Paul Anderson 26/08/1960—01/01/2024
by
My friend Paul William Anderson died in the early hours of New Year’s Day of dilation of the heart brought on by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. He was a DJ and a teacher. He played his last set at a party at a friend’s house only three hours before he passed away. He was 63 years old.
He was born in Newcastle and had a marked Geordie accent. When I first met him, in the 1980s, Auf Wiedersehen Pet was on TV and Paul got called Oz after the Jimmy Nail character in the series. As it turned out he and Jimmy were related by marriage.
I was organising benefits at the Whitstable Labour Club. Paul was always up for offering his time and his skills for a political cause. He used to do reggae and hip-hop sets back then, but in the early 90s he discovered deep house music. That became his signature sound and he soon took to organising house nights at a variety of venues in the Whitstable and Canterbury area.
He was the guiding spirit and principle organiser of a DJ collective known as tVC, which stands for TV Cabbage, a reference to a Gaye Bykers on Acid song. Although not as well known as some of the other sound systems of the period, tVC was integral to the free party scene, organising all-night raves in the Kent countryside, taking pieces of public land as temporary autonomous zones.
It was Oz who first alerted me to the Criminal Justice and Public Order Bill 1994 and its provisions against ravers and other sections of the alternative community. 2024 marks the 30th anniversary of the protest movement that came together in its wake. Paul was a significant figure in the Kent organisation against the Bill.
Paul taught English, Maths and ICT to 16 to 19 year olds with behavioural difficulties. This required patience and an understanding of how to develop a rapport with institution-averse teenagers. Some of them had had experience of prison. He had a knack of keeping them engaged and sprinkling the day with rewards to keep them interested. It is an exhausting job and Paul was brilliant at it.
He was forced to give up teaching after his eyesight began to fail in 2017. In 2018 he was registered partially sighted. He never gave up being a DJ, however, despite the difficulties, which he navigated with a large font on his computer screen, a magnifying glass and a white stick.
Paul was the exact opposite of a snob. He saw the best in everyone, regardless of their background. He treated ne’er-do-wells and well-to-dos equally, and was patient with both. His great talent was in bringing people together, whether in a field, on the dance floor, around the dinner table, or down the pub. He was kind, open hearted and generous with his time.
Paul is survived by his mother, Sheila Robertson Bradford (nee Greaves), his brother “Anders” and his partner of 17 years, Clare Tindall.
Oz on Mixcloud: https://www.mixcloud.com/oztvc/
In the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/mar/10/paul-anderson-obituary
Gallery: Oz on the decks
About CJ Stone
CJ Stone is an author, columnist and feature writer. He has written seven books, and columns and articles for many newspapers and magazines.
Read more of CJ Stone’s work here, here and here.
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