Chris Hill

Chris Hill (8 January 1945 – 11 September 2025) was a British disc jockey. He worked at the club Lacy Lady in Ilford, as well as at the Goldmine on Canvey Island and was the head of the Soul Mafia, a group of DJs which included Greg Edwards, DJ Froggy, Jeff Young and Robbie Vincent, in London and the South East of England into the early 1980s. He had a major input into the creation of the British Brit funk music scene of the late 1970s and early 1980s.

In 1975–1976, he promoted his 'swing revival nights', playing the music of Count Basie, Jimmie Lunceford, Chick Webb and Benny Goodman. During this short period, which was promoted by Hill, the Goldmine had a monopoly on GI uniforms and scarlet-lipped jive-dolls whilst promoting the music of Glenn Miller and those swing revival nights. Club goers followed the brief trend of 'swing fever' for a few months until it attracted the attention of The Sun newspaper, after which the trend ended returning to soul, funk, and jazz. Attendees at the Goldmine swing nights included Sade and Siouxsie Sioux.

Having completed a second stint back on Canvey's Goldmine in the early 1980s, Hill decided to quit the club scene in 1985 and concentrate on his Ensign duties with Sinéad O'Connor whom he had recently discovered. His residency at the Lacy Lady saw the club hosting punk bands including the Clash, the Damned and Subway Sect alongside Hill playing krautrock and Afrobeat as well as jazz-funk and soul. Alongside his club work, Hill was a regular DJ on the soul pirate radio station Radio Invicta. Early the following year, he released a cover version of the Coasters' hit "Yakety Yak", with the innuendo-laden "Ride On!" featured on its B-side that failed to chart. However, later on, his second Christmas record, "Bionic Santa", cut with audio segments in a similar style to "Renta Santa", was more successful, again with "Ride On!" on the flip-side. It also peaked at No. 10 on the chart in December 1976.

His final release, "Disco Santa", again in the same style, released for Christmas 1978, failed to chart.

From 1979 Until 2011, Hill ran the Lacy Lady in Ilford, London. Hill also had a major involvement in the 'Caister Soul Weekenders', a DJ event which began in 1979 and took place twice each year until 2019, initially in Caister-on-Sea but, in later years, at the Vauxhall Holiday Park in Great Yarmouth. He worked on these with his long term event collaborator and music promoter Brian Rix.

Death Hill died on 11 September 2025, at the age of 80.

Discography Singles Year SongUK Chart 1975 "Renta Santa" 10 1976 "Yakety Yak" — "Bionic Santa" 10 1978 "Disco Santa" — "—" denotes releases that did not chart.