Party Lines: Dance Music and the Making of Modern Britain

(Paperback)

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'[An] excellent history of UK dance culture' - Sunday Times From the illicit reggae blues dances and acid-rock free festivals of the 1970s, through the ecstasy-fuelled Second Summer of Love in 1988 to the increasingly corporate dance music culture of the post-Covid era, Party Lines is a groundbreaking new history of UK dance music from journalist and filmmaker Ed Gillett, exploring its pivotal role in the social, political and economic shifts on which modern Britain has been built. Taking in the Victorian moralism of the Thatcher years, the far-reaching restrictions of the Criminal Justice Act in 1994, and the resurgence of illegal raves during the Covid-19 pandemic, Party Lines charts an ongoing conflict, fought in basement clubs, abandoned warehouses and sunlit fields, between the revolutionary potential of communal sound and the reactionary impulses of the British establishment. Brought to life with stunning clarity and depth, this is social and cultural history at its most immersive, vital and shocking.

Reviews

The politics of dancing expertly laid bare. * The Sunday Times *
A fascinating deep dive into dance music's uneasy relationship with the establishment. -- Jeremy Deller
Engrossing history . . . a wide and deep undertaking -- Book of the Week * The Observer *
Essential reading. * Spectator *
[A] well-researched, meaty account of dance music in the UK . . . an engrossing piece of modern social history. -- Books of the Month * Independent *
A deeply-researched and engaging new understanding of the interwoven soundtrack to the turbulence of modern Britain. -- Luke Turner, author of Out of the Woods and Men at War
Reminds us why the dance floor matters . . . fascinating. * Telegraph *
A truly thrilling journey through the politics, culture and successive social revolutions of British dance music: a landmark book, and a reminder that the dancefloor is always political. -- Dan Hancox, author of Inner City Pressure
A passionately argued and intensively researched addition to the ever-evolving narrative of UK dance music culture. -- Matthew Collin, author of Altered State
It has undoubtedly set a very high standard for other authors looking to write historical stories born out of the euphoria of rave and dance culture. * Louder than War *

Author Bio

Ed Gillett is a journalist and film-maker based in South London, who has written for The Guardian, Frieze, DJ Mag, The Quietus and Novara Media; his film and TV credits include Jeremy Deller's acclaimed rave documentary Everybody in the Place: An Incomplete History of Britain 1984-1992 for BBC Four, and Four To The Floor, Channel 4's award-winning music and factual strand. Party Lines is his first book.