A Period Table of DJs Shows History With Derrick May, Frankie Knuckles, Jeff Mills

DJing is an art that is indebted to its history as it forges forward relentlessly driven by the pace of technological change. Often its history can be forgotten or muddled in that push forward, but those who had to endure the hardships of the past should never be forgotten. A new visual project has helped make that a little easier to give people a guide to the history of DJing. Artist Misfit has created a Period Table of DJs that starts at the inception of the photograph by Thomas Edison and runs up to the second summer of love in 1988.

The table takes you around the world with people like Nicki Siano, the influential New York DJ, to Kevin Saunderson and Derrick May in Detroit, Danny Rampling and even the Roland TR-808.

The table is being limited to 100 in total and runs about $150. It is printed on Origin Expression Textured 300gsm paper. See a few photos below and get a copy here.

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Today is National Periodic Table Day, plus it’s the 150 year anniversary of its invention by Dmitry Mendeleev. Here’s a little twist on it…The Periodic Table Of The DJ ………………………………..…………………………..…………… Periodic Table Of The DJ – Art Print (841mm x 594mm): Link in Biog or Click on Picture ………………………………..…………………………..…………… #periodictableofthedj #periodictable periodictableday #graphicdesign #infographic #secondsummeroflove #acidhouse #housemusic #housenation #housemusiclovers #housemusicdj #detroittechno #techno #technomusic #hiphop #disco #hiphop #dj #dancemusic #techhouse #deephouse #electronicmusic #nightclub #djhistory #historyofthedj #artmisfit

A post shared by Paulo Guimaraes – Art Misfit (@art.misfit) on Feb 7, 2019 at 3:34am PST

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The legendary Mud Club started in 1983 and was run by the flamboyant Philip Salon. It was sexually and racially mixed, and you wouldn’t get in unless you really made the effort to dress up One of its key DJs, Mark Moore @markmoore01 , first started his career after being asked to fill in by the club’s DJ Tasty Tim one night and ended up becoming one of its residents for over five years. His musical style was highly regarded and soon after he was asked to DJ at Asylum/Pyramid @ Heaven alongside Colin Favor and Evil Eddie Richards. Mark’s eclectic style meant that he is one of the unsung early champions of House music in the UK, even when at times it meant clearing the dancefloor. He influenced a new generation of upcoming DJs such as Laurent Garnier and Harvey. Later in the 80s he went on to have chart success as S’Express with ‘Theme from S-Express’. Another Mud Club resident was Jay Strongman @jaystrongman whose name is synonymous with the explosion of London’s unique nightclub scene in the 80s. He started DJing in 1982 at illegal warehouse party, The Dirtbox. Initially covering for the resident Dj who had passed out drunk, Jay’s mixture of funk, rockabilly and hip-hop went down well with the crowd and his DJ career kicked off from there. A year later he became a resident at The Mud Club. Both Mark and Jay are important DJs in the history of London’s club scene. ………………………………..…………………………..…………… Periodic Table Of The DJ – Art Print (841mm x 594mm): Link in Biog or Click on Picture ………………………………..…………………………..…………… #periodictableofthedj #themudclub #markmoore #jaystrongman #tastytim #philipsalon #djhistory #historyofthedj #acidhouse #housemusic #technomusic #hiphop #rockabilly #disco #hiphop #dj #electro #dancemusic #artmisfit

A post shared by Paulo Guimaraes – Art Misfit (@art.misfit) on Dec 20, 2018 at 12:32pm PST

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The Belleville Three… Juan Atkins @model_500 Derrick May @derrickmay and Kevin Saunderson @kevinsaunderson created the musical style known as Detroit Techno. Atkins had already been working on the blueprint with his Cybotron moniker (along with band member Rick Davis) making classics such as “Alleys of Your Mind” “Cosmic Cars” and “Clear”. However it was when he struck out on his own as Model 500 with the track “No UFOs” in 1985 that Techno had properly arrived. Soon after, fellow school friends May and Saunderson started to produce their own soulful machine music. Under the name Rhythm is Rhythm, May released the landmark “Strings of Life” in 1987, whilst Saunderson delivered the classic ‘Big Fun’’ as Inner City in 1988.. both tracks becoming anthems soundtracking the Second Summer of Love. ………………………………..…………………………..…………… Periodic Table Of The DJ – Art Print – Link in Biog ………………………………..…………………………..…………… #periodictableofthedj #detroittechno #techno #technomusic #noufos #stringsoflife #bigfun #detroit #bellevillethree #dancemusic #transmat #mayday #derrickmay #metroplex #model500 #juanatkins #kmsrecords #kevinsaunderson #808 #909 #djhistory #historyofthedj #artmisfit

A post shared by Paulo Guimaraes – Art Misfit (@art.misfit) on Nov 17, 2018 at 2:02am PST

H/T: Mixmag

By Magnetic
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