Library Rock's Backpages

Bill Brewster

Bill Brewster

Bill Brewster (right) is the co-author with Frank Broughton (left) of Last Night A DJ Saved My Life and How To DJ (Properly).

Bill (and Frank) on the RBP podcast

66 articles

List of articles in the library

By date | By artist | Most recently added

Alison Limerick: My Top Tunes: Alison Limerick selects her all-time favourite ten records.

Interview by Bill Brewster, Mixmag, May 1992

'Optimistic' — Sounds Of Blackness "I'm probably going to say this for most of the songs, but the vocals on this are brilliant. I like harmonies. ...

Moby: My Top Tunes

Interview by Bill Brewster, Mixmag, June 1992

Moby selects his all-time favourite ten records. ...

Kylie Minogue: My Top Tunes

Interview by Bill Brewster, Mixmag, September 1992

'Flowers' — Titiyo"I think she's Swedish [she is], but I really know nothing about this, so I don't know what to tell you. I was ...

Neneh Cherry: My Top Tunes

Interview by Bill Brewster, Mixmag, October 1992

What's Goin' On — Marvin Gaye ...

Carl Cox: My Home Town

Report and Interview by Bill Brewster, Mixmag, December 1992

BACK IN THE summer Carl Cox was asked to perform on the Radio 1 Road Show. Ever keen to please, Carl naturally obliged, he did ...

D:Ream, Lisa B, Serious Rope: Lisa B, D:Ream, Serious Rope: Fun

Interview by Bill Brewster, Mixmag, May 1993

  IT'S ABOUT a change of heart and a swift move up in emphasis. It's about Songs, Glamour and Style in capital letters. ...

Joey Negro: Universe Of Love (Z/Virgin)

Review by Bill Brewster, Mixmag, October 1993

A FEW years ago, any talk of British garage would've been met with nothing more than a few hearty sniggers and the number of the ...

Village People

Interview by Bill Brewster, Mixmag, December 1993

They're back and Bill Brewster wants to know if they go shopping dressed like that. "Lets put the cards on the table," says The Cowboy, ...

Mary J. Blige: Mary J Blige: Soul For Real

Profile by Bill Brewster, The Face, December 1995

She is the soul queen of urban America. So why is it so sad to be Mary J Blige, asks Bill Brewster ...

Faze Action: Renaissance

Interview by Bill Brewster, The Face, September 1996

The Haçienda in considering dropping house music. UK Midlands' new night features Goldie and Weatherall. Has house burnt out? Faze Action says it's time to ...

Gloria Gaynor, Tom Moulton, The Trammps: Interview: Tom Moulton

Interview by Bill Brewster, djhistory.com, September 1998

The man responsible for the 12" record talks about his incredible career ...

Afrika Bambaataa, Fab 5 Freddy, Grandmaster Flash, The Rock Steady Crew: Kool Lady Blue (1998)

Interview by Bill Brewster, Frank Broughton, Rock's Backpages audio, 29 September 1998

Ruza "Kool Lady" Blue talks about moving to New York, working for Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood; getting into club promotion, and meeting Afrika Bambaataa and the Rock Steady Crew; going up to the Bronx and the Disco Fever club; starting her night at Club Negril, then moving to the Roxy; the diversity of the scene; hip hop exploding, and Bam and 'Planet Rock'; the importance of the DJs rather than the MCs; taking Trevor Horn up to the Bronx, and the Rock Steady Crew playing the Royal Variety Performance and meeting the Queen!

File format: mp3; file size: 48.1meg, interview length: 50' 06" sound quality: ***

Grand Wizzard Theodore (1998)

Interview by Bill Brewster, Frank Broughton, Rock's Backpages audio, 2 October 1998

The pioneering hip hop DJ talks about his early days, acting as Grandmaster Flash's record boy; playing his first party in 1975 with the L Brothers; inventing needle drops and scratching; the emergence of the rapping MC; the move downtown and out into the wider world, and the pleasures of touring Japan!

File format: mp3; file size: 71.7mb, interview length: 1h 14' 41" sound quality: ****

David Mancuso (1998)

Interview by Bill Brewster, Frank Broughton, Rock's Backpages audio, 3 October 1998

The Godfather of Disco takes us right back to NYC in the '70s and his legendary Loft parties: the gay/straight, black/white clientele; the search for perfect sound; the community of like-minded DJs and much more.

