Chris Sheppard | |
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Origin | Canada |
Occupation(s) | DJ, radio personality |
Chris Sheppard (also known as DJ Dogwhistle) is a Jamaican born Canadian former DJ and musician. One of the leading figures in the Canadian dance music scene in the 1980s and 1990s, he was active as a club and radio DJ and as a musician with the bands BKS and Love Inc..
Sheppard's career began in the early 1980s as the DJ and host of warehouse parties in the Toronto area. In 1985, David Marsden hired him as the host of a Saturday night alternative dance music show, Club 102, on CFNY. this later expanded to a live broadcast from various Toronto nightclubs on Friday nights, a type of broadcast which was later copied by many other radio stations.
He later moved to Energy 108 and launched his new program, Groove Station, into syndication across Canada. Sheppard also launched the Juno Award-winning dance groups BKS and Love Inc., with whom he had several charting pop and dance hits.
Sheppard launched his own record label, Pirate Records, to release compilation albums of dance music from around the world in Canada. His compilation album series included Pirate Radio Sessions, Destination Dance Floor, Groove Station and Club Cutz.
During the late '80s and early '90s when Toronto's rave scene was at its peak, Sheppard would often attend as a guest DJ under his rave alias "Dogwhistle". Sheppard released two CD compilations under the Dogwhistle alias, entitled 2 Hi 4 Humans and The Life and Times of an After Hours DJ.
Sheppard has retired and currently lives in Toronto's suburbs. His home was featured on MTV Canada's Canadian edition of MTV Cribs in 2008.