Bill Brewster

FOREWORD BY JAMES MURPHY'Literally changed the course of my life' James MurphyWhen someone says, 'You have to know your history...' this is it. A pop culture classic for over two decades, now fully refreshed and updated as part of White Rabbit's Deep Cuts series, Last Night a DJ ... 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.'The chapter on Larry Levan alone transformed me into wanting to be your favoUrite DJ' Questlove'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

'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 MadonnaWhen 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).

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.

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 introduction for the novice and contains advice and advanced instruction for more experienced DJs. It includes tutorials on mixing techniques and styles, digital mixing, and more.