31 min listen
E130: Bill Brewster & Frank Broughton on DJ history + Dom Phillips + Elvis
FromRock's Backpages
ratings:
Length:
90 minutes
Released:
Jun 24, 2022
Format:
Podcast episode
Description
In this episode we welcome dynamic duo Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton to Hammersmith as they prepare for the publication of a newly expanded edition of their mighty Last Night a DJ Saved My Life.Bill and Frank talk about the original mission behind the book, as well as their different routes into dance music. They recall how they met and combined forces in '90s New York, where DJs such as Frankie Knuckles and Junior Vasquez proved transformative figures. Co-host Mark recalls seeing Bill and Frank DJ'ing at Fabric in 2000 and then reading the original edition of Last Night…Recalling their first articles for Mixmag in the '90s, the DJ History duo reminisce about the late Dom Phillips, the magazine's former editor who was so brutally murdered in the Amazon this month. They praise the courage Dom showed in confronting Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro and exposing the criminal gangs behind much of the Amazon's deforestation.Bill and Frank discuss the process of researching and writing Last Night…, barely knowing if figures such as Bronx hip hop legend were even still alive, and explain what turned clubs like Larry Levan's Paradise Garage into "religious" experiences.The week's new audio interview – Bill and Frank's own 2005 quizzing of drum and bass legend Fabio – proves infectiously enjoyable as they hear themselves asking the Brixton-born DJ about Crackers and Spectrum.The episode concludes with thoughts on Elvis Presley and the new biopic made by Baz Luhrman, after which Mark talks us through library pieces he's added about Bill Haley (1957), Billie Holiday (1959) and Buffalo Springfield (1968), while Jasper concludes proceedings with quotes from pieces about Kanye West (2016) and Arlo Parks (2019).Many thanks to special guests Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton. The new edition of Last Night a DJ Saved My Life is published by White Rabbit and available to pre-order now.Pieces discussed: House, Rave, DJ Kool Herc, Dom Phillips, Fabio audio, Elvis, Comeback Special, Elvis and Black Music, Billie Holiday, Bob Dylan, James Brown, Bob Marley, Bill Haley, Buffalo Springfield, Kanye West and Arlo Parks.
Released:
Jun 24, 2022
Format:
Podcast episode
Titles in the series (100)
E1: Freddie Mercury talking about Bohemian Rhapsody + Joni Mitchell at 75 + the Wu-Tang Clan: Hear an excerpt from a 1976 interview between Freddie Mercury and Robert Duncan of Creem about 'Bohemian Rhapsody' (among other things). Your hosts Barney Hoskyns and Mark Pringle then consider this week's additions to the Rock's Backpages archive, including pieces on Joni Mitchell, Lionel Richie, Randy Newman and the Rolling Stones at the height of their devilish mythology. While discussing Neil Kulkarni's rave review of Wu-Tang Clan's Forever, Barney and Mark recall the time they met Wu-Tang's U-God at San Francisco airport. Produced by Jasper Murison-Bowie Pieces discussed: Queen's Freddie Mercury, Keith Moon, Aretha Franklin, Bonnie Raitt, The Runaways, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Randy Newman, Wu-Tang Clan, Boybands, Larry Leblanc with Toby Mamis by Rock's Backpages