Adventures on the Wheels of Steel: The Rise of the Superstar DJs

by Dave Haslam

DJs like Fatboy Slim, Sasha and Paul Oakenfold are the new pop high priests in the rapidly expanding world of dance music. Drawing on many nights out, this is DJ Dave Haslam's fascinating collection of portraits of the major players. Dave Haslam travels Britain to meet clubbers and hangs out with Sasha in Glasgow, Fatboy Slim in Nottingham, Paul van Dyk in Cardiff, Norman Jay at the Southport Soul Weekender, and Lottie in Newcastle. He meets influential DJs like Pete Tong, pioneers including Jimmy Savile, younger DJs, and unknowns. He interviews mod DJs from the 1960s, Northern Soul DJs from the 1970s and rare groove DJs from the 1980s. He follows aspiring turntablists in the DMC mixing championship, from the heats in Birmingham to the world final. Among the exclusive stories and tall tales, we hear about the millionaire DJ who went to a friend's wedding dressed as a bee, the Radio One DJ who emptied a dancefloor in Ibiza, and the DJ who set a girl's hair on fire. This is a unique, entertaining and revealing book, where the tables are turned and the world of dance music is seen through the eyes of DJs, their fans and their managers. It's a book that will be enjoyed by dedicated clubbers and anyone curious to know more about a vital but under-documented part of modern the history of dance music and the rise of the superstar DJs.

Genres: Music

384 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Dave Haslam is an author and DJ. Originally from Moseley, Birmingham, he moved to Manchester in 1980, making his name as a DJ with 450 appearances at the Haçienda nightclub, including Thursday's Temperance club night in the late 1980s. In the 1990s he also hosted the weekly night Yellow at the Boardwalk nightclub in Manchester. His more recent DJ shows include clubs in Italy, USA, France, and Germany.

In the mid 1980s he founded the fanzine 'Debris' and went on to write for NME. His journalism has since appeared in The Times, The Guardian, The London Review of Books, The New Statesman and elsewhere. In 1999 he published Manchester, England, and, subsequently, Adventures on the Wheels of Steel, a book about the music and politics of the 1970s called Not Abba; the Real Story of the 1970s (reprinted as Young Hearts Run Free; the Real Story of the 1970s), a history of British nightclubs and music venues entitled 'Life After Dark', and his memoirs, 'Sonic Youth Slept On My Floor: Music, Manchester & More'.

His numerous other cultural interventions included creating an installation for the Berlin-based ‘Shrinking Cities’ exhibition; presenting a twenty minute talk on the North/South divide for BBC Radio 3; appearing on TV shows on BBC Two and on Channel 4, Granada TV, and Canal Plus (France). His 'Close Up' series of live interviews have attracted guest interviewees including Jonathan Franzen, Nile Rodgers and John Lydon.

Reviews

[Gumbo Ya-ya · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a must-read for anyone interested in the history of dance music or DJing in general. Haslam writes in an engaging and easy-to-read style and groups his material into nicely-themed chapters, pulling together multiple converging trends across several decades to provide a complex and satisfying story of the emergence of DJs as superstar performers.

[Andrzej Perkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read in parts, but it focused too much on the history of dance music to me - plenty of other books do this better. It excels in some of its interviews with the modern pioneers, like Paul van Dyk, Fat Boy Slim and Pete Tong.

There's a worryingly positive section about Jimmy Saville, but I suppose hindsight is a great thing...

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

An easy read. Cheap entertainment for those who love house music.