Love is the Message: Dance, Music and Counterculture

This is an excerpt from a patrons-only LITM Extra episode. To hear the whole thing, as well as conversations between Tim and Jeremy about what they've been listening to, intermittent lectures, listeners' questions and more, visit www.patreon.com/LoveMessagePod to become a patron from £3 a month.

In Chapter 1 part 1, we hear about David Mancuso's childhood in the children's home in Utica, New York; his early employment after leaving home; and his first forays into throwing parties in the mid-1960s, featuring two recurring characters from our show, Timothy Leary and Richard Long.

Thank you for your continued support of the show - we couldn't do it without you.

Expect to hear much more from the book in the coming months, as well as more patrons-only content and a new series of the main show.

Tune in, turn on, get down!

In the final episode of our second series, Tim and Jeremy turn to 1974 to consider the emergence of disco as a discernible and self-conscious genre. Does genre allow people to define themselves through the music they listen to, and to consider themselves part of a (physical or imagined) community? Or is genre simply a cynical tool of division promoted by a rapacious media and music business that stifles creativity and interaction?

Tim and Jeremy also consider our present moment of algorithmic listening and Spotify playlists, the performance of sexual pleasure in music, Eurodisco, the importance of strings to the disco sound, and dip into their record bags for a selection of dancefloor fillers fit for this bumper 12" edition of the show.

We'll be taking a short break, but will be back in less than a month to begin a new series, leaving the Anglophone world for the shores of South America, the Caribbean and Africa. In the meantime, expect some more patrons-only content to tide you over.

In this week's episode Tim and Jeremy explore one of the most important musical currents of the early '70s, Feminist Soul. Beginning with Aretha Franklin, they situate the music of these powerful, articulate and conscious female performers within the Women's Liberation and Black Power movements, alongside the scholarship of Simone de Beuvoir and Angela Davis, and in relation to the girl groups of Motown and the mid-'60s.

Aretha Franklin - (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman

This is an excerpt of a full length episode currently only available to patrons. To become a patron and support what we're doing from £3 per month, head to www.patreon.com/LoveMessagePod.

In this patrons-only bonus episode, Jeremy and Tim have a conversation about what music they're listening to at the moment.

Tim and Jeremy discuss New Orleans hip hop, big edits of legendary tunes, reissue culture, online digging, playfulness in music, and getting back into the saddle of DJing again.

This is part of a rough series of more conversational, unplanned episodes reflecting on what's been on our record players recently and what we've been up to that we'll be releasing to patrons to say thank you for your support.

The tracks discussed are:

Mario Rui Silva - Kazum-zum-zum

If you like the clips we played, we'd encourage you to support the artists and buy the tracks, most of which are available on bandcamp, starting with Out of County! https://muckers.bandcamp.com/releases

In this week's episode Tim and Jeremy get ready to make you sweat with an extended length episode for maximum dancing. Starting with Soul Brother Number 1 James Brown, Tim and Jeremy chart this history of Funk, from its roots in Soul and R'n'B, via it's adoption by the Panthers and Black Power, and on to the psychedelia of Funkadelic. We also hear the source material of some of the most samples breaks ever, moonlight in some film criticism, and freak out to some serious lysergic experiences.

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.

In this week's episode Tim and Jeremy consider the emergence of Disco as a recognisable and distinct sound in the period 1973-75. They grapple with the problems of codifying a genre, showing how genrefication can limit previously open spaces of possibility, and talk about to what extent the participants in the nascent scene saw themselves as part of a single project.

The O'Jays - Back Stabbers

In this week's episode Tim and Jeremy consider the numerous musical and cultural currents of the early '70s that fed into the emergence of 'Disco' as a genre. They discuss the important antecedents of Soul and Rhythm and Blues, consider the yearning, future-facing qualities of Gospel, the musical influence of the Latin community in the city, and the imminent insistence of Funk.

Tim and Jeremy also consider the important role of romance, eroticism and sensuality on this developing musical form, discuss the appeal of longer tracks to dancers and DJs, and end with a friendly disagreement over that age-old question: what was the first disco record?

In this week's episode Tim and Jeremy are exploring the emergence of 'loft'-style living in downtown New York in the early '70s. Set against a backdrop of deindustrialisation and middle class flight to the suburbs, they detail how artists, bohemians and party hosts moved into these vacated loft spaces, affording them the space and time to exhibit their art and - crucially - throw parties.

Tune in, Turn on, Get Down!

Stevie Wonder - Living for the City

In this week's episode Tim and Jeremy finish their three-part overview of the transition from a Fordist to a Post-Fordist world by examining the period 1973-75. They cover the OPEC oil crisis, rising inflation worldwide, and the breakdown of the Bretton Woods Agreement, all of which served to puncture the post-war mood of endless growth and prosperity.

Roxy Music - In Every Dream Home a Heartache

In this week's episode Tim and Jeremy continue their in-depth look at the economic, social and musical transformations of post-Fordism, focusing specifically on the years 1970 to 1972. They discuss the tedium, boredom and conformity many experienced during the post-war period, and the myriad ways people pushed back through art, inspired by a romantic vision of the expressive artist and new set of democratic demands from workers, hippies, black radicals, feminists and more.

Tracklist: