Love is the Message: Dance, Music and Counterculture

In this episode of Love is the Message Jeremy and Tim have packed a bag chock full of stone cold 1977 dance floor classics that share a Black Disco aesthetic. We hear a number of cuts from Tom Moulton and Walter Gibbons that can be pinpointed as some of the most important contributions to early remix culture (whilst still guaranteed to go off at a party). François K makes a fleeting appearance, alongside Boney M, Grace Jones, Miami, the SalSoul Orchestra and Henri Bergson. We close out the show with an all-timer in Lamont Dozier’s ‘Going Back to my Roots’. Enjoy this week listeners, as next time we’re taking on Euro Disco…  Due to licensing issues, we can only play short clips of the music discussed. If you’d like to listen along to the full tracks, we have an ever-expanding Spotify playlist hosting (most) of the tracks played in the show. You can find Series 6 here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3ZpKyqhvhOXfTuPMHCBkFs Produced by Matt Huxley. Tracklist: CJ & Co - Devil’s Gun (Tom Moulton Mix) Elton John - Bite Your Lip (Get Up and Dance) (Tom Moulton Mix) First Choice - Dr Love (Tom Moulton Mix) Loleatta Holloway - Hit and Run (Walter Gibbons Mix) Rare Earth - Happy Song (François K Edit) T-Connection - Do What You Wanna Do Peter Brown - Do You Wanna Get Funky With Me? Sine - Keep It Coming Lamont Dozier - Going To My Roots

This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To hear the full show, plus dozens more like it, visit Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod. We start this patrons episode with a tribute to Phil Cohen, a colleague of Jem and Tim’s at UEL and a fellow traveller to the Birmingham cultural studies writers discussed in this episode. From there we pick up where we left off in our reading of the seminal edited collection ‘Resistance Through Rituals’. Tim and Jem cover the two ethnographies of 70s drug use found in the book - weed and acid if you’re wondering - before rolling on to a disappointed essay on the Commune movement. We hear about Tim’s experience on a Kibbutz, The Farm and a funky cut from YES. Later in the episode we examine two excellent pieces from the collection: Dick Hebdige on Reggae, Rastas and Rudis; and Ian Chambers on the Racial Politics of Rock’n’Roll. Next time we’ll be completing our journey through the book with chapters on youth fashion, criminality and more, and taking a deep look at the weighty theoretical introduction. Produced by Matt Huxley. Tracklist: Yes - Yours is No Disgrace  The Farm Band - Loving YouBob Marley and the Wailers - Duppy Conqueror Big Joe Turner - Shake Rattle and Roll

In this episode Tim and Jeremy continue the story of Frankie Knuckles first year at the controls of the seminal Chicago nightclub, the Warehouse. We hear an investigation of Frankie’s early musical aesthetic, how it would lend itself to the development of the House sound some years later, and whether stability or dynamism are better for a pumping dance floor. Elsewhere in the episode we hear about how Robert Williams came to know Frankie and Larry Levan, the experiences the two young club kids had at the Continental Baths, the understated role of social workers in the story of dance history, and what the PMC have to do with Afrika Bambaataa. Plus - stolen donuts, LSD in the fish tank, and Jeremy’s dreams of lamé… Produced by Matt Huxley. Due to licensing issues, we can only play short clips of the music discussed. If you’d like to listen along to the full tracks, we have an ever-expanding Spotify playlist hosting (most) of the tracks played in the show. You can find Series 6 here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3ZpKyqhvhOXfTuPMHCBkFs Tracklist: The Osmonds - One Bad Apple The Originals - Down to Love Town Roy Ayres - Running Away  Pam Todd & Love Exchange - Let’s Get Together First Choice - Let No Man Put Asunder Made in USA - Melodies 

This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To hear the full episode and dozens more like it, visit Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod. In this patrons episode we begin a reading series on a book we mentioned in the last episode: ‘Resistance Through Rituals: Youth Subcultures in Post-War Britain’, edited by Stuart Hall and Tony Jefferson. This collection, first published in 1975, is a classic of the cultural studies reading list, but upon revisiting it for this show Jeremy and Tim found its content extremely pertinent to the project of this podcast. So, in true LITM style, why have one episode when you can have many? As such today we embark on a deep reading of the volume, starting with the first three chapters. Jeremy and Tim give a historiography of Stuart Hall’s analytic method, tying in their own journeys through the academy, before discussing three interesting UK subcultures: Teddy Boys, Mods, and Skinheads. We hear about amphetamines, ska, racism, class, big lapels, Peaky Blinders, cut-price suits and the first teenagers in this journey through mid-century Britain. Stay tuned, much more to follow next time. Tracklist: Bill Haley - Rock Around the Clock The Who - The Seeker Symarip - Skinhead Moonstomp