July 01, 2021

Early DJ Culture pt.1

1 hour 6 minutes

In this week's episode Tim and Jeremy turn their attention to the wheels of steel, and the inhabitants of late 1960s and early 1970s New York who played them. We hear about the overwhelmingly Italian American young men who first pioneered the scene, the various public discotheques in which they performed, and the numerous technical innovations which advanced the craft.

Tim and Jeremy also contrast the emergent New York scene with the soundsystem culture of Jamaica by considering the extent to which both could be thought of as assemblages of dancers, DJs, MCs and equipment, and share how rudimentary advances in beatmatching and mixing laid the groundwork for what we would consider today as the DJing archetype.

Tim Lawrence and Jeremy Gilbert are authors, academics, DJs and audiophile dance party organisers. They’ve been friends and collaborators since 1997, teaching together and running parties since 2003. With clubs closed and half their jobs lost to university cuts, they’re inevitably launching a podcast.

Produced and edited by Matt Huxley.

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Tune in, Turn on, Get Down!

Tracklist:

The Chamber Brothers - Time Has Come Today

The Upsetters with Lee 'Scratch' Perry - Black Panta

Chicago - I'm A Man

Eddie Kendricks - Girl You Need a Change of Mind

The Joneses - Sugar Pie Guy

Zulema - Giving Up

...more