Brandon Block, the joker in the pack, the Ibiza ‘nutter’, the party animal who single-handedly created the Caner Of The Year category, was literally lying on his death bed.
And despite the chronic situation that he found himself in, with drips attached to his ravaged body as he battled jaundice and tuberculosis, he was still trying his hardest to shovel as much cocaine as possible up that famous hooter of his!
The result of a spiralling drug habit which, at its peak, saw him take an ounce of coke a day for almost a year (that’s a mind-boggling 28 grams a day) was his bewildered doctor telling him that he would die within two weeks if he didn’t stop pronto.
But that wasn’t going to deter our Brandon. No chance!
He pleaded with friends to bring coke to the hospital and they duly, if reluctantly, obliged. If he was on his way out, then he was going out on a high, at least that was the twisted and warped way he looked at it. However, by then he had to take so much of the stuff for it to actually register that it almost defeated the object.
Clubland had snorted him up one nostril and blown him out of the other. A haunting shadow of the livewire DJ who leapt on to the house music scene in the late ’80s, Brandon somehow managed to drag himself out of the mire and lived to tell the tale.
With his astronomical coke habit – and the complex network of dealers who fuelled it – now fortunately in the past, he is able to look back (through somewhat hazy spectacles) on a 25-year-career which spans the highest highs and lowest lows.
His own success and turmoil has weaved in and out of the so-called acid house generation and seen Blocko, like no other DJ, crossover into mainstream celebrity too. Six million Google images of him – compared to 1,500,000 of global superstar Carl Cox – tells its own story. While his pioneering residency with Alex P on the Space terrace in Ibiza in the early ’90s took club life in Ibiza and throughout the world to a whole new dimension.
Meanwhile, away from the edgy world of underground dance music, he famously stormed the Brits stage, scrapping with Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood, ending up splashed across the front of the tabloids the next day, with Richard and Judy appealing for his whereabouts later that night! He talked about coke addiction on national television and later celebrity detoxed in Thailand, among a whole host of other reality TV show appearances. He’s presented (for MTV/Channel 4/Kiss 100) and produced (a No 3 UK hit as Blockster).
These days his bookings diary is still full and his love of DJing remains, but you’ll also find him down the gym three times a week, or playing badminton with pals. Sure he still likes a drink, but insists he hasn’t touched the white stuff since 1996.
In this amazing account we look back at the career of this cheeky- chappie-made-good, a DJ who was there from the very start of the modern-day club movement, who had grafted as a pub and mobile DJ during the mid-’80s, a few years later finding himself in a prime position when, like many others, he discovered the drug ecstasy and house music quickly followed a love of disco, soul, jazz funk and hip-hop.
This rollercoaster of a ride charts how that underground dance music scene became a national and global phenomenon and how Brandon was intrinsically linked to it all, headlining an era that changed the lives of millions, but also becoming a symbol for its excess.
We witness the meteoric rise of a cocky Jewish schoolboy from Wembley who became an Ibiza legend along the way. And how he and his suburban peers led a recklessly hedonistic lifestyle that was the envy of their generation. We see how the odd cheeky half here and there led to more cocaine than you can shake a rolled-up bank note at.
“The combination of the music and the drugs and getting people together for a party became my way of life.” Brandon Block
“I will always defend him, but looking after a class of nine-year-olds is easier than looking after Brandon.” Jenny Rampling
“I’ve never wanted to go to the coolest party… I just wanted to be at the best party.” Brandon Block
“To this day, I have never come across someone who was taking so much cocaine and could still stand up.” Dr William Shanahan
“Thank God the drugs nearly killed him, because it actually stopped him from dying and means he’s still in our lives today.” Lisa Loud
Soon to be released in digital format but you can buy your SIGNED and PRINTED copy now from www.brandonblock.com
The Consell’s contribution this year is €300,000 with the remainder of the €1million budget coming from Turespaña and Government. The one obvious problem though is that there are no direct flights this winter so Carmen Ferrer and the Consell were forced to announce a few weeks ago, “Obviously the winter does not facilitate the implementation of the program because there are not enough flights… we are trying to focus the product in May and September months”.
Regular visitors to the blog will be aware that we have a lot of love for Ibiza Rocks – it’s the festival that keeps on giving. This year is no exception, with headliners Ed Sheeran and Two Door Cinema Club set to hit Ibiza in 2012 and brand new extra events every week. The sister event, 
Take a natural mud bath on the small island of Es Palmador, near Ibiza – it’ll leave you with some great photos! Find the mud at the top of s’Alga beach.
On October 21st the local press confirmed the rumour that the Ryanair winter flights to Stansted, Milan Bergamo and Dusseldorf Weeze were being stopped. As surprising as the actual decision to cease flights was the late timing of the announcement, given the ramifications for those who live in Ibiza or visit the island on business or pleasure during the winter months.
Ed Sheeran is one of the biggest music sensations of the year. The critically acclaimed Suffolk singer-songwriter dominated the airwaves for months with massive hit “The A Team”, which quickly became the highest-selling and highest-charting debut single of 2011 and then went straight to the top of the charts with the release of his debut album “+”, which achieved double-platinum status in just 3 months. With influences ranging from Jay-Z to Damien Rice, Sheeran’s genre-defying blend of acoustic pop, folk, grime and hip-hop has earned him major awards recognition and a huge following. 
Since releasing their debut album ‘Tourist History’ in March 2010, Northern Irish trio Two Door Cinema Club have rapidly become one of the biggest new success stories across the globe.
7th December the Ibiza Music Cluster had a press conference to announce they have found a permanent home, and a splendid one it is too! They are to be found at the Ibiza Music Academy alongside the Consell at Avenida España 15 in Ibiza Town.
