Last Night a DJ Saved My Life: The History of the Disc Jockey [Paperback]

Bill Brewster (Author), Frank Broughton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2000

From the first time a record was played over the airwaves in 1906, to a modern club economy that totals $3 billion annually in New York City alone, the DJ has been at the center of popular music. Starting as little more than a talking jukebox, the DJ is now a premier entertainer, producer, businessman, and musician in his own right. Superstar DJs, from Junior Vasquez to Sasha and Digweed, command worship and adoration from millions, flying around the globe to earn tens of thousands of dollars for one night's work. Increasingly, they are replacing live musicians as the central figures of the music industry. In Last Night a DJ Saved My Life, music journalists Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton have written the first comprehensive history of the mysterious and charismatic figure behind the turntables -- part obsessive record collector, part mad scientist, part intuitive psychologist of the party groove. From England's rabid Northern Soul scene to the birth of disco in New York, from the sound systems of Jamaica to the scratch wars of early hip-hop in the Bronx, from Chicago house to Detroit techno to London rave, DJs are responsible for most of the significant changes in music over the past forty years. Drawing on in-depth interviews with DJs, critics, musicians, record executives, and the revelers at some of the century's most legendary parties, Last Night a DJ Saved My Life is nothing less than the life story of dance music.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Beginning with the contention that the disc jockey is "dance music's most important figure," Brewster and Broughton persuasively argue that the contemporary DJ is the epitome of the postmodern artist and that disc jockeys have long influenced the evolution of American musical tastes. Brewster and Broughton's ardent history is one of barriers and sonic booms, spanning almost 100 years, including nods to pioneers Christopher Stone, Martin Block, Douglas "Jocko" Henderson, Bob "Wolfman Jack" Smith and Alan "Moondog" Freed. Along the lines of Kurt B. Reighley's recent Looking for the Perfect Beat: The Art and Culture of the DJ, this is an obsessively unabridged and ever-unraveling (the authors will offer updates at www.djhistory.com) chronology of DJs and the musicAnorthern soul, reggae, disco, hip-hop, garage, house and technoAthey have fostered, and, more accurately perhaps, the music that has fostered them. So as not to miss a note, the authors, both former editors at Mixmag USA and contributing writers to The Face, interviewed more than 100 DJs, dancers and scenesters and elicited some vibrant, pull-quote anecdotes, especially in the hip-hop chapters. What comes to light makes sense: readers learn that the DJ is a distinctly American invention (Reginald A. Fessenden in 1906), but they came into their own, and into wealth and fame, in Britain (case in point: Paul Oakenfold). Brewster and Broughton's subtext is refreshing: rather than draw curt lines between American and British contributions, they show how intimate the countries were in forging a communications phenomenon. (Aug.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Inside Flap

The DJ has been at the center of music history for the last forty years-from the first time a record was played over the airwaves, through reggae and Northern Soul, the births of disco, hip hop, house, and techno, to the current global underground. The club economy now brings in billions and superstar DJs like Paul Oakenfold and Fatboy Slim are overtaking rock stars in popularity and earning power. Last Night a DJ Saved My Life is the first comprehensive history of the disc jockey, a figure who has revolutionized the way music is conceived, created, and consumed. Drawing on in-depth interviews with the world's most important DJs and the revelers at some of the century's most legendary parties, this book is nothing less than the life story of dance music.

"Brewster and Broughton...have written a lively and--to anyone with a more than casual interest in the history of popular music in the latter half of the 20th century--necessary volume."--The New York Times Book Review

"A riveting look at record spinning from its beginnings to the present day, the authors show that the history and art of deejaying makes for a grander and more fascinating story than one would think..... The book is intricately detailed and informative, filled with grand themes and historical anecdotes, all leavened with a wiseass humor that keeps the whole thing from getting too pretentious."--Time Out

"What makes [Last Night a DJ Saved My Life] so good, besides the crisp, lucid writing, is that it also gives a fascinating, episodic history of the jive-talking radio DJs and Parisian discos that established the themes that would play out in hip-hop, disco and rave culture."--Salon

"These British music-mag writers deliver the goods with humor and a basic sense of good storytelling."--Vibe

"Brewster and Broughton exhibit considerable skill in rendering the meta-story seamless, subtly turning what is essentially an oral history, culled from original interviews and other published sources, into an orchestral piece."--Hartford Courant

"Very informative...takes you way back into the 'true roots' of dance music and hip hop's culture, then smoothly brings you into the future."--Danny Tenaglia

