Rhythm and Ray: A DJ’s Journey

[Chapter 8: The Music Never Stops]

"In the 1970s, disco took America by storm. Chicago birthed house music, while Detroit introduced techno. White folks loved it, and Black folks loved it even more, except for one group: the rock fans.

They deliberately associated disco with being gay and started a backlash against it. By the late 1970s, the Chicago White Sox hosted a promotion where fans could trade in disco records for a 98-cent ticket discount. During the intermission, Chicago radio personality Steve Dahl blew up the collected disco records right there in the stadium.

The White Sox originally expected about 20,000 people for this event, but 50,000 showed up even before it started, with thousands more climbing over barricades to get in. Records rained down from the stands as the explosions blasted, and thousands stormed the field, causing the White Sox to cancel the game on the spot.

After that, disco became taboo. You know, back then, society was pretty conservative. Magazines, TV, and newspapers would shy away from sensitive topics, and radio stations refused to play disco music. Overnight, disco vanished from America, relegated to a niche interest for a select few," Joel expressed, still fuming about the past.

"Fortunately, disco music evolved in Europe, especially in England. Concepts like nightclubs and rave culture were fully developed by the Brits. The Parliament later passed the Public Order Act, which stated that 'playing repetitive music outdoors for more than 20 people was considered a disturbance of the peace,' with offenders facing fines or detention...

Maybe we'll get to see electronic music make a comeback in America one day!" Joel exclaimed excitedly.

...

Ryan glanced over at a young girl rocking out nearby. A moment ago, he had seen her swallow a few pills, casually referred to as Molly.

It was past midnight, and the lights dimmed even further. With a furrowed brow, Ryan called over a club security guard, pointing out someone using a fancy "popcorn" canister not far away. The guard promptly stepped in.

Tennessee was a red state, so rules were still pretty strict. At least, one couldn't behave like that in public, but things changed in the private booths, which felt a bit like deception.

...

Joel set down his empty cup on the table. "The last hour of performances is where the real show begins."

He motioned for Ryan to pull out the USB drive containing Termor, which had just been finished. Over the past three hours, Ryan had listened to a lot of popular electronic music. Now he could clearly sense the difference between Termor and those songs. It had a simple, even crude structure, with more pronounced bass lines. Yet Ryan worried that the audience might not embrace Termor as it sounded somewhat rougher than what was in his mind.

He and Joel returned to the DJ booth. As the intro played, Ryan noticed several dancers instinctively glance toward the booth.

As the interlude began, the sounds intensified, and the crowd shifted from confusion to adaptation. When the rise effect kicked in, the atmosphere began to build...

Three, two, one, go!

In an instant, the lead melody, along with all the parts, exploded together. The audio filled the space, and the pent-up energy surged like a dam breaking! The massive reverb, paired with the loudest volume, bombarded the audience's eardrums, complemented by a catchy, brainwashing melody that was utterly breathtaking!

Next to Ryan, Joel began to scream. Just when Ryan thought the crowd would react similarly, he realized they stood frozen in place, motionless.

Then, the next second, everyone snapped back to reality. In that moment, every person in the club felt as if they were standing at the peak of existence, as if they possessed the entire world.

After entering a brief moment of release, the second interlude stripped away all the heavy beats, returning to a more primitive melody, foreshadowing another impending storm.

Following two climaxes, the music moved into the outro, and Joel began to transition into another electronic track.

...

Just a few moments later, a middle-aged man who had been seated at a booth shot up. With a cigarette in his mouth and a drink in hand, he swayed unsteadily and tossed a couple of green bills toward the booth.

The man shouted for that last song to be played again.

Seeing this, the club manager quickly rushed over to pick up the bills that had fallen to the floor and pocketed them, then gestured for Joel to keep going. For the next hour, Termor looped more than ten times. Ryan meticulously studied the audience's reactions. No matter their age or gender, everyone seemed to be under some sort of "frenzy spell," their expressions wild, even losing all awareness of the opposite sex around them.

Ryan suspected this was a result of the combination of drugs and the electrifying music.

"Get the crowd going! Dance, man! Don't just stand there like a statue," Joel called to him from the side.

Joel had let loose completely, cheering and head-banging, beads of sweat dotting his forehead and neck.

Ryan, however, felt a bit shy, standing there stiffly. He figured he must not have done much "dancing" in his past life.

...

At 2 AM, the club started clearing out as couples found new partners and left together. Joel and Ryan sat on the sofa, with the club manager dressed in a suit on one side and a promoter holding a wealth of attractive girls on the other.

"Where did you find this music, Joel? Compared to tonight, your so-called 'original songs' sound like garbage!" The manager's eyes sparkled. "Look at that group of customers! They were like they'd lost their minds! The bartender said sales for the last hour were three times the usual amount!"

Joel shook his head, not taking the credit. He pointed to Ryan. "That song is all his inspiration!"

Only then did the manager and promoter take a real look at Ryan, who was surrounded by two attractive girls from the "atmosphere group." They had noticed him earlier when he was at the DJ booth.

"I thought he was just your cousin or something, coming to have a look tonight," said the manager and then gestured for Ryan to come over. From his jacket pocket, he pulled out two bills and handed them to Ryan.

"This is your bonus for tonight," the manager stated.

Ryan examined the two green bills in his hand, feeling fortunate that he had earned his first money through music. He then pulled out one bill and offered it to Joel sitting beside him.

"Take it. My pay here is fixed." Joel refused.

Just then, the promoter pulled out a portable camera to snap a picture of the group.

"Hey, young man, what's the name of that song?" the promoter, who had tattoos under his eyes, asked, pointing to the MySpace page on his laptop. He had recorded the live footage earlier and had uploaded it to social media, with several comments already asking for the song's name.

Seeing this, Ryan recalled Joel's earlier words about promoting music online.

Times were changing, technology was advancing, and capturing the right social media channels could lead to fast exposure...

Just as he thought this, one of the girls in a fitted dress from the atmosphere group leaned closer to him.

*****

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