Love is the Message: Dance, Music and Counterculture

This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To hear this and much much more, become a patron at Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod. In this patrons-only bonus episode, Tim draws on some recent research into David Mancuso’s record collection to share some tracks that might have been played during what he called ‘the prelude’ -  the introductory portion of the night’s musical entertainment. Taking into...

In this episode Jeremy is reunited with Tim to explore the early life and times of the legendary DJ Larry Levan. We hear about his youthful friendship with fellow DJ (and future leading light of House) Frankie Knuckles as they embed themselves deep in early 70s dance floor culture, taking us not just to discos but to rent parties, drag balls and The Continental Baths.  Naturally, we look at the ro...

This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To hear more, become a patron at patreon.com/LoveMessagePod In this patrons-only episode Jeremy is once again flying solo on the podcast to explore the lives, ideas, and uses of the French philosophers Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari. Starting in the intellectual hotbed of late-60s Paris, Jeremy explains who the pair were, how they met, what their...

In this episode Jeremy takes to the lectern for a two-hour mega-episode on the New Left in the second half of the Twentieth Century (and beyond). Picking up in the 1950s, where our previous episode concluded, we chart the full emergence of the New Left in various locations on both sides of the Atlantic, including the Students for a Democratic Society, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, the anti...

This is a patrons episode. To become a patron, head to Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod. In this patrons-only bonus episode, Jeremy and Tim have a conversation about what music has been on their turntables recently. Tim kicks things off with a bang - sigh - with a field recording of a thunderstorm and a lengthy conversation about New Age, David Mancuso’s wind machines, Frankie Knuckles and the -8 pitch...

Following our last episode on the state of psychedelic culture in the 1970s, we wanted to expand the historical setting in which our series is situated. In that spirit, in this episode Jeremy goes solo, taking it all the way back to the 1790s for a historical primer on the New Left: a political tendency to emerge from the decline and split of the hegemonic left forces of the early and mid-century...

This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To hear the full podcast, plus much much more, become a patron at Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod. Jeremy and Tim conclude this mini-series on the 1975 Schizo-Culture conference with a look at some of the other contributors to the event. They explore the rhizomatic theories of Gilles Deleuze and discuss desire with Felix Guattari, taking in the Steppe nom...

In this episode we were extremely happy to welcome to the show the writer, podcaster and historian Jesse Jarnow to discuss the state of psychedelic culture in 1975. Jesse is the author of several books, including Heads: A Biography of Psychedelic America, as well as the host of the official Grateful Dead podcast, so he is the perfect guide through the bardos of American drug history. Jeremy and Je...

This is a patrons episode. To become a patron, visit www.patreon.com/LoveMessagePod In this patrons-only episode, Tim and Jeremy continue our mini-series on the 1975 Schizo-Culture Conference. They discuss the demographic makeup of the two thousand attendees - from philosophers and writers to theatre makers, Black Panthers, radicals and prisoners - and consider what this interdisciplinary assembla...

In this episode we return to our home turf of the Loft, as David Mancuso moves his venue (and his home) from 647 Broadway to Prince Street. Tim and Jeremy detail the shutdown of the first Loft space, how David found the new location, and the battle he had with the art scene residents of Soho to stay there. The Prince Street Loft was a much larger space, set over two floors, so we hear about the di...

This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode of LITM. Become a patron for just £3 at Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod In this patrons-only episode, Jeremy and Tim begin the first of a mini-series on the 1975 Schizo-Culture Conference, held at Columbia University in NYC and convened by the writer and editor Sylvere Lotringer. Lotringer wanted to bring the ideas of Continental Philosophy to the US, so w...

We've unlocked this patrons-only episode of Love is the Message Extra, on which we welcome the legendary Nicky Siano to the show. Nicky is a central character in the story of the NYC underground party scene and disco, as well as a frequent interviewee for Tim's books. Nicky discusses his recent book, 'I, DJ: Stonewall to Studio 54', which tells the story of his life behind the deck...