File format: mp3; file size: 73.5mb, interview length: 1h 20' 19" sound quality: ***

Sal Abbatiello (1998)

Interview by Bill Brewster, Frank Broughton, Rock's Backpages audio, 5 October 1998

Sal Abbatiello, proprietor of the South Bronx club, Disco Fever, tells the tale of the DJs, MCs, hustlers, gangsters and the kids who made it the hottest club in early hip hop: Grandmaster Flash, Kurtis Blow and a cast of thousands.

File format: mp3; file size: 43mb, interview length: 46' 59" sound quality: ***

DJ Kool Herc: Adventures on the Wheels of Steel: DJ Kool Herc and the Birth of Hip Hop

Book Excerpt by Bill Brewster, Frank Broughton, 'Last Night a DJ Saved My Life', 1999

Take a Break Face your partner, holding hands. Tap one foot behind the other and bring your feet together again. Repeat with your other foot. (Your ...

New York — Body & Soul

Report and Interview by Bill Brewster, The Face, March 1999

Sunday afternoon disco classics down a Manhattan side street ...

Charlie Gillett (1999)

Interview by Bill Brewster, djhistory.com, 5 March 1999

From Charlie's childhood in Stockton-on-Tees and his early fascination with black American music, through to his days as a journalist and broadcaster, taking in The Sound of the City, Ian Dury, Dire Straits and his increasing fascination with World Music.

File format: mp3; file size: 105.3mb, total interview length: 1h 49' 39" sound quality: **

Danny Rampling (1999)

Interview by Bill Brewster, Frank Broughton, Rock's Backpages audio, 6 May 1999

The dance music legend on the power of the DJ and the club as a place or worship; his pioneering club night Shoom, and the eventual corruption of the rave scene; becoming a radio DJ, and the evolution of the Superstar DJ.

File format: mp3; file size: 27.7mb, interview length: 30' 17" sound quality: ****

Dom Phillips (1999)

Interview by Bill Brewster, Rock's Backpages audio, 25 May 1999

The late Guardian journalist and sometime Mixmag editor talks about his first awareness of dance music; the role of the DJ and the rise of the superstar DJ; dance music's punk and hippie ideals; the multiple histories of the music and the evolution of rave culture; Fatboy Slim and Prodigy et al. as "the new rock'n'roll"; how dance music liberated men; the true financial value of DJs and the art of DJing, plus female DJs and the inherent sexism of the dance scene.

File format: mp3; file size: 37mb, interview length: 59' 44" sound quality: *** (background noise)

Dom Phillips: An Interview

Interview by Bill Brewster, unpublished, 25 May 1999

NOTE: This interview with the former Mixmag editor, murdered in the Amazon in June 2022 with his friend and activist Bruno Pereira, was conducted as ...

Menudo, Ricky Martin: Ricky Martin

Interview by Bill Brewster, The Big Issue, 5 July 1999

What were your influences growing up in Puerto Rico? ...

Fatboy Slim, Paul Oakenfold, Sasha and Digweed: Clubs: USA Special! America: What Time Is Love?

Report by Bill Brewster, The Face, September 2000

Dance music conquers America! Yes, really, this time! Bill Brewster on how Sasha, Oakie and Fatboy Slim are taking on the last bastion of rock'n'roll ...

23 Skidoo

Retrospective and Interview by Bill Brewster, Jockey Slut, 2001

"What man is at ease in his Inn?Get out.Wide is the world and cold.Get out.Thou hast become an initiate.Get out."Aleister Crowley – 'Skidoo', chapter 23 ...

Giorgio Moroder

Retrospective by Bill Brewster, bbc.co.uk, 2001

• Father of Eurodisco • Discovered Donna Summer • Winner of two Academy Awards for Best Song (Top Gun: 'Take My Breath Away' and Flashdance: ...

Billy Butler, Jerry Butler, Major Lance, Curtis Mayfield: OKeh Records

Retrospective by Bill Brewster, bbc.co.uk, 2001

CHICAGO SOUL MUSIC, that weird conflation of gospel, rhythm and blues, latin rhythms and bass-heavy horn riffing, was somewhat overshadowed by its more well-known brothers ...

