Tony De Vit
August 1957 to July 1998
Tony 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 80's, 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 legendary Birmingham club Tin Tins during this time. De Vit was later inspired by visiting 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 Chuff Chuff where he played Hard House, initially being paid £35 per gig. Within weeks he was headlining above house DJ Sasha.
(source, partly, Wikipedia)
Tony De Vit was HIV positive. On July 2, 1998, he died due to bronchial pneumonia and bone marrow failure.
A tribute event was held following his death at Birmingham superclub Sundissential featuring Boy George and raised £10,000 for local HIV charity ABplus
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