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Suffix and prefix him as you will, but this evening, Alan McGee, will take his Death Disco night that bit more overground when he pilots a show on Radio1 between midnight and 2am. The Death Disco club, which has seen just about every major player in the alternative spectrum - from Courtney Love through Didz from the Coopers - DJing, is one of the best nights in London. The night also features in the lyrics of the latest Libertines single, ‘Don’t Look Back Into The Sun’.
We've heard the show might become a regular part of Radio 1's schedule in a bid to counter music industry claims that the station is not helping to promote young British talent.
McGee explained to the Guardian: "Alternative music changed when Nirvana broke, then again with Oasis. For whatever reason they've taken their eyes off a lot of new bands. For me, that's a golden opportunity. I've seen music through the 80s with the Mary Chain, the 90s with Oasis and the noughties with the Hives and this is the most exciting time for ages. There are tons of new bands and most of them are British."
He continues, "Most of the bands I feature on the show are either unsigned or they are on their first record," he told BBC News Online. "There are a lot of great bands out there at the moment, but they are under the radar. The record companies have lost control through digital distribution. Instead of in 1996 or 1997, when you could get signed if you dressed up in a mod suit, to get signed now you have to be world class. That's a good thing."
Radio 1 haven't yet confirmed whether tonight is a pilot, or just a one-off. Regardless, us folks at DiS are very excited because Alan will be playing The Koreans (who recently played the Death Disco night down at Notting Hill Arts Club). We have news of the follow-up to the bands debut single ('Machine Code') we can confirm it is called 'How Does it Feel' and is out at the tailend of November. If any readers fancy checking the band out live and dancing like a fool, they're on tour again as of tonight:
SEPTEMBER
18th Sheffield, Fez Club
19th Leicester, Charlotte
23th London, Mean Fiddler (9PM) Get Free Tickets c/o Ken Livingston +Serafin +The Glitterati +Bookoo Movement
24th Leeds, The Vine
25th Edinburgh, Underworld
26th Glasgow, Barfly +Death Disco
27th Nottingham, Rock City +Andrew WK +Hanoi Rocks
28th Wolverhampton, Little Civic
OCTOBER
4th Coventry, Colliseum
7th London, Metro +The Capes
Koreans will be touring in support of some bigger bands over the next few months in the lead up to the single release.
Read more about McGee and Radio1 on BBC and The Guardian
DiScuss: Shouldn't Drowned in Sound do a hijack too? Is Peel still relevant? Does anyone listen to radio anymore in the time of p2p?
