I heard the sad news from friends that a great person we all knew, James Blunt, suddenly passed away this weekend. “J.B.” was a Wilm. local and everyone in the neighborhood knew him, especially since his wide, jovial smile was visible from blocks away! I knew this big man had a bigger heart because:
-he deejayed EVERY dance/party of my childhood - grade school, high school, graduation/birthday parties, youth socials,............
-he was constantly involved in our sporting events, from timing track meets at Conrad to Saturday and Wednesday swim meets at Crestmoor pool.
-he was an awesome chef at the Charcoal Pit; he served up my first Rootbeer Float and Pit Special!
-he was a fantastic friend and hanging out with him transcended class/race/age
-he was my old-school philosopher (Kevin - remember how he said that CDs would never last and that they were the 8track of our generation? I guess he was right with mp3's taking over!)
I could fill pages with stories upon stories about J.B. Especially since I, like many others, deejayed with him at all the hot spots on Friday and Saturday nights. Blunt definitely influenced my love of music (and my particular niche of late 80s / early 90s hip hop!) I’ll never forget one particular story that reminds me of the good times I had as part of J.B. Express…
It was a cold, frigid night and J.B., Juan, and I had just loaded up his broken down/beat up YELLOW van jam-packed with crates of records and all the speakers/mixers/amps/lights. There was at least a foot of snow on the ground (with the top ½ foot being all ice). We drove (more like slid!) to the reception hall by DelMemBr to deejay a party – I think his hoopty van was even leaking fuel along our icy trail... When we finally got there, we saw that the party was on the 3rd floor, with no elevator. As I was cursing his heavy crates full of Rob Base “It Takes Two” and Digital Underground “Humpty Dance” albums, we carried them ALL up the stairs. We finally set up the equipment when the hosts invited us to grab some catered food before the guests arrived and we powered up. J.B. and Juan came back from the buffet with MOUNTAINS of food and boy did they grub! Eventually, the hosts said they were ready to get the party started and that we could start the music. I looked at J.B. and Juan and the only music they were making were deep snores as their empty plates rested on their Buddha bellies! So 13 year old D.J. Gee Q (my J.B. appointed deejay name) proceeded to dig in the crates and deejay the party while they slept deep in a food coma with happy smiles on their faces. J.B. and Juan didn’t stir until the end of the bump, but I had a blast making the crowd move and I definitely poked fun at both them on the treacherous ride home. But before we exited off 141 and reached home, we had to stop and get a signature Big Gulp for Blunt at 7-11…
I’m deeply sorry J.B. has passed on to the last dance. I will keep his family in my prayers. His charisma will definitely play as encore after encore in my memories…
-he deejayed EVERY dance/party of my childhood - grade school, high school, graduation/birthday parties, youth socials,............
-he was constantly involved in our sporting events, from timing track meets at Conrad to Saturday and Wednesday swim meets at Crestmoor pool.
-he was an awesome chef at the Charcoal Pit; he served up my first Rootbeer Float and Pit Special!
-he was a fantastic friend and hanging out with him transcended class/race/age
-he was my old-school philosopher (Kevin - remember how he said that CDs would never last and that they were the 8track of our generation? I guess he was right with mp3's taking over!)
I could fill pages with stories upon stories about J.B. Especially since I, like many others, deejayed with him at all the hot spots on Friday and Saturday nights. Blunt definitely influenced my love of music (and my particular niche of late 80s / early 90s hip hop!) I’ll never forget one particular story that reminds me of the good times I had as part of J.B. Express…
It was a cold, frigid night and J.B., Juan, and I had just loaded up his broken down/beat up YELLOW van jam-packed with crates of records and all the speakers/mixers/amps/lights. There was at least a foot of snow on the ground (with the top ½ foot being all ice). We drove (more like slid!) to the reception hall by DelMemBr to deejay a party – I think his hoopty van was even leaking fuel along our icy trail... When we finally got there, we saw that the party was on the 3rd floor, with no elevator. As I was cursing his heavy crates full of Rob Base “It Takes Two” and Digital Underground “Humpty Dance” albums, we carried them ALL up the stairs. We finally set up the equipment when the hosts invited us to grab some catered food before the guests arrived and we powered up. J.B. and Juan came back from the buffet with MOUNTAINS of food and boy did they grub! Eventually, the hosts said they were ready to get the party started and that we could start the music. I looked at J.B. and Juan and the only music they were making were deep snores as their empty plates rested on their Buddha bellies! So 13 year old D.J. Gee Q (my J.B. appointed deejay name) proceeded to dig in the crates and deejay the party while they slept deep in a food coma with happy smiles on their faces. J.B. and Juan didn’t stir until the end of the bump, but I had a blast making the crowd move and I definitely poked fun at both them on the treacherous ride home. But before we exited off 141 and reached home, we had to stop and get a signature Big Gulp for Blunt at 7-11…
I’m deeply sorry J.B. has passed on to the last dance. I will keep his family in my prayers. His charisma will definitely play as encore after encore in my memories…
Put the needle on the record.....
1 comment:
God Bless JB,
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