By Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton
Compared to The Ground Beneath Her Feet’s stifling view of popular music, I was glad for the breath of fresh air that was Last Night a DJ Saved My Life, which is all about the evolution of the DJ as a major force in hip hop, house, and other musical genres. (There’s a slight bias here, of course, since I do like to dabble with the decks.) Brewster and Broughton write about block parties in the Bronx in the early 70s with Kool Herc, Grandmaster Flash, and Afrika Bambaataa - the three pioneers of hip hop DJing discovering there was certain portions of records that (the ‘breakbeat’), discovering how to mix songs together, modifying equipment and bringing huge sound systems to compete with each other. While they were local idols, all that time almost no one in Manhattan or in the media, knew this movement was going on a few subway stops away from them. So you never know what might bubble up and become a national music movement.