Friday BBC4 10.00 p.m. How Dance Music Conquered The World

[Frankie Crocker]

Programme on the TV tonight looking at the development of club culture over the last 30 years. Last Friday’s programme had a really good look at Chicago House, Detroit Techno and Philadelphia soul - very well presented making the links between 60’s soul and later types of dance music. Don’t think it is a repeat so could be worth checking out.

[Roburt]

Watched some of this episode & it's piece on how the dance scene moved from the UK to Ibiza & then to Vegas ...

That is correct & the show states how great the scene was in Vegas ... BUT NO MENTION OF THE FACT THAT ... it was the Casinos who quickly jumped on the dance music bandwagon there. In doing so, many converted their music lounge rooms into discos. The main consequence of that was that performers such as Sonny Charles, Bobby Wade, Lou Ragland and the like lost the venues that used to employ them.

Most changes bring good but on the back of that comes a downside.

I used to visit Vegas most years but with the live soul shows giving way to 'rave nights', there was no reason for me to go that far anymore.  

 

Edited September 30, 2018 by Roburt

[Frankie Crocker]

I watched and enjoyed the programme even though there wasn‘t much in the way of soul music. For someone who missed out on all of the clubs featured, it was an eye-opener. Clearly young people have a giant demand for opportunities to dance all night long, which begs the question, why not join in on a Northern dancefloor? Maybe EDM is the latest sound for the masses with mass raves for 50,000 which makes the Northern scene a deep dark secret by comparison. Next Friday’s show will be featuring DJ’s, but given the cult of celebrity, I doubt if anyone familiar will feature.

[Rick Cooper]

Quite enjoyed the programme but wonder how it went down with the people who were there at the time. Did they get all the facts right? 

There was no mention of the artists and labels who made the music which was a shame. The DJs and club promoters got all the credit but the musicians,writers and artists didn't get a look-in .

Next week it's about the superstar DJs. 

Fopp have copies of the book Life After Dark by Dave Haslam for £3.00 which includes a lot more info on the dance scene covered by the TV prog, as well as interesting facts about other clubs and scenes going back to late 1800s. Worth getting.

Rick

[Rich B]

This was the second episode. The first programme spent more time in the states talking to the early producers like Steve 'Silk Hurley, Reese, Saunderson and Juan Atkins etc. 

Edited September 29, 2018 by Rich B

[Frankie Crocker]

2 hours ago, Rick Cooper said:

Quite enjoyed the programme but wonder how it went down with the people who were there at the time. Did they get all the facts right? 

There was no mention of the artists and labels who made the music which was a shame. The DJs and club promoters got all the credit but the musicians,writers and artists didn't get a look-in .

Next week it's about the superstar DJs. 

Fopp have copies of the book Life After Dark by Dave Haslam for £3.00 which includes a lot more info on the dance scene covered by the TV prog, as well as interesting facts about other clubs and scenes going back to late 1800s. Worth getting.

Rick

I think a lot of the dancers featured were so far off their trees, they would have no recollection of what happened. True, the labels and artists were hugely overlooked, but the punters didn’t seem to be bothered about what they were grooving to - perhaps the collective experience overshadows the quality of the music?

 

Everything I’ve read by Dave Haslam has been excellent, so his book on clubs for £3 is a real steal.

[Frankie Crocker]

22 hours ago, Roburt said:

Watched some of this episode & it's piece on how the dance scene moved from the UK to Ibiza & then to Vegas ...

That is correct & the show states how great the scene was in Vegas ... BUT NO MENTION OF THE FACT THAT ... it was the Casinos who quickly jumped on the dance music bandwagon there. In doing so, many converted their music lounge rooms into discos. The main consequence of that was that performers such as Sonny Charles, Bobby Wade, Lou Ragland and the like lost the venues that used to employ them.

Most changes bring good but on that back of that comes a downside.

I used to visit Vegas most years but with the live soul shows giving way to 'rave nights', there was no reason for me to go that far anymore.  

 

Thanks for this Rob. Like yourself, I’ve been to Vegas on numerous occasions, catching The Coasters, Drifters and Platters at a casino lounge in 2006. Further down the road, very few of the 60’s artists that were still performing at the turn of the millennium are active, but it must have been some consolation for them to be on stage in Vegas.