Techno Shuffle: Rave culture and the Melbourne underground
A book by Paul Fleckney
“It was like a big playground, a crazy adventure. You’d walk in and there’d be thousands of people all doing their thing with no authority and no expectations. You could do what you want, say what you want, be who you want and stay up all night.”
— Kim (raver)
Techno Shuffle is the result of four years' of research and dozens of interviews with the people who shaped a subculture. The book traces rave’s evolution from tiny underground clubs to waterfront wonderlands. Along the way, the story unfolds against a backdrop of post-war migration, gay and lesbian rights, Australian drinking culture, the Melbourne gangland killings and the global ascendancy of dance music.
The book features quotes from DJs, promoters, musicians and partygoers and includes forty colour pages of original photos and flyers. Techno Shuffle is for those who were there and those who wish they had been.
Praise for Techno Shuffle
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DJ Mag (UK)
“Pitched as a catalogue on the Melbourne rave scene, Techno Shuffle is far more the global story of house music ... an extremely accurate social history of rave ... and a thorough and well written explanation of the globalisation of electronic dance music.”
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Will Brewster, Mixdown Mag
"An impeccable all-encompassing account of Melbourne rave culture”
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DJ Lani G (aka Lux)
"I just finished Techno Shuffle. I have never read a book in one day. Wow. Wow. Wow. Just wow! So informative. Extremely well researched and insightful. Beautifully written. I couldn't put it down. We have a book Melbourne! Fully documented."
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Simon Brown, ABC Radio
“A remarkable achievement. Meticulously put together … it also made me laugh out loud.”
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Adem Jaffers, aka Tekno Mandala
"A fabulously engaging read. Bravo!
It has it all - the freshness, excitement, experimentation, innocence, betrayal, drugs, politics, crime, spirituality, sexuality, imagery, fashion, imagination, ideology, geography, characters, technology, history, dance and most of all the consciousness shifting music."
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Tennille Murphy
"I loved it! So well researched and on point. I highly recommend this book ... the insight and emotion it unravelled will stay in my heart forever. Thank you so much for all the hard work you put into writing Techno Shuffle. It's perfect xxx."
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Emmy Boudry (Right on One Productions)
“Very well written. Thank you for deciding to use your wonderful writing skills on our scene.”
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Chris Johnston, author of 'The Family'
“The book is terrific ... a real deep social/ cultural history.”
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Tess Kruyer
"I could not put this book down! It brought back so many memories and to have an outsider recognise that era of Melbourne as significant is testament to how good it really was ... and it WAS!”
Techno Shuffle was published in paperback in 2018 by Melbourne Books. It includes 48 pages of full-colour images. I have less than 100 copies remaining.
If you would like to buy a copy, send me a message and I'll get back to you ASAP. Cost is $35 including postage within Australia. Payment via PayPal or bank transfer.
Chapter summary
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1. Dancing Queens
Late seventies Melbourne and disco has made its way to Melbourne. It's the soundtrack of choice for the children of post-war migrants and a jubilant gay scene celebrating newfound freedoms. A decade later, disco's gone mainstream and the nightclub is king.
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2. Punks and Pineapple Heads
On the other side of town, the Little Bands Scene rocks the Crystal Ballroom, illegal clubs play dirty disco and heroin runs through the city's veins. Melbourne's underground scene is alive with diverse and creative subcultures, finding their ultimate expression in Razor, the coolest club in town.
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3. Pleasure Seekers
It's 1989 and the London acid house scene is about to crack. Richard and Hydi John board a plane to Australia and help to kickstart a fledgling scene that pulls in schoolboy DJs, fellow expats and an older crew who can hear the spirit of punk whispering between techno’s broken chords.
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4. Children of Ecstasy
At the back of the clubs at 3am, young techno fans fly high on acid, ecstasy and pounding beats. Then on 10th June 1990, Biology brings it all together: a quality sound system, strobe lighting, high intensity lasers and a dingy concrete shed.
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5. Pure Ravers
At Maze, a labyrinthine pleasure den in a former cheese cellar, H2O and Rudeboy ply partygoers with the latest underground techno and acid. But it's not until Mark James hires Will E Tell and Steve Robbins to headline his new club, Pure, that Melbourne's ravers have a place they call home.
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6. Techno Renegades
On New Year’s Eve 1991, Richie Rich throws his first Hardware party and it's a big hit, attracting over a thousand patrons in the face of stiff competition. As Richie’s raving empire slowly builds, other crews dig further underground, putting on free parties or taking the rave out onto the street.
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7. Global Villagers
Footscray, 1994. The rave scene is at its peak and ecstasy has replaced alcohol as the drug of choice for thousands of young Melburnians. The flagship rave is Every Picture Tells a Story at Global Village, a dark hive of techno psychedelia created by Richard and Hydi, Phil Voodoo and Melbourne Underground Development.
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8. Melbourne Shufflers
Melbourne’s ravers glide over baby powder on spacious sprung wooden dancefloors. The emergent style fuses hip-hop, jazz-fusion, New Jack Swing, surfie culture, northern soul and Manchester house music. Never intended as a one-size-fits-all dance, the Melbourne Shuffle is about finding your own style on the dancefloor.
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9. Gatecrashers
The death of Sydney schoolgirl Anna Wood hurls ecstasy onto the front pages. Meanwhile, the lure of easy cash draws in Melbourne's mafia who take over the supply of drugs to parties. Promoters learn quickly that to succeed they need to go legit.
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10. Two Tribes
Melbourne, 2000. Rave has become commoditised, packaged up and sold to a new generation of consumers. But peel back the glossy surface and you can still see the underground’s beating heart. Much has changed but for those who lived it one thing remains: a fondness for fun times, lifelong friendships and a gratitude for having been in the right place at the right time.