The IDEA Agency

Established 1970

I started an agency which eventually contracted nearly 1000 disc jockeys around the world with regular customers in 14 markets, including Europe, the Middle East and Far East. I.D.E.A as it came to be known world-wide (and still is…) was the second largest agency of its kind in the world, second only to JULIANA’s (later Bacchus) which specialised in leasing entire night clubs including the supply of DJ’s to top hotels around the world. We were never in competition as our formats were entirely different.

My IDEA supplied a first class DJ service to top Hotels and Night clubs throughout Norway, Denmark, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Finland, Benelux, France, Italy, Spain plus Thailand, and Oman. Never had any involvement with the UK.

I was partly responsible for the great British DJ invasion (of Europe) during the 1970’s and 1980’s. The flow ebbed during the latter part of the 1990’s and then the world changed, partly owing to the digital age and also due to local dj’s mastering the techniques, and partly owing to the rise of mixing music (Pioneered by Tony Prince and his DMC).

In the old days, a DJ was a star, he had to entertain, use the microphone and make guests feel at ease, make them laugh, make them dance (how many times have I seen a DJ change a disc at the very last second because he knew that track would crucially keep them dancing). More important of all change the music so the dancing crowd would go to the bar for more drinks, and different punters would fill the floor. Mixing music changed that format; since the 90’s DJ’ing became more and more technical, with mixing and remixes being the ‘star’. Microphones were out! My DJs were showmen, entertainers – for me, mixing DJs were technicians.

Inadvertently, I literally changed the lives of hundreds of young Brits. They swarmed across the North Sea (Harwich-Esjberg route on DFDS) and found their way to their respective first gigs via my office in Copenhagen. As the Agency grew, so did the corners of Europe where they eventually settled, and most of them still live not far from their last IDEA contract. They all remember the wild days of their youth, the fun, the mischief, the pain and the exhilaration of those times and very many of us are still in touch, either directly, or via Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and so on.

It’s a strange but warm feeling to be called up out of the blue from a DJ that I used to book 30 – 40 years ago, whilst our looks desert us our voices nearly always remain true and we pick up where we left off all those years ago. About 50 old DJs have called me on the hoof, so to speak.

And, it didn’t stop at DJs either. I was Agent and Manager for many dancers (Go Go Dancers back then…), Radio Luxembourg DJ Tony Prince I brought over to Scandinavia on several occasions.

Remember that one hit wonder band, Middle of the Road? At the height of their fame (and only chart success) I brought them to Denmark and Sweden and arranged a string of bookings and concerts for them. Several of the DJs formed Road Shows and I was happy to assist Starboard Roadshow, and other acts to our more famous night clubs.