page_title: DJ Derek
section_title: DJ career
hierarchical_section_title: DJ Derek / DJ career
caption_attribution_description: English: DJ Derek at Into The Great Wide Open in September 2009.
context_page_description: DJ Derek, born Derek Serpell-Morris was an English DJ based in Bristol. In a DJ career that spanned over 40 years, he was known for playing a blend of 60s rocksteady, reggae, ska, dancehall and soul. He was reported missing in July 2015 and his remains were found on 10 March 2016.
context_section_description: Following his second divorce and resignation from his accountancy job in 1977, Derek began his DJ career "by accident" in his mid-30s, as a reggae DJ at the Star and Garter pub in Montpelier an inner city area of Bristol. He moved to the adjacent St Pauls area in 1978. DJ Derek became a well known regular and respected feature in Bristol's music scene, referred to as a "legend" by many sources including the city's elected mayor George Ferguson. He was nicknamed "Britain's oldest DJ". In 2012 he received the Bristol Lord Mayor's medal for an "outstanding" contribution to music in the city. Speaking to BBC Radio 4, he said he finished most sets with the Bob Marley hit "One Love", saying "It's a perfect signing-off record for a reggae set—let's get together and feel all right. So next time, people, let's get together and feel all right." He MCed in Jamaican Patois while DJing.
  Derek played DJ sets at many major music festivals, including Glastonbury and The Big Chill, and places like Las Palmas (Gran Canaria); as well as regular DJ sets in London and across the UK. In June 2006 he released a compilation of his favourite tracks titled DJ Derek Presents Sweet Memory Sounds, through Trojan Records. He appeared in Dizzee Rascal's video for "Dirtee Disco". In 2013 he played his final set before retiring at Notting Hill Arts Club in London on New Year's Eve, though he later played a one-off show in December 2014. He had a passion for travelling long distances by bus to visit newly opened Wetherspoon pubs .
caption: DJ Derek at into The Great Wide Open, September 2009
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