Derek's Island Discs-The Sounds of the late, great DJ Derek

The story of Derek Serpell-Morris, who became known around the world as 'DJ Derek'

Today would have been his 79th birthday. Monkey Shoulder is proud to celebrate the life & Sweet Memory Sounds of one of the great cultural ambassadors of post-Windrush Britain. One of the most unassuming & unpretentious spreaders of joy of our times. The former accountant that Toots Hibbert called "the white man who talks the peoples talk & plays the peoples music". Or in the words of Count Skylarkin, "an old-fashioned gentleman, with a streak of mischief". From a flat in St Pauls to festival fields across the globe, with a battered briefcase of some of the greatest music ever made - This man brought happiness & laughter, he was loved everywhere he went. DJ Derek-we salute you!

Told by Derek; mixed by his friend Count Skylarkin - using Derek's legendary collection of reggae, ska, calypso, rhythm & blues and gospel minidiscs, plus rare archive interviews with the man himself & his friends in Bristol