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Revision as of 03:21, 30 November 2010
Tony De Vit (12 September 1957 – 2 July 1998) was a club disc jockey. His single "Burning Up" reached number 25 in the UK Singles Chart in March 1995, with "To The Limit" making number 44 in September 1995.
Early life
Anthony de Vit was born to Raymond de Vit and June Silcock in Kidderminster on 12 September 1957. Through his father's family he was directly related to Charles Anatole de Vit, a wealthy French immigrant who migrated to the UK in the 1840s. Kidderminster has also been the family's home since the mid 1930s. In an Interview with Fantazia.org.uk Raymond stated that Tony had been interested in music since he was two, when Raymond brought a Personal Stereo and Tony used to enjoy listening to the music.
Career
De Vit started as a wedding DJ in 1976, before becoming resident DJ at Birmingham's premier gay venue, Nightingale, where he played pop and Hi-NRG. During the early 80s, he worked at Wolverhampton's Beacon Radio, playing club tracks during a regular late-night slot on the 1922 show hosted by Mike Baker (now with Smooth FM). Tracks from Bobby Orlando and Patrick Cowley featured heavily.
De Vit also played at the Birmingham club Tin Tins during this time. De Vit was later inspired by visiting the infamous Trade at Turnmills in London.
"It changed my idea of clubbing. It was the sheer energy" De Vit later said.
De Vit left Nightingale for Birmingham super club aChuff Chuff where he played Hard House, initially being paid £35 per gig. Within weeks he was headlining above house DJ Sasha.
In 1993, De Vit received a residency at Trade. Rave artists Fantazia asked him to mix one of the discs on the second album of the Fantazia House Collection series, which went on to be a UK hit, selling over 100,000 copies. In 1995, Fantazia asked him to compile an album all of his own. The Remixers: Tony De Vit was a successful underground album, consisting only of tracks remixed by De Vit and Simon Parkes.
By the mid-90s, De Vit was playing smaller venues in Inverness and Cheltenham. He also had two releases in the Global Underground series: GU 005: Tokyo and GU 001: Tel Aviv.
Death
De Vit was HIV positive. On 2 July 1998 he died of bone marrow failure and bronchial pneumonia. After De Vit's death, a conflict kept his records off the shelves for many years, but finally a compilation of his songs and remixes was released called Are You All Ready? on Tidy Trax records.
References
- Roberts, David. Guinness Book of British Hit Singles & Albums. Guinness World Records Ltd 17th edition (2004), p. 145 ISBN 0851121993
- "DJ Tony De Vit Dies After Holiday Collapse". NME. 1998-06-03. Retrieved 2007-07-19.
- "Profiles: Tony De Vit". Tranzfusion. Retrieved 2007-07-19.
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