Greg Wilson’s Discotheque Archives - Extended Hardback Version (2023)

Greg Wilson’s Discotheque Archives - Extended Hardback Version (2023)

A recent release that may be of interest

In January 2023, Discotheque Archives will be made available as an extended hardback. It includes 20 extra sections, with additional DJs, records, venues and labels, which fill in some of the gaps from the original series, and comes complete with a number of new Pete Fowler DJ illustrations, plus a comprehensive index that lists around 750 records referenced in the book’s pages.

Having originally unfurled as a monthly series for DJ Magazine, Discotheque Archives was first issued in book form two years ago, during lockdown, as a limited run paperback. The hope was that it would sell 250 copies, with a best-case scenario target of 500, but the response exceeded all expectations and the final amount swelled to 1600 in a matter of weeks. Putting a cap on things at this point, the intention has since been to extend the book for future publication.

Purchase and more information via a tap of the below link 

https://superweirdsubstance.com/product/greg-wilson-discotheque-archive-extended/

TO KNOW THE FUTURE, FIRST YOU MUST KNOW THE PAST

By nature of the scene, dance music is very forward-looking: DJs always pursuing the next record to break, venues pushing the boundaries with sound and lighting techniques, label's seeking out the latest artist to emerge and musicians/producers continually moving the sound forward in new directions. The past is of course constantly referenced and drawn from, but this hasn't been enough to prevent the scene often disconnecting from its roots. 

Through a series of concise articles, which first appeared in a monthly DJ Mag column, Discotheque Archives explores the pre-rave era of dance music. Placing focus on classic DJs, venues, records and labels to celebrate the giants of dance culture and illuminate its forgotten characters.

Written from the personal perspective of Greg Wilson, with countless first-hand experiences within the developments of the scene, the story begins, in the 1960s, over a decade before he took to the decks, where the foundations were laid by a series of trailblazers. With the scene set, most of the book focuses on the following decades, as mixing took root with the DJ community, initially in '70s New York, whilst advancing technology plateaued with an explosion of underground electronic experimentation in the '80s, the narrative finishing up just ahead of the much-told story about the rave explosion