History is made at night

Burns Night once more, the Scottish poet Robert Burns being born on this day in 1759. I have had my vegetarian haggis and a glass of Laphro...

A while ago I posted chronologies of police and parties from 1996 and 1997 . Here's some more from 1994 and 1995, all from England unles...

Night stirs the trees With breathings of such music that they sway, Skirts, sleeves, tiaras, in the humming dark, Their highborn heads tossi...

Rob Young’s Electric Eden: Unearthing Britain’s Visionary Music is an ambitious, accomplished and entertaining survey of 100 years of music-...

How much do the origins of music owe to cattle? I was prompted to think about this when reading 'The Storr: unfolding landscape' (ed...

It's time for that Burns night post again : Music historians have long noted the influence of the Scottish ballad tradition on the devel...

Following my earlier post about the 25th anniversary of the Miners Strike , here's some recollections of being a strike supporter in Ken...

As many people have mentioned over the last couple of weeks, it is 25 years since the start of the last great Miners Strike in Britain. On 5...

Famous Glasgow nightclub The Arches is at risk of losing its license (though its website declares that it is currently still open for busin...

Away this week from my usual London habitat, I have instead been (re)visiting the ‘ancestral homeland’ of the Isle of Islay in the Hebrides....

Bob from Brockley has alerted to me Primal Scream's cover version of Hawkwind's Urban Guerrilla, to which they have added the lyric...

A low key Burns Night tonight (compared with last year's ). There's a vegetarian haggis in the oven and a bottle of Laphroaig in t...

Following the recent 1997 chronology we go back another year to 1996, a time of Reclaim the Streets parties, police raids on gay clubs and,...

This chronology of raves, clubs and policing was compiled from the dance music press at the time ( Mixmag , Muzik , Eternity, DJ etc.). Much...

A fairly low key May Day in London yesterday. At Canary Wharf (big business centre) about 100 people danced to a samba band , having previo...

Extracts from 19th century ballroom manuals: From a New York publication 1864: "Loud conversation, profanity, stamping the feet, writi...

Rituals and other social occasions are defined by different mixtures of particular musics, intoxicants and behaviours. For Burns Night (25 ...