Music and Related Cultural History Thread

[Monkeygrinder's Organ]

Thought this might be worth a go, as I love a bit of musical history (and am getting old enough that my early musical memories could just about count). A place for articles/podcasts/other media people come across.

Prompted by Smokeandsteam posting about this podcast which I'd previously struggled to find somewhere to post: At The Mermaid - an oral history of the Mermaid pub in Birmingham in the 80s, home of Napalm Death amongst others. Highly recommended.

Also found out recently this blog is still going: History is made at night - lots of stuff about all sorts of partying history here.

So yeah, anything along those lines - post it here.

 

[hitmouse]

Feels like there's been a few dance history books out recently, like this which I have read:

Dance Your Way Home: A Journey Through the Dancefloor – Pages of Hackney

Order Dance Your Way Home: A Journey Through the Dancefloor from Pages of Hackney for collection or nationwide delivery. Free UK shipping for orders over £50!

www.pagesofhackney.co.uk

And this which I haven't:

Party Lines by Ed Gillett review – the politics of dancing

A buzzing study of how the cat-and-mouse game played by partygoers and the state shaped contemporary Britain

www.theguardian.com

 

[RevolutionSound]

Bass, Mids, Tops - Strange Attractor

An Oral History of Sound System CultureMore →

strangeattractor.co.uk

 

[RevolutionSound]

Join The Future: Bleep Techno & the Birth of British Bass Music

Join The Future is a book by dance music journalist Matt Anniss tracing the origins, development, impact and influence of bleep techno.

velocitypress.uk

 

[RevolutionSound]

If you can get to a screening of this, it's well worth it

Doc'n Roll Films - FREE PARTY: A FOLK HISTORY

Distributing & screening underground music & arts documentaries in Cinemas, TV & VOD globally!

www.docnrollfestival.com

 

[hitmouse]

This is another one I've not read but might be decent:

https://www.brownsbfs.co.uk/Product/Billet-Alexander/Shake-the-City--Experiments-in-Space-and-Time-Music-and-Crisis/9781919601939

And I remember Dancing in the Streets being great:

Dancing in the Streets - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Smokeandsteam]

Good stuff Monkeygrinder's Organ - you will be interested in the subcultures network:

Subcultures Network

Interdisciplinary Network for the Study of Subcultures, Popular Music and Social Change.

research.reading.ac.uk

Finally, not the UK (or free sadly), but this is good on Detroit exploring music, place and politics among the deindustrialisation of the city:

Acid Detroit : A Psychedelic Story of Motor City Music - Joe Molloy

printedmatterhastings.co.uk

I'll post more stuff up on here when I get more time.

 

[krtek a houby]

A short article here by the great Rhiannon Giddens, prompted by the ongoing controversy about Beyonce for daring not to remain within her designated genre

Black artistry is woven into the fabric of country music. It belongs to everyone | Rhiannon Giddens

With Beyoncé becoming the first Black woman to top the US country charts, musician Rhiannon Giddens, who plays banjo and viola on Texas Hold ’Em, explains how capitalism and racism warped the genre

www.google.co.uk

 

[ddraig]

Club culture in the 90s and 00s – in pictures

From dub squat parties to festivals in Finland, photographer Jason Manning shares intimate glimpses of the era’s nightlife in a new exhibition

www.theguardian.com

 

[Fozzie Bear]

stethoscope has kindly nudged me into posting this, which looks great:

You searched for Gone to a rave - Ransom Note

www.theransomnote.com

 

[Fozzie Bear]

I recommend the Love Is The Message podcast - deep dives into dance music history and culture. Home

 

[Monkeygrinder's Organ]

I recommend the Love Is The Message podcast - deep dives into dance music history and culture. Home

That looks great - the NY stuff in particular. Will definitely give it a listen.


And on a related note: Raging fires and block-rockin’ parties: back to the Bronx – in pictures

 

[[62]]

This means a lot to me, as if I had to offer a favourite genre or sub-genre (if indeed it is one) of music it would be this - the whole post-Beefheart, post-Fall group of angular, discordant and spiky, mostly UK bands - which I don't think has ever really been collated. Andy Moor is very much in the centre of it, and whilst it's largely a playlist, he does a good job of telling its history.

 

[hitmouse]

I was going to recommend the Roman rave documentary Roma Illegale, but looking around it seems to have vanished from the internet. So I'd still recommend it, but no idea how you'd watch it now. Go to Rome and ask a bunch of Romans until you get the party line and then ring it after ten, I suppose.

 

[ddraig]

 

[girasol]

I listen to a lot of podcasts about the history of musical figures. Currently waiting for final episode of this one on Nina Simone:

Legacy - Season 5: Nina Simone

wondery.com

Available on all platforms included the soon to be defunct Google Podcasts - I think I'm the only person I know who uses it. Shame . Although maybe I'm missing the mark and the thread is more about dance music/raves?

 

[Monkeygrinder's Organ]

I recommend the Love Is The Message podcast - deep dives into dance music history and culture. Home

Really enjoying these - I've listened to four or five now. A little bit pseudy/academic in places maybe but I'm fine with that tbh.

 

[Fozzie Bear]

Really enjoying these - I've listened to four or five now. A little bit pseudy/academic in places maybe but I'm fine with that tbh.

Yes it’s a good balance I think. Glad you like!

 

[Serge Forward]

This might be of interest to anyone who was around the late 70s Manchester punk scene. Also, the photo below contains three of my old mates. The lad on the right who looks like he's playing air guitar was my best mate for many years but sadly died about 25 years ago.
Booze, Blood and Noise: The Violent Roots of Manchester Punk

 

[ddraig]

2 Tone Music

Black and white - exploding in colour

canvas-story.bbcrewind.co.uk

Can't copy any of the great pics!

This Town creator Steven Knight celebrates Birmingham's tower blocks.​

2 Tone: The Story airs on BBC Radio WM on Saturday at 14:00 GMT - you can also listen on BBC Sounds.​

 

[Orang Utan]

I hadn’t spotted this thread until now. Was looking for somewhere to put this, as it’s not just people dancing:

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2024/apr/11/party-in-a-quarry-my-decade-of-wild-euro-raves-in-pictures?utm_term=6618b1cac767b8b4056f93872a66ee84&utm_campaign=GuardianTodayUK&utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&CMP=GTUK_email

 

[krtek a houby]

Short BBC archive on 2 Tone, it feels like from another age



(obviously it is - but there's plenty that is still going on)

 

[Monkeygrinder's Organ]

Short BBC archive on 2 Tone, it feels like from another age



(obviously it is - but there's plenty that is still going on)

I'm not sure they would have appreciated that intro.

ETA: The whole tone of the report feels older than the music.

 

[RevolutionSound]

Dreaming In Yellow: The Story of the DiY Sound System

Written by Harry Harrison, the Dreaming in Yellow book is a biography of DiY Sound System, the infamous free party collective.

velocitypress.uk

This is a good read, although I'd have liked to have heard more about the negative consequences such as people's struggles with addiction and recovery.