The last days of Dicky's Disco

[dicky]

Hi guys

Well I've not been around this last couple of months or so and I would like to think some you even missed me a bit, or at least noted my absence

So here I am in case any of you wondered what happened to me - like did I trip over a shoe lace and fall off the planet or something.

I'm pleased to say I didn't fall and that I am alive and kicking but yes something has happened. Something bad. I can put that something into one word. Six little letters. It's not even a proper word really, like I doubt it would be allowed in a game of Scrabble, it's more like something somebody made up to describe something that could already be adequately described with the existing words already we have - but I guess they though it was big or clever so they made it up anyway. Brexit.

Now let me just say Mr Moderator I have a few things I need to get off my chest here and I feel I know some of you folks even though I neve met a lot of you but all this is relevant to mobile DJing in the end so feel free to edit the stuff where I bent some rules if not downright broke them. Do bear in mind one thing you may want to delete is actually a lyric by Paul Weller so it should be allowed to stay LOL So let me say these things here where I feel comfortable to rant... err I mean speak..

OK so six little letters. One word Brexit. Now you may wonder what that has to do with me and Dicky's Disco

Well..... whichever way you voted you must have heard the warnings that a Brexit vote would be a very bad thing for some British businesses right? Well I can tell you the warning was true and I came down on the wrong end of it Most of you know that the DJing is a part time 'extra money' type thing for me and some of you probably know what I do for a living. What business I own and run for a living. Or did own and run. Thanks wholly to the Brexiters that business is no more. The vote put me in an untenable position and I had no reasonable option other than to close the business down on 24th July and dispose of the business assets. We are talking about a business that I built from scratch 14 years ago, that has kept me and mrs dicky in a decent living for a very long time and something I was passionate about and felt proud of building. Also a business that meant we could employ a guy who has worked with me all those years and who has become a very good friend in the process. The same guy I had to sit down and explain why he no longer has an income. And that's one of the hardest things I have ever had to do.

It's upsetting me even writing this now but I can tell you all I have been through every emotion you could imagine since 22nd June. Shock, disbelief, anger, hate, bitterness, sadness and yes I have sat there and wept and I am big enough to admit it. I've even felt ashamed to be British Now I'm just left with a simmering resentment that doesn't bother me too much if I don't think about it but I am not sure it will ever go away.

You may wonder why this situation was forced on me. Well let's put it like this. 52% of the country want to leave the EU and you can bet some of those 52% are the same guys who go to the local pub on a Saturday afternoon to watch the 3pm football games. The games that Sky and BT don't show. The ones that you can only watch on European subscriptions. Sadly enough these guys who have caused this mess are also ones who probably sit at the bar during half time moaning because some family with a foriegn sounding name has moved in down the road.

Well I hope these guys will realise what they have done when they suddenly find they can't watch the local Premier Leage team at the pub any more on Saturday afternoons because the fact is the only way businesses like mine were able to supply that service was because a landlady in Portsmouth, funded by the industry I was part of, dragged the Premier League's ass through the European courts. And the only reason we could continue to provide this service is because the Premier League, who basically ignored the EU ruling anyway knew full well that if they tried to stop us again they would end up having their asses being kicked by the EU again. There is a very important case relevant to all this which is going through the British High court on October 12th and that would have ensured the 3pm football in pubs for some years to come. That case is still being heard but the outcome doesn't really matter any more. The threat of being dragged back to europe for all intents and purposes no longer exists.

Actually the market in which I was involved is quite a close knit community - there were probably only about first line 10 suppliers UK wide (anyone else was a reseller) - which of course made it quite lucrative. And over the years I have come to know many of those suppliers. After Brexit most of them either sold up, gave up, or stopped trading becuase franky they were too damn scared of continuing to trade. I am one of the last category. Too Scared. As far as I know there are only four suppliers left still in business who were either very brave or to stupid to see the writing was on the wall.

I say stupid because now as I type this a couple months later three of them are in Civil Litigation with the F.A. and the other one has been arrested on criminal charges.

So if you are watching the 3pm footy down the pub this weekend, or the next, or maybe even the next couple of months if you are lucky, please do quietly cosider that it is all going to end very soon. And if you were one of the 52% at least that will give you more time to sit at the bar and moan about foreigners living in the UK - whilst wondering why your once thriving local community pub is closing down next week. And I can tell you I know as an absolute fact from many years in this business, that a lot of community pubs absolutely rely on the 3pm saturday games to make their business viable. And when maybe they do close down.... well at least you can say you voted for it.

That's what has happened to me and what I am sure will happen to many pubs.

Now faced with an seemingly unsurmountable problem of standing in the face of left wing voters supporting right wing politicians just to reduce net migration whilst trampling over our own rights to travel and work and destroying my livelyhood in the process - I came to the conclusion there is only one reasonable option left. Give up. Or rather more positively 'well if you can't beat them you might as well join them'

So I say now to the 52% and to the holy tory government............ YES! I will do my utmost to help you reduce net migration and so will Mrs Dicky - becuase I guarantee that the next time your net migration figures are released they are going to be two less in the UK than they would have been!!! I hope you are proud of that achievement. Where is the damn 'finger' emoticon when you need it?

And as they say the Sun does shine brighter on the other side. A lot brighter. I've seen it.

Next week we are going for a two week holiday to Puerto Rico in Gran Canaria. Its a lovely place, rarely goes below 20C in winter, rarely goes above 30C in the summer and has less than 4 inches of rain a year. Unless you get a heatwave which can happen any time of winter or summer and add another 10C to those temperatiures for a few days or a week. And it's gonna be a nice holiday I am sure, but we are not only going to relax. We have lots of viewing appointemnts booked and when we come back we fully intend to have the keys to our new home.

