All Crews – by Brian Belle-Fortune

review by Fabio Beyer

A great read for anyone who genuinely loves dance music and an absolute must-have if you are a drum'n'bass DJ or producer.

It has been said of this book that it is "the definitive book of Jungle", "the REAL source of tales of Drum'n'Bass", "the D&B bible", "the most informative history of Drum'n'Bass" and these are quotes from the likes of Grooverider, DJ Storm, DJ Bailey, L Double, to name but a few.

This book has been around for a while but it has been updated recently so now it covers the years from 1988 to 2004, but I found about it only in 2006, and I can add my humble self to the list of supporters.

The main thing about All Crews is that it's much more than a history of Jungle and Drum'n'Bass, it's a highly personal recount of what it felt like to live through the UK rave scene that developed in to a worldwide phenomenon, and it's the most inspiring read I have ever come across if you are a music maker yourself.

I mean, the best part of this book is not the interviews, the pictures, the amusing stories and not-so-well known facts – sure, you have all that, more than you could ever find in any of those academic dissertations written when it was trendy to write about D&B; the best part is that you can read any two paragraphs and immediately feel a burst of creative energy to go and start making a track. It's that good.

In fact it's the kind of book that you might read for free from a friend and you still want to buy a copy, just to have it there.

All Crews is written in short paragraphs and it's easy to read in a random way, you don't have to go from start to end, and it's very enjoyable as a read on the bus or in any situation where you need something good to read for a short time (yes, you know what I am talking about). But I would keep it just next to the mixer, for those moments when you are stuck on a track and look for a break.

Because it contains so many inside stories involving distribution, independent labels, record shops (the legendary Black Market Records), promoters, booking agents and touring DJs, this is an essential read for anyone who is involved in the dance scene, from house to hip hop, from techno to jungle.

All Crews is published by Vision Publishing (also publisher of the excellent Knowledge magazine) and you can buy it for just £10 from their website.

Buy from Vision Publishing – you can also order on the phone by calling 0207 183 0468

Buy from Amazon