06/06/2024
Last Night A DJ Saved My Life - The History of the Disc Jockey.
It's 25 years since the greatest ever book on dance music culture first appeared. Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton realised a dream of documenting the story of that oft-maligned and sometimes misunderstood figure of modern social history - the DJ.
He never remembers, but I first met Bill Brewster in November 1994 at The Sound Factory in NYC. He was living there and working as editor for DMC/Mixmag in New York I believe. He seemed to know everyone and introduced me to the regulars (including several six foot plus trans-queen voguers) saying something like..
"This is Kelvin Andrews from Sure is Pure, DJ and producer from the UK"
This simple sentence bestowed upon me a kind of Englishman in New York/Ready Brek glow and I was instantly elevated from wide-eyed, NYC obsessed tourist to a visiting VIP who everyone wanted to talk to. I'll never forget it.
I imagine he and Frank were already researching LNADJSML back then. Interviewing the likes of a bemused Francis Grasso or David Mancuso in some East Village coffee shop. The research and exhaustive detail in the book is like nothing I'd ever encountered before and it remains an absolute must-read for all music lovers and anyone interested in modern social history.
Looking back, it felt like I'd read the book in one sitting which probably didn't happen but I certainly absorbed it like no other book I'd read before. It seemed important and I re-read the original edition maybe five or six times. It's definitely my most recommended non-fiction book ever.
LCD Soundsystem's James Murphy,
(who contributed the foreword in the latest edition) was equally evangelical -
"And then I read this book. It’s hard to explain the effect it had on me. I went, quickly, from thinking we were renegade geniuses, to understanding that we were, instead, lucky to accidentally find ourselves part of a long and beautiful tradition of evangelists, hosts, caretakers, maniacs, etc., whose job was more about making a place for the people who were willing to come listen and dance than it was about, well . . . us. So, this here book quickly and firmly disabused me of any egotistical DJ notions I might have been harbouring, and changed my life for the better.
It was a miraculous and humbling gift to read about Francis Grasso, playing records for fourteen hours straight at the Haven, just steps from my first apartment in The Village. Or about David Mancuso, the Herc/Bambaataa battles, Ron Hardy, Deep Space Soundworks . . . To read about Larry Levan’s uncompromising vision and work with the Paradise Garage sound system . . . I had been a sound engineer for years. It was my living. I was obsessed with making things hit you just right – so loud you had that fear response, but never hurting your ears. Just deep. It was so strange to find this kinship and inspiration in a world to which I had never given much thought.
This book also taught me something new about the universality of feeling – the body feeling that I was always chasing. It taught me that there were tribes upon tribes, as in awe of music as I ever was, throwing themselves into it with love and weird, blind fury."
Proof, if ever you needed it, that this book has the magic and gravitas to travel well beyond it's dance music borders.
ANYHOW. On July 20th, to mark the 25th anniversary of the first edition( with the support from the Red Knot Collective and Wonk Nation) I'll be hosting a very special 'in conversation' style book talk with Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton.
FOLLOWED BY (Whoooop!) an intimate afterparty to celebrate what would have been the 70th birthday of Larry Levan (who I would consider to be the most influential DJ of all time) Me, Bill and Frank playing tribute to Larry and the music of The Paradise Garage (NYC 1978-1987)
We are very excited to say the least.
It all takes place at The Castletown Distillery in Newcastle -u-Lyme. You can sign up for tickets below.
