“I bought my first LP when I was 15 in 1970.”, tells Mr Oh, the second evening we came to his bar in Chuncheon. He’s resident DJ, 65 years old, of the bar he runs together with his wife, Jackson’s Bill Bar. The first evening we went there, we were impressed by the decor of the American style bar, full of American kitsch & by the huge wall of Vinyl LP records.
When we arrived, Mr Oh, welcomed us in a kind of Korean English, “Where do you come from?”, “Belgium”, “What would you like to drink?”, “2 beers please.”. This small conversation gave him enough information to know, which music would make us happy. Throughout the evening, he played an impressive set, pleasing all the guests. He’s got more than 10.000 records & for the “after-vinyl-music”, he uses Youtube. If you see a DJ -going through his wall of records- flipping out an original Eurythmics LP & hear Annie Lennox sing “Sweat dreams are made of this”, a cold shiver goes through your spine. If later on you hear a song by Led Zeppelin, Lady Gaga or The Knack & when the evening ends with Dark Side of the Moon, you know why traveling is so important. Once in a while you come across an exceptional experience or evening.
The second evening we went again to the same bar. We chatted a little longer with Mr Oh, as it was a quiet night. Apparently he has been a DJ his whole life. But at the time when the US army still had a base in Chuncheon & Sokcho, he worked for the army as a American Club Lounge DJ. “Those days were fantastic.”, says Mr Oh, his eyes twinkling. “When they went home to the US, they came back with the newest records. I got to fly in all kind of fighter jets, even a Tomahawk.” “Did you fly yourself?” “No, no, in the club, I just had to play the right songs, the songs they liked & which their parents, aunties & grandparents liked. It made them happy, made us friends. And then they invited me out to fly with them.” And then Mr Oh gave us a proud smile.
“I’m 65 years old. I now play for the travelers that come here. I made friends all over the world. Music really can unite people, brings people together.” Then he looked at a small paper with some song requests written on it. He started smiling, went to his wall of records, took out an LP, flipped out the record, polished it, put it on the player. “Just the two of Us”, Bill Withers started singing. ” When the sax started playing, “that’s Groover Washington”, Mr Oh told us. Next scribbled note, Mr Oh did his LP finding magic again. It was still raining outside & so we continued to drink our beer. “I got my first real six string. Bought it at the five and dime.”
Address: Jackson’s Bill Bar, 50-6 Joyang-dong, Chuncheon
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