York, gigging in clubs like Tunnel, Red Zone, Mars and World, feted all week long, driven around in stretch limos and living it up in a prime Broadway hotel... Now here we were in his bolted, battered, barricaded and seemingly besieged fourth floor flat in the notorious Hulme estate where Gerald had created the track, a threadbare environment with flowery wallpaper littered with bits and pieces of hi-tech equipment. Our meeting ended, I remember, because the cheerful chappie had to get off to his new job that night, as a part-time assistant at McDonald's. From penthouse to pavement. Shortly afterwards 'Voodoo Ray' raced to number 12 and led directly to a career-stagnating LP deal with CBS (now Sony). He's since evolved into one of the leading exponents of drum & bass, has the Juice Boy label and remixes for such faded luminaries as David Bowie. From pavement back to penthouse...

[Author: Ronnie Randall]