He's been a music man in Huddersfield for four decades.
And DJ John Quinn has no plans to come from behind his decks just yet.
He marked his 40th anniversary with a special charity night at Bar 10 in Lindley, raising cash for the Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice with a Motown and soul night.
But the list of bars and clubs where he has entertained many thousands is a veritable roll-call of Huddersfield nightspots.
The Bin, The Changing Lights. The Broadway. The Amsterdam Bar, Johnnys.
All have now gone, been demolished or undergone a change of use.
But for years through the 70s and 80s, John was the man providing the beat.
He also owned and ran his own nightclub in Huddersfield for a short while. He converted a former wool warehouse at the edge of St George’s Square into Flix, later to be renamed Sunset Boulevard and then Josephines, before selling out to two partners.
“They have been 40 great years and it’s been music all the way”, said John, 61.
He recalled how it all began when he first began listening to music as a schoolboy, growing up in Huddersfield and having lessons at St Augustine’s School at Bradley Bar.
“I always loved listening to music. The Mersey sound was coming through as I was growing up and then came the Motown sound.
Click below to see some of Huddersfield's nightclubs that are no longer there.
“My older sister Catherine used to go to a nightclub in Halifax called Plebs. They had Rod Stewart playing there one night, and she was a regular and would bring back all these demo records.
“I used to play them and they formed the basis of my early record collection. They were Motown records and soul songs, and that’s still the music I love.
“I followed my family into the building trade, taking an apprenticeship and later lecturing at Leeds College. But the music was always there and I was offered a stint as a DJ at The Golden Girl, or The Bin as it was better known, in Venn Street in 1974.
“I worked there on a regular basis and was then offered a jb at a club in Halifax. They wanted to double my wages to £15 a week.
“I started getting offers to do some work at other bars and clubs. One of the best was The Amsterdam Bar, in Queen Street South, which was run by Kees Van der Merwe and Philip Colloby, who took over the former Zetland Arms and created a nightspot which drew massive crowds from all over the north to enjoy their entertainment.
“I was asked to run the enterainment while they were away in Hong Kong and it was phenomenal. It was a bar which attracted both gay and straight people who wanted fabulous music and entertainment”.
John then enjoyed a long spell at The Broadway, in Northgate, and said: “That was a great time. I also did a few slots at Johnnys, run by Joe and John Marsden, as well as The Changing Lights in Folly Hall.
“When the chance came up to set up my own club I jumped at it and we turned an old warehouse into a proper nightclub. I had an idea of a diner offering steaks cooked on granite slabs, that was well ahead of its time, but my partners vetoed that.
“It’s been a great time and I don’t plan to stop just yet, even though I don’t work too often nowadays”.
John runs his own company, Hi Spec Concrete in Huddersfield. He is married to Helen and has three children, Gregory, Jesamine and Hannah.
