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Changes with Annie Macmanus

DJ Fat Tony on why music is better than any drug and the moment of empathy that changed his life

Changes with Annie Macmanus

Annie Macmanus

Society & Culture

4.61.5K Ratings

🗓️ 14 October 2024

⏱️ 47 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

DJ Fat Tony is one of the most iconic figures of London’s nightlife scene. Tony’s extraordinary four-decade career at the heart of music and clubbing has seen him spinning tracks for everyone from Madonna to Prince, but his rise to stardom was paired with a drug addiction that almost killed him. Tony’s 2022 Sunday Times bestselling memoir ‘I Don’t Take Requests’, is a shocking, honest yet also at times hilarious account of his life. It’s filled with wild stories about his past and heartbreaking reflections on his journey through addiction, recovery, and transformation.


In this live episode of Changes, recorded at Before Midnight in Gunnersbury Park, Annie and Tony dive deep into Tony’s life from his upbringing in Battersea, to his teenage years spent on the legendary Kings Road, to the dark depths of addiction and his return to clubbing as a sober DJ. They talk about Tony’s love for music, how UK nightlife has evolved over the years and offer a raw insight into the highs and lows of DJ culture. 


Content warning: this episode discusses addiction and abuse and has very strong language from the start.


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Changes is a deaf friendly podcast, transcripts can be accessed here: https://www.anniemacmanus.com/changes

Please Note: The transcript is automatically generated in case you come across any typos or misquotes during your reading. Enjoy the episode.



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Transcript

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0:00.0

I want to tell you about a party. If you like dancing and you like good music, then you might want to know about before midnight.

0:07.5

That is the club night, the party that I've been putting on for the last few years.

0:11.5

And the concept was born out of me wanting to go out

0:14.8

and dance but also needing to sleep thus the whole premise is that these are

0:21.2

proper parties proper club nights, really good music, but the time parameters move earlier.

0:27.0

So they start around 7-8 and they always finish no matter what before midnight.

0:32.0

We did a big run of these shows this summer

0:35.8

which went really, really well and I wanted to let you know that we are going to be

0:39.7

taking before midnight on tour this winter and we're going back inside to dark

0:46.7

sweaty venues that I really love. We are going to be coming to Manchester Albert Hall, which is one of my favorite before midnight shows ever that I did last year

0:57.0

We're going to be coming there on the second of November. We're going to be in Belfast Mandela Hall

1:02.0

Doing two shows back where it all started for me,

1:04.8

where I used to sell tickets for Shine Night Club.

1:08.3

One of those are sold out, 16th of November.

1:10.3

You can still get tickets, so that's the 16th of November that's a Saturday and then we're in London at the

1:15.4

Oh two Brixton Academy on the 23rd of November I've played there a few times as a DJ I've put on nights there

1:22.0

but I haven't ever been there with

1:24.7

before midnight so I'm so excited to do that wave in that iconic venue that's

1:29.5

23rd of November at Brixton then next year we're gonna be in Ireland we're doing leisure land go away on the 15th of of March. There's another one the night before that sold out still tickets for

1:43.6

Vickers Street in Dublin on the 17th of March. To each and every one of you who have

1:47.7

showed up to before midnights over the last couple of years and made the

1:50.6

atmosphere so golden and so special thank you and I'm very excited to see you in

...

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