"There is even a rather odd chapter about the guy who DJs at a "Smiths"
night, ticking off every track he plays on a checklist..."
I know a guy who actually does this - at least when I had a DJ night with
him. He was a miserable git, completely afraid of touching something he
wasn't supposed to on the mixer - not knowing how a mixer worked, totally
afraid of anything technological, only into Brit pop (but only played CDs),
swaggering all over the place like some dapper playboy from the 60s. He was
like an oily used car salesman (if I remember correctly, that's what his
dad actually did). Now he was just voted "reader's choice" for best club DJ
by the local alternative paper. All of the people who know him (and aren't
fooled by his facade) are convinced it was ballot box stuffing - he's got a
huge mailing list. Now he uses that in his adverts in said paper. Twat.
MEK
"David Hampson"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED] To: <[email protected]>
dstor.com> cc:
Subject: (313) Subject: Re:
(313) Music and the
07/02/03 10:14 AM Mind
> Does anyone else have any books they could recommend?
>
Last good music book I read was "Adventures on the Wheels of Steel: The
Rise of the Superstar DJs" by Dave Haslam:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1841154334/qid=1057157863/sr=2-3/ref=sr_2_3_3/026-4611651-9246805
It covers a suprising breadth of ground, not concentrating necessarily on
big names, but also on the people who play for their own satisfaction.
Dave Haslam, the Hacienda's resident DJ for years and years, is well placed
in Manchester, where much of the ground-breaking work has been done over
the years, from Jimmy Saville becoming the first big-name DJ (he relates
that he never had any trouble at his club - troublemakers always had
sideburns and if anyone turned up with sideburns the bouncers there had
some clippers under the counter and if they let them shave them off they
could come in), through clubs like the Reno, the Spinning Wheel and the
Hacienda. There is even a rather odd chapter about the guy who DJs at a
"Smiths" night, ticking off every track he plays on a checklist, with his
mum charging on the door.
Amazon are linking this one with another nice book, Adventures in
Wonderland: A Decade of Club Culture by Sheryl Garratt, which captures a
more international picture, with great historical details about the rise of
techno in Detroit and house music in Chicago from disco from the Paradise
Garage in New York, as well as the UK rave scene and Ibiza.
David
