Spectrum presents Graeme Park

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. Simply put, 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 was 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 & Rakim, New Order, Sophie Ellis-Bextor and 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.

Graeme has 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. Graeme even performs some lead vocals at some shows too.

This year, Graeme is celebrating his 40th Anniversary as a DJ with a series of special extended DJ sets throughout the year.

The Haçienda is now an apartment building (the developers asked Parky to DJ at the launch; he politely declined). At the back of the building there is a time-line, carved into steel, detailing the history of the club from Madonna‘s early performance to its closure. And there’s Graeme’s name not once, but twice, carved into the metal for time immemorial. What other DJs (what other venues?) have had that impact on the scene?