Music, Fashion and Passion

Dancehalls, Glitterballs and DJs - From the Pleasure Garden to the Discotheque - Bruce Lindsay

Bruce Lindsay [+-]
Music Journalist and Social Historian
Bruce Lindsay is a freelance music journalist and social history researcher. He is the author of Shellac and Swing: A Social History of the Gramophone in Britain (Fonthill Media, 2020) and Two Bold Singermen and the English Folk Revival: The Lives, Song Traditions and Legacies of Sam Larner and Harry Cox (Equinox Publishing, 2020).

Description

Discos flourished for years before disco music arrived and even after disco music was on the scene other genres of music continued to be popular in the discos. It’s a confusing situation. Northern Soul’s adherents danced to a carefully-selected playlist of lost or obscure soul classics, but in the discotheques, soul, Motown, rhythm and blues and mainstream pop songs could all get people onto the dance floor. So, too, could the occasional glam rock track, novelty record and singalong song. A record that could fill the dancefloor of one club could empty the floor of another disco just a few miles away. DJs quickly learned how to ‘work the crowd’ to ensure that paying customers kept coming. Those customers in turn were conscious of what to wear for a night out, as looking right involved wearing the right clothes as well as demonstrating your dancing ability.

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Citation

Lindsay, Bruce. Music, Fashion and Passion. Dancehalls, Glitterballs and DJs - From the Pleasure Garden to the Discotheque. Equinox eBooks Publishing, United Kingdom. Oct 2025. ISBN 9781800505971. https://www.equinoxpub.com/home/view-chapter/?id=44960. Date accessed: 29 Mar 2024 doi: 10.1558/equinox.44960. Oct 2025

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