Death Of A Disco Dancer – Malcolm McLaren R.I.P.

Malcolm McLaren died 8 April at age 64. The Guardian's obituary put it best, describing him as "a musical provocateur". The infamous Brit encouraged and made music that didn't just provoke a response, it demanded a response. Although best know for his punk shenanigans (the street fashion store he had with Vivienne Westwood, taking on the monarchy with Sex Pistols, briefly managing New York Dolls), McLaren always had an interest in dance music. The first sign was 'Black Arabs', the ironic disco medley of Sex Pistols songs on The Great Rock 'N' Roll Swindle soundtrack - it was 'Pistols On 45'. Always an early adapter, at the start of the '80s he stole Adam Ant's band to bring the Burundi drum rhythm to the new wave sound of Bow Wow Wow, a pirate-meets-cassette explosion of post-punk club music. Then in '83 came McLaren's first real solo musical project Duck Rock, a mesh of African music and hip hop (working with pop producer Trevor Horn and electropop pioneer Thomas Dolby), which featured global hit 'Buffalo Gals'. In '84, he followed with the electronica opera album Fans, which featured another global hit in 'Madame Butterfly'. In '89 McLaren mixed classical music with house for Waltz Darling - collaborating with Bootsy Collins and early UK house advocates Mark Moore and William Orbit - including another global hit 'Deep In Vogue'. He continued to make music but never again reached the apogee of this late '80s dance triptych.

'Black Arabs' - Black Arabs:

'C30 C60 C90 Go (Live)' - Bow Wow Wow:



'Something's Jumpin' In Your Shirt' - Malcolm McLaren & The Bootzilla Orchestra:

Super Star DJs - There They Go

Sick of all the rock dogs going on at you about how 'fucken awesome' and debauched rock bios like The Dirt are? Well, Motley Crue can go fug off (with their umlauts that I refuse to add to their name coz it's too much hassle) coz now we have our own bible of awesomeness and debauchery to turn too. Ex-Mixmag ed Dom Phillips has put together a tome documenting the rise and comedown of the superstar DJ lifestyle that was spawned by the UK's acid house/rave culture - a lifestyle that, like disco before it (and you can read about that in Hit Men), disappeared up noses on Lear jets. With wild claims like "a disproportionate amount of the major players in 1990s clubs were former hairdressers" and tales of Zoe Ball and Fatboy Slim off chops live on BBC radio, Super Star DJs offers up the dirt on all the DJs we once may have loved and, even better, the ones we definitely loved to loathe. The book is quite respectful of the early scene and treats its subjects without prejudice (for most of the time). And hey, it may well serve as a warning to the nu hedonism sweeping DJ-land.

It hit UK shelves earlier this year and has appeared sporadically in shops here (go check a non-Borders bricks'n'mortar store and order it the old-fashioned way... it's out through Ebury Press). It also serves as a timely reminder as to how important a role the UK played in bringing the sounds of Chicago and Detroit to the world in the late '80s - and how beautifully raw those first UK attempts were at recreating that American sound. Just recently we lost a UK club pioneer in the passing of Ian Loveday. A little known name, he was part of the scene that gave us S'Express/Mark Moore, Baby Ford and Bizarre Inc. He recorded as Eon, RRash, Ian B, Minimal Man and Tan-Ru - released on labels as varied as Hooj Choons and Kitsune. Most importanly, his 'Cuban Jackin' track, released under the guise of Rio Rhythm Band in 1988, is widely considered one of the first UK house tracks released.

Before there were super star DJs: