TJ’s – The John Sicolo Story

John Sicolo and TJ’s nightclub in Newport will live again this friday night on BBC Radio Wales .
Sarah Dickins has been talking with John about their plans to make a documentary about 40 years of music there – though Cedars ,El Seicos and then TJ’s . Then last March he suddenly died . During the past year Blue Egg has been working on this specially commissioned documentary – a tribute to John and the very special venue he created . We asked Cerys Matthews to present the programme as she played there several times with Catatonia and chose TJ’s as the venue to film the pop video for Mulder and Scully .We were delighted when she agreed . The poet Patrick Jones used to go there with his bother Nicky and the rest of the Manic Street Preachers and he even performed poetry as a warm up to Therapy ! He has now written a poem , about John and TJ’s ,exclusively for this programme . Its been a fascinating journey getting to hear personal reflections of John and so many stories !What really resonates from all the interviews is how much John gave people a chance , a first start ,and how so many talented people would not be where they are now if it wasn’t for him and TJ’s . Eggsy from Goldie Lookin Chain ,Ginge from Dub War and Andrea from The Darling Buds all say the same . The other theme is tolerance .John welcomed in a huge variety of styles of music and as a result it became a melting pot, a place where so many people went just experience the new and the exciting .
Listen to TJ’s – the John Sicolo Story , BBC Radio Wales , Friday 25th March 2011 , 7 – 8pm .If you are not in Wales you can still hear it – channel 714 on Freesat and 719 on Freeview !