Rae & Christian, Bobby Womack: Rae & Christian

Profile and Interview by Bill Brewster, The Big Issue, 2001

A PAIR OF bespectacled northerners sits opposite me. If you were to formulate a picture in your mind of what hip hop producers might look ...

The Supremes

Retrospective by Bill Brewster, bbc.co.uk, 2001

MANY YEARS BEFORE anyone had ever heard of Hear'Say; and when Kylie and Jason were but a twinkle in Pete Waterman's rheumy eye, the Supremes ...

Pete DJ Jones (2001)

Interview by Bill Brewster, Frank Broughton, Rock's Backpages audio, 20 March 2001

One of the first to spin the same record on two turntables, Pete DJ Jones roamed the five boroughs with his mobile set up from 1970. Here he talks about (and plays!) the records; his influence on Grandmaster Flash and the early hip-hoppers and his MCs like Lovebug Starski.

File format: mp3; file size: 61.4mb, interview length: 1h 07' 01" sound quality: *****

23 Skidoo (2001)

Interview by Bill Brewster, Rock's Backpages audio, 21 September 2001

Alex Turnbull and "Sketch" Martin take us from the early days in Hackney to the (2001) present day: their association with Throbbing Gristle; early influences; early releases and the band schism; The Culling is Coming and Urban Gamelan; their increasing interest in hip hop, and their Ronin Records label.

File format: mp3; file size: 78.8mb, interview length: 1h 26' 03" sound quality: ****

Ian Dury, Chaz Jankel: Chaz Jankel

Interview by Bill Brewster, Faith, 2002

CHAZ JANKEL made his name as Ian Dury's collaborator and founder member of backing band, the Blockheads. As a solo artist, he's most well known ...

Paradise Garage and the Lost Art of DJ'ing

Sleeve notes by Frank Broughton, Bill Brewster, Strut/Nuphonic Records, 2002

PUTTING A ROOMFUL of people in the moment. Amazing them, surprising them, challenging, even confusing them; pushing, electrifying, loving them; carrying them with you towards ...

Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five: The True Life Adventures Of Flash

Sleeve notes by Bill Brewster, Frank Broughton, Nuphonic Records, 2002

Chapter 1 FLASH ISN’T THE type of guy to start talking about "How it feels...", but that’s just what you want to ask him. How does ...

What the Hell is Music?

Essay by Bill Brewster, Frank Broughton, Mixmag, 2002

NOTE: This is the extended "directors' cut" version of the piece originally published in Mixmag.                                                      * ...

Boy George, Culture Club: Boy George (2002) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by Bill Brewster, Rock's Backpages transcripts, January 2002

This is a transcript of Bill's audio interview with Boy George. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...

Boy George, Culture Club: Boy George (2002)

Interview by Bill Brewster, Rock's Backpages audio, 7 January 2002

The sometime Culture Club frontman talks about his involvement in the Taboo stage show; looks back at the '80s, the New Romantics and characters such as Steve Strange and Philip Salon; talks about Taboo's inspiration Leigh Bowery; discusses his relationship with the gay community; reflects on songwriting, clubbing, DJing... and reading Sasha's palm.

File format: mp3; file size: 59.8mb, interview length: 1h 02' 16" sound quality: ****

Elvis Costello (2002)

Interview by Bill Brewster, Rock's Backpages audio, 18 February 2002

The erstwhile Declan McManus, in the context of new album When I Was Cruel, looks back at the Attractions, punk, Thatcher, and talks about the craft of songwriting.

File format: mp3; file size: 44.6mb, interview length: 48' 43" sound quality: ****

The Human League, Soft Cell: Bill Board: Recreating the '80s

Column by Bill Brewster, Jockey Slut, April 2002

Loving the '80s is one thing, says Bill Brewster. Recreating it quite another... ...

The Equals' Eddy Grant (2002)

Interview by Bill Brewster, Rock's Backpages audio, 15 October 2002

The Equals' guitarist/writer/producer remembers his first impressions of London on arrival from Guyana in 1960; the epiphany of seeing Chuck Berry live in '64; forming the Equals at school; the London black music scene; getting signed and having hits; his heart attack and the end of the band, and getting his studio.

