Who was the first to beatmatch?

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It wasn't done in the disco era, was it? How about the early days of house?

I doubt there's a definitive answer to this.

― oops (Oops), Wednesday, 14 April 2004 06:59 (twenty-one years ago)

It was done by Dwayne Beatmatch in 1976.... the technique was named after the inventor's last name.

― donut bitch (donut), Wednesday, 14 April 2004 07:04 (twenty-one years ago)

But then, don't forget Daniel Segue, back in 1972...

― mark grout (mark grout), Wednesday, 14 April 2004 07:10 (twenty-one years ago)

On a serious note - and I'm not sure if it's the very first ever documented beatmatch or what have you - the one who truly brought it to the mainstream as a showcase technique in 1986 club nights was Paris Hilton.

― LC, Wednesday, 14 April 2004 07:14 (twenty-one years ago)

read last night a dj saved my life by bill brewster and frank broughton. i can't remember for sure but i *think* they believe it to be new york dj francis grasso

― Dave Stelfox (Dave Stelfox), Wednesday, 14 April 2004 09:07 (twenty-one years ago)

sorry for providing a non-sarcastic, informative answer, addressing the perfectly reasonable question asked etc.

― Dave Stelfox (Dave Stelfox), Wednesday, 14 April 2004 09:19 (twenty-one years ago)

for shame Dave!

― stevem (blueski), Wednesday, 14 April 2004 10:43 (twenty-one years ago)

Heck, it's better than going "I dont know" or ignoring the q and watching it drop lower in the list or going "Bump" for no reason...

― mark grout (mark grout), Wednesday, 14 April 2004 11:08 (twenty-one years ago)

You mock them Dave, when they were just laying the ground for your answer - better than me, when all I can do is second your answer (on both parts).

― Jedmond (Jedmond), Wednesday, 14 April 2004 11:12 (twenty-one years ago)

I was definitely done in the disco era.

― Mark (MarkR), Wednesday, 14 April 2004 11:53 (twenty-one years ago)

It was Zucchero.

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Wednesday, 14 April 2004 11:55 (twenty-one years ago)

it was before then - grasso allegedly got so good at beatmatching that he used to challenge women to come into the booth and fellate him to see if they could make him miss a beat.

― Dave Stelfox (Dave Stelfox), Wednesday, 14 April 2004 12:10 (twenty-one years ago)

much as i now do, but it doesn't work quite so well when you're a sub-editor by day. i'm on my final written warning

― Dave Stelfox (Dave Stelfox), Wednesday, 14 April 2004 12:11 (twenty-one years ago)

That anecdote is one of the many reasons why you should read "Last Night A DJ Saved My Life".

― Jedmond (Jedmond), Wednesday, 14 April 2004 12:19 (twenty-one years ago)

That was a great book. I don't remember the answer to this question, though.

― scott m (mcd), Wednesday, 14 April 2004 14:30 (twenty-one years ago)

the answer to this question is also in "love saves the day" by tim lawrence. actually i think it is grasso. it would be interesting to see if "last night a dj saved my life" and "love saves..." agree. i will have to check the lawrence book later.

― tricky disco, Wednesday, 14 April 2004 15:31 (twenty-one years ago)

I was definitely done in the disco era.

Oh baby.

― donut bitch (donut), Wednesday, 14 April 2004 15:53 (twenty-one years ago)

[i]Last Night A DJ Saved My Life[/i] said it was Grasso. Apparently he did it with 7"s and LP cuts, using a homemade mixer and turntables with no pitch control...all his mixes were done with careful pre-selection of tempo and slip cuing.

The photo of Grasso in the book is terrifying...

― mmmsalt (Graeme), Wednesday, 14 April 2004 20:26 (twenty-one years ago)

Found some info on Grasso here:

http://ped111251.tripod.com/francis.htm

― mmmsalt (Graeme), Wednesday, 14 April 2004 20:27 (twenty-one years ago)

see also Albert Goldman's Disco, it'll blow ya mind if you can find it. forget about his rep as the purple-prose scourge of Elvis and Lennon, this book OWNS its subject.
Francis Grasso called it slip-cueing but per Goldman (and Broughton etal)it sounds like beatmatching (but not break-beating). In Klute starring Jane Fonda, Grasso is allegedly the DJ spinning in the nightclub scene.

― lovebug starski, Wednesday, 14 April 2004 21:20 (twenty-one years ago)

...the quote from Goldman in that link is just the tip of the iceberg.

