Remembering the popular music of the 1990s: dance music and the cultural meanings of decade-based nostalgia

Abstract

Following the popularisation of dance music in the 1990s, and the consolidation of disc jockeys (DJs) as global stars, this article examines the attachment of music audiences to this decade by examining the popular flashback dance parties held in the Netherlands. By drawing on theories of cultural heritage, memory and nostalgia, this article explores 1990s-themed parties as spaces where music audiences construct cultural identities and engage with their musical memories. Based on in-depth interviews with audience members, DJs and organisers of dance events, this study examines the meaning of cultural memories and the manner in which nostalgia arises in specific sociocultural settings. The findings indicate two ways in which cultural memories take shape. At early-parties, DJs and audiences return to the roots of specific genres and try to preserve these sounds. Decade-parties offer an experience of reminiscence by loosely signifying the decade and its diverse mix of music styles and fashions.

Keywords:

• popular music
• dance music
• cultural heritage
• cultural memory
• nostalgia

Acknowledgements

This research has been supported as part of the Popular Music Heritage, Cultural Memory and Cultural Identity (POPID) project by the HERA Joint Research Programme (www.heranet.info) which is co-funded by AHRC, AKA, DASTI, ETF, FNR, FWF, HAZU, IRCHSS, MHEST, NWO, RANNIS, RCN, VR and The European Community FP7 2007–2013, under ‘the Socio-economic Sciences and Humanities programme’. The author would like to thank Hillegonda Rietveld, Les Roberts, Vaughn Schmutz and the two anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments and suggestions.

Notes

1. All Dutch quotes have been translated by