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The Life & Lines of Brandon Block

The Life & Lines of Brandon Block

23 replies [Last post]
Out For The Count
Mon, 16/01/2012 - 16:20
Brandon Block, the joker in the pack, the Ibiza ‘nutter’, the party animal who single-handedly created the Caner Of The Year category, was literally lying on his death bed.

And despite the chronic situation that he found himself in, with drips attached to his ravaged body as he battled jaundice and tuberculosis, he was still trying his hardest to shovel as much cocaine as possible up that famous hooter of his!
The result of a spiralling drug habit which, at its peak, saw him take an ounce of coke a day for almost a year (that’s a mind-boggling 28 grams a day) was his bewildered doctor telling him that he would die within two weeks if he didn’t stop pronto.

But that wasn’t going to deter our Brandon. No chance!

He pleaded with friends to bring coke to the hospital and they duly, if reluctantly, obliged. If he was on his way out, then he was going out on a high, at least that was the twisted and warped way he looked at it. However, by then he had to take so much of the stuff for it to actually register that it almost defeated the object.
Clubland had snorted him up one nostril and blown him out of the other. A haunting shadow of the livewire DJ who leapt on to the house music scene in the late ’80s, Brandon somehow managed to drag himself out of the mire and lived to tell the tale.

With his astronomical coke habit - and the complex network of dealers who fuelled it - now fortunately in the past, he is able to look back (through somewhat hazy spectacles) on a 25-year-career which spans the highest highs and lowest lows.

His own success and turmoil has weaved in and out of the so-called acid house generation and seen Blocko, like no other DJ, crossover into mainstream celebrity too.

Six million Google images of him - compared to 1,500,000 of global superstar Carl Cox - tells its own story. While his pioneering residency with Alex P on the Space terrace in Ibiza in the early ’90s took club life in Ibiza and throughout the world to a whole new dimension.

Meanwhile, away from the edgy world of underground dance music, he famously stormed the Brits stage, scrapping with Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood, ending up splashed across the front of the tabloids the next day, with Richard and Judy appealing for his whereabouts later that night!

He talked about coke addiction on national television and later celebrity detoxed in Thailand, among a whole host of other reality TV show appearances. He’s presented (for MTV/Channel 4/Kiss 100) and produced (a No 3 UK hit as Blockster).

These days his bookings diary is still full and his love of DJing remains, but you’ll also find him down the gym three times a week, or playing badminton with pals. Sure he still likes a drink, but insists he hasn’t touched the white stuff since 1996.
In this amazing account we look back at the career of this cheeky- chappie-made-good, a DJ who was there from the very start of the modern-day club movement, who had grafted as a pub and mobile DJ during the mid-’80s, a few years later finding himself in a prime position when, like many others, he discovered the drug ecstasy and house music quickly followed a love of disco, soul, jazz funk and hip-hop.

This rollercoaster of a ride charts how that underground dance music scene became a national and global phenomenon and how Brandon was intrinsically linked to it all, headlining an era that changed the lives of millions, but also becoming a symbol for its excess.

We witness the meteoric rise of a cocky Jewish schoolboy from Wembley who became an Ibiza legend along the way. And how he and his suburban peers led a recklessly hedonistic lifestyle that was the envy of their generation.
We see how the odd cheeky half here and there led to more cocaine than you can shake a rolled-up bank note at.

“The combination of the music and the drugs and getting people together for a party became my way of life.” Brandon Block
“I will always defend him, but looking after a class of nine-year-olds is easier than looking after Brandon.” Jenny Rampling
“I’ve never wanted to go to the coolest party… I just wanted to be at the best party.” Brandon Block
“To this day, I have never come across someone who was taking so much cocaine and could still stand up.” Dr William Shanahan
“Thank God the drugs nearly killed him, because it actually stopped him from dying and means he’s still in our lives today.” Lisa Loud


Soon to be released in digital format but you can buy your SIGNED and PRINTED copy now from http://brandonblock.com/
Joined: Jan 3 2012
Posts: 13
darrylfunk's picture
Count Basie
#1
Mon, 16/01/2012 - 17:12
at least the drugs and illness stopped the cnut djing!
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Count Basie
#2
Mon, 16/01/2012 - 17:42
Have to agree with darrylfunk.

