Paul Oakenfold can't sing

You'll excuse Paul Oakenfold for not giving an interview; the "World's No. 1 DJ" is too busy revolving vinyl for heaving masses of bleary-eyed people shrieking "Oakey!" from fields, clubs and stadiums in every corner of the globe. Now he comes to Taipei to shake local asses at NTU Stadium tomorrow night.

Oakenfold's name is inextricably linked with the rise in popularity of electronic music. Born in 1963, he began DJing during his teen years, moving to New York in the late 1970s where Larry Levan was spinning his way to become the world's first superstar DJ. Oakenfold soaked it all in and, returning to England, started working as an

A&R man under such labels as Profile and Def Jam, where he signed Salt n'Pepa and Will Smith of DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince.

In 1985 he took a trip to the Balearic island of Ibiza and partied on a moon-lit beach to an eclectic mix of house, soul, island music and disco -- music mostly never heard beyond the island's white-sand shores at that time. The trip was a watershed and Oakenfold became determined to bring the "Balearic sound" to the UK, but his initial introductions were met with empty dance floors. It wasn't until 1987 that the sound would catch on, leading to an acid-house explosion.

Oakenfold's success as a DJ led naturally to producing. Working with longtime collaborator Steve Osborne under what would become the Perfecto label, the pair mixed the Happy Monday's 1990 album of the year, Pills, Thrills and Bellyaches (picking up a best producer award the following year) and in the process demystifying acid house music for a generation raised on a diet of guitar, bass and drums. New Order, Massive Attack, Arrested Development and The Cure were just a few of the bands whose sounds Oakenfold helped refine, but it was U2's 1992 single Even Better Than the Real Thing that helped him cross over; in both the US and UK charts his dance remix of the song performed, well, better than the real thing. The following year he would warm up packed stadium crowds on the band's Zoo TV tour. A superstar DJ was born.

Returning to England to spin at Liverpool's Cream, Oakenfold had the DJ booth designed to his personal specifications and a throng of fans dubbed the "Oakenfolk" lined the streets each night to get in. Given his popularity in the UK and Europe, it was fair to say Oakenfold had arrived. But audiences in the US generally aren't much the dancing type, and his dance mixes went largely unheard there.

Leaving for America, Oakenfold began a kind of electronica evangelism. In addition to playing established clubs in the lower 48 states, he spun for an audience in Alaska and even lugged a pair of turntables to Cuba for an unsanctioned set. In November of 1998, he released Tranceport, his first full-length remix CD in the US. Within a month he was voted "World's Best DJ" by DJ magazine.

It's good work if you can get it, and Oakenfold's one true qualification for the job is good taste in music. In the past couple years, he's continued his assault on the global club scene and had his talent recognized by film studios, who have asked him to compose the scores for Planet of the Apes, The Bourne Identity, Austin Powers in Goldmember and the upcoming James Bond film, Die Another Day. More notably, he's offered up his first CD of original music, Bunkaa, released this past summer by Perfecto Records. It's as though there is nothing the man cannot do musically.