The DJ. The mastermind behind our daily soundtrack. And our nightly escape … They are very very powerful. This is an epic story of staggering highs and crushing lows that reveal how our lives have been shaped by a vanguard of visionaries. How Dance Music Conquered the World III: The DJ
At his peak Avicii played an outstanding three hundred gigs a year. ibid.
Trance became the soundtracks to weekends all around the world. ibid.
The American mainstream was finally embracing dance music. ibid.
The first four or five years everything was awesome … in the sense of being accepted. Avicii: True Stories, 2017
After that, I decided, fuck it, I quit. ibid.
I started coming up with unique stuff. ibid.
‘He is a warm family man. Hard working.’ ibid. record dude
2008-2012: Shows 550. ibid. caption
What I should have done obviously is to stop. ibid. Avicii
‘Dance music has always been about an escape, a letting go.’ What We Started, Netflix 2017
‘You just get lost in this aural sound escape.’ ibid.
Space Ibiza is the most awarded nightclub in history. 54-year-old Carl Cox has been the resident DJ at Space since 2001. 2016 is his final year. ibid. captions
‘Those primal beats returned in different forms.’ ibid.
‘We were more excited about change … We were obsessed about innovation.’ ibid. Pete Tong
‘We were underground. It wasn’t a commercial movement.’ ibid. Paul Oakenfold
‘Rave culture developed from acid house, outdoor parties held in fields.’ ibid.
‘It was the Year Zero. We were starting again.’ ibid. Pete Tong
‘The scale of it was just unreal.’ ibid.
‘The drugs play a big part in it too.’ ibid. Moby
Captain Acid’s back. Riding the airwaves. Manchester 1990. Weekender 2011 starring Jack O’Connell & Henry Lloyd-Hughes & Zawe Ashton & Stephen Wight & Sam Hazeldine & Emily Barclay & Dean Andrews & Ben Batt & Fergus O'Donnell et al, director Karl Golden, radio jock
This is the story of a radical nightclub. Bankrolled by an iconic band. The Hacienda: The Club that Shook Britain, BBC 2022
House Music: ‘And then all fucking hell broke loose.’ ibid. Noel Gallagher
The club transformed an entire generation. ibid. caption
How the Hacienda happened: the success of Joy Division 1976-80. ibid.
‘I heard during the day that Ian Curtis of Joy Division has died … ibid. John Peel
‘He said it was necessary to build a cathedral to popular culture in Manchester.’ ibid. dude
The culture of Manchester had that electronic music background, from New Order. House Music is just a baseline, a drumbeat, you know, that is so radical. Bang. Something is happening here. ibid.
‘And then around 88/89, the ecstasy pill was then married to our house music and the rave scene was born.’ ibid.
‘Nobody would settle for going home at two o’clock in the morning any more.’ ibid. Shaun Ryder
Pop culture has met the microchip and a strange new creature has emerged. At the heart of this techno trip is a drug called Ecstasy. But the pleasures of Rave have their price. Ecstasy can kill. But despite dangers known and unknown, this heady mixture of music, drugs and technology has created a brand new experience. Equinox: Rave New World, Channel 4 1994
Midsummer in Kent: an airport hangar is being turned into a beach. A quarter of a million pounds’ worth of lights will sear eyeballs with lazers and strobes. A hundred thousand watts of sound will hammer ear drums. ibid.
It all began in 1988, the so-called second summer of love. ibid.
The new dance music arrived at the same time as a new drug called ecstasy. ibid.