The Beat, the Scene, the Sound: A DJ’s Journey Through the Rise, Fall, and Rebirth of House Music in New York City

At New York clubs during the 1980s and early 1990s, deep bass lines and sped-up drum beats from house music had parties jumping. David Banks, a.k.a. DJ Disciple, one of house music’s prominent figures, looks at the era and his career with the help of journalist Kronk to recount house music’s rise, decline, and rebirth. Disciple was a college-radio disc jockey playing gospel music when his friends introduced him to Chicago’s house music and the New York dance scene. Within a few years, Disciple went from deejaying college parties to playing the main stage at nightclubs. Eventually, NYC politics and changing music tastes took house music underground and overseas. Interviews with club promoters, music producers, and other disc jockeys round out this straightforward trip down memory lane, whose sometimes lethargic writing is an extreme contrast to its energetic topic; exciting events are often explained dryly with brief detail, and the stories about DJ Disciple’s personal life stop once his career takes off.