Transatlantic Drift

The Ebb and Flow of Dance Music

Simon A. Morrison

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Paperback

Forthcoming
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English

Reaktion Books
01 July 2025

Electronic music

Series: Reverb

Transatlantic Drift explores the emergence and evolution of nightclubs and electronic dance music from the 1950s onwards.

It traces the rhythmic journey of dance music, following the pulse as it bounced between Europe, North America and the Caribbean. Music, dance styles and nightclub spaces are not created in isolation; they are shaped by collective influences and shared experiences. This book uncovers the interconnected story of dance music, taking in hotspots such as New York, Detroit, London, Manchester, Chicago, Dusseldorf and Ibiza. Transatlantic Drift offers an engaging exploration of how people have come together to share melodies and rhythms, forming a global conversation through electronic music.

By: Simon A. Morrison
Imprint: Reaktion Books
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 210mm, Width: 148mm,
ISBN: 9781836390732
ISBN 10: 1836390734
Series: Reverb
Pages: 256
Publication Date: 01 July 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Preface: Mix In Track One Katie Milestone 1 The quest for a new kind of dancefloor in post-war Britain 2 The emergence of youth nightclub spaces in the uk 3 The late 1960s demise of uk mod nightclubs and rise of a new dance underground 4 Rave before rave: The uk in the late 1970s to the mid-1980s Track Two Simon A. Morrison 5 Uptown and Downtown Manhattan in the latter 1970s 6 New York, Chicago and Detroit in late-1980s (ish) usa 7 The beat travels back over the pond: uk and continental Europe, 1985–90 8 TransEurope Express: Europe . . . and the usa . . . to the Millennium Epilogue: Mix Out Chronology References Key Figures Dance Playlist and Key Tracks Further Reading Acknowledgements Photo Acknowledgements Index

Katie Milestone is Senior Lecturer in Sociology at Manchester Metropolitan University, teaching and researching youth subcultures, music and identity. Her books include Gender and Popular Culture (2011). Simon A. Morrison is a writer, academic and Programme Leader for Music Journalism at the University of Chester. He has published widely on global music culture, and his books include Danceoor-Driven Literature: The Rave Scene in Fiction (2020).

Reviews for Transatlantic Drift: The Ebb and Flow of Dance Music

""Through its carefully considered form, authorial team and consciously drifting contents, Transatlantic Drift is dedicated to transatlantic musical interchange and, indeed, to the exchange of scholarly and critical ideas concerning not only music but the ways in which we remember and make meaningful. This excellent book unravels the oftentimes knotty and contested musical happenings, people and places through an approach that embraces an open understanding of music histories in the plural. And in sidestepping common pitfalls in popular music scholarship--by attesting to regions as well as capital cities, for example--Katie Milestone and Simon A. Morrison have created an essential resource for all those interested in transatlantic popular music and subcultural histories."" --Sarah Raine, Research Fellow, School of Music, UCD, and author of Authenticity and Belonging in the Northern Soul Scene