― lovebug starski, Wednesday, 14 April 2004 21:28 (twenty-one years ago)

glad i remembered right, what with the moody response and all - would have been embarassing to get it wrong after that, though i am sure there's probably a ton of conflicting answers, urban legends etc. i love last night a dj... but there is a certain sense of "writing history" from a "wasn't it all so much better back in the day" perspective that many old-school soulboy housers have. this isn't necessarily a bad thing. someone needs to write this stuff and broughton and brewster really did do a great job; it's a really informative, immersive read. love saves the day is just fabulous, though. much more my kind of read; i ripped thru it in about three days and it's now doing the rounds of all my friends. i can't recommend it enough. (full disclosure, tim lawrenece is a friend of mine's cousin, but i would say this even if i didn't know a thing about him). kai fikentscher's you better work, is on the other hand, quite informative, but like literary oxycontin - just makes you go all glassy eyed and zoned-out after a few pages... hard work and extremely, extremely dry. last i heard, peter shapiro was also doing a history of disco, which i can't wait to read.

― Dave Stelfox (Dave Stelfox), Thursday, 15 April 2004 08:36 (twenty-one years ago)

anyway, it was not definitely done in the disco era. grasso prefigured what we know as disco and kinda helped it happen.

― Dave Stelfox (Dave Stelfox), Thursday, 15 April 2004 08:43 (twenty-one years ago)

Dave, I wonder what your opinion is on the review Peter Shapiro (I think) gave it in Wire - so far he's the only person to negatively review/comment on the book.

― Jedmond (Jedmond), Thursday, 15 April 2004 11:55 (twenty-one years ago)

Apologies if you actually haven't read the his review.

― Jedmond (Jedmond), Thursday, 15 April 2004 11:56 (twenty-one years ago)

matos just reviewed love saves the day in the seattle weekly this week. i don't think it's "negative" per se, but it's fair. i can't wait for shapiro's book.

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Thursday, 15 April 2004 11:58 (twenty-one years ago)

tricky. peter's a friend, so all i can say is that i really don't agree with him. we both agree that fikentscher's book is a good bedtime read, though. (if you want to fall alseep after a couple of pages).

― Dave Stelfox (Dave Stelfox), Thursday, 15 April 2004 11:59 (twenty-one years ago)

i've not read matos' review. i will do. then i will challenge him to another fight.

― Dave Stelfox (Dave Stelfox), Thursday, 15 April 2004 12:00 (twenty-one years ago)

and the (albeit tenuous) connection to the author is why i really wouldn't have wanted to review love saves the day

― Dave Stelfox (Dave Stelfox), Thursday, 15 April 2004 12:02 (twenty-one years ago)

Sorry, didn't realise you knew each other - I was mainly wondering how much overlap there is with "Last Night" because of the books focus on DJs - I was looking to buy "Love Saves the Day" as a supplement to other aspects of the club culture, but Shapiro's review said the book concentrated almost completely on the DJs.

― Jedmond (Jedmond), Thursday, 15 April 2004 12:08 (twenty-one years ago)

shapiro's review is gold for the trampps/nurse with wound line if nothing else

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Thursday, 15 April 2004 12:10 (twenty-one years ago)

I'll put my money on the trammps anyday - sheer weight of numbers if anything.

― Jedmond (Jedmond), Thursday, 15 April 2004 12:14 (twenty-one years ago)

i've read it now - it's a cool review. i agree with 95 per cent of it.

― Dave Stelfox (Dave Stelfox), Thursday, 15 April 2004 12:14 (twenty-one years ago)

the matos one, that is

― Dave Stelfox (Dave Stelfox), Thursday, 15 April 2004 12:15 (twenty-one years ago)

there's quite a bit of overlap betweeen l.s.t.d and last night... but lawrence has a whole book, writes more exhaustively and has slightly different ideas. there's a lot more actual analysis and criticism happening in l.s.t.d, too. i really do recommend it. you'll learn stuff from it, in any case.

― Dave Stelfox (Dave Stelfox), Thursday, 15 April 2004 12:17 (twenty-one years ago)

No fight, sigh.

Xpost - thanks for the info - I probably would have bought it, but now I'll feel less guilty.

― Jedmond (Jedmond), Thursday, 15 April 2004 12:18 (twenty-one years ago)

ten months pass...

"see also Albert Goldman's Disco, it'll blow ya mind if you can find it."

ha ha, CDN$ 323.54 at amazon.ca

― todd (todd), Friday, 4 March 2005 01:01 (twenty years ago)

Is the Goldman book available anywhere (at a realistic price)? I've had no joy on Ebay or Amazon.

― NI, Friday, 4 March 2005 17:18 (twenty years ago)

one year passes...

Its all very interesting to hear peoples theories about who invented slip cueing. I asked my dad who began his professional dj career in 1967 in Australia for that matter, and he said that himself and lots of other djs were havin fun and doing things like that both in clubs and on air way before the time it was supposedly invented. Im not claiming my father invented it nor is he, but i do find it interesting that only club djs in NY city are mentioned in the history. I think really this is one of those cases of who had the best media coverage and historical recording at the time.

― ash wildman, Thursday, 11 May 2006 07:28 (nineteen years ago)

what he says

― mentalist (mentalist), Thursday, 11 May 2006 08:30 (nineteen years ago)

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