BBC Doc - How Dance Music Conquered the World

[Condi]

Part 1 of 3 on the IPlayer, part 2 on Friday, part 3 next week.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0bl3cl5



Really really good program, interviews with a lot of the pioneers and some nice archive footage. If you like your dance music then it will either be a trip down memory lane or a history lesson, depending on age. For me, it was a history lesson.

[GCH]

You would like an older broadcast (channel 4 I think) called 'pump up the volume'.
Edit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ccc34JUEGso or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rw-tRL9PUNg

Edited by GCH on Thursday 27th September 00:29

[SickAsAParrot]

Yeah it was a good first episode. I'm not keen on the popular/commercial side of dance music and it will be interesting whether they go into much detail about the sub-genres such as Jungle, D&B, Techno and Hardcore which I still listen to virtually constantly today (I like Trance too but don't shout it too loud).

Synth Britannia was a superb documentary, I hope this turns out to be as good.

[westberks]

As someone still into house music and going to the odd club night I loved it. Possibly a bit BBC centric as the Northern scene seemed to be overlooked but that may correct itself in the next 2 episodes.

will have to record it as I'm going to Hacienda Classical tonight, with the rest of the 50 year old ex ravers!

[NBTBRV8]

Thanks for the heads up. Just watched the first ep.

[Johnnytheboy]

Does it admit dance music came from other parts of the world?

Most BBC music output is very UK-centric.

[C0ffin D0dger]

Johnnytheboy said:

Does it admit dance music came from other parts of the world?

Most BBC music output is very UK-centric.

Yeah this is where it was quite interesting, exploring the roots of dance music in Disco and later Chicago house music. What is going to be explored in the next episode I think is how that music, which was very niche in the US, found it's way into the UK club scene and then was embraced by us taken to the next level and exported back to them! The interview with the drummer (Earl Young) who is cited as the originator of the four to the floor beat that most modern dance music is based on was pretty fascinating.

[JustALooseScrew]

Not strictly Dance music but BBC4 are showing a documentary about Pulp in the next few minutes.

I was never really a fan of Pulp at the time, always thought Jarvis was a bit of a tt until he 'mooned' Michael Jackson.

Strangely 'Mile End' is now one of my desert island discs.

[cherryowen]

Condi said:

Part 1 of 3 on the IPlayer, part 2 on Friday, part 3 next week.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0bl3cl5



Really really good program, interviews with a lot of the pioneers and some nice archive footage. If you like your dance music then it will either be a trip down memory lane or a history lesson, depending on age. For me, it was a history lesson.

Watching that reminded me of a couple of old good-uns:-

Eddie Amador - House Music

Lifeforce - Kimana Tana

[zb]

1st episode nailed it, Detroit and Chicago started it all.

2nd episode, bar a cursory sojourn to Manchester, lost the plot. As per usual, it gives far more credence to Tong, Okenfold et al in moving the scene on. You'd think there was fkall happening outside Lahndahn, nothing could be further from the truth.

In fact, the opposite was the case.

Whilst landahn was disappearing up its D'n'B arse there was a myriad of scenes out there.

You know, I really resent the London centric nature of this ry(sic).

The 3rd episode? I imagine it will perform digital fellatio on norman cook, who is nothing more than a skid mark on dance music.

And if this statement antagonises you, then you want to have a good hard look at yourself.

[Condi]

zb said:

The 3rd episode? I imagine it will perform digital fellatio on norman cook, who is nothing more than a skid mark on dance music.

And if this statement antagonises you, then you want to have a good hard look at yourself.

[DanoS4]

good show, but not strictly true about the invention of Techno in the US.... especially with Kratwerk playing in the background.

Pretty entertaining though.
Best also watched with Synth Brittania, along with Music Moguls.

[Some Guy]

Excellent programme, thanks for the heads up.

London was good for the underground trance & acid techno in the mid/late 90s. Miles away from anything Tong & Oakey were playing.

Good to see the guys from 808 State and yes a lot of bloody good music originated from "oop norf".

[SickAsAParrot]

One of my biggest regrets in life was when I was a student at Salford Uni in the mid 80's some of the guys in our house saying 'We're off to this Hacienda place tonight, wanna come?" and me saying naahh... not really my thing. I had no idea what it was and why it was significant.

When I was that age I saw clubs as just somewhere you went to pull and if you didn't you were a failure, being a spotty ugly student that happened a lot. The Idea of going to one simply to enjoy the music was alien to me.

And I didn't like dance music at that time, I was into Indie, but I liked synthpop, Kraftwerk, loved Tangerine Dream, and Philip Glass, so it wasn't an aversion to rhythmic repetitive music. Indeed a couple of years later I was on holiday in France and the local town square had a DJ playing dance music, mixing and punching in samples, and I thought 'that was great', but still went back to my 'old' music.

It wasn't until I got satellite TV and MTV and started watching the Chill Out Zone that it started to bite, discovered the Essential Mix in '95 and started taping it, bought tape packs and compilation CDs (Carl Cox's FACT was the first I think, also out in '95).

I considered myself too old to go to clubs by then, so I missed all the rave scene and everything, through my own ignorance,

Bit of as depressing ending to last nights ep. seeming to revert back to the 'VIP table' type of club for rich posers who aren't interested in the music.

Edited by SickAsAParrot on Monday 1st October 09:25

[StanleyT]

I first went to the "Hac" on Manc Uni Whitworth Parks Christmas Do. I whiteied, pretty big style (eight pints of homemade un-fermented homebrew was the reason) just past the entrance to be ejected pronto.

I was asked to leave the queue a few times on future occurances of trying to get in, they must have remembered well whom was "trouble".

Mind you, my favourite eviction from a Manchester club was after seeing Ryan Giggs in Sanky's Soap and saying to him, "Wow, your eyes really are as piggy looking in real life as they are on Match of the Day". Got me a slight beating and thrown out but worth it - the next couple of weeks free beers on the story when out with flatmates etc

[Herr Schnell]

The C4 series pump up the volume linked above kicks the st out of this effort from the BBC.

BBC going with cliched angles and pretty scant information whilst totally ignoring NYC contributions and concocting some bizarre revisionist view that house is a UK thing. Also pushing the R1 jocks as being heroes while ignoring hosts of others is pretty insular to say the least.

How it's jumped to EDM in the space of two hours is a joke.

[SickAsAParrot]

To be fair the program's remit seems to be how 'EDM' became the dominant music genre, so it's going to concentrate on the popular stuff rather than the good stuff.

No doubt the next episode is going to be all about Guetta, Cook and the rest of the big earners, and not 'LOL Dougal played Happy Hardcore for a bit then it disappeared'

• noted by their total absence, 'bands', KLF, Prodigy, Utah Saints, Underworld, Fluke, Shamen etc, no mention at all.

Edited by SickAsAParrot on Wednesday 3rd October 08:06