Last Night a DJ Saved My Life (book) explained

Last Night a DJ Saved My Life: The History of the Disc Jockey
Author:	Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton
Publisher:	Headline Book Publishing
Pub Date:	1999
Isbn:	978-0747275732
Pages:	435

Last Night a DJ Saved My Life is a book written by Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton about the history of DJing published in 1999. A compilation album of the same name was released with the book. The album contains various clips ranging from 1970s reggae to Handel's Largo, the first song to reach radio airwaves, in 1906. The book takes its name from the Indeep single "Last Night a DJ Saved My Life."^[1] In 2006, The Observer named Last Night... #45 on their list of the greatest music books.^[2]

Both experienced journalists, Brewster and Broughton seek to chronicle the role of the DJ in the 20th century.^[3] Starting from Jimmy Savile, Broughton and Brewster track the rise of the DJ as a figure in music.^{[4] [5]} The authors champion the idea that the DJ is an "unsung hero" of popular music and is an artist himself.^[1] In examining the place of a DJ over time, Last Night... also follows the rise and fall of various musical genres and subcultures.^[1]

The companion album, which was compiled by Brewster himself, serves as an overview of dance and DJ music.

The DJ

In their book, Brewster and Broughton talk significantly about of the DJ on popular forms of Black music like Reggae and Disco. For reggae music, they describe "disco as king" because the DJ was responsible for using the sound system to engage in practices like toasting, versioning, and sound clash in the formulation of reggae music. This led to the modern American DJ, as DJs began to use their power to "grab the mic" and began rhyming and using rhythm to hype crowds (95-98).

Publication

In the weeks following the book's release, Nuphonic released an accompanying soundtrack as a 14-track compact disc and triple-vinyl set.^[6] The authors also released a collection of DJ interviews in 2010, The Record Players: DJ Revolutionaries.^[7]

The authors updated the book in a 2022 edition, adding detail on the role of women in the history of dance music.^[8]

Legacy

The book sparked James Murphy (of LCD Soundsystem)'s love of the disco genre.^[9]

Album

Last Night a DJ Saved My Life
Type:	compilation
Artist:	Various
Cover:	Last Night a DJ saved my life album cover.jpg
Released:	December 19, 2000
Genre:	R&B, disco, reggae, hip hop, house, classical
Label:	Nuphonic

Track listing

1. Georg Friedrich Händel - "Largo" (0:33)
2. DJ Premier - "Red Alert Chant" (1:58)
3. Dave Barker - "I Got To Get Away" (2:10)
4. U-Roy - "True True" (2:10)
5. Bernard Purdie - "Funky Donkey" (2:52)
6. Frank Wilson - "Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)" (2:32)
7. The Carstairs - "It Really Hurts Me Girl (Tom Moulton Remix)" (3:32)
8. Tanya Winley - "Vicious Rap" (7:14)
9. Patti LaBelle - "Get Ready (Looking For Loving) (Back To The Music Box Edit)" (8:06)
10. MFSB / The Salsoul Orchestra - "Love Is The Message (Danny Krivit Re-edit)" (11:00)
11. Chas Jankel - "Glad To Know You (Disconet Re-edit)" (7:29)
12. Class Action - "Weekend (Larry Levan Weekend Mix)" (8:22)
13. Jah Wobble, The Edge, Holger Czukay - "Snakecharmer (François Kevorkian Snake Dub)" (6:55)
14. Jungle Wonz - "Bird In A Gilded Cage" (3:55)
15. Visage - "Frequency 7 (Dance Mix)" (5:02)

Further reading

• News: Books . . 25 . 1999-11-12 . English . . mdy-all .
• News: Dibdin . Thom . In 1906, the world got a new kind of artist - and it put music in a spin . . 18 . 1999-11-19 . English . 03075850 . . mdy-all .
• News: Gilfillan . Ross . Crazee noize, crazee guys CRITIC'S CHOICE . . 59 . 1999-11-12 . English . 03077578 . . mdy-all .
• News: Haslam . Dave . What the Twist Did for the Peppermint Lounge . . 22 . 1 . 27 . 2000-01-06 . English . 0260-9592 . mdy-all .
• News: Murray . Charles Shaar . Comment: Wednesday Book - Tale of turntable wizards misses several beats . . 5 . 2000-01-05 . English . 09519467 . . mdy-all .
• Oppelaar . Justin . History of the DJ Gets Thorough Spin . . 380 . 10 . 61 . 2000-10-23 . 00422738 . . mdy-all .
• News: Phelan . Laurence . Books: Father of rave, as it happens . . 13 . 2000-01-09 . English . 09519467 . . mdy-all .
• Rev. of Last Night A DJ Saved My Life: The History of the Disc Jockey . . 247 . 29 . 187–188 . 2000-07-17 . English . 00000019 . . . mdy-all .
• News: RM . Book: Last Night a DJ Saved My Life . . 54 . 30 . 1999-11-01 . English . 1358541X . . mdy-all .
• News: Roundup . . 10 . 2000-07-23 . English . . mdy-all .
• News: Udovitch . Mim . It's All in the Mix . . 11 . 2000-09-03 . 00287806 . mdy-all .
• Web site: Words and Music: Our 60 Favorite Music Books . . 2011-07-11 . en . 2022-07-10 . mdy-all .

External links

• • • DJhistory.com - Bill Brewster and Frank Boughton's website

Notes and References

1. Web site: It's All in the Mix . 2007-10-30 . 2000-09-03 . Udovitch . Mim . New York Times.
2. Web site: The 50 greatest music books ever . 2006-06-18 . 2007-10-30 . The Observer.
3. Web site: 2000-10-01 . 2007-10-30 . Oppelaar . Justin . . LAST NIGHT A DJ SAVED MY LIFE (review). https://web.archive.org/web/20071227160354/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb1437/is_200010/ai_n5923346 . dead . 2007-12-27 .
4. Web site: Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton: Last Night A DJ Saved My Life (First Edition) review . Overload Media . Spannered.org . 2000-07-01 . 2007-10-30.
5. Book: Donovan, Paul . The Radio Companion . . 1991 . 978-0-246-13648-0 . London . 198 . 3 July 2011.
6. Paoletta . Michael . LIFEbeat And Club Community Unite To Fight HIV/AIDS . . 112 . 50 . 63 . 2000-12-09 . 00062510 . . mdy-all .
7. Web site: Breihan . Tom . New Release: The Record Players: DJ Revolutionaries . . 2010-09-01 . en-US . 2022-07-10 . mdy-all .
8. https://45rpm.ch/last-night-a-dj-saved-my-life-by/
9. Mason . Kerri . Vinyl Fetish . . 120 . 34 . 31 . 2008-08-23 . 00062510 . . mdy-all . Murphy can trace his love for the genre [disco] back to a single moment. He says he read dance music history book "Last Night a DJ Saved My Life" ....