This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To become a patron, head to Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod. In this patrons-only episode, Jeremy and Tim respond to an article in the New York Times about early evening partying for which Tim was interviewed - and misrepresented! This precipitates a wider conversation about the history of daytime partying and how partying at night became normalised. Tim...

In this episode Jeremy and Tim are checking in to Nicky Siano’s downtown spot The Gallery, a legendary party space often uttered in the same breath as the Loft, the Paradise Garage and the Warehouse. Nicky was a highly influential and original DJ who had as much as influence on Larry Levan and Frankie Knuckles as David Mancuso. We hear a history of the Gallery, setting it within the complex web of...

This is a patrons episode. To hear the full thing, become a patron at Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod. On this patrons-only episode of Love is the Message we are excited to welcome the legendary Nicky Siano onto the show. Nicky is a central character in story of the NYC underground party scene and disco, as well as a frequent interviewee for Tim's books. Nicky discusses his recent book, 'I, DJ: Stonewa...

We conclude our mini-series on the Downtown gay scene by taking a visit to three important parties of mid-70s New York: the 10th Floor, the Flamingo and 12 West. Jeremy and Tim explore the different musics, DJ styles and demographics found in each venue, along with the issues of race, exclusivity, consumer culture and sex that to different extents inform them. Naturally, they also contrast all of...

This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To become a patron, visit Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod In this patrons-only bonus episode, Jeremy and Tim have a conversation about what music has been on their turntables recently.   True to form, Jeremy brings psychedelic jazz and ambient selections both modern and classic. The legacy of Alice Coltrane is discussed around two excellent releases...

Our mini-series on the Downtown gay scene continues in earnest, so grab your towel because we're visiting the iconic Continental Baths. Tim and Jeremy give the history of this seminal space, charting the various forms of bathhouse culture since Antiquity, and exploring the role of promiscuous, anonymous and/or public gay sex through time. They also discuss 'queerness' as a radical act, heternormat...

This is a patrons-only episode. To hear the full interview, and many more episodes like it, go to Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod. In this patrons-only episode Jeremy and Tim talk about New York City in the 1970s with writer and academic Sharon Zukin. Sharon is a Professor of Sociology, teaching at Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York, and the author of books including...

Tim and Jeremy return from a mini winter break with a second episode looking at the music and politics of the Downtown queer dance floors of the early 70s. They interrogate the position of the Stonewall Riot in the history of queer culture, exploring many of the historiographical problems latent in the received accounts of this period and recontextualising the gay liberation movement of the time w...

This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To hear the whole thing, plus lectures on music and Marxism, Afrofuturism, Louis Vuitton, Fordism and more, become a patron by visiting Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod. In this patrons-only episode Tim continues to read from and discuss his essay Disco Madness: Walter Gibbons and the Legacy of Turntablism and Remixology. We hear about developments in DJ t...

The is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To hear more, as well as many more episodes on Fordism, Afrofuturism, Walter Gibbons, Marx and more, become a patron by visiting Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod. As we're in the dog days of December, we're happy to share with you: the LITM Christmas Special 2022. Tim and Jeremy have selected 9 records to form the basis of your alternative festive listening...

In this week's episode Tim and Jeremy begin a three-part investigation into the music, politics and social practices of the downtown gay party scene in mid-70s New York City. The guys review the historiography of homosexual sexual activities, beginning with a refresher on Michel Foucault's analysis found in his History of Sexuality. Jeremy and Tim also cover Freud and the psychoanalytic accou...

In this patrons-only episode Tim takes the long view on Walter Gibbons: DJ, remixer, break-juggler, born-again Christian and seminal character in the LITM story. In part one, we hear about Walter's early life, the techniques he developed to extend tracks when DJing, and his early experiments in reel-to-reel editing. Tim also discusses difficulties with disco historiography, misunderstandings about...

In this week's episode Jeremy and Tim flip the record for Side B of our examination of the 12" single. The guys consider what was going on in Dub culture and the format in the mid-70s, talk dubplate spec, and give the proper meaning to the dub discomix. They consider the appealing acoustic qualities of the 12" record, situate SalSoul within the story, and consider when the 12" single could be judg...