The Norman conquest

Even in spin-saturated Dubai, DJ press releases make grim reading. Has anyone ever tipped up at the airport with a record bag without deserving the epithets "legendary", "phenomenal" and "icon"?

Norman Jay's publicity is no exception. But he goes one further - royal approval in the form of an MBE for services to music and djing.

And this is just a footnote in a career that saw him launch Kiss FM, host London's first warehouse party, pioneer house music and have his life celebrated in the 2002 biopic Good Times - A Notting Hill Story.

Just playing

"At the end of the day, I'm just playing other people's records," is how he sees it all. "DJs have learnt the jargon of the media to embellish what they're trying to sell to you."

But, typically, he refuses to diss more self-aggrandising colleagues. "Bullsh*t is fine if you back it up," he says.

It is 5pm in Sydney for Jay when I call. He is slightly dazed on his first day off in a week. "I was just sort of dozing. I was chilling in front of the TV," he says.

The aftermath of some white-hot celeb party? "I was up half the night watching Spurs," he says. "I used to follow them all over the place."

Of course, that was long before meeting the Queen. "I was a regular knockabout kid," he says. "I left school with a basic education and just did a series of crap jobs to finance my habit."

Reviving music

In 1985 this habit (vinyl not drugs) led him to be the first voice on Kiss FM, then a pirate radio station. Five years later he inaugurated its first legal broadcasts. By then he had co-hosted London's first

warehouse party and launched the "rare groove" scene, reviving unfamiliar '60s and '70s tracks.

However, Jay rejects obscurity. Punters at tonight's gig at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel can expect "an eclectic mix of black party tunes".

His voice almost takes on a tone of disapproval for "the anoraks" who carp at such uncomplicated fun.

"Some people call it cheesy, but that's a word that only boys use. Women never say music is cheesy," he says.

Benevolent stance

But Jay's rosy vision of the world makes it tough to extract negative quotes. "It's such a tiny issue," he says. "The people who notice the people who are posing are not out for a good time either."

Behind his benevolent stance is the faith in humans and pride in self-reliance (avoiding "state handouts" in his early days) of a traditional Afro-Caribbean background.

"For everybody that does bad there are at least two doing good," he says.
 
Also, as one of the first black faces in the British music scene, he has only good to say of the UK.

"Of course I'm patriotic - why wouldn't I be?" he says. "From where I've come from it's always been a happy family. Only on very rare occasions have I experienced racism."

London first

His hectic global schedule, for which he has moved from Notting Hill nearer to Heathrow, has only entrenched his love of home.

"I defy anyone - go around the world to any city, and see if you can do there what you can do here," he says. "Then, tell me London isn't the greatest place in the world."

Still, fame clearly threatens London pleasures like following Spurs.

"Footballers try desperately to get in touch with me," he says. "But I don't hang out with them. If you get too close you can't criticise them."

The event
Name: DUSTED DUBAI
Date: Tonight
Venue: The Apartment Lounge Club, Jumeirah Beach Hotel, Dubai
Time: 10pm to late
Ticket price: Dh50 available at the door

Featured DJs ? Norman Jay MBE, 2Funky and Oliver Lang ? launching DUSTED DUBAI

Norman Jay performs tonight at the Apartment Lounge along with 2Funky and Oliver Lang in a night debuted in Herbal, a small club in Shoreditch in East London.

After consistently attracting a big crowd, Dusted moved to La Pacha, where it is among the UK's premier "funky house" nights.