Dance Music History

In this companion volume to The Discoverers, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Daniel J. Boorstin brings to life more than three thousand years of human artistic achievement, examining painting, sculpture, architecture, theology, philosophy, history, poetry, drama, literature, dance, music, and film.

The story begins in 1970. The day after Jimi Hendrix's death...dairy farmer Michael Eavis invites revellers to his field in Somerset to attend a 'Pop, Folk & Blues' festival. Tickets are £1 each, enticing more than a thousand customers with the promise of music, dance, poetry, theatre, lights and spontaneous entertainment - as well as free milk from his own Worthy Farm cows. Fast forward through five tumultuous decades, and the Eavises' vision now encompasses a gigantic 'city in the fields', with a total annual population nearing a quarter of a million.

House is the first descendant of disco. While Black and Hispanic communities were jamming and party DJs spinning records, a new birth of rhythm gave way to music lovers from Chicago and New York in the form known as house music. Developed in Chicago's underground dance club culture in the early 1980s, today house music is worldwide and continues to dominate most club scenes and has expanded beyond its subculture beginning.

Throbbing disco beats boom at the club. Crowds move to the lively beat of dance pop hits. Fans scream and cheer for teen idols. These are the sounds of pop. After Elvis hit the scene in the 1950s, a distinct youth taste in popular music began to emerge. The sound of pop music has varied greatly in the decades since Elvis, ranging from rock to disco to boy bands to dance pop. But all pop music is defined by catchy melodies and a broad appeal to teens. Find out how it all began.