Is Tony De Vit The Greatest DJ Of All Time?

Have you chosen your Greatest DJ Of All Time yet? If not, never fear, you’ve still got time. To help you make your mind up, over the next few months we’ll be featuring each of our nominees here on mixmag.net. Watch the video, read the interview, and then vote at www.greatest.dj. Next up it’s Tony De Vit…

“He closed the gay/straight clubbing divide”


Tony De Vit’s impact in the 1990s earned him the title ‘The People’s DJ’. His sound, a mix of relentless energy with a camp twist, helped shape hard house, his tunes and compilations shooting the genre into the Top 40. He died in 1998 aged 40 from AIDS-related illnesses – not before leaving a legacy of escapism.

FERGIE ON WHY TONY DE VIT IS THE GREATEST DJ OF ALL TIME:
“Tony de Vit’s music was all about the weekend. It fitted the time – people working hard all week and letting off stress. His 12-hour ‘journey’ sets at Trade were world-renowned. The first time I went with him it blew my mind. Trade was a very daunting place for someone who didn’t know anything about the gay scene. But that’s probably one of his great achievements: closing the gay/straight clubbing divide. When I first met him, he had come to play a club in my home town in Northern Ireland. I was only fifteen, and I spent all night pestering him for the names of tunes he was playing. I phoned him about three times a day after that, and he became good friends with my family. He invited me to visit, but just then the ceasefire broke so he let me live with his boyfriend to avoid going back. He took me to clubs every weekend, three or four gigs on a Saturday finishing at Trade on Sunday morning. When he became sick he kept on DJing right up until he collapsed in a club, and even then he was reaching up to move the crossfader.”

Former Radio 1 resident Fergie became a global superstar while still in his teens. His Excentric Muzik label has become of the UK’s most exciting contemporary techno imprints.

Read more: Mixmag