There are lots of great things about living there - no council tax, no VAT, no Fuel or alcohol duty. No tabacco duty either if you prefer to kill yourself by that method. Oh and you don't require to heat your home and even water is solar heated. So it is much cheaper to live there. There are some problems though, for example the price of a small tin of Heinz baked beans is eye watering

We will be back here all of October as I have 4 disco bookings and we need to be getting ready to move everything we need to live there (will check how many baked beans we can realistically pack) and then we will be there all November

Back once again for December as I have 7 bookings already (and not even got Xmas Eve, boxing day or NYE booked yet) plus we want to spend time with our families over xmas.

NYE will be my last gig. I guess that is going to be a bit emotional too.

Come January we will be back to the sun for a month. I'm thinking of coming back and selling all my gear in February. And I will post a list of what there is plus some pics on here first. There is rather a lot of it too as I have two complete DJ setups plus extra speakers, amps and uplighters I was going to hire out but never got round to it. Hopefully if there is a Coalville meeting this year I can bring the gear with me as I know quite a few of you go there. I will also have one last attempt at demoing a PA that actually works properly

Then that's it for me. Back to Gran Canaria later in February and I don't need to come back again at least until September for a short visit.

I'm not retiring by the way - I will be looking for some DJ work in the local bars and clubs there and will take my music, playout and sennheiser mic with me. - hey I may actually get to play for some folks who are actually up for having a fun party night for a change!! LOL. Plus I am looking at setting up an electronics servicing business and also have gone back to do some Forex trading which was how I made extra money before setting up the disco, and the break from that seems to have greatly enhanced my ability to do it profitably.

Obviously learning to speak spanish properly (I can manage a small amount already) is a big priority too. Anyway I am not under any pressure to earn money at the moment so there is plenty of time to settle in.

So that's what has happened, where I have been.......... and where I am going. I would love to hear about DJing in the sun and I guess some of you have experience of that - hey I will probably set up a new thread for that discussion.


Rich

[Nakatomi]

Whoah Rich, I was wondering where you'd got to.

I guess you don't see any point in holding out to see whether we really are going to exit or not. It's still up in the air as far as I see it despite what our blessed politicians are saying. That still doesn't solve the problem of the sheer lunacy of the UK premier league's monopoly though. Tough call.

Nobody could blame you for packing up, and good on you for planning to learn the lingo at least. Assimilate yourself - I think too many Brit expats rely way too much on other expats & this is where their experience becomes a disappointment for them.

[Shaun]

Wondered where you'd got to Dicky.

Only you know what is best for you. Gran Canaria is nice - I hope it all works out for you.

Ok...moderator hat on. By rights, quite a large part of your post should be deleted as political discussion is a big no no here on the forum. However, I'm hoping that our lovely members choose not to carry on the flag and run with that discussion (as I'll unfortunately have to remove the thread). I'm a born optimist though.

[rth_discos]

Wow, sounds quite complex.

*post edited.

[Shaun]

I guess I was wrong to be optimistic. The very next post after mine had to be edited.

Ok, let me be blunt. Do not carry on any type of political discussion on the forum. Posts will unfortunately have to be edited or removed if they do. And ultimately it may result in the thread itself being removed. Thanks for understanding.

[rth_discos]

I guess I was wrong to be optimistic. The very next post after mine had to be edited.

Ok, let me be blunt. Do not carry on any type of political discussion on the forum. Posts will unfortunately have to be edited or removed if they do. And ultimately it may result in the thread itself being removed. Thanks for understanding.

Sorry, my bad

[musicology]

Sorry you have been adversely affected. Personally I hate to see tvs in pubs and actively avoid them. I hope to retire to, and Dj in, Greece in the next few years!

[Excalibur]

Funnily enough Dicky, it was only the other day I was wondering where you'd got to. Let me say I sympathise with you, it must be devastating to lose a business through no fault of your own.
Leaving aside who is/are the villain/s of the piece, let's hope that the grass is indeed greener in Gran Canaria for you, and I wish you every success there. I think Old Sidesaddle was hoping to do something similar, but I believe he was going elsewhere.
Don't forget that although you may be in another country, and a part time, or retired DJ, you'll still be welcome here.
All the best.

[dicky]

And thank you Shaun for allowing me to say what I felt I need to say and I can tell you I feel a lot better just for getting all this off my chest here amongst folks who I consider as friends.

I understand why you chose to leave it standing even though I broke a lot of rules. Did anyone spot the Paul Weller lyric quote in there?

Thanks Justin for your kind words . We are not burning any bridges at the moment. We are going to keep our property in the UK for now and will be renting for 12 months in Gran Canaria to see if the ex pat life really is 'living the dream'. I'm keeping hold of the van for a while yet too. In fact we think we will always keep a UK address even if we sell this place and just get a little terrace and keep the rest of the money.. Or get two. And rent one of them out. Regards my business and livelyhood - it's gone now. If I had decided to continue I could see myself having to fight a civil law suit and it wouldn't even matter who was right or wrong. I simply can't fight an aggressive organisation with an unlimited pot of money. That's why I got out now and boy am I glad I did.

Gran Canaria I hope we are gonna love. This is one of those lifetime moments for me where you just have to throw in the towel and start over again so I thought if i am going t odo that I may as well have a complete break with my previous life and do it somewhere.... well..... nicer.

I will still be around though even when I sell Dicky's Disco. I am hoping to be doing some DJing over there.

Cheers
Rich

And thanks very much for your kind words Peter and musicology. You posted while I was replying. And you are right Peter - you lot ain't getting rid of me that easily

I always did like to play a bit of hispanic style RnB!

[Shaun]

Sorry, my bad

No worries, and thanks for understanding.