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Last Night a DJ Saved My Life | 
 enlarge | Authors: Bill Brewster, Frank Broughton
Publisher: Headline Book Publishing
Category: Book
List Price: £7.99
Buy Used: £0.01
You Save: £7.98 (100%)
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Rating:  18 reviews
Sales Rank: 203746
Media: Paperback
Edition: New Ed
Pages: 480
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 4.9 x 1.3
ISBN: 0747262306
Dewey Decimal Number: 900
EAN: 9780747262305
ASIN: 0747262306
Publication Date: July 6, 2000
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: Minor curling of corners on front and reverse cover and a few internal pages
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Amazon.co.uk Review
The self-styled "definitive" history of the humble art of spinning plates of vinyl, Last Night A DJ Saved My Life steps up to the turntables with worthy pretensions. The work of journalists Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton, who, between them, have worked on The Face, i-D, Rolling Stone, and Musik, they certainly know their deep house from their speed garage. But while Last Night A DJ . . . is an impressively knowledgeable compilation of information, they never quite decide whether this is an intellectual resource, a complete history, or if they're playing these records just for kicks. So in the preface fun is poked at "abstract nonsense about postmodern intertextuality", and the pair thunder into well-reasoned, impassioned debate about the DJ being a modern-day shaman--pulse-racing stuff, which makes it all the more uncomfortable when it segues into an unremittingly dull chronological history of the invention of the record deck. The pace quickens with an excellent chapter on Northern Soul, and in hot pursuit follow impressive histories of the reggae, hip-hop and disco genres. But then Acid House--perhaps Britain's most important musical evolution ever--is given short shrift and techno is dismissed over a mere ten pages as "house's swotty offspring". The term "definitive", it seems, has been faded out of the mix. Last Night A DJ . . . is no Bible for the penitent vinyl worshipper, and its difficult chronology makes it an uncomfortable read. Still, if you think that Northern Soul records were made in Leeds and disco began with the Bee Gees, there's a wealth of knowledge here that'll put you right --Louis Pattison
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| Customer Reviews: Read 13 more reviews...
 Tedious October 19, 2008
Guv (UK)
I used to know Nigel "Bill" Brewster many years ago back in Grimsby, and I'm not in the slightest bit surprised that he has published books on DJ-ing... perfect for the non-musician/musical. At least it's vaguely better than his awful band, Expanding Wallets, for whom he used to "sing".
Dreary little man, and dreary reading material. Avoid.
 Un-put-down-able! (Should anyone like to correct this Grammar, feel free!...) May 13, 2008
T. Clarke (UK)
Are an aspiring DJ yourself? Or are you maybe a complete audiophile? Who knows, maybe you're like me where you're both! If so then you "need" (don't just consider) to buy this book.
This is the Bible of all DJ stories out there. At over 2 inches thick, you'll be forced late at night to eventually put down this entertaining read that covers just about every aspect that has shed a light in the world of 'DJing' not just as you know it today, but in all the ways you never even dreamed of it existing.
It's all here. From reading about Jimmy Savilles first gig's that led him to partially melting a grand piano, to an old vinyl-junkie learning the benefits of a felt slip-mat all by accident because he misplaced the rubber mat that would have normally been on the platter, you'll be sniggering away on every chapter to the weird and wonderful ways in which ordinary people changed the way we not only played music, but the way we created music around the notion of dancing.
Perhaps the most enlightening thing about this book is that because it covers all the stories, events, tales, and facts between the early 1900's to 2004, you judge for yourself just how placid and selfish the business has become. When reading about the lovely feel-good era that was the early 1980's, where Frankie Knuckles played smooth new 'house' tracks that influenced a whole generation of people to party wildly, the latter two decades suggest that anyone high-up in the club/marketing business is merely after a taste of . This just wasn't an issue back in the discotheque days.
I myself have taken Popular Music Studies as a University course, and although I was DJ'ing before I started Uni, this book opened my eyes to the truth, and I wish it had been on the course!! I'd also like to think it's just spurred me on even more to love the music for what it is, yet the book leaves you on an open note... Is technology a benefit for DJ's in the current fast moving age? While Sasha (Alex Coe) quotes in the book it does, the writer continues in a neutral but fun vein to leave you to conclude how the genre will live on in the future. Do laptops make you a skilful DJ? Does pressing a few buttons account for computer/technology skill or musical/hands on skill? It's for you to decide.
I can't rate this book highly enough. The fact that it would appeal to me even if I never realised I could DJ, or never took an interest in clubs and going bonkers at 3am is all the more credit to the writer for writing in an entertaining manner that displays an extraordinary effort for gaining so much research on such a huge, yet in reality, quite un-questioned topic and subject that few people have touched. Luckily, if you've stopped on this internet page, you need not go anywhere else. The bible is here at an incredible price!
History every DJ should know... February 27, 2008
Zenroxy (London)
Great guide to how it all began and to different dance music genres. Even if your not a fan of Northern Soul, Jungle, Hip Hop, or what ever it's still worth reading those chapters to appreciate all that's gone before.
And who'd have thought Jimmy Saville started it all..
At last a music bible! May 29, 2007
A. Khan (London, England)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I have lost count of the number of times I have read this book, re-read it, checked out the record lists in the back, bought copies for people, used it to prop up a wobbly table. It is a seminal trip through 100 years of the DJ pushing the musical boundaries from soul, reggae, hip hop, disco, house and all forms of dance music to soundtracking the nights we've all loved. The arcane details of lost dj's seminal club figures and nights from Italy, New York, Manchester to the island of Ibizia are poured over in detail but with great wit. Not a lightweight coffee table book nor some earnest socio-cultural phd thesis but a highly informative and entertaining read. I sense a great deal of love, passion and enthusiam have been poured into this book and you can't help but be carried along. I bought the first edition and the latest one and the additional chapters on Balearic and Garage are fascinating.
 Insightful and comprehensive August 30, 2006
Chandler (London)
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
Although this book has been re-written to celebrate the centenary of the DJ, the story really begins with the rise of the Northern Soul clubs of Wigan and Blackpool and the early 1970s. What follows is a comprehensive account of dance music of the last 35 years and it is at its best when charting the explosive rise and fall of disco, the origins of hip-hop and the social revolution that followed in the wake of house music.
Brewster & Broughton clearly know what they are writing about: the development of the techniques of mixing, back beats etc are well explained although I remain unenlightened as to the finer points of what is garage as opposed to house, trance etc (if that matters?). They make a convincing case as to the creativity of the DJ and are withering in their dismissal of clubs like Manumission and its "rather tawdry sex show".
This is a book both for the dedicated clubber in search of some context and also the general reader. It also a record of personal tragedy as so many of the DJ greats have succumbed to AIDS, drug overdoses and suicide. A number of unexpected heroes emerge: Richard Burton's first wife Sybil, Malcolm McLaren, Kraftwerk; and the late greats are honoured, principally DJ Francis, Larry Levan and Ron Hardy. RIP.
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