1975 and Andy had moved to Wantage a small
town in the County of Berkshire, he played at a local disco called 'Scamps'. And from there secured a residency for
3 nights a week at another Scamps Disco in Hemel Hempstead.
Throughout 1975 he became the highest paid DJ in the
Scamps group, working from 8pm to 2 am nightly. Sadly all of these night club spots are long gone!
During that time he had been seen by a
local entertainment agent and was asked to perform at RAF Greenham Common.
At that time all US bases on UK soil were designated 'RAF' although
they were in fact US Air Force. It was still several years before nuclear missiles
were to be stationed at Greenham Common.
This was also the start of the real Disco period,
dancing and having fun was the order of the day, and Andy worked at all of the US bases through out the South of England.
Although it wasn't all plain sailing as Andy recalls;
' One day I drove 60 miles to RAF Chicksands, set up all of the equipment, switched it on and there was an explosion from
inside the pre-amp of the turntables, all of the lights went out in the venue and a curl of blue smoke issued from the offending
equipment!
A couple of expletives later I realized I could not fix the problem and didn't have any backup I quickly
packed everything back in to the van and before the lights came back on drove away.......I am pretty sure I did not get paid!'
'I know I never went back!'
Apart from the instance above, which can only be put down to equipment failure, where
ever Andy played he was an instant hit. Playing at all of these US bases 'RAF Upper Heyford' in Oxford, 'RAF
Bentwaters' in Ipswich, 'RAF Lakenheath' and 'RAF Mildenhall' both in Bury St Edmunds and 'RAF Welford'
in Berkshire.
During one of Andys gigs at Greenham Common, a scout for US Airforce entertainment asked for his
contact details.
Several days later through his agent, Andy was asked if he would like to go to Naples
in Italy and try out in a new disco on the NATO Base. The contract would be for 2 months! He would need to take his disco
equipment and make his own way there.
With out hesitation
Andy Mac packed up the equipment and headed for Naples.
Some of the songs from
1975 and 1976, Click on each song to play
Jive Talking - Bee Gees, Thats The Way I Like It - KC & The Sunshine Band, The Hustle - Van McCoy, Upside Down -Diana Ross, Daddy Cool - Boney M
Who Loves You - Four Seasons, Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel - Tavares, Don't Go Breaking My Heart - Elton John & Kiki Dee, Sweet Love - The Commodores, Breezing - George Benson