"This is for anyone who has ever found themselves lost on the dancefloor."--The Face

"Exhaustive yet entertaining...a definitive history of the disc jockey.... The book lovingly captures a host of compelling stories from every seminal DJ across the last century.... Energy jumps from the book's pages."--iD

"From counterculture to mainstream leisure, the DJ has always been at the heart of clubland.... An illuminating, thoughtful, and insightful tome."--Muzik

Excerpts Last Night a DJ Saved My Life:

"Today (no offense to priests and ministers, who try their best), it is the DJ who presides at our festivals of transcendence. Like this witchdoctor, we know he's just a normal guy really--I mean, look at him--but when he wipes away our everyday lives with holy drums and sanctified basslines, we are quite prepared to think of him as a god, or at the very least a sacred intermediary, the man who can get the great one to return our calls.

"In a good club, and even in most bad ones, the dancers are celebrating their youth, their energy, their sexuality. They are worshipping life through dance and music. Some worship with the heightened levels of perception that drugs bring; but most are carried away merely by the music and the people around them. The DJ is the key to all this. By playing records in the right way the average DJ has a tremendous power to affect people's states of mind. A truly great DJ, just for a moment, can make a whole room fall in love. Because, you see, DJing is not just about choosing a few tunes. It's about generating shared moods; it's about understanding the feelings of a group of people and directing them to a better place. In the hands of a master, records become the tools for rituals of spiritual communion that for many people are the most powerful events in their lives."

Bill Brewster has been editor of Mixmag's Update USA. His writing appears reg

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Grove Press (July 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802136885
• ISBN-13: 978-0802136886
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 5.8 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #47,471 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #28 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Radio
  • #38 in Books > Arts & Photography > Music > Theory, Composition & Performance > Sheet Music & Scores > Forms & Genres > Popular

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Comprehensive--not techno obsessed, March 31, 2002

By 

P. Gunderson (San Diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Last Night a DJ Saved My Life: The History of the Disc Jockey (Paperback)

Frankly, I bought this book because I was interested in learning more about techno/trance DJs, and was initially disappointed by the relative dearth of discussion of current trends (a discussion of these comes only in the last quarter of this book). However, my disappointment turned into appreciation as I realized this book truly is a history of the DJ, from way back in the early 1900s to today. This history offers a vast amount of information about who the first DJ pioneers were, and it is divided up into sections on the first radio DJs, northern soul DJs, reggae, disco, rap, and--finally--techno.

The authors point out that they're not doing any academic, high-fallutin' theoretical study of the DJ, but I think they took this anti-academicism too far. The DJ is a fascinating figure because s/he challenges so many of Western culture's ideas about what constitutes "music" and what constitutes "artistry." This book could have been much enriched by delving into the ways the DJ changes how we think about music.

As it is, the history in this study is admirably exhaustive; but because it doesn't connect this history to a larger history of music and aesthetics, it sometimes becomes just exhausting.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Dj's history book-house, hip hop, disco, northern soul, August 6, 2000

By 

"fredism" (chicago, il USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Last Night a DJ Saved My Life: The History of the Disc Jockey (Paperback)

Coming across this book has been one of the most enlightening finds of my music loving life. I picked it up and read it in it's entirety in 2 days. It is a thorough history of the DJ and the music forms that DJ's have spawned since the advent of vinyl as a medium of auditory stimulation and satisfaction. Just the discography alone, a listing of the top fifty or hundred songs and artist on the playlists of fundamental dance floors (like The Roxy, Paradise Garage, Warehouse, and The Loft to name a few) makes this book worth its weight in gold. The history that this book attempts to recount isn't end all to be all, but it covers enough ground to satisfy even the most discriminating old club lover like myself. And even the most well versed club historian and afficionado will find something entertianing and educational within this books covers. I've bought three copies of this book, just to put some of my friends forever in my debt.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent history, remarkable research, August 13, 2000

By 

Eric Antonow (Palo Alto, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Last Night a DJ Saved My Life: The History of the Disc Jockey (Paperback)

I've only gone through the sections on Chicago house music and am astonished by the detail collected on this low-profile era of dj history. Though I was only a young bystander. the authors managed to unearth the mythical names, long desolate locations, and key events of the day. WBMX Jams on Saturday and Sunday mornings going down to Maxwell street, where last night's pressings were available on too thin, recycled vinyl (sometimes with pieces of gym shoe in them). If they could discover this, I suspect the rest is as solid. Well written.