OPINION What are some good sources (documentaries, books, etc) for a history of techno?

[LUCIEN]

I have a history paper coming up. Requirements are that it be centered around an American cultural artifact between the years 1900 and 2000. I chose techno music and want to focus on it's origins, the Belleville three, and the role of Black artists in the development of digital music. Expanding from that, I want to tie in the lack of discussion concerning the importance of these contributions from Black musicians as another example of a trend where history fails to acknowledge and outright neglects the significance of Black creations until way after the fact. Black history month just came and went, yet I heard nothing of the Belleville three outside of my own exploration for this paper. However, the White power structure will conveniently beat us over the head with odes to Blues and Jazz musicians in their patronizing efforts to try and ameliorate their past transgressions and ignorance. These genres are quite distant in their relevance, though. This is the crux of my thesis: Techno's importance, and the role Black Americans had in shaping it and also shaping the current digital music paradigm, goes unrecognized because of its current relevance.

There's a lot of evidence of this slow reaction trend, from drugs to environmentalism, that I will also introduce to support that thesis. But I need some good sources and I know some of you are into the techno scene or used to be so I figure this is a good place to check.

 

[dontdiedontkillanyone]

High Tech Soul goes into the roots of Techno and is told by the ones that were there - if you haven't seen it yet then this should help with your paper:



If you can still find these books:

Techno Rebels
Pump Up The Volume
Last Night a DJ Saved My Life
The Record Players
Etc.

You can find loads of books about dance and specifically techno on Amazon. There was also a four part TV documentary to fall alongside the Pump Up The Volume book that was aired on Channel 4 around early-mid 2000s which started from the early days of Disco, House and Techno up to modern day dance music:



I hope you don't forget to mention the likes of Carl Craig, Jeff Mills, Urban Resistance, Moodymann, etc.







House, Techno, etc. is yet another example of black people creating something for it to be taken away by white people. The likes of Larry Levan, Marshall Jefferson, Larry Heard, Frankie Knuckles, Juan Atkins, Kevin Saunderson, Derrick May, etc. should be lauded in American music's hall of fame, but America never embraced them or the music. It had to go to Europe to morph into completely different subgenres and shipped back to the US 30 years later as EDM for mainstream America to get it. It's a shame the early pioneers of Disco, House and Techno never got the mass-culture appreciation they deserved in their homeland.