Raymond Bingham (born 16 April 1967 in

Streatham Streatham ( ) is a district in south London, England. Centred south of Charing Cross, it lies mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, with some parts extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. Streatham was in Surrey ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England), better known as Grooverider, is a British

drum and bass Drum and bass (commonly abbreviated as DnB, D&B, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterised by fast Break (music)#Breakbeat (element of music), breakbeats (typically 165–185 Tempo, beats per minute) with heavy Bass (music) ...

DJ. He and DJ partner Fabio are regarded as "originators" of the scene.Are Fabio & Grooverider the Greatest DJs of All Time?

MixMag ''Mixmag'' is a British electronic dance and clubbing magazine published in London. Launched in 1983 as a print magazine, it has branched into dance events, including festivals and club nights. History The first issue of ''Mixmag'' was printe ...

Biography

Grooverider began his DJing at illegal raves and warehouse parties in the UK in the late 1980s, and rose to prominence with partner Fabio through his sets at club nights such as the groundbreaking 'Rage' at

Heaven Heaven, or the Heavens, is a common Religious cosmology, religious cosmological or supernatural place where beings such as deity, deities, angels, souls, saints, or Veneration of the dead, venerated ancestors are said to originate, be throne, ...

. Grooverider was also on the London pirate radio station, Faze 1, in the mid-1980s alongside Fabio and DJs including Colin Dale, Dave Angel, and Booker T. He originally played soul, hip hop and disco but later played house, upon being converted whilst hearing "Mysteries of Love" by Mr. Fingers. Fabio and Grooverider began playing house at Mendoza's in

Brixton Brixton is an area of South London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Brixton experienced a rapid rise in population during the 19th century ...

. From there the pair went on to a venue in Barrington Road in Brixton, but it was not until 1991 that they would really make their mark. That year, Grooverider and Fabio took up a residency at Rage. Throughout the 1990s, Grooverider released tracks as Codename John and helped build the reputations of

Matrix Matrix (: matrices or matrixes) or MATRIX may refer to: Science and mathematics * Matrix (mathematics), a rectangular array of numbers, symbols or expressions * Matrix (logic), part of a formula in prenex normal form * Matrix (biology), the m ...

and Boymerang with releases on his own

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

, Prototype. With Fabio, he hosted a radio show on Kiss 100 from 1994 to 1997. In 1997, Grooverider compiled the

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

'' Prototype Years'' which featured the best tracks by various artists who appeared on his label. Prototype is known for its sporadic releases, which have included drum and bass work by Dillinja, Drumsound & Bassline Smith, Ed Rush,

Photek Rupert Parkes (born 6 September 1971), known as Photek, is a Los Angeles-based British electronic music DJ/record producer, and TV and film score composer. Photek was born and raised in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. Photek has contributed music ...

and

Optical Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behaviour and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it. Optics usually describes the behaviour of visible, ultravio ...

. In 1998, he and Fabio brought their radio show to a national audience on

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

. As a recording artist, Grooverider has released one album, ''Mysteries of Funk'' (Sony 1998), produced in conjunction with Optical, and a number of

remix A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...

es including his reworkings of Jonny L's "Piper" plus

Roni Size Ryan Owen Granville Williams (born 29 October 1969), better known by his stage name Roni Size, is an English DJ and record producer. He came to prominence in 1997 as the founder and frontman of Roni Size & Reprazent, a drum and bass collective. ...

/ Reprazent's "Share the Fall". In 2005, he was holding a weekly Sunday session called Grace at the London club, Herbal. On 24 November 2007, Grooverider was arrested at

Dubai International Airport Dubai International Airport () is the primary international airport serving Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and is the world's busiest airport by international passenger traffic as of 2024. It is also the busiest airport in the Middle East as ...

for possession of 2.16 grams of

cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae that is widely accepted as being indigenous to and originating from the continent of Asia. However, the number of species is disputed, with as many as three species be ...

