Reviews
‘One of the best music books ever. Utterly unputdownable’ – Q
‘The comprehensive clubland history.’ – Jockey Slut
‘Superb… essential reading’ – Time Out
‘You aren’t likely to find a better-researched or more wryly humorous look at the history of DJing.’ – DJ Times
‘An exhaustive, entertaining history of the disc jockey’ – Observer
‘The energy which jumps from the book’s pages elevates Last Night way above the “trainspotter tome” a book of its ilk could easily have become.’ – i-D
‘Written with a music lover’s zeal and a populist’s scope, this is one for anyone who has ever found themselves lost on the dancefloor’ – The Face
A New York Times book of the year, 2000
‘Fascinating, Illuminating, thoughtful and insightful’ – Muzik
‘Informative, entertaining and immensely likeable’ – Independent
‘A riveting look at record spinning from its beginnings to the present day, the authors show that the history and art of DJing makes for a grander and more fascinating story than one would think’ – Time Out New York
Now universally praised as a classic, Last Night A DJ Saved My Life is the most definitive – and the most entertaining – history of DJs and dance music to date, a loving examination of the craft of DJing and the role of the DJ from its origins to the present. It follows the superstar excesses of today’s DJs, examines the DJ’s role as a musical outlaw, and traces the evolution of the craft, from dark disco cellars to stadium raves and beyond, along the way introducing the loud and large characters who have influenced the course of popular music – pioneering new styles of DJing, new skills, new genres and new ways of having fun.
Drawing from nearly 200 original interviews with history’s greatest DJs, Last Night a DJ Saved My Life traces the profession of DJing from the days of early radio, through its vital role in forging rhythm and blues, rock’n’roll and reggae, through disco, hip hop, Chicago house and Detroit techno, via rediscovered styles like northern soul, rare groove, Balearic and cosmic, right up to today’s dance genres of garage, drum’n’bass, grime, dubstep and EDM.
It’s a vibrant cultural history, where you’ll read about the original discotheques in Nazi-occupied Paris, filled with jazz-loving renegades, the unique musical culture of Ibiza, the ecstasy evangelists of the acid house revolution, the world of sound systems and pirate radio, the influence of digital technology and the future of DJing, all written in an irreverent and evocative style that puts you right there on the dancefloors of history’s greatest nightspots.
This new digital edition brings the story right up to date, with more interviews, more fresh insights and more hilarious nightlife anecdotes. Who was the first DJ to mix records, the first remixer, the first rave with a bouncy castle? The DJ has been with us for more than a century, creating new things to do with music, some of them fun, some beautiful, some profound. The DJ’s story is told here in full.
NEW SUBJECTS
•The origins of le discotheque in wartime France.
•The unique musical culture of Ibiza and how it evolved.
•The untold story of the Cosmic Afro scene in Rimini.
•More on techno, including secrets from the Detroit pioneers.
•More on UK sound system culture, southern soul and the warehouse scene.
•Much more on acid house and its dramatic musical and cultural impact.
•The origins and evolution of drum and bass.
•The origins and evolution of UK garage.
•Recent clubland shifts: the death of the superclub, the impact of digital DJing.
•The American EDM explosion
•The origins and rise of grime and dubstep
