Legions of Boom

Wang Oliver Wang

Description

Armed with speakers, turntables, light systems, and records, Filipino American mobile DJ crews, such as Ultimate Creations, Spintronix, and Images, Inc., rocked dance floors throughout the San Francisco Bay Area from the late 1970s through the mid-1990s. In Legions of Boom noted music and pop culture writer and scholar Oliver Wang chronicles this remarkable scene that eventually became the cradle for turntablism. These crews, which were instrumental in helping to create and unify the Bay Area's Filipino American community, gave young men opportunities to assert their masculinity and gain social status. While crews regularly spun records for school dances, weddings, birthdays, or garage parties, the scene's centerpieces were showcases-or multi-crew performances-which drew crowds of hundreds, or even thousands. By the mid-1990s the scene was in decline, as single DJs became popular, recruitment to crews fell off, and aspiring scratch DJs branched off into their own scene. As the training ground for a generation of DJs, including DJ Q-Bert, Shortkut, and Mix Master Mike, the mobile scene left an indelible mark on its community that eventually grew to have a global impact.

Sujets

• USA
• Popular culture
• États-Unis

Informations

• Publié par: Duke University Press
• Date de parution: 17 mai 2015
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780822375487
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 4 Mo

Extrait

Legions of Boom

REFIGURING AMERICAN MUSIC /A SERIES EDITED BY RONALD RADANO AND JOSH KUN / CHARLES MCGOVERN, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

Legions of Boom /Filipino American Mobile DJ Crews in the San Francisco Bay Area/ Oliver Wang

Duke University Press / Durham and London / 2015

© 2015 Duke University Press / All rights reserved / Printed in the United States of America on acidfree paper∞/ Designed by Natalie F. Smith / Typeset in Chaparral Pro by Copperline

Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data / Wang, Oliver, 1972– / Legions of boom : Filipino American mobile DJ crews in the San Francisco Bay Area / Oliver Wang. / pages cm—(Refiguring American music) / Includes bibliographical references and index. / ISBN 9780822359043 (hardcover : alk. paper) / ISBN 9780822358909 (pbk. : alk. paper) / ISBN 9780822375487 (ebook) / 1. Filipino American youth— California—San Francisco Bay Area—Music—History—20th century. 2. Filipino Americans—California—San Francisco Bay Area—Ethnic identity. 3. Disc jockeys—California— San Francisco Bay Area—History—20th century. I. Title. II. Series: Refiguring American music. / F870.F4W364 20115 / 305.235089’92107307946—dc23 2014041941

Frontispiece: Newspaper ad for a 1988 party in Union City

hosted by the Legion of Boom, an alliance (cooperative) between

several different Bay Area crews. Courtesy of Francisco Pardorla. /

Cover art: Illustration using a photo of Arnie Espinosa (Images

Inc., Fremont) by Francisco Pardorla, c. 1986. Photo courtesy of

Francisco Pardorla.

This goes out to Sharon, Ella, and all Bay Area crew.

Contents

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS(ix)

PROLOGUE /THE GIG (1)

INTRODUCTION /A LEGION OF BOOM (7)

1 / CUE IT UP /SOCIAL PRECONDITIONS FOR THE MOBILE SCENE (29)

2 / TEAM BUILDING /MOBILE CREW FORMATIONS (49)

3 / UNLIMITED CREATIONS /THE MOBILE SCENE TAKES OFF (79)

4 / IMAGININGS /BUILDING COMMUNITY IN THE SHOWCASE ERA (95)

5 / TAKE ME OUT WITH THE FADER /THE DECLINE OF THE MOBILE SCENE (125)

CONCLUSION /ECHO EFFECTS (151)

APPENDIX 1 / CAPTAINS OF THE FIELD /SAN FRANCISCO DRILL TEAMS (163)

APPENDIX 2 / BORN VERSUS SWORN /FILIPINO AMERICAN YOUTH GANGS (167)

NOTES(173)

REFERENCES(203)

INDEX(213)

Acknowledgments

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