‘Trailblazing’ DJ Superfly was city’s

TRIBUTES have been paid to one of the godfathers of the Bristol music scene, DJ Superfly, writes Tristan Cork.

Mike Bernard – known as Superfly – was the first Black presenter on BBC Radio Bristol and was a key figure in the growing music scene in Bristol in the 1970s and 1980s.

Father of four Mike, in a varied and important career as a DJ, presenter, music producer and in television, rubbed shoulders with the likes of Mary J Blige, Muhammad Ali and Eddie Murphy.

Mike died aged 69 last month. Last Saturday, friends, family and leading figures in Bristol’s music scene gathered at the Rose Green Centre in Whitehall to celebrate his life.

Such was his importance to music in Bristol, and the bringing together of the white and Black communities in the 70s and 80s, that everyone from Massive Attack’s Daddy G to TV presenter Alex Beresford have paid tribute to Mike.

Andrew Hartley – aka DJ Style, a presenter on BBC Radio Bristol and Ujima Radio – said Superfly brought the city’s communities together through the power of music. He arrived in the UK from Jamaica in the early 60s at the age of eight, attending Newfoundland Road primary school and then secondary school at Bishopston School.

“His first-ever event was held at The Salutation Pub in Henbury,” said DJ Style. “He would go on to become a regular on the decks in venues such as the Turntable Club, The Rummer, Reeves, Golden Lounge, Top Cat and PS Stowaways in Newport.

“He was already a household name at the time he started his residency at the legendary Dug Out Club, but it’s considered that this venue is probably what parachuted Superfly further into the limelight.

“He brought Blacks and whites together at a club that prominently held punk nights, during a period where racial tension was high.”

By day Superfly went by his real name, Mike Bernard, and he worked as a television engineer, who got his first job with Rediffusion at the age of 16. In 1977, in his mid-20s, he got a job in London for Revox.

“As a music fanatic and a gifted DJ his talent would see him become the first Black radio presenter on BBC Radio Bristol in 1978,” said DJ Style.

Mike once spent time teaching maths and English to youngsters at The Inkworks in St Paul’s, and was instrumental in building the Bristol soul scene, promoting local and international artists.

Back in Bristol in the early-to-mid1980s, Superfly was a key player in connecting the dots that formed the Wild Bunch and connected the young Bristol musicians and DJs with the London scene.

In the later 1980s and 1990s, he moved into organising more and more events in Bristol, including toasting competitions at the Trinity Centre, giving opportunities for younger talent to come through. He was also a regular DJ at the Moonlighting club in London.

And into the 1990s, Mike moved into Bristol’s early radio stations. He became one of the directors of Kute FM. Broadcaster Pat Hart, who was also a Kute FM director, said: “Superfly was a connector of people, a trailblazing DJ and presenter and a mentor to so many upcoming and established artists.”

Mike went on to achieve a law degree as a mature student.

Lynn Mareno, from the Rise

programme on Ujima radio, said Bristol would be a different place if it wasn’t for Mike.

“He broke down so many barriers to make way for the rich diversity of music icons we have in Bristol today.