Last Night a DJ Saved My Life (updated): The History of the Disc Jockey

Product Information

Dolan, Jon; Lopez, Julyssa; Matos, Michaelangelo; Shaffer, Claire (July 22, 2022). "200 Greatest Dance Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone . Retrieved October 30, 2022.

Last Night a DJ Saved My Life - The New York Times Web Archive Last Night a DJ Saved My Life - The New York Times Web Archive

Those qualms aside, I learned so much reading this book! Its breadth is exceptional--perhaps too much so. In addition to taking the reader through the early days of radio, to the early days of clubs and DJ-ing, to the rise of various genres (and subgenres) of the 1960s through 2000s, to the cultural context surrounding this progression, the authors also spend quite a lot of time describing, e.g., once-popular, long-closed clubs (and their resident DJs) that were integral to that history. I don't know that I needed to read everything in the book, although, in retrospect, I appreciate the attention to detail and the chronicling of places and people that made up the times. The entry of broadcasting into the history of music has changed all forms of musical creation and reception. Radio music is a kind of magic and the radio set becomes a magic box." It certainly wasn’t like we felt we needed to make those changes, now we just have more information. When we wrote that book, it was all proper old school research. We were in the British Library, we were in the Performing Arts Library in New York, we were travelling to meet people in person. It was an old-school pre-internet way of doing it, going and looking through microfiche in the library, looking through our magazine archives.One alternative to records which was successful for a while was the electrical transcription disc, or "ET," which was in use throughout the forties. This was a monster 16-inch disc pressed not on from payola. Intriguingly, some companies had even given him bogus writing credits (and the royalties they generated) for certain records he promoted—to this day, you'll find "A. Freed" on the credits Last Night a DJ Saved My Life is a comprehensive history of DJing over the last century and how innovative techniques spawned new genres of music. It's also a testament to the artistic merit of DJing which is commonly despised by people who think that DJing is nothing more than playing one record after another, without any sort of musicianship or skill. DJing is, in fact, a momentous artistic force that has helped to define eras in musical culture.

Last night a Dj saved my life - The Book - playlist by Guido Last night a Dj saved my life - The Book - playlist by Guido

The companion album, which was compiled by Brewster himself, serves as an overview of dance and DJ music.Almost immediately, the presence of records on the radio aroused opposition. In the U.S., the Department of Commerce granted preferential licenses to stations that didn’t use recorded music, since there was a feeling that playing records was a rather inferior style of broadcasting—mainly because live music gave far superior sound reproduction. In 1927 the industry’s new governing body, the Federal Radio Commission, reemphasized that phonograph performances were “unnecessary.”

Last Night a DJ Saved My Life (book) - Wikipedia

impact. In Jamaica, the sound system DJs emulated this jive rhyming almost immediately and became superstar deejays as "toasters" or "MCs." In New York twenty years later, there emerged the rapper, the letters, each containing a dollar, requesting a box of Retardo. By the end of the week the ad had drawn 3,750 responses. The Cleveland Arena held 10,000 people and Freed had initially worried that he might not recoup his money. However, by 11:30 P.M., as the Cleveland For having such influence, Freed paid dearly. He was a clear example of how much power a DJ can wield, and an even clearer example of the lengths to which the establishment will sometimes go to curb that What makes the book particularly readable despite its length is the sincere affection the authors have for their subject. The authors, quite simply, love the love and connection created between the DJ, the club-goers, and the music. They also have a particular affection for the warmth and welcoming to all of DJ club culture; this is especially showcased in the book's chapters on Northern Soul, Garage, House, and UK Acid House (the latter of which, I think the authors must have grown up experiencing). I particularly liked those chapters, for that reason.was going to be a very different place, and records on the radio would play a huge part in making it so. Most established artists were ASCAP members, so BMI's recruits were almost all younger songwriters and musicians, as well as all the folk and "race" musicians which ASCAP had not allowed to join. This would Even now, if the opportunity comes up to talk to someone interesting, I’ll always do it. Even if I don’t necessarily know whether I’ll be able to use it straight away or stash it away in the bank. recording sessions which produced them. In Duncan McLean's book Lone Star Swing, Johnny "Drummer Boy" Cuviello, who played with western swing megastars Bob Wills' Texas Playboys, remembers recording But what I really like is when you go into a Waterstones in a little town somewhere and there’s a copy of your book there. I’m hoping it will get really wide distribution more than anything, so that if you go to Taunton, you’ll be able to get a copy, and if you go to Rochdale there’ll be a copy in the local bookstore there.