Drive Time with Des, sponsored by Arash Rent a Car
Des Mitchell joined BBC Radio WM at Pebble Mill studios in Birmingham where he had his own Sunday afternoon show with dance, soul, disco and reggae music. It started out as a 40-minute feature but before long he had extended it to a full-blown 3-hour show. He worked at the BBC until 1985 when he decided he needed a holiday. He headed for Tenerife for a short stay with some friends and ended up staying for four years, becoming one of the main DJs playing in the clubs. In January 1989 he packed up and left for Canada. He found work at C.I.U.T Radio.
As Des loved having contact with a crowd, he never left the club scene and was soon playing in and around the Toronto area at household names such as: Copa, Empire and Starlight. After a six-month adventure in Canada, Des decided to return to his old stomping ground of Tenerife and landed back there in the summer of 1989. He was then offered a trial at BCM Planet Dance in Mallorca, the biggest club in Europe. After three days he was offered a residency. He has seen many DJs come and go and played with the biggest names in the industry. He was a resident at the world famous Ministry Of Sound and Creamfields to name but a few.
In 1995 he played at the world famous Velfarre club in Tokyo – one of the most expensive clubs ever to be built at a cost of over 40 million dollars. It is still one of Des’s favourite gigs. He was part of the opening of the Ministry of Sound in Singapore and played the New Years Eve party at Desert Zone in Dubai. Des’s home base is Mallorca although frequent trips to Ibiza and the UK are always part of his schedule. He has done a full summer residency in Ibiza at mega club Eden and plays all the major clubs Es Paradis, Space, Privilege to name but a few frequently. He has worked with household named DJs including Carl Cox, Tiesto, Paul Oakenfold and Roger Sanchez and he has also toured with DJ Sammy all over the UK.
Many of Des’s own productions reached great heights in the UK charts including ‘Welcome To The Dance’ which reached number 5 in the charts and was a number 1 smash club hit all over the world.