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Bill Brewster

Goodreads Author

Born

in Grimsby, The United Kingdom

Twitter

twitter.com/djhistory

Genre

Music, Gay and Lesbian

Influences

Hunter S. Thompson, Woody Guthrie, John Steinbeck, Joe Queenan, Jeffre ...more

Member Since

September 2017

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Bill was originally a chef, working first in London and then Geneva, before returning back to the UK in 1981. His first break as a writer was in 1988 working for cult football magazine When Saturday Comes, where he remained until 1993.

He moved to New York in 1994, where he soon met his writing partner Frank Broughton. Within a fortnight of their meeting they started plotting their first book together. The first collaboration came in 1998 with The Manual, a Ministry Of Sound-branded book, but it was with Last Night A DJ Saved My Life (published in 1999), they began to build a reputation. Subsequent to that, they wrote a further two books, How To DJ (Properly) and The Record Players.

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Bill Brewster’s books

Average rating: 4.2 · 3,024 ratings · 191 reviews · 22 distinct works • Similar authors

	Last Night a DJ Saved My Life: The History of the Disc Jockey by Bill Brewster (Goodreads Author), Frank Broughton 4.24 avg rating — 2,321 ratings — published 2000 — 31 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Record Players: DJ Revolutionaries by Bill Brewster (Goodreads Author), Frank Broughton really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 106 ratings — published 2010 — 10 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Manual del DJ 4.36 avg rating — 14 ratings — published 2003	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Historia del DJ. Desde los orígenes hasta el garage by Bill Brewster (Goodreads Author), Frank Broughton 4.57 avg rating — 7 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Clubbed: A Visual History of UK Club Culture 3.75 avg rating — 8 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Historia del DJ (2) Desde el house hasta la actualidad by Bill Brewster (Goodreads Author), Frank Broughton 4.33 avg rating — 6 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Record Players: The Story of Dance Music Told by History's Greatest DJs by Bill Brewster (Goodreads Author), Frank Broughton 4.50 avg rating — 4 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Revival: It’s Time to Live Again really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	そして、みんなクレイジーになっていく―DJは世界のエンターテインメントを支配する神になった 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Crónicas curiosas de los djs by Bill Brewster (Goodreads Author), Bill Brewster (Goodreads Author) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Series by Bill Brewster

Historia del DJ (2 books)
by

Bill Brewster (Goodreads Author),

Frank Broughton

4.46 avg rating — 13 ratings

Bill is Currently Reading

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Sick On You: The Disastrous Story of Britain’s Great Lost Punk Band

by Andrew Matheson

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Mar 18, 2026 02:32PM

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Second-hand Time

by Svetlana Alexievich

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Mar 16, 2025 02:24AM

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Shellac and Swing!: A Social History of the Gramophone in Britain

by Bruce Lindsay

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Mar 07, 2025 07:44PM

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Bill Brewster is currently reading Sick On You: The Disastrous Story of Britain’s Great Lost Punk Band by Andrew Matheson	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Mar 18, 2026 02:32PM · like
Bill Brewster finished reading Strange Days Indeed: The Golden Age of Paranoia by Francis Wheen	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Mar 05, 2026 01:27PM · like
Bill Brewster is currently reading Strange Days Indeed: The Golden Age of Paranoia by Francis Wheen	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Nov 14, 2025 06:14AM · like
Bill Brewster is currently reading Second-hand Time by Svetlana Alexievich	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Mar 16, 2025 02:24AM · like
Bill Brewster is currently reading Shellac and Swing!: A Social History of the Gramophone in Britain by Bruce Lindsay	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Mar 07, 2025 07:44PM · like
Bill Brewster is currently reading Ultra: The Underworld of Italian Football by Tobias Jones	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Mar 07, 2025 07:43PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Ultra by Tobias Jones. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Ultra by Tobias Jones <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Bill Brewster is currently reading Getting Carter: Ted Lewis and the Birth of Brit Noir by Nick Triplow	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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Bill Brewster finished reading Scattershot: Life, Music, Elton and Me by Bernie Taupin	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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Bill Brewster finished reading ITALO DISCO: History of Dance Music in Italy from 1975 to 1988 by Raff Todesco	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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Bill Brewster is currently reading Morbo - The Story of Spanish Football by Phil Ball	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Sep 23, 2024 01:28AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Morbo - The Story of Spanish Football by Phil Ball. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Morbo - The Story of Spanish Football by Phil Ball <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">

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Quotes by Bill Brewster (?)

“the DJ plays the feelings of a roomful of people.”
― Bill Brewster, Last Night a DJ Saved My Life

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“Opium? No! Cocaine? No! The Great American Brain Killer Is Dance Music!’ – Portland Oregonian, 1932 T”
― Bill Brewster, Last Night a DJ Saved My Life: The History of the Disc Jockey

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“By registering the number of times each record had been played, its popularity could be accurately gauged. This fact was what inspired the idea of charts; the Top 40 was such because forty records was the standard jukebox capacity.”
― Bill Brewster, Last Night a DJ Saved My Life: The History of the Disc Jockey

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