Gone, but not forgotten. After a month of goodbye parties, Junior and Megan bowed out with a final show last weekend in the Onyx room at Luxy, leaving a big hole in the country’s house music scene.
Arriving in Taiwan in March 2005, they threw down the gauntlet with funky Chicago house. “Very few DJs have played out as frequently and at such big parties as these guys,” said Fratzuki. “When it came to adding their personal touch to the scene, they always kept it fresh with new events at different venues.”
Shawn Kidd encapsulated the Junior and Megan experience by recounting one of their earliest gigs at Penthouse in Taichung. “They definitely helped bring a new flavor to the Penthouse in Taichung ... introducing new house music to one of the dirtiest clubs that ever opened its doors in the middle of Taiwan.”
“Style-wise, I think they held their ground with the Chicago sound,” said Saucey. “Junior and Megan have had the most consistent sound on the island. Soon as I walk into a bar and hear that bumpity bump, I know its JAM time.”
On their changing style Megan said, “We used to play more funky house when we got here ... now it has a harder, dirtier, ‘fidgity’ sound, like tech house. We have been playing fidgit house for a while now and we really like it.”
Marcus Aurelius told the Vinyl Word: “For me, Junior and Megan took house music out from its stuffy and pompous shell and brought it to the people. Instead of being too cool hiding behind the decks, they made people party with them because they loved merrymaking.”
As members of Team Scrape, the after-party crew who keep going until Sunday night or later, they were known for shotgunning beers, incredible stamina, Junior’s lack of balance toward the end of the night and Megan’s infectious enthusiasm.
“My first memory of JAM was in Kenting a few seasons back,” said Saucey. “Hooker and I were screaming around on a borrowed motorcycle at six or seven in the morning. We ran into these two cool cats on the street looking for the after-party ... we ended up partying well into the next day. Some things never change.”
“The title I think no one could ever take off them,” said Fratzuki, is “‘last people to show up to the party, late, and last people to leave.’”
“Junior and Megan are boisterous, amusing, entertaining, lively and any other synonym for fun you can think of,” said Aurelius.
The two are survived by a party scene that seems a little more lost than usual this weekend. But life goes on. Check out the 1980s party tonight at Copa to drink the blues away with Cap and Kidd taking you back to the era when Megan was a wee child and Junior a teenage George Clinton wannabe.
Tonight. The Last 80s Party at Copa. 11pm until 3am. 137, Yanji St, Taipei City (台北市大安區延吉街137巷2號). Free entry.
It may be a little early for crowning successors to JAM, but all are welcome tomorrow night at Island Jam’s Kings and Queens Ball at The Wall (這牆), with Black Reign International Sound and Aurelius playing reggae, dance hall and hip-hop. Dress to impress. A free bottle of champagne will be given away to the “best-dressed maiden of the evening.”
Tomorrow. Kings and Queens Ball at The Wall. 11:30pm until late. B1, 200, Roosevelt Road Sec 4, Taipei City (北市羅斯福路四段200號B1). NT$350 cover includes one drink.
Go to www.myspace.com/taili9 for more information on Island Jam events.
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