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Party Lines by Ed Gillett
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Party Lines

Dance Music and the Making of Modern Britain

$18.41

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Narrator Ed Gillett

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Length 12 hours 45 minutes
Language English
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A Guardian Guide Cultural Book of the Year 2023
An Irish Times Music Book of the Year 2023
'A deep, engrossing history' The Observer
'A fascinating deep dive' Jeremy Deller


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, 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.

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'Excellent' The Sunday Times
'Reminds us why the dance floor matters . . . fascinating' Telegraph

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 Dellerโ€™s acclaimed rave documentary Everybody in the Place: An Incomplete History of Britain 1984โ€“1992 for BBC Four, and Four To The Floor, Channel 4โ€™s award-winning music and factual strand. Party Lines is his first book.

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 Dellerโ€™s acclaimed rave documentary Everybody in the Place: An Incomplete History of Britain 1984โ€“1992 for BBC Four, and Four To The Floor, Channel 4โ€™s award-winning music and factual strand. Party Lines is his first book.

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Limited-time offer

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Nowโ€™s a great time to shop indie. When you start a new one credit per month membership supporting local bookstores with promo code SWITCH, weโ€™ll give you two bonus audiobook credits at sign-up.

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Reviews

A deeply-researched and engaging new understanding of the interwoven soundtrack to the turbulence of modern Britain. 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. A passionately argued and intensively researched addition to the ever-evolving narrative of UK dance music culture. A fascinating deep dive into dance music's uneasy relationship with the establishment. Essential reading. Ed Gillett’s excellent history of UK dance culture, moves beyond the saucer-eyed clichรฉs of the raver’s epiphany and towards a sharper sort of revelation . . . the politics of dancing expertly laid bare. Engrossing history . . . a wide and deep undertaking [A] well-researched, meaty account of dance music in the UK . . . an engrossing piece of modern social history. Reminds us why the dance floor matters . . . fascinating. 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. Expand reviews
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