Who decided dancing until 3:00 am was not good enough?

May 6, 2010 11:56 AM

I'm interested in learning more about the origins of all-night dance clubs and parties, the type of which are now standard practice in most underground nightclubs in Europe and in some bigger cities in North America. Can any one particular scene (dance music or otherwise) be credited for developing the idea of dancing through the night and into the next morning?

I understand this became more common during the advent of rave culture in the 1980s but I am fairly certain all-night dancing was happening in the disco, northern soul, funk and perhaps even rock n' roll scenes as far back as the 1960s. I know the parties involved with northern soul music were known as "all-nighters" but I'm not sure if that is a literal meaning or if they ended at say, 2 am.

I'd also be interested in learning about which nightclubs were the first to have regular established hours for all night clubbing (as in going until at least 5-6 am...not just 2 or 3 am).

Thanks!

posted by the foreground to Society & Culture (12 answers total)

here's a book about women during the '20s called all night party.

youth + music + drugs = staying up all night. none of our ideas are new.
posted by nadawi at 12:17 PM on May 6, 2010 [2 favorites]

From my fiance, who has not researched the subject thoroughly, but HAS attended Rhythm Society (all night dance celebrations) in NYC and San Francisco:

"It’s much, much older than you might think. Native Americans danced for days at a time in order to reach trance states. I’m just guessing, but I bet that almost every society discovered the same thing, independently if necessary. My brother says it has an evolutionary purpose: to make your neurons fire in sync."

I'm looking forward to the rest of this thread.
posted by hungrybruno at 12:20 PM on May 6, 2010

I know the parties involved with northern soul music were known as "all-nighters" but I'm not sure if that is a literal meaning or if they ended at say, 2 am.

Well, at Wigan Casino, they played the 3 before 8 -- the last three records of the night which ended at (presumably) 8am.
posted by mhum at 12:25 PM on May 6, 2010 [1 favorite]

Oops. I also meant to link this for the actual three songs that comprised the 3 before 8.
posted by mhum at 12:26 PM on May 6, 2010

As nadawi pointed out, there's nothing new under the sun here. Still, there are a couple of very good movies that address some it.

The, er, "somewhat fictionalized" story of Tony Wilson, 24 Hour Party People, and the documentary about electronic/electronica music, Modulations. The latter is particularly excellent, although the focus is more on the music you do get to see the evolution of electronic music into clubs and the all night stuff.

24 Hour Party People sensationalizes Tony Wilson's part in the creation of rave culture, but it still is a fun movie to watch and does cover some of the historical moments of the culture in the UK.
posted by smallerdemon at 12:38 PM on May 6, 2010

In high school (early 1980's) we'd play Prince records in the basement and danced all night - and we were good country kids who didn't even drink or smoke.

In college we stayed up til dawn talking and drinking and being messy, and in summer dancing to reggae and backyard rock bands.

And even with that, the rave scene felt new and different, and dancing until dawn took on a whole new dimension. My favorite time on the dance floor is still 5am, when the drinkers have gone home and you've danced for hours and are in that rare trance state. And so while I'm sure the roots go deeper, for me the underground clubs of Detroit is where it started.

--- On the same token, I'm curious when this tradition of not even going to the clubs until 2 or 3 am started. I've gone out with friends in BsAs and New York who sleep all evening, wake up at midnight or 1 am, and then start getting ready for their night out.
posted by kanewai at 12:43 PM on May 6, 2010

i don't know if this is pertinent, but when i lived in japan, nights out in tokyo meant ALL NIGHT nights out in tokyo because the trains stopped running around midnight? one? and the clubs never really got going until about 2 in the morning so we'd just party until the first trains started running. so in this case the party scene is set by our transportation options for getting home, not necessarily any type of music or type of club. all the clubs stay open all night because that's how they make money. you don't want to be the only club on the street not open at 4 am.
posted by raw sugar at 1:56 PM on May 6, 2010

I'd also be interested in learning about which nightclubs were the first to have regular established hours for all night clubbing (as in going until at least 5-6 am...not just 2 or 3 am).

Emily Post's 1922 book on etiquette talks about balls that have sit-down suppers with service beginning at one and continuing until three. And says that at some balls a breakfast is served at 4AM. So High Society was partying all night in New York in the 20's.
posted by Jahaza at 3:15 PM on May 6, 2010

Forgot the link... the chapter on balls.
posted by Jahaza at 3:15 PM on May 6, 2010

F.W. Murnau's Sunrise features a city of all night party goers that probably capitalized on the environment of roaring 20s all night city culture.
posted by smallerdemon at 3:48 PM on May 6, 2010

Ah, I'm such a space cadet. Smallerdemon's post on the fantastic Sunrise triggered a flood of examples ...

I just finished War and Peace, and I'm sure that Natasha's first ball went on until dawn.

The ball in The Leopard most definitely went on all night.

The Italians also partied all night in La Dolce Vita and Nights of Cabiria, as did the Native Americans of Bunker Hill in The Exiles.
posted by kanewai at 4:14 PM on May 6, 2010

I thought for sure the masquerade ball in Steppenwolf lasted until dawn, but perhaps I was mistaken - I can't find the passage I'm thinking of. (It partially took place in Hell, too, so I don't know if that's exactly what you're looking for.)
posted by punchdrunkhistory at 10:17 PM on May 6, 2010