Goldie at Laundry Bar
If there's a face – okay, a set of grills – most closely associated with drum 'n' bass, it's Goldie's.
The founder of Metalheadz, a label at the forefront of the genre's development, Goldie -- a.k.a. Clifford Joseph Price -- stands as a monument to the positive effects art and deep desire can have on street kids. As a gang-banging b-boy in his native Wolverhampton, England, he became renowned for the graffiti art pieces he produced, some of which were featured in Afrikaa Bambaataa's BBC documentary, Bombing. At one point he participated in the largest-ever British graffiti art battle alongside Bristol artist Robert "3D" Del Naja, who later formed Massive Attack.
In 1986 Goldie started designing and selling grill jewelry, laying in wait for his big break. Working under the name Metalheadz, he scored big with the track "Terminator," a clearing of the deck for his seminal album, Timeless. Released in 1995, Timeless hit the Billboard charts at number seven, a first for a drum 'n' bass record. Mainstream listeners found the album accessible owing to its versatility; many of the tracks were of a focused, more ambient stripe and not necessarily powered by the puree-speed beats that are a genre trademark.
Bubbling underneath Goldie’s strictly musical achievements within the d 'n' b genre is a plethora of odd B-list bullet-points, enough of them to turn Kato Kaelin green with envy. Along with bit roles in the James Bond film The World Is Not Enough, and the Guy Ritchie diamond caper Snatch, he was also a minor cog in the British soap opera EastEnders. On U.S. television, he served as the host of Crime Business and The World's Deadliest Gangs, both on the Bravo channel. -- Eric W. Saeger
Goldie performs Friday, January 4 at Laundry Bar, 721 N Lincoln Ln, Miami Beach. Doors open at 11:00 p.m., and admission is free. Those 21 and older are welcome with ID. Call 305-531-7700, or visit www.myspace.com/laundrybar.
