The following article was written by my homeslice Murray from www.beginnerDJ.com – he’s really knowledgeable when it comes to DJing and plans to bring out a bunch of blogs and hopefully video tutorials! be sure to check it out and get your RSS on! 
The History of DJing
To look at the history of DJing we have to go back, waaaay back.
Before we delve into the world of DJing, it’s important to know where it all started from, before the first record was spun.
The phonograph was invited by Leon Scott in 1857, but it took the invention of the phonograph cylinder by Thomas Edison which allowed people to record and play sound using this device. Not long later, in 1906, Reginald Fesseden played the first record over the air. Just 3 years after was the birth of the first disk jockey, Ray Newby, however the term disc jockey wasn’t used until Walter Winchell first created the term in 1935.
As the interest in music continued to grow, it also brought upon a need for people to come together and listen to the music. The first real ‘clubs’ were simply jook houses. If that name sounds a bit familiar it’s because it was the original name of the jukebox.
During the 1940’s, Jazz music became all the rage. Because of the underground sound of Jazz, it also introduced some of the first underground parties and discotheques. These small clubs were truly underground, often requiring passwords and the ‘know’ in order to attend. Jazz eventually reached the mainstream and helped push the party atmosphere to the masses.
Soon dances began to show up in schools and other small venues. The limit of the hardware meant that the music was much distorted and didn’t work over too well. However, as the hardware capabilities increase, so did the quality of music.
Surprisingly, in Jamaica, parties began to be thrown on large sound systems; this was the true beginning to the modern party scene.
At this point in the history of DJing, many of the main techniques still haven’t been employed yet such at beatmatching and scratching. It would take the work of the DJs of the 70s and 80s to really give birth to the modern day DJ.
So, with that being said, let’s fast forward to the rise of the modern day DJ.
The rise of clubs and discotheques
During the 60s, the world saw a rise in clubs and discotheques in both Europe and the United States. With the use of the CMA-10-2DL mixer, DJs were finally able to mix between two records fluently.
In New York, no less, David Mancuso started the “by invitation only” parties. Soon after the creation of these parties, The Loft was formed, the first underground dance party in 1970.
Immediately, the gay community found a home within the discotheques. Because of the intolerance of the time, police would often raid these places until one day the people fought back, which was later called the Stonewall Riots. The Stonewall Riots was also the mark of the gay liberation movement.
Within this same year of 1970, Francis Grasso invents slip-cueing, which will later become beatmatching. Finally, DJs were able to mix between two records fluidly to keep the dance floor going til no end.
Francis’ technique of mixing also required the DJ to begin wearing headphones to be able to listen in on a new track before it’s mixed in. Beatmatching at this point was still quite difficult as required DJs to find similar bpm vinyl. DJ Mixers were later created by Alex Rosner which allowed the DJ to control the pitch of the records, giving the DJ further control than what they previously had.
Finally, the 12’ vinyl
Up until this point, DJs still used 7’ vinyl but these only allowed for short radio play songs to be played, the party-goers wanted something more. The larger style vinyl records allowed the producers to press vinyl with greater sound quality and length.
Let’s take a break – The next great influence
In 1973, DJ Kool Herc first began to play records in a fashion which looped the breaks of an album. This mixing technique allowed songs to be played in length, keeping the beat going for quite some time – the partiers could keep dancing to no end.
Not long after, in 1974, the Technics SL-1200 turntables will be released to the public, becoming an industry standard in DJing gear still to this day.
Now that DJs finally had industry gear, they could finally begin to truly become what they are today.
It didn’t take long after Kool Herc’s mixing to influence much more than just the club scene, it helped start Hip Hop. Along with others like Grandmaster Flash and Afrika Bambaata, Hip Hop became the newest genre to hit the world and along with it came the concept of the whole package: DJing, MCing, graffiti and breakdancing.
Within the same year, Kraftwerk is credited with the creation of electronic music. Repetitive beats with complimentary synthesizers, electronic music would see its rise in the underground. Hip Hop and Electronic Music, both of the biggest underground styles that would soon see an explosion in interest and influence on the DJ.
Wait, scratch that
The history of DJing continued to develop rapidly during the 70s. Soon after DJ Kool Herc’s mixing technique also came the art of scratching. Discovered accidentally by Grand Wizard Theodore in 1975, scratching involved rocking the record back and forth to create a ‘scratching’ sound. It took the work of Grand Mixer DXT to show the world scratching on Herbie Hancock’s “Rockit”.
And let’s not forget Disco
The 70s was the age of Disco. Quickly taking the world by storm, Disco became the music to listen to as well as being played in the most famous clubs. The Disco clubs were the place to be in the 70s. During the Disco days, much of the roots of the dance scene took place.
Lighting, dancing and drugs began to infuse within the dance scene on a massive scale. There was no short of abundance with cocaine during the Disco days, a major influence which kept parties going well into the early mornings. Party goers needed the music to be nonstop, with the new techniques of mixing, equipment and new vinyl formats, DJs were able have complete control over the dance floor.
