Recent Reading

I've had a spare bit of time on my hands recently so my Girlfriend and I carted ourselves off to Morocco for a week in the sun for some much needed downtime

Having this time away from the hustle and bustle of living in Brighton presented the opportunity to catch up on some much needed reading of the birthday presents that I have been given from friends recently

So it was with pleasure that I eventually was able to finish off Bill Brewsters and Frank Broughton's excellent read called The Record Players/DJ Revolutionaries which covers interviews with a list of "key" players within the history of the dj

The book itself recounts interviews from a healthy cross section of record players nicely pre dating the Northern Soul era (where a lot of information tends to go uncovered) as well as following a natural path through disco, mod, boogie, house, acid house, techno, jungle and ahem Tiesto

The major club nights/parties/advancements and dj's associated with the development of dance music culture get covered nicely from front to back with some interesting reading off the back of interviews with Farmer Carl Dene, Froggy, Ian Lavine, Terry Farley, Alfredo, Fabio, Tom Moulton, Francis Grasso, David Mancuso, Andy Weatherall, Danny Rampling, Pete Tong, Chip E, Mike Pickering, Marshall Jefferson, Derrick May, Juan Atkins, Frankie Knuckles PLUS MANY MORE.....

Clubs:
RAGE, SHOOM, PARADISE GARAGE, THE MUSIC BOX, SPECTRUM, WIGAN CASINO, THE CATACOMBS, BLACKPOOL MECCA, DANCETERIA, THE ROXY, AMENSIA, THE SAINT, THE HACIENDA, ARTHUR, THE GALLERY, THE LOFT, plus many more

What this book also achieves is establishing a clear path between different times and spaces within dance music culture not only in the UK but also further afield, especially with those interiewed regarding disco, hiphop, house and techno in the US and  those regarding the early Balearic scene in Ibiza

I found out lots of interesting facts and features thanks to this book and can highly recommend it to anyone who has more than a passing interest in dance music culture and those that have shaped it's rich heritage

Having consumed The Record Players I just about managed to cram in Hooky's recount of the his life and times on board the good ship HACIENDA which is arguably Britains most famous/infamous club space

An altogether more seat of your pants read than Bill and Franks' book, Hooky nicely recounts all that was great and all that wasn't at The Hac on Whitworth Street in Manchester over it's 15 year tenure

Expect tales of poorly executed business plans, ludicrus amounts of money and alcohol going awol, gangs and doormen face offs and of course a commentry on the musical developments up until 1997 in Manchester at the New Order/Factory Records financed Hacienda

Highlights of the book were reading about the pre acid house days at the club especially in regards to DJ Hewan Clarke who worked alongside Greg Wilson as an early resident whom championed early electro and jazz funk at the club

Also the numerous accounts of the regular operational goings at the club on a "normal night" will give anyone who's hung out at Brighton's Ocean Rooms a little grin I'm sure