The Soul Man: Trevor Nelson

Trevor Nelson, the longstanding Radio 1 DJ and arbitrator of all things soul and RnB, brings his vast collection of club classics to Sheff later this month. We got to know a bit more about the man behind the decks.

“My earliest memories of music are listening to the radio as an infant and my dad playing his selection of crooner music on a Sunday in our home. I only wanted to DJ as a hobby until I was around 18 years old, and it was only when I began doing legal radio that things began feeling professional.”

“A lot of the best music this year has been from independent labels. Pop is totally back – in a big way. But genres like grime and hip-hop still maintain their popularity without a lot of major label support. RnB will always thrive with its wide fan base. I have had so many great new artists in the Live Lounge recently, it’s really hard to say who will break through next year.

“I’ve been to lucky enough to have many highlights in my career. But I reckon hitting 20 years at the BBC (so far) is the big one – and still feels weird to me!

“There is some criteria that has to be met for songs to make it onto one of my compilations. First of all, I genuinely have to like them of course. The other main criteria is that I must’ve have dropped them in a club or party at some point in my career. There are songs on there that I played at my first ever gig and songs I played at most recent gig.”

“If I could bring back one artist from my latest Club Classics album I would bring back the godfather of soul, James Brown. Without his influence, hip hop, funk and RnB would sound very different today.

“My favourite Christmas banger to drop at shows is Kurtis Blow – Christmas Rapping. Mainly though, the Club Classics show will feature tunes from as far back as the seventies to the noughties. It’s all about party funk and soul!

Trevor’s song for…

Packing out a dancefloor
Stevie Wonder – Superstition

Clearing a dancefloor
Anything by Honey G

A cheeky slow dance
Blackstreet – Don’t Leave

A spot of breakdancing
Incredible Bongo Band – Apache

Trevor Nelson brings his selection of club classics to Sheffield’s 02 Academy on Friday 16th December and his latest album is out now. Get tickets and more info at www.academymusicgroup.com.