50 at 50. The project every DJ in ageing denial plans on doing. Listing the intentions. Sharing the obsession, telling the tales, and doing it right. Except that it usually stays. Intentions. Sat on a Note. Lazying around on a Word doc or an endless whiteboard wind up. Thankfully the wonder that is Stephen Elliis a.k.a Steve KIW had the wiring we all wished for and got the thing done. Alongside Sukey Booth and the forever glorious Kathy Ellis he created the glorious 50 at 50 – My Life In 50 (ish) Records – a list like no other only a brain of a certain vinyl persuasion could make. An addictive contribution to our bookshelves I will always treasure. After all, this is the man who brought me Jessie Ware – an artist once on the edge of my disco vision, suddenly a Balearic mistress with the epic Remember Where We Are and now a lifetime obsession. Only Steve could leap that gap between bally-eric and disco, taking me with him as I get emotional with every play of Ware’s wonder. Every. Single. Play. A tune that is forever a keeper. Just like Steve, Kathy and the DJ chat we share. The festival late nights, the bunker brilliance and the Hove actually beach bump-ins that always make my day.

Thanks, Steve for making the list in your head a treasured list in my life. Thanks for making this cynical f*** treasure where we are.

Stephen Ellis 50 at 50 is not available at all good bookshops because it sold out. Of course, it did. So that’s that. Unless you borrow mine or convince the man himself to reprint – cue that late-night festival chat…