File format: mp3; file size: 134.6mb, interview length: 2h 20' 13" sound quality: *****

Ron Hardy, Chicago Legend

Retrospective by Bill Brewster, Faith, 2004

If Frankie Knuckles is the Godfather of House, Ron Hardy was its Baron Frankenstein. ...

Salsoul Samples

Guide by Bill Brewster, Music Week, 2004

1. Black Box – 'Ride On Time' (Deconstruction/1989) Sampled: Loleatta Holloway's 'Love Sensation' ...

S'Express' Mark Moore (2004)

Interview by Bill Brewster, Rock's Backpages audio, 20 July 2004

The pioneering DJ and artist takes us on a journey through London's clubland and the early days of electronic dance music, from Billy's and Blitz, via the gay club scene and the introduction of Ecstasy and House music, through to hitting with S'Express.

File format: mp3; file size: 60.5mb, interview length: 1h 06' 04" sound quality: *****

Derrick May (2004)

Interview by Bill Brewster, Frank Broughton, Rock's Backpages audio, 30 August 2004

The techno pioneer tells the whole epic story: his childhood in Detroit; meeting Kevin Saunderson and Juan Atkins; discovering Chicago house and seeing Frankie Knuckles and Ron Hardy DJ; making 'Nude Photo' and 'Strings of Life', and being recognised in the UK. Plus a whole lot more...

File format: mp3; file size: 153.4mb, interview length: 2h 39' 48" sound quality: ****

Derrick May (2004) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by Bill Brewster, Frank Broughton, Rock's Backpages transcripts, 30 August 2004

This is a transcript of Bill and Frank's audio interview with Derrick. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...

Loleatta Holloway

Interview by Bill Brewster, djhistory.com, 6 January 2005

LOLEATTA WAS born in Chicago in 1946 and, like most of her peers, began singing in gospel groups before striking out on a solo career ...

Soul II Soul's Jazzie B (2005)

Interview by Bill Brewster, Frank Broughton, Rock's Backpages audio, 2 February 2005

The original Funki Dread goes deep into his roots, from a family background in reggae sound systems to Soul II Soul at the Africa Centre, via bunking off school to go to Crackers; DJs like George Power and Paul 'Trouble' Anderson; setting up S II S, and the original warehouse parties. Riveting stuff.

File format: mp3; file size: 87.2mb, interview length: 1h 35' 15" sound quality: *****

Soul II Soul's Jazzie B (2005) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by Bill Brewster, Frank Broughton, Rock's Backpages transcripts, 2 February 2005

This is a transcript of Bill and Frank's audio interview with Jazzie B. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...

Fabio, Grooverider: Fabio (2005)

Interview by Bill Brewster, Frank Broughton, Rock's Backpages audio, 4 February 2005

The Drum & Bass pioneer talks about his Brixton background, blues parties and sound systems; his love soul as well as reggae, and lunchtime funk dances at Crackers; collecting records, and starting to DJ; Tim Westwood and the emergence of electro hip hop; pirate radio; Paul Oakenfold's house nights, and meeting future partner Grooverider; nights like Spectrum and Rage; techno, break beats and jungle; the dangerous jungle club nights; evolution of Drum & Bass, and Garage; taking the name Fabio, and his memories of the big outdoor raves like Sunrise.

File format: mp3; file size: 71.7mb, interview length: 1h 14' 39" sound quality: ****

Fabio (2005) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by Bill Brewster, Frank Broughton, Rock's Backpages transcripts, 4 February 2005

This is a transcript of Bill and Frank's audio interview with Fabio. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...

Terry Farley (2005)

Interview by Bill Brewster, Frank Broughton, Rock's Backpages audio, 23 February 2005

The pioneering House DJ tells the whole story, from a tin bath in Notting Dale to Shoom and beyond: his youth in Slough; discovering the club Crackers; the soul all-dayers and weekenders; the warehouse scene and rare groove; the dawn of House and Ecstacy; the opening of Shoom; his and Andrew Weatherall's Boy's Own fanzine; Danny Rampling; the emergence of the superstar DJ... and House's longevity.

