Sign-In
Cart
Dancehalls, Glitterballs and Djs: From the Pleasure Garden to the Discotheque
Hardcover
Series: Popular Music History
ISBN13: 9781800505971
Publisher: Equinox Publishing
Published: Jul 15 2025
Pages: 294
Weight: 1.62
Height: 0.94 Width: 6.14 Depth: 9.21
Language: English
The history of disco and its predecessors is often portrayed as one of glamour and excess. Dancehalls, Glitterballs and DJs expands this history, to encompass tatty but much-loved provincial dancehalls, mobile DJs with home-made light shows and rusty vans, one-hit-wonders on the chicken-in-a-basket circuit, and nights out with Jane Austen. It's a vital, fun-packed history of a cultural movement that, despite the vagaries of fashion, remains part of the entertainment scene today.
Dancehalls, Glitterballs and DJs begins in Georgian Britain's Assembly Rooms and Pleasure Gardens, then moves through the vulgar activities in the penny gaffes, the arrival of the first gramophone and disc jockey, the Jazz Age, the swing-era dance bands, and the post-war ascendency of recorded music and the discotheque. It then explores the dance music scene that spread across Britain's towns and cities, when teens and twenty-somethings danced where glamour meant no denim, no trainers -- a world epitomised by the disco music boom of the 1970s.
The story closes at the end of the '70s, when mainstream culture did much to turn disco from a cutting-edge movement to something of a laughing stock among trendsetters and popular music fans. The book ends by appraising disco's place in the entertainment scene of the 2020s, where classics of the genre are as popular as ever.
Also from
Lindsay, Bruce
Two Bold Singermen and the English Folk Revival: The Lives, Song Traditions and Legacies of Sam Larner and Harry Cox
Lindsay, Bruce
Hardcover
Also in
Music Reference
Time's Echo: The Second World War, the Holocaust, and the Music of Remembrance
Eichler, Jeremy
Hardcover
Nothing But Love in God's Water: Volume 1: Black Sacred Music from the Civil War to the Civil Rights Movement
Darden, Robert
Hardcover
Days of Miracle and Wonder: Paul Simon and the Trials and Triumphs of Graceland
Kahn, Ashley
Hardcover
Emo Revival: Community, Diy, and Rebirth in Post-Hardcore and Emo (2008-2018)
Sacher, Andrew
Paperback
Punk in 50 Pieces: Punk Rock, Post-Punk, New Wave, and the Five Years That Changed Pop Music Forever
Dettmar, Kevin
Hardcover
Resident Punk: How I Smoked, Drank, and Stumbled My Way Through the '70s Punk Scene (and Beyond)
McNeil, Legs
Hardcover
A Whole Lotta History: One Direction and the Sound That Shaped a Generation
Lipshutz, Jason
Hardcover
With a Little Help from Their Friends: The Beatles and the People Who Made Them
Maconie, Stuart
Hardcover
Bust a Move: Matt Dike, Delicious Vinyl, and the Hip-Hop Hits That First Conquered Pop
Relic, Peter
Hardcover
Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of the Beatles
Massey, Howard
Emerick, Geoff
Paperback
Dolly Parton: The Stories Behind the Songs: The Very Best Tracks, Explored and Explained
Zaleski, Annie
Hardcover
Meet Me in the Bathroom: Rebirth and Rock and Roll in New York City 2001-2011
Goodman, Lizzy
Paperback
The Cello Who Loved Me: An accidental pilgrimage to master the world's most beautiful instrument
Sorensen, George
Paperback
Here Beside the Rising Tide: Jerry Garcia, the Grateful Dead, and an American Awakening
Newton, Jim
Hardcover
Where Are Your Boys Tonight?: The Oral History of Emo's Mainstream Explosion 1999-2008
Payne, Chris
Paperback
Raised on Radio: Power Ballads, Cocaine & Payola - The Aor Glory Years 1976-1986
Rees, Paul
Hardcover
Such Great Heights: The Complete Cultural History of the Indie Rock Explosion
Deville, Chris
Hardcover
Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground 1981-1991
Azerrad, Michael
Paperback
Raps of Resistance: How Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole Reignited a Hip-Hop Tradition
McCool, Jeremy C.
Hopkins, Earl
Hardcover
Mystery Train, 50th Anniversary Edition: Images of America in Rock 'n' Roll Music
Marcus, Greil
Paperback
Quadrivium: The Four Classical Liberal Arts of Number, Geometry, Music, & Cosmology
Ashton, Anthony
Sutton, Daud
Lundy, Miranda
Hardcover
This Is What It Sounds Like: A Legendary Producer Turned Neuroscientist on Finding Yourself Through Music
Ogas, Ogi
Rogers, Susan
Paperback
Made on Earth for Rising Stars: The Electro-Harmonix Story
Epstein, Dan
Scott, Josh
Danger, Daniel
Paperback
Altamont: The Rolling Stones, the Hells Angels, and the Inside Story of Rock's Darkest Day
Selvin, Joel
Paperback
Burning Down the House: Talking Heads and the New York Scene That Transformed Rock
Gould, Jonathan
Hardcover
Last Night a DJ Saved My Life: The History of the Disc Jockey
Broughton, Frank
Brewster, Bill
Paperback
Good Rockin' Tonight: Sun Records and the Birth of Rock 'n' Roll
Escott, Colin
Hawkins, Martin
Paperback
Ocean of Sound: Ambient Sound and Radical Listening in the Age of Communication
Toop, David
Paperback
Beethoven's Hair: An Extraordinary Historical Odyssey and a Scientific Mystery Solved
Martin, Russell
Paperback
Let's Spend the Night Together: Backstage Secrets of Rock Muses and Supergroupies
Des Barres, Pamela
Paperback
Positively Fourth and Mercer: The Inside Story of New York's Iconic Music Club, the Bottom Line
Pepper, Allan
Altman, Billy
Hardcover
The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions: The Official Story of the Abbey Road Years 1962-1970
Lewisohn, Mark
Paperback
Stradivari's Genius: Five Violins, One Cello, and Three Centuries of Enduring Perfection
Faber, Toby
Paperback
Love Goes to Buildings on Fire: Five Years in New York That Changed Music Forever
Hermes, Will
Paperback
Pink Floyd All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track
Margotin, Philippe
Guesdon, Jean-Michel
Hardcover
The Guitar Chronicles: Smoke, Sweat, Scars and Soul: Extraordinary Vintage Guitars and the Stories They Tell
Jane, Eleanor
Hardcover
Uncharted Territory: What Numbers Tell Us about the Biggest Hit Songs and Ourselves
Riva, Chris Dalla
Hardcover
The Majesty of Chicago Jazz: Twenty-Five Visionaries Who Define the City's Sound
Reich, Howard
Hardcover
Willie, Waylon, and the Boys: How Nashville Outsiders Changed Country Music Forever
Fairbanks, Brian
Hardcover
Are We Still Rolling? Studios, Drugs and Rock 'n' Roll - One Man's Journey Recording Classic Albums
Brown, Phill
Paperback
The Dirt: Confessions of the World's Most Notorious Rock Band
Lee, Tommy
Neil, Vince
Sixx, Nikki
Paperback
Beatles Gear: All the Fab Four's Instruments from Stage to Studio, the Ultimate Edition
Babiuk, Andy
Hardcover
A Modern Guide to Old World Singing: Concepts of the Swedish-Italian and Italian Singing Schools
Jones, David L.
Paperback
The Jazz Barn: Music Inn, the Berkshires, and the Place of Jazz in American Life
Gennari, John
Hardcover