The half truth is out there

I was reading this piece about the birth of rave - surely a promo for Oakenfold's biography, due soon - and while I vehemently disagree with what Rampling and Oakenfold go up to later on in their careers, there is no doubt that the fact that they were in Ibiza at the right time and at the right party meant that the course of popular music was changed forever. Electronic music is like any other style: those who follow it love nothing more than hearing tall tales about its main proponents as well as some good old fashioned myth-making. We're all familiar with the one about the story about the UK journalist who was sleeping on Derrick May's couch while he was recording 'Strings of Life'. The only thing is, May was alone when he made the track and said that when he was finished, he sat in his flat for at least a day stark naked, crying to himself as he replayed the track again and again - so discredit the testimony of up to at least 40 UK journalists who have been lunching out on the story ever since (not that you'd believe a journalist anyway!).
Then there's the great (true) story about a group of Dave Clarke fans, five lads from the UK who followed him to every gig he played at for a few years. You guessed it, they were called the Dave Clarke Five. However, these acid house tales are exactly that, stories that are over a decade old.
What are the modern techno scene's tall tales, half-truths and events that changed the course of music in more recent years? I have a good few (mainly unprintable) stories which I'm saving for a later date and another project. Many of the tall tales nowadays seem to revolve around Sven and his Ibiza/YouTube antics - Sven having a poo in a corridor at Space and getting beaten up; Sven falling asleep on a beach and getting sunburnt, Sven 'partying' with Richie, etc - but what of the mythical events that marked a sea change in electronic music? The German invasion of Sonar from 05 onwards and the beach parties they threw - was this significant? How about the re-opening of Berghain and more recently Tresor? Maybe all the major changes are now technology-driven - the availability of broadband, Ableton, Serrato/FS/Traktor, Beatport? What about the music itself - who or what style has shaken things up and had a huge influence? I'm throwing this one open to the floor as it were: I'd love to hear from anyone who reads this blog to give me their opinion about what the big changes have been and a few urban myths wouldn't go amiss either...

Comments

[tom/pipecock]

i guess it didnt really change things all that much, but the reloose "demo on rye" story is always a good one. and it is true, of course!

[Brophy]

spill the beans Tom!

[SoulFunkLifestyles]

I think one bottomline explanation is that the music is no longer underground. It's marketable fare now – and subject to all kinds of bullshit.

All this silliness in DJ culture is regular reality. DJ culture is a worldwide phenomena now and clearly marketable. So, really, all the craziness going on in da game should come as no surprise.

Here a pertinent piece I wrote that might interest some of you. (Link just below)

http://soulfunklifestyle.blogspot.com/2007/07/dj-schools-next-big-thing.html

[mungoloid]

When Justin Berkovi and Miss Kitten worked together in his studio a few years back, she (allegedly) rohypnolled him. He (allegedly) woke up bollock naked with a freshly laid turd spinning on the turntable. Eww!

[Brophy]

mungoloid that is insane. are you sure it's true?

[mungoloid]

A good friend of Justin's told me, and although he's a bit of a techno 'scene' gossiper, he's not the bullshitting sort...hence the 'allegedly'. I wouldn't want to ask her to her face though!

[mungoloid]

Another one: Jeff Mills circa Liquid Rooms refused to speak to promoters or drivers when he arrived for gigs - all questions had to be addressed through Frederic, his manager. Frederic would repeat the question to Jeff, who would give a terse answer, which Frederic would then repeat to whoever asked the original question. That's what a promoter of a well known techno night told me at the time...Madness!

[tom/pipecock]

i thought everyone knew the recloose story by now! the gist of it is that recloose was working in a sandwich shop and he noticed that carl craig would order stuff from there from time to time. so he brought in a tape, and the next time carl ordered, he stuck it between two pieces of bread, labeled it "demo on rye", and stuck in his bag with his order. he got a phone call shortly thereafter!

[Sotek]

I heard that Junior Vasquez refused to spin at a club in Poland unless they get him a banana. The club's promoters couldn't - so he didn't.

[Sotek]

BTW.. that rumour about the UK journalist who was sleeping on Derrick May's couch while he was recording 'Strings of Life' is hilarious.

[Brophy]

pipecock - the recloose story is brilliant- talk about a great way to get your demo signed

[Brophy]

. I wouldn't want to ask her to her face though! - no she might drug you and take a dump on you!

