More than 30 years of Atomik!
I guess the best person to write this page is me.
If you are new to Atomik Disco then I would
like to introduce myself to you!
My name is Chris Doherty and it’s all my fault!
That emotive name of the 70’s is still here.
Surviving through the nuclear arms race of the
super powers in the70’s & early 80’s and the
UK’s very own Greenham Common.
I can tell you I took some stick back in those days over the name Atomik. Can you imagine having to defend your company’s name before anybody had seen or heard your discos? But now it’s different, it’s cool to be called Atomik – just look at the Internet, with all sorts of variations on how to spell it! To a lot of people over the years we have always been known as Atomik Disco so for us it was the logical choice to register the name atomikdisco.com. I hope you feel as comfortable with the name as we do.
Although I had done a bit of Djing it wasn’t until January 1977 that I bought my first disco. It was a secondhand system that belonged to a Mike Black. As the story was told to me, he worked for Edinburgh’s MBE amplification/Northern light down at the old mill in Colinton and had all this disco equipment custom made at his work. I was told the gear had to be seen and he was only selling it to make space in his flat! I was suitably impressed and as it came with records I stumped up the £150 asking price with the financial help of my older brother Steve. The original idea was to change the name, but because of the nifty illuminated signage built in to the front of the deck console, I decided to keep the original name and save my money for other things. After all it was a powerful name anyway! A few weeks later I was doing my very first gigs with Atomik. It all started for me at the Mount Royal Hotel, Princes Street, Edinburgh on February 4, 1977. It was a 10pm start and on until 6am, it was the times of the Rugby International all night discos. The gigs were passed on to me with the sale of the equipment. After all I was now Mr ATOMIK - who else should do them! They happened twice a year and lasted several years until the hotel had enough - they could be a bit wild!
I am still grateful to Matt Campbell of the Mount Royal Hotel for having such faith in a young 17 year old! In 2004 he was still at the hotel.
I am now 30 years plus with Atomik, still in charge and still enjoying it! There have been many changes over those years, in music and technology. I would like to think that we have contributed to those changes too, through our manufacturing side and our mixing DJ’s who have gone on to make records.
The past 30 years have been a lot of fun working in some of the classiest and most interesting places in Scotland and Northern England.
In the past 30 years I’ve taken Atomik into new directions - as the disco business grew and evolved we grew and evolved too, into sales, service, installation - Atomik Audio Visual - and manufacture - Protex Flight Case Company - but never forgetting our beginnings!
However after 30 years in the business (a long time after our coming of age) the mobile disco side of our business still remains the steadfast core of our business today. It has remained as popular as ever and increased beyond comparison. As we now look to an even more colourful and sound future you too can become part of that with us by choosing Atomik for your entertainment and join our long list of satisfied customers.
Atomik - established 31 years – book with confidence.
© Chris Doherty 2001 - 2008.
Chris Doherty, Owner.