Legend Graeme's mission is simple - let people hear good music
Reporter: Simon Smedley
Date published: 07 March 2023
Graeme presents the Breakfast Show on Mom's Spaghetti
Legendary former Hacienda DJ Graeme Park is ready to rise and shine early each morning now that Credible Media has relaunched its Mom's Spaghetti radio station.
Aberdeen-born Graeme returns to Mom's Spaghetti's Oldham HQ where he will host the station's breakfast show between 7-9am.
He is promising plenty of Old Skool, hip hop and R’n’B dedicated tunes to help put a spring in your step at the beginning of the day - songs with real attitude.
"There's so much choice on any network or on any dial, but there's nowhere else other than Mom's Spaghetti that plays hip-hop, house and happiness," said former Kiss FM, Galaxy, Key 103, Radio City and Juice FM star Graeme.
"I'll be here to set you up for the day with some big tunes that just bring a smile to your face and get you ready for work or school.
"If you just press search for any radio station, it's just kind of the same old stuff that's in the charts.
"It might be 80s, 90s, even now and all that nonsense.
"That's fine, but where else are you going to hear the Beastie Boys, Run DMC, maybe a bit of Rhianna and a bit of De la Soul, and some classic house music?
"I think all that stuff will make you smile, and just set you up for the day perfectly.
"We want to get you off to school or work feeling good - that's what we'll be here for.
"I'm back, and I'm back with even music great music and great variety.
"I'll be giving the listeners a bit of chat that'll hopefully make them chuckle too, so it's all good."
The story of DJ Graeme Park really mirrors the story of the evolution of dance music and club culture itself.
Graeme found himself working in a Nottingham record shop called Selectadisc in the early 1980s, when the very first house records began to filter through from Chicago, Detroit and New York.
When the shop’s owner opened a nightclub, it was only natural he should turn to Graeme to select the discs.
Determined to showcase this new style of music, his reputation as a house pioneer soon brought him to the attention of The Haçienda in Manchester, who asked him to cover for Mike Pickering while he went on holiday in 1988.
There was no-one else in the country who could do the job.
The Summer of Love followed and Parky quickly became one of the biggest names on the emerging dance scene.
Aside from his nine year residency at The Haç, he is also one of the first British DJs to play places like Australia, South America, the USA, Asia and beyond, as well as producing and remixing tracks for the dancefloor, including The Brand New Heavies, Inner City, Eric B and Rakim, New Order, Sophie Ellis-Bextor and many others.
In the past few years, Graeme has performed alongside a host of legendary DJs such as Todd Terry, David Morales, Derrick Carter, Louie Vega, Danny Krivit, Marshall Jefferson and others for a variety of FAC51 The Haçienda club nights, playing a selection of contemporary tunes alongside a variety of forgotten classics.
He has also been a major part of the critically acclaimed Haçienda Classical shows which have performed around the UK since 2016 to rapturous response, where he performs live alongside the Manchester Camerata Orchestra, Peter Hook and special guest vocalists to a set of classic and contemporary club tunes.
This euphoric show opened the Pyramid Stage at the Glastonbury Festival in 2017 and has also performed at the Royal Albert Hall in London, Castlefield Bowl in Manchester, the Isle Of Wight Festival and lots of other arenas and festivals around the UK, as well as in Dublin, Dubai and Switzerland.
"For my entire career I’ve been finding good tunes that I want other people to hear," reflected Graeme.
"The reason I keep doing it is simple: it’s my mission in life to let people hear good music."
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