Youth Culture: Judge Jules is Radio 1's new dance weapon

Radio 1 has poached its fourth star disc jockey from its rival station, Kiss FM, as it moves itself relentlessly into the dance music arena.

Judge Jules, one of the best-known club and dance music DJs in the country, has followed Danny Rampling, Dave Pearce and Lisa L'Anson on the trip from Kiss's trendy north London headquarters to the more sober surroundings of Broadcasting House.

In the anonymous world of dance music, the DJs have replaced bands and singers as the stars. They go on tours of clubs and produce records just like old-fashioned bands and Radio 1 has been signing up a team around its home-grown grandfather of dance DJs, Pete Tong.

The addition of Judge Jules to Radio 1's schedule will see output devoted to dance music increase to a rather mammoth 10 hours every Friday and 13 hours every Saturday, with another four hours on Sunday night. In all, the station - which has parted company over the last four years with its old star DJs such as Simon Bates and Dave Lee Travis - is now devoting 34 hours a week to dance music.

The dance music boom now covers such a bewildering array of styles from jungle, drum and bass and speed garage to handbag house, techno and trance that Radio 1 has changed its rules on creating a playlist. "It used to be put together by the suits," said a Radio 1 spokesman. "Now all the DJs, producers and specialists can come along."