All good things come to an end
By 1980, people began to get fed up with Disco. The rise of Rock music and “Death To Disco” finally put the nail in the Disco coffin, but with the fall of one genre of music came the rise of another. Soon, club-goers would have a brand new type of music to dance to…
The Rise of House and Techno
In the 1980s, DJs continued to play Disco tracks, but it just wasn’t doing it for many of the club-goers. With drum machines and synths becoming easily available and affordable to the masses such as the Roland TR-909, 808 and 303, DJs also were able to begin producing their own music to play during their sets.
Electronic music was on the rise and the DJ had something completely new to bring to the clubbers.
Chicago House is highly credited to the track “Your Love” by Frankie Knuckles. Using a repetitive beats, simple basslines and complex rythms, Chicago House ushered in a new type of club experience that the world had never experienced yet.
Also in the 80s, Detroit Techno sees its emergence on the electronic music scene. Juan Atkins, Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson are the three most credited with the creation of Detroit Techno. Unlike Chicago House, Detroit Techno was very raw, being influenced by the harshness of the Detroit life. Detroit Techno had a similar sound to Chicago House but instead Detroit Techno producers used industrial noises and robotic voices in place of the harmonic vocals often heard in Chicago House.
Finally, the DJ had full control over the crowd by hypnotizing the club patrons with these brand new genres of music. Much like the song, people began to “jack” move and really get into the music.
Taking DJing to the next level
Electronic music began to take the underground over, clubbers wanted faster and harder music, the DJs knew this and had to accommodate to their partiers needs.
Acid House took the world.
Using the Roland TB-303, producers created new, hypnotic songs using acid basslines and pounding bass. DJs had their hands full now, clubbers needed to push their partying to the next level in full on fashion.
Not surprisingly, the drug culture also followed with Acid House. Although not directly named for the drug, LSD became a major drug of the Acid House scene. These parties began to grow in a massive scale; the DJ began to become a major figure of the party.
DJs now had the task of taking their listeners on a trip. Reading the crowds and playing off their emotions, DJs had to learn to influence the crowd and control them; sending them into new areas of their minds and making them lose control.
The second summer of love
By 1988, the second summer of love was in full effect – fueled by ecstasy, rave music and the new techniques brought on by many iconic DJs of the time. Built upon Acid House, rave music was the new scene that brought along many new DJs tricks and styles.
Parties began to spread beyond the club scene, spilling into the countryside of the UK where massive parties were being held. DJs were now able to play to massive crowds as if they were rock stars, DJs were now able to brand themselves.
However, the government did not like that they could no longer control this new counter culture. The police force began to crack down on these parties and would eventually pass the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act of 1994. This new law virtually ruined the rave scene, imposing hefty fines on party-goers and promoters, while also making it illegal to play the music in public.
But the scene couldn’t be stopped.
In the early 90s, the rave scene also blossomed in the United States. Although similar in focus, the U.S. rave scene had its differences in musical styles and philosophies, but the soul was still there. Many well known DJs of today got their start in the 90s U.S. rave scene, they’ve continued to evolve as clubbers wanted different genres of music to be played.
The digital age
It was inevitable that DJing would evolve as technology did.
The 90s brought on many new changes to DJing which allowed DJs to play on internet radio stations, use controllers, laptops and use digital music. Although the use of digital controllers split some of the core of the DJ scene, it helped push DJing into a new untouched world of live remixing and effects.
DJs also began to reach the mainstream as many bands began using DJs in their groups. Although still not as mainstream as rock, pop, hip hop and other forms of music, electronic music continues to grow in popularity – along with the DJs that play it.
DJing lives on
With DJing being over 100 years old now, it’s seen a continuous rise in techniques and style. From the simple use of a vinyl record to play singles, to mixing and beatmatching, scratching and turntabalism, DJing continues to evolve to this day.
Massive parties are held around the world devoted to every single genre of music. DJs are known throughout the world and many hold high status within their devoted followers.
Where does it go from here?
With new, modern hardware for DJing, the scene has changed considerably since its humble roots. New genres of music are being born at a constant rate; there will always be a need for DJs to play each of these. There’s no shortage of clubs around the world that are continuously packed every night with people of all ages that need to hear loud dance music and lose themselves to the hypnotic beats.
Who knows where DJing will go from here. DJs continuously bend the sound and push the limit of the music they’re playing. There really is no end to what we can expect from the music and the DJs that play it, this was but a glimpse of the rich history of DJing.
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Hope everyone finds this helpful!
Of course this thing could have been an entire books worth of writing, but I hope it tells you enough about where DJing came from and where it’s going
man this is an awesome post, i love reading about dj history, good show man!
man this is great
my name is mooger
[...] to bore you entirely about the history, I suggest you go take a look at The History Of DJing I wrote on [...]
Awesome post, dude.
that totally helped out with my passion project!
the best dj equipments that we used are made by Sennheiser, Korg and Bose’”`
dj equipments that are built by Sennheiser are the best in my opinion, we always use them when we have a gig :’,
Awesome post bud
Cannot thank you enough for this post, a great overview of DJ tech and movement, you should consider this as a career, your style is cool. Thanks again.
Where did he get his information from? im trying to do a research problem on all the origins of the elements of hip hop
Thank you for the sensible critique. Me & my neighbor were just preparing to do a little research on this. We got a grab a book from our area library but I think I learned more clear from this post. I am very glad to see such great info being shared freely out there.
Amaze! Thanks! I always aspired to create in my website the like.