Met the guy whilst djing (me playing, not BB), he was complementary to the vibe and seemed alright enough if verging towards massive self-aggrandisment in general, funnily enough. Not sure what there is about him to be reverential about, rose-tinted glazzies for those involved, etc.
Joined: May 24 2007
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danielsun's picture
Out For The Count
#3
Mon, 16/01/2012 - 17:37
so was he ever any good?

i've never heard him, not sure how much he played outside uk/ibiza. remember reading about his debauchery in mixmag and similar magz but that's about it. i imagined him to play the sort of handbag anthem stuff that was popular in the mid 90's.. but i've got no clue
Joined: Oct 4 2007
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danielsun's picture
Out For The Count
#4
Mon, 16/01/2012 - 18:49
must read more carefully haha. i see i've got 2 answers to my question above in darryl and lurksters responses. i'll take it he was more of a 'circus' than a dj
Joined: Oct 4 2007
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Martin Red's picture
Count Basie
#5
Mon, 16/01/2012 - 19:12
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" touched her thigh and death smiled "

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tokyomatt's picture
Count Basie
#6
Tue, 17/01/2012 - 08:00
Mike Reid to Lisa Loud's Babs Windsor - if I was casting the film spin-off Laughing out loud

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dave mothersole's picture
Count Basie
#7
Tue, 17/01/2012 - 21:19
i once had a drunken conversation with brandon block at ultimate base in which i told him i thought he was ''well punk rock.'' he seemed to appreciate my sentiments. Smile
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Count Dracula
#8
Tue, 17/01/2012 - 21:52
One of the original Flying set

but insists he hasn’t touched the white stuff since 1996 - Cant quite believe that
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Vic20's picture
Count Arthur Strong
#9
Tue, 17/01/2012 - 21:57
darrylfunk wrote:
at least the drugs and illness stopped the cnut djing!

Laughing out loud Laughing out loud Laughing out loud
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Count Basie
#10
Wed, 18/01/2012 - 00:50
the best thing about that bbc doc 'drugland' was that when they filmed him with some other people on the beach offering someone an E, they genuinely didn't know who he was!
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Out For The Count
#11
Wed, 18/01/2012 - 12:27
It looks as if no publishers know who he is either. This book is being done through a print-on-demand self-publishing service. No listing on the two main UK book wholesalers sites or the Nielsen books in print database. It doesn't appear to be even listed on Amazon.
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Count Basie
#12
Wed, 18/01/2012 - 16:06
Joined: May 24 2007
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tom.belte's picture
Out For The Count
#13
Fri, 03/02/2012 - 00:22
Mr Hanson wrote:
the best thing about that bbc doc 'drugland' was that when they filmed him with some other people on the beach offering someone an E, they genuinely didn't know who he was!


I remember that !! He was looking fully dodgy on Bora Bora, very funny.
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jahcoozi's picture
Count Dracula
#14
Fri, 03/02/2012 - 12:44
he is currently passing himself off as the godfather of Ibiza Smile
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ladyboygrimsby's picture
Count Arthur Strong
#15
Fri, 03/02/2012 - 12:49
Justin_ wrote:
It looks as if no publishers know who he is either. This book is being done through a print-on-demand self-publishing service. No listing on the two main UK book wholesalers sites or the Nielsen books in print database. It doesn't appear to be even listed on Amazon.


I know Matt, the guy that wrote it, and I advised him to do it that way if he couldn't find a publisher, simply because the costs of publishing a book are so massive it would kill him otherwise. It's the way to go now for small run books.
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Martin Red's picture
Count Basie
#16
Mon, 06/02/2012 - 19:28
Coming soon !!! THE DJ FACTORY (Tamer Hassan and Danny dyer hit the decks with Brandon block, Bianca Gascoigne, Wayne & Mete, Mo George, Charlie ...

www.facebook.com/pages/The-DJ-FACTORY/91449932428
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Count Dracula
#17
Tue, 07/02/2012 - 19:21
an oz of cecil A DAY???

hadawayandshiteman
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Vic20's picture
Count Arthur Strong
#18
Tue, 07/02/2012 - 22:33
Martin Red wrote:
Coming soon !!! THE DJ FACTORY (Tamer Hassan and Danny dyer hit the decks with Brandon block, Bianca Gascoigne, Wayne & Mete, Mo George, Charlie ...

www.facebook.com/pages/The-DJ-FACTORY/91449932428


'pwoper noughty'
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Looks like a hardcore Benny Hill

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darrylfunk's picture
Count Basie
#19
Tue, 07/02/2012 - 22:43
ladyboy can't you ban that time wasting wanker lewi cornwall please....i could get poll vote going if you need more opinions?!
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i read a few of your other posts, i don't like you. i don't care if you never buy another record on z.

http://soundcloud.com/simplepleasures

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Count Cookula's picture
Count Arthur Strong
#20
Tue, 07/02/2012 - 23:07
I did it earlier, let me know if he shows up again
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LordMuck's picture
Count Basie
#21
Mon, 13/02/2012 - 09:45
Hey...don't be too harsh - he's given the world the Bloxbox:

http://brandonblock.com/bloxbox.php

Similar to the book, it's not that easy to actually buy one...
Joined: Apr 1 2007
Posts: 1651
mike p's picture
Count Basie
#22
Tue, 14/02/2012 - 10:08
586 wrote:
an oz of cecil A DAY???

hadawayandshiteman


innit. bet his dealer loved him.
Joined: Apr 28 2005
Posts: 1613
Cosmic Jane's picture
Count Dracula
#23
Tue, 14/02/2012 - 14:34
Despite the spin, the book sounds as boring as any heavy habitual coke user...yawn.
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