'Literally changed the course of my life' James Murphy 'The chapter on Larry Levan alone transformed me into wanting to be your favorite DJ' Questlove 'The original and still the best' Gilles Peterson 'We can't tell the story of dance music without speaking the names of Sharon White and Judy Weinstein, so I welcome this vital update' The Blessed Madonna When someone says, 'You have to know your history...' this is it. This classic book is the whole unruly story of dance music in one volume. It recreates the dancefloors that made history, conjuring their atmosphere with loving detail and bringing you the voices of the DJs and clubbers at their heart - from grime, garage, house, hip hop and disco, to techno, soul, reggae, rock'n'roll, and EDM. Whether musical outlaw, obsessive crate-digger or overpaid superstar, the DJ has been at the spinning centre of nightlife for a century, making parties wilder, pushing clubbers harder, and driving music into completely new shapes and styles. In 1999 this was the first book to do justice to the DJ's rollercoaster ride. Twenty years later, it's fully refreshed, carefully updated and filled with even more stories, including two brand new chapters. This edition comes with a new foreword by James Murphy (LCD Soundsystem).

Everyone wants to be a DJ. Playing records and MP3s isn't rocket science, but there's a universe of difference between doing it and doing it well. DJing is like modelling: most people could have a stab at it, some can earn money doing it, but only a very few can become supermodels. This book both forms the perfect introduction for the novice who wants a pair of Technics turntables for Christmas and contains enough spot-on advice and advanced instruction to be valuable to more experienced DJs. Written in an opinionated and entertaining no-bullshit style, with a healthy dose of realism, it shatters some illusions about the dance industry and offers in return some powerfully inspiring visions as it explains the true rewards of the DJ's craft. Includes everything you will ever need to know, from illustrated tutorials on mixing techniques and styles, digital mixing, tips on buying the right equipment and records, advice from superstar DJs aplenty, plus how to make your own tracks and how to throw the best party. Now all you need is to get out of your bedroom and do it . . .

Acclaimed authors and music historians Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton have spent years traveling across the world to interview the revolutionary and outrageous DJs who shaped the last half-century of pop music. The Record Players is the fun and revealing result--a collection of firsthand accounts from the obsessives, the playboys, and the eccentrics that dominated the music scene and contributed to the evolution of DJ culture. It started when, instead of a live band, someone turned on the record player, and suddenly partygoers had more than one style of music to dance to. In the sixties, radio tastemakers brought their sound to the masses, sock hop by sock hop, while early trendsetters birthed the role of the club DJ at temples of hip like the Peppermint Lounge. By the seventies, DJs were dictating musical taste and changing the course of popular music; and in the eighties, young innovators wore out their cross-faders developing techniques that carried them over the line between record player and musician. With discographies, favorite songs, and amazing photos of all the DJs as young firebrands, The Record Players offers an unparalleled music education: from records to synthesizers, from disco to techno, and from small groups of influential music lovers to arenas packed with thousands of dancing fans. A history told by the visionaries who experienced the movement, The Record Players allows a rare glimpse into the sound, culture, and craft that developed into a worldwide industry.

Last Night a DJ Saved My Life was the first comprehensive history of the disc jockey, a figure who has become a powerful force shaping the music industry--and since its original publication, the book has become a cult classic. Now, with five new chapters and over a hundred pages of additional material, this updated and revised edition of Last Night a DJ Saved My Life reasserts itself as the definitive account of DJ culture, from the first record played over airwaves to house, hip hop, techno, and beyond. From the early development of recorded and transmitted sound, DJs have been shaping the way we listen to music and the record industry. Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton have tracked down the inside story on some of music's most memorable moments. Focusing on the club DJ, the book gets first-hand accounts of the births of disco, hip hop, house, and techno. Visiting legendary clubs like the Peppermint Lounge, Cheetah, the Loft, Sound Factory, and Ministry of Sound, and with interviews with legendary DJs, Last Night a DJ Saved My Life is a lively and entertaining account of musical history and some of the most legendary parties of the century.

This is an updated, expanded history of techno music with special attention to its roots in Detroit. When it was originally published in 1999, Techno Rebels became the definitive text on a hard-to-define but vital genre of music. Author Dan Sicko demystified techno's characteristics, influences, and origins and argued that although techno enjoyed its most widespread popularity in Europe, its birthplace and most important incubator was Detroit. In this revised and updated edition, Sicko expands on Detroit's role in the birth of techno and takes readers on an insider's tour of techno's past, present, and future in an enjoyable account filled with firsthand anecdotes, interviews, and artist profiles. Techno Rebels begins by examining the underground 1980s party scene in Detroit, where DJs and producers like the Electrifying Mojo, Ken Collier, The Wizard, and Richard Davis were experimenting with music that was a world apart from anything happening in New York or Los Angeles. He details the early days of the 'Belleville Three' - Juan Atkins, Derrick May, and Kevin Saunderson - who created the Detroit techno sound and became famous abroad as the sound spread to the UK and Europe. In this revised edition, Sicko delves deeper into the Detroit story, detailing the evolution of the artists and scene into the mid-1990s, and looks to nearby Ann Arbor to consider topics like the Electrifying Mojo's beginnings, the role of radio station WCBN, and the emergence of record label Ghostly International. Sicko concludes by investigating how Detroit techno functions today after the contrived electronica boom of the late 1990s, through the original artists, new sounds, and Detroit's annual electronic music festival. Ultimately, Sicko argues that techno is rooted in the 'collective dreaming' of the city of Detroit - as if its originators wanted to preserve what was great about the city - its machines and its deep soul roots. Techno Rebels gives a thorough picture of the music itself and the trailblazing musicians behind it and is a must-read for all fans of techno, popular music, and contemporary culture.