I wanted to throw this out there as a point of discussion, and it’s something I’ve been pondering today…
Yes, DJ AM was just another performer on two turntables and a mixer, but as I look at it he was really the first person (at least in a while) to make it big and into the mainstream strictly because of his skills as a DJ. Yes, he did the stuff with travis barker and that could be called “original” production work, but as I look at it, he will probably be remembered as a DJ and for his work as a DJ, and not necessarily a music “producer”.
Question for discussion 1: Did DJ AM open the door for true “DJs” (i.e people playing other people’s music) to actually make it big and be successful as a DJ (NOT as a producer)?
Question for discussion 2: Will DJ AM’s public recognition as a DJ mean that there will be a change in the way the public views “DJs” in general?
not to downplay any significance he had for anyone, but at this point he’s just a tabloid for a lot of people. they will forget, and DJs will keep their status.
I agree with djhipnotikk. Without being disrespectful its just a story for the tabloids because of his Madonna/Blink etc connections.
If it was another DJ , i dunno, Mix Master Mike the tabloids would have a little bit on a middle page with a few lines saying ‘Beastie Boys DJ Dies’ .
The amount of press that people get is often linked to who else they know.
As for the questions.
1.No, there were plenty before him.
2.No. DJs will always be considered as overpaid, drugged up goofs that just play other people music. Who cares.
Is he really that famous in the USofA. Hes not well know in UK (in the mainstream).
Ive been going through my remix collection and checking some DJ am stuff. Im like yea. I liked this mix alot but I didn’t care who made it at the time.
My point being … There are alot of really good DJ AM mixes in my collection that i had no idea about. Does someone have to die to be recognized in my world. No .. I knew it was good when I heard it. But the significance of check out … that is undeniable. I would never want to be famous. Rest in peace Dude.
no and no. he didn’t make it into the mainstream by his dj skills, he made it into the mainstream by his celebrity associations (nichole ritchie and travis barker). That’s not to say he wasn’t talented at what he did, but honestly I’ve been in the scene for +10 years and I’d never heard his work until after his untimely passing.
it’s a tragedy that he lost his life, but let’s not prop him up to be anything he’s not. He wasn’t the first mainstream recognized dj either, anyone who would think that clearly missed the bigbeat explosion in the 90s that gave mainstream exposure to the likes of Fatboy Slim, The Chemical Brothers, The Prodigy, The Crystal Method etc etc. and those guys didn’t achieve such status by humping Reality TV stars.
im not trying to be mean, just being real. did you honestly ever hear of DJ AM as anything other than Nicole Ritchie’s boyfriend? It’s news to me that he was in either of those bands.
and the fact you had to bring up wikipedia to support your argument is kind of proof in the pudding bud
nah brother i got you, and i’ll be the first one to admit that i had NEVER noted this dude before he got in the plane crash (though i did recall him doing stuff with crazy town after checking the wiki, unfortunately their music sucked). don’t really care either way, i don’t claim to be current in all music everywhere, “popular” or not. i didn’t know he had anything to do with that dumb cnt until you said something
on a side note.. what’s your grudge with wiki? i reference it for anything
^ lol i’m a sucker for celebrity gossip what can I say. it’s a guilty pleasure. have your laughs we all got our thing we like to do that ain’t cool hahaha.
no grudge against wiki. it just looked like you had to dig that up to find the thing out about crazy town… i didn’t know anyone listened to crazy town.. haha there. now we know what your guilty pleasure is !
There were many other big, big DJ’s way before DJ Am…
Larry Levan, Grandmaster Flash, Jimmy Saville (I shit you not), Paul Oakenfold, Tiesto, Goldie, Grooverider, Todd Terry, Ron Hardy, Frankie Knuckles, Larry Heard, Juan Atkins, Danny Rampling, Erick Morillo, Roger Sanchez, Junior Vasquez, Danny Tenaglia, Jonathan Peters, Andy Weatherall, Coldcut, Mike Pickering, Andy Weatherall, Greg Wilson, the list goes on…
And dude, i shit you not my mothers friend was one of Jimmy Savilles girlfriends in the early 60s. He was a regular at a pub near were we live before he started what was the worlds first Night Club (dubious but true myth). My mum tells the story a lot as you can imagine.
From WiKi:
“Savile is widely acknowledged as being one of the first in England to use twin turntables for continuous play of music, thus pioneering the concept of DJing as we know it today”
The only thing I had really ever heard about DJ AM was the Nicole Ritchie thing and that seemed to happen at a time when Mash-UP DJ’s were getting ALOT of attention …
After that It was just like “oh yeah , DJ AM , that was somewhat of a clever name , he’s boning nicole ritchie … wow.”
No one gives a fuck about DJ AM in the new england area of the U.S.
Maybe on the west coast and in vegas and maybe miami or NY he was some kind of “big star” but not where I am.
As was mentioned before … I’m nearly positive he was a mash DJ right when it started to blow up in the early 2000’s and thats probably why nicole ritchie gave up the punani.
No disrespect i’m just calling it how I think it was.
