The Achievements of Paul Oakenfold

The dinosaur of the DJ craft Paul Oakenfold is coming to Moscow on 1 October to celebrate his birthday at the club XIII. We congratulate Paul on his 42nd anniversary and recall his main achievements.

The full unedited version of the text used in preparing the material for TimeOut Moscow magazine (C)

Oakenfold was one of the first who, at the end of the eighties, helped bring about the acid-house revolution in Britain. It is not entirely clear why, but it was to this music that everyone suddenly began to dance, including white men.

It is precisely Oakey who deserves the credit for the fact that DJs, people who in essence merely select music, acquired the status of new music stars. The reason for this was the right PR policy. By now the people responsible for Paul's publicity have already moved him into the category of ageing stars, with such attributes as charity and the fight against AIDS.

Oakey, being one of the top DJs, started playing trance. Since then this style has long surpassed all the others in popularity. Few people remember this now, but the Dutchman Tiesto also owes his success to Paul; it was Paul who first started playing the remix of the track Silence by the group Delirium.

Ever since Oakey acquired star status, his appetites have grown enormously. So, recently, for his performance in a Scottish club he asked for 45,000 dollars, and on top of that the promoters were required to pay another 10,000 for additional expenses. That is not all: Oakey's friends came to this event on a private jet from London at the organisers' expense.

These days Oakey mainly lives in the USA. There he is received far better than in Europe. But in London too Paul feels confident, having acquired a house next to the British prime minister's apartments.