A message from Uncle Dugs.

Uncle Dugs just posted this on Facebook. I thought it was worth preserving here...

Pirate radio has been one of the must important things in my life through the last 20+ years..
As a youngster I religiously listened to stations like pulse, innocence, chillin etc then weekend rush and kool fm started to dominate my dial,, by 1992 Kool had started to take over my radio and slowly accelerated away from the others.. By the time 1993 came along Kool was the only station that I really listened to, I did listen to the odd show on other statins but from 92/93-97 Kool was the king station in my world..
I started playing on pirate radio on 7th jan '95,, the station was called conflict fm,, from this day onwards pirate radio became more important to me than ever before.. For many many years I didn't get bookings,, tbh I never really looked for them as all I wanted to do was play on the radio.. My aim and goal was to one day get a show on Kool fm,,, I didn't wanna be on radio 1 or kiss I wanted to be on Kool,, that what it meant to me,,, rather than be on the uk's biggest legal radio station I would have chosen Kool over radio 1 had both come knocking (which they didn't haha)
Anyway,, through the next 20 years of my life radio has looked after me through hard times and been there to help me celebrate the good times.. It's kept me relevant as a DJ when promoters didn't care about me and kept me motivated in times when I felt close to giving it all up..
I joined Rinse in 1999 and ended up managing the station for 6 years as well as playing on it,, these were great times,, hard work but great times.. I watched all sorts of talent break through and was in the thick of some ground breaking musical movements that helped change the countries musical trends and fashions.. I won't bore you with all the individual names of people I worked with through these times but it was some of the biggest musical talents of that generation and it was such a privilege to watch and be a small part of it all..
My time at rinse came to an end in dec 2005,, I joined Kool in jan 06 and this was really when my career as a DJ stepped up a level.. Being on Kool was a dream come true, working with my musical heroes was like being given a proper kick up the are to make something of myself as a DJ instead of just playing radio with no real sense if direction..
I played on Kool from jan 06 to the start of 2011,, these 5 years taught me so much,, these were really the times that gave me the platform to be the DJ I always wanted to be.. I met and worked with all the greats that I aspired to be like as a youngster learning my trade.. Radio did all this for me...
I left Kool in 2011 to join rinse shortly after they were granted a London license,, since then shit has gone crazy for me.. ‪#‎RCFF‬ has changed my life and rinse fm the station that has been such a big part of my life for years now has become a super power in the world of radio.. It's mad that beyond being a DJ I get asked to address audiences on the importance of pirate radio and stuff like that as well as being asked to do many things outside of just playing my music.. It's a massive honour to be regarded as an ambassador of radio alongside people like Gordon Mac etc,, it's more than I ever dreamed of,, my mind as a youngster only stretched as far as the usual DJ stuff,, parties, raves and the like,, now things are so crazy honestly,, I flipping love it and am so blessed to do what I do for a job...
I just wanna big up pirate radio and everyone involved in it through the years for helping me to achieve the goals I have and for always being a massive part if my life like I said above through good and bad times in my life.. I've congratulated new arrivals, birthdays and weddings as well as doing memorial shows and more,, it's all been a massive chunk of what's got me to where I am now and I'll never forget that....
God bless radio,, more important to the evolution of this scene than so many people will ever realise....