File format: mp3; file size: 117.9mb, interview length: 2h 02' 50" sound quality: ****

Walter Gibbons: Salsoul Records: The Best Disco Label In The World... Ever

Retrospective and Interview by Bill Brewster, Record Collector, July 2005

We present a 30th birthday tribute to Salsoul, the label that changed club culture forever. Bill Brewster talks to the movers and shakers and celebrates ...

Walter Gibbons

Retrospective by Bill Brewster, Record Collector, July 2005

WALTER GIBBONS loved drums. As a young DJ, the beat-heavy records he played defined his sound and as a remixer he had the knack of ...

DJ Shadow (2005)

Interview by Bill Brewster, Rock's Backpages audio, 8 July 2005

The erstwhile Josh Davis talks about how his world was changed by hip hop; how, in search of breaks, he became an obsessive collector; the ins-and-outs of sampling, and tells tales from the world of crate digging.

File format: mp3; file size: 61.1mb, interview length: 1h 06' 41" sound quality: ** (phoner)

Italian DJ Daniele Baldelli created the Afro Cosmic disco scene

Interview by Bill Brewster, Wax Poetics, Spring 2005

IMAGINE CIRCLING the planet in a spaceship — weightless, far from home, listening to music on your gravity-modified iPod. Or imagine trying to sprint through ...

Grumpy Old DJs

Interview by Bill Brewster, Mixmag, 2006

IS IT STILL financially viable to employ a butler to carry one's record valise? Why can't you get wooden slipmats any more? Is 45rpm a ...

Imagination: Just An Illusion

Sleeve notes by Bill Brewster, Demon Records, 2006

LOOKING AT Leee John's nether regions and his luxuriant falsetto, the phrase "all mouth and no trousers" might well have been invented to describe Imagination. ...

Aphex Twin, Barrabas, Vashti Bunyan, Terry Callier, Prince, Labi Siffre, R. Dean Taylor, Underworld: The 40 Most Collectible Records

Guide by Bill Brewster, Mixmag, 2006

Okay, so it's not really the 40 most collectable records (if it was, it would contain nothing but doo-wop, northern soul and classical music). It's ...

The Equals: Hello/Goodbye

Retrospective and Interview by Bill Brewster, MOJO, 2006

The Equals were a groundbreaking multiracial pop group at a time of terrible racism. This is the story of how they came together in a ...

The Meaning of Rave

Retrospective by Bill Brewster, Springsix Festival brochure, May 2006

Well, someone had to explain what Quavers were to those funny foreigners. ...

20 Salsoul Classics

Discography by Bill Brewster, Record Collector, July 2006

RAFAEL CAMERON – 'BOOGIE'S GONNA GET YA' (INSTRUMENTAL) (SALSOUL 12-INCH/SG-362) £15 ...

Cabaret bands: Working Man's Soul

Retrospective and Interview by Bill Brewster, djhistory.com, November 2006

You can almost smell the crushed velvet. While Led Zeppelin were doing unspeakable things with sharks and glam rock was ubiquitous, thousands of musicians plied ...

Frankie Knuckles, David Mancuso, David Morales: Def Mix: The house that Judy built

Retrospective and Interview by Bill Brewster, Pacha, August 2007

AT THE CENTRE of every story is what philosopher Malcolm Gladwell calls a "connector". Connectors are people who know lots of other people. They are ...

Was (Not Was)

Interview by Bill Brewster, MOJO, May 2008

Detroit Art-Funk Weirdos Find It Again ...

Andrew Weatherall (2009)

Interview by Bill Brewster, Rock's Backpages audio, 28 May 2009

The legendary DJ and producer looks back at his suburban childhood and mispent youth; starting the dance music fanzine Boy's Own; the whole acid house scene and its effects; what it means to be a DJ, and his move into the recording studio and his work with Primal Scream.

File format: mp3; file size: 49.2mb, interview length: 53' 44" sound quality: ****

Frankie Knuckles, 1955-2014

Obituary by Bill Brewster, The Guardian, 1 April 2014

Trailblazing American record producer and club DJ hailed as the Godfather of House ...

Guppy Conquerors: The Joy Of Cod Reggae

Guide by Bill Brewster, The Quietus, 30 January 2015

We set crate digger extraordinaire Bill Brewster an unenviable task – prepare us a set culled just from cod reggae. Check out the YouTube playlist ...

back to LIBRARY

COPYRIGHT NOTICE