Our Dear Watson

Noel Watson is a DJ legend from Belfast who has worked with everyone from The Clash to the hipsters with the broken beats in west London. Along with his late brother Maurice, he was a feature at Delirium on the Charing Cross Road in Soho, circa 1986, when hip hop was in the ascent, but house music was also making itself known.

I was at a few of those nights and the mood was exciting and hard to follow. Some of the B boys didn't care for the music that was coming out of the Chicago gay clubs, and so when the likes of Farley Jackmaster Funk came thumping out of the sound system, the reaction was intensely mixed. So much so that the DJ booth was effectively caged in, to safeguard the Watson brothers.

Noel is co-presenting tonight's show on Radio Ulster. He'll appear on the second hour, after 11pm, and the idea is that he chooses 10 tunes that shaped his remarkable life. It's gonna be a good one.