Boys Own DJ History book = Fascinating stuff! 
For music history geeks this is as essential reading as Tim Laurence's - Love Saves the Day.
It's got really laddy undertones with tonnes of footie references and bitter quips at fashion pretenders etc.
The thing that sticks out most however is the cultural shift that's happened since. This lot were really highly politicised and it was acceptable to be a bit of an idealist without having your bubble burst by armchair conformist yawnsome types that are so symptomatic of the last decade.
It also starts in 86 which provides a really nice lead up to the acid explosion from soul boys and the latest must have trainers to the classless exclusivity that evolved with acid teds (complete with post acid house try-hard moans
)
...and with the advent of blogs, web 2.0 (and the reeeeeally exciting recession) one can only hope that people use new technology in similar ways to these lads with their spray mount and scissors. 8)
Bring on the next decade with hopefully less minimal styley fads and more revolutionary lyrics (and buy that annual immediately)...
Which brings me onto this closing statement from Cosmo's Darkstarr blog...
So where does that leave us today? Things still ain’t perfect and socio-political awareness just needs to shift its gaze. We still live in a time of war and global recession. Is dance culture once again ready to face the music? Krivit hopes “as the money rapidly disappears from the music industry, it might just reopen the door [to socio-political conscious dance music].” Gilbert is also optimistic. “Right now we’re in becalmed waters politically, as the cycle of greed and over-consumption which characterised the past 15 years has obviously ground to a halt, but nobody has yet quite figured out what can come after it and it’s becoming obvious that we need something much more radical than Obama getting elected to make it happen. That won’t go on forever, and once things start to move, the dance will move too. Whether we’ll be dancing alone to our iPods or making joyful noise in the streets will be for us to decide. Just by keeping open spaces where people can come together, especially spaces that aren’t entirely controlled by the search for profits, we’re keeping open little enclaves of freedom.”
8)
Waffle over *hic* off for a nap.
For music history geeks this is as essential reading as Tim Laurence's - Love Saves the Day.
It's got really laddy undertones with tonnes of footie references and bitter quips at fashion pretenders etc.
The thing that sticks out most however is the cultural shift that's happened since. This lot were really highly politicised and it was acceptable to be a bit of an idealist without having your bubble burst by armchair conformist yawnsome types that are so symptomatic of the last decade.
It also starts in 86 which provides a really nice lead up to the acid explosion from soul boys and the latest must have trainers to the classless exclusivity that evolved with acid teds (complete with post acid house try-hard moans
)...and with the advent of blogs, web 2.0 (and the reeeeeally exciting recession) one can only hope that people use new technology in similar ways to these lads with their spray mount and scissors. 8)
Bring on the next decade with hopefully less minimal styley fads and more revolutionary lyrics (and buy that annual immediately)...
Which brings me onto this closing statement from Cosmo's Darkstarr blog...
So where does that leave us today? Things still ain’t perfect and socio-political awareness just needs to shift its gaze. We still live in a time of war and global recession. Is dance culture once again ready to face the music? Krivit hopes “as the money rapidly disappears from the music industry, it might just reopen the door [to socio-political conscious dance music].” Gilbert is also optimistic. “Right now we’re in becalmed waters politically, as the cycle of greed and over-consumption which characterised the past 15 years has obviously ground to a halt, but nobody has yet quite figured out what can come after it and it’s becoming obvious that we need something much more radical than Obama getting elected to make it happen. That won’t go on forever, and once things start to move, the dance will move too. Whether we’ll be dancing alone to our iPods or making joyful noise in the streets will be for us to decide. Just by keeping open spaces where people can come together, especially spaces that aren’t entirely controlled by the search for profits, we’re keeping open little enclaves of freedom.”
8)
Waffle over *hic* off for a nap.
but good memories of Ziggys at Streatham in there.. which i went to a few times
