Mark Moore

Mark Moore – the man behind the late 80's music combo 'S’Express' , yet there is much more to him than a couple of massive global hits. Mark began his clubbing life at The Blitz and Heaven, and established himself as a DJ in those heady pre-house years and was right at the forefront of house music’s charge into British pop culture.

Moore’s journey began as a teenager, falling in love with the transgressive energy of his brother’s punk records. Throwing himself into London’s thriving alternative milieu at a time of city-centre squats and gigs every night, he eventually happened upon the glam and glitter of New Romantic hotspots such as the fabled Blitz club.

Dazzled by the UK capital’s largely gay and wholly fabulous underground scene, he embarked on a career as a DJ to the most fashionable crowds in town – spinning everything from Hi-NRG and Italo disco to hip-hop and children's’ TV theme tunes.

In a 2018 interview, with Bill Brewster for Red Bull Music Academy, Mark describes how his fluid approach to music genres permeated fledgling Queer Club nights of the late 1980's . By 1985 his DJing at Pyramid (Wednesday night's at the infamous Heaven Night Club, Charing Cross) enabled it to become one of the first clubs in the country to play emerging House music from Chicago...

"It was 70% gay. A lot of straight people who wanted somewhere to go where they weren’t hassled. Racially it was mixed, a lot of black gay guys went, they loved the house music and they also loved the soulful electronic stuff like Janet Jackson’s “Control.” I also had a big hip-hop following from the Mud Club. A lot of the main homeboys and break-dancers went there because they were bored.

First time they came, they were terrified and then one of them would go to their mates, It’s alright, it’s safe. And then more of them would come along. And they’d be breakdancing to the house music. They even asked LL Cool J to come down one time, and he came. He loved it, thought it was freaky.''

Currently experiencing a career retrospective through his inclusion in London exhibitions such as ' The Outlaws: Fashion Renegades of the '80's (Fashion & Textile Museum), and 'Blitz: The club that shaped the '80's (Design Museum) Mark's pioneering efforts and amiable character are being reviewed by new generations while being cemented in the annals of music history. And deservedly so.

Photograph: Kate Garner.

Links: linkte.ee/markmoore_s_express

Sources : https://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2018/01/mark-moore-interview
& http://www.dmcworld.net/features/mark-moore/