Poo-poo sha-sha, Dynamite Boo-gal-oooooh
Dynamite Boogaloo was just one year into a 17 year-long run of regular club nights when we were invited to host a Saturday morning slot as part of Festival Radio. The show featured an early incarnation of the Boogaloo crew; there were four of us - Boogaloo Stu, Dynamite Sal, Anthea Blowjob and Naked Drag - broadcasting two hours of silliness and trashy tunes every Saturday morning during the month of May. 10am was a very early start for us nightbirds, and as I recall we were all horrendously hung-over almost every time we took to the airwaves, cramming ourselves into a little studio near St. Peter’s Church and possibly panicking slightly about being “live on air”. I have no recollection of where we might have been the night before but I dare say it involved copious amounts of wigs, glitter, vodka and attention-seeking. Part of my schtick was to fall over deliberately, screaming with arms flailing - so I was probably covered in bruises, too.
We created a little opening theme for the show, singing “Poo-poo sha-sha, Dynamite Boo-gal-oooooh” tunelessly over a cheesy 70s hammond-organ version of Glenn Miller's 'In The Mood’. Poo-poo sha-sha was one of my many catchphrases at the time. I don’t know what it means or where it came from. Everything we played was on vinyl or even on cassette tape, there was nothing remotely digital, so we all brought our boxes of vinyl in with us and then fought over what should be played. Anthea kept her vinyl in a very practical orange plastic milk crate; any spillages (tea, vodka, vomit) could drain freely. She was the resident DJ at Dynamite Boogaloo at that time, so she drove the studio desk; this also gave her ultimate control over the show’s content. She would quite often cut our mics mid-sentence, interrupting with a cutting quip before hastily pressing play on yet another questionable musical choice. Dynamite Boogaloo had not yet fully formed its unique (and perhaps more sophisticated) musical identity, but it was definitely a whole heap of fun; our playlist typically consisted of campy disco alongside cheesy pop tunes - Sister Sledge, Donna Summer, Kylie, Kids From Fame, Shirley Bassey - but also regularly featured loads of TV themes such as Cagney & Lacey and Wonder Woman.
At the end of the month, the Festival Radio closing party was held at Dynamite Boogaloo at The Escape, on a Tuesday night. Things always did get a little out of hand at Dynamite Boogaloo, so it was no surprise that Eugene (one of the Festival Radio directors) ended up onstage with most of his clothing removed.
What became of Anthea? Well, she moved to London and made waves on the club scene there before hanging up her wig and heels a few years later. Naked Drag morphed from intergalactic alien stripper into the glamour puss Stephanie Starlet. As for Dynamite Boogaloo, Dolly Rocket joined the ranks in the mid-90s and the club entered an imperial phase lasting for many years.