, which he claimed he had forgotten was in a pair of his trousers. "I must have forgotten the spliff," he said in an interview. "It was a small amount. Back home I would not even get prosecuted."Radio 1 DJ jailed on drug charge

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

, 19 February 2008. On 19 February 2008, he was sentenced to four years' imprisonment, to be followed by immediate deportation (four years is the mandatory sentence for drug possession in the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

). He was pardoned and released on 3 September 2008, during the holy month of

Ramadan Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It is observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting (''Fasting in Islam, sawm''), communal prayer (salah), reflection, and community. It is also the month in which the Quran is believed ...

that traditionally sees the pardoning of select prisoners in UAE.Verma, Sonia
Radio 1 DJ Grooverider given four-year jail term for cannabis smuggling
''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', 19 February 2008. In an interview with

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

, Grooverider described his experience and the conditions in which he was placed as "appalling". Grooverider returned to the BBC Radio 1 drum and bass show with Fabio in October 2008, until it finally ended in March 2012. Since September 2016, they have brought their long-running radio show to London's

Rinse FM Rinse FM is a London-based community radio station, licensed for "young people living and/or working within the central, east and south London areas". It plays garage, grime, dubstep, house, jungle, UK funky and other dance music genres po ...

Selected discography

Albums

*'' Mysteries of Funk'' (Higher Ground, 1998) – UK No. 50

Singles

*"Sinister (The Influence Remix)" ( Reinforced Records, 1993) *"Your Love Is Yours" (as Inta-Warriors) (Dee Jay, 1993) *"Dreams of Heaven" (as Inta-Warriors) (Dee Jay, 1993) *"Dreams of Heaven" / "Kindred" (as Codename John) (Prototype, 1994) *"Deep Inside" / "Inta" (as Codename John) (Prototype, 1994) *"The Warning" (as Codename John) ( Metalheadz, 1997) *"Rainbows of Colour" / "Jack the Ripper" / "Mysteries of Funk" (Higher Ground, 1998)

Mixes and compilations

*'' Grooverider Presents: The Prototype Years'' (Higher Ground, 1997) *Essential Rewindz (Renegade Hardware, 2000) *Pure Drum & Bass (Telstar, 2000) *The Harder They Come (Renegade Hardware, 2002) *'' FabricLive.06'' (

Fabric Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, and different types of fabric. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is no ...

, 2002) *''Fabio & Grooverider – Drum & Bass Arena'' (Resist, 2004) *Grooverider / Loxy & DJ Ink – Guerrilla Warfare (Renegade Hardware, 2005) *Andy C & Grooverider – Drum & Bass Arena (Resist, 2007)

Remixes

Carl Cox Carl Andrew Cox (born 29 July 1962) is a British house and techno club DJ, radio DJ, motorsport team owner and record producer. He is based in Frankston, Victoria, Australia. Cox has won and been nominated for numerous awards. He has perfor ...

– "I Want You (State of the Arts Mix)" (Perfecto, 1991) *Isotonik – "Different Strokes (Grooverider Mix)" (

FFRR FFRR Records (sometimes credited as Full Frequency Range Recordings) is a dance music label founded as a subsidiary of London Records in 1986, with A&R run by the British DJ Pete Tong. Originally a part of London Records' label roster, FFRR ...

, 1991) * Doc Scott – "NHS (Inter Natty Remix)" (Absolute 2, 1992) * Tronik House – "Uptempo (Grooverider Mix)" (KMS, 1992) * The Renegade – "Terrorist (Groove Rider Remix)" ( Moving Shadow, 1994) *

UB40 UB40 are an English reggae band, formed in December 1978 in Birmingham, England. The band has had more than 50 singles in the UK Singles Chart and has also achieved considerable international success. They have been nominated for the Grammy ...

– "One in Ten (The John Remix)" (

DEP International Dep International was a British record label founded in 1980 in music, 1980 by members of British group UB40. It specialised in reggae and dub music. The label went into administration (law), administration in October 2006 and into liquidation ...

, 1996) * Jonny L – "Piper (Grooverider Remix)" (

XL Recordings XL Recordings is a British independent record label founded in 1989 by Tim Palmer and Nick Halkes. It has been run and co-owned by Richard Russell since 1996. It forms part of the Beggars Group. It releases an average of six albums a year. T ...

, 1997) *

The Stone Roses The Stone Roses were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1983. They were one of the pioneering groups of the Madchester movement in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The band's classic and most prominent lineup consisted of vocalist I ...

– " Fools Gold (Grooverider's Mix)" (Jive Electro, 1999)

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1967 births English drum and bass musicians British club DJs Black British DJs English radio DJs DJs from London English record producers Living people British people imprisoned abroad Ministry of Sound Prisoners and detainees of the United Arab Emirates People from Streatham BBC Radio 1 presenters English people convicted of drug offences English electronic dance music DJs