[Brophy]

re Jeff Mills giving answers through his manager - I heard this as well, including the stipulation in his contract for Tribal Gathering 97 that no one make any noise backstage when he was around - of course they flatly refused him. There's another very funny story about Mills and an Asian woman. I'm not sure if it's true, I might get sued if I post it.

[Brophy]

I heard that Junior Vasquez refused to spin at a club in Poland unless they get him a banana. The club's promoters couldn't - so he didn't. - maybe it was a blessing in disguise!

[Brophy]

TW.. that rumour about the UK journalist who was sleeping on Derrick May's couch while he was recording 'Strings of Life' is hilarious. - yes, and completely untrue, but some people got a lot of mileage from it

[Z]

actually, the jeff mills thing is true. He was here this spring and the same shit was going on. In fairness, after the gig (which was a pretty good one), he was willing to speak "face to face" with the promoter and a few others. Up until that point, no one was able to get in a word.

[SoulFunkLifestyles]

That's some shit to hear Jeff Mills acting like this. For a guy to be actin' like a "diva," Man, I see the Bitch in you ...

That stories like these circulate in the mainstream press shows DJ culture is no longer nowhere as underground as it once was.

I don't want anybody to infer I'm mad about all this nonsense happening. In fact, I don't see myself participating in discussions like this behind inputting my thoughts here.

Wanna also say this is the first I'm hearing of any of these stories. Don't particularly care to hear anymore of what being said through the grapevine.

[hum3]

Here's my two cents, just a little personal story I wanted to share:

I was really getting into techno around the X-mix series and particulary the Kevin Saunderson one (called 'Transmission from Deep Space Radio', and still a brilliant mix). It sounded as from another world to me: harder beats, wildly exotic, somewhat detached and plain out there. Something new for my ears. So from that time on, me and my friend promised ourselves to watch him spin somewhere soon.

The first time we got a chance to see him in our hometown on a rave-type thing, we bought some tickets and just couldn't wait for it. Alas, the party was cancelled for unknown reasons and we didn't even get our money back. That pissed me off, big time. But after that one, the big party-concept really took off over here, so in all the years thereafter I went to plenty of gigs involving Saunderson.

After a while I grew tired of his sound, but that was ok. So it goes and stuff. Meanwhile, we got a young kid way up in our asses, that we got into Detroit techno by my friend giving him some tapes and tips from time tot time. Nothing more. But this kid was quite annoying even back then, always buggin' us as if we were good buddies. Which we were not, 'cause it's all about a 'I do for you, you do for me too'-mentality. Nothing sincere and quite annoying, really.

Anyway, the dude has crawled his way into the dance scene (he gets an ''A for effort'', alright) and is working for a booking agency, handling mainly the Detroit-connection (which over here, to be quite honest, isn't nowhere near its haydays anymore). I guess he loves the music and the thing that he does, and that's cool for him. It don't bother me.

So I got a sudden call from this dude some time ago, as always selling his shit and first-name dropping all his Detroit-buddies (''Derrick this, Kevin that. Yeah man!''). Tells me that Saunderson is gonna be in the country for quite some weeks and in need of some decks for himself. So the question was if I would mind to lend him my living room SL's, so he can set himself up comfortably while he's here...

Just like that. Never seen the dude outside a party, never even remotely gave the impression he could call or count on me for anything, much less something valuable and personal. Asking me if he can pick up my gear, ship it off to god-knows where for god-knows how long. My mind boggled.

Still, it was a strange thing to realise. An inspiration from Detroit who contributed to me getting into Detroit techno and buying turntables, a local dude we accidently got hooked on that same sound and then, a small decade after me first hearing that 'Deep Space' intro, this odd phonecall involving both.

There's almost something poetic about all of this, I thought for a second. But when I let it all sink in, I came to the conclusion that this type of stuff hardly had anything to do with me or my love for the music.

So I told him to fuck off.

[Brophy]

hum 3 - great story!

[Brophy]

SoulFunk - not sure that these stories were in the mainstream, more the preserve of the specialist press and the internet

[SoulFunkLifestyles]

Yo Brophy, what you wrote ("SoulFunk - not sure that these stories were in the mainstream, more the preserve of the specialist press and the internet") is exactly correct. Thanks for correctly wording what I meant.

[SoulFunkLifestyles]

But its a damn thin line between the "mainstream" press and "the preserve of the specialist press and the internet." I think society has reached a point where it could be strongly argued on BOTH sides which really counts - not necessarily which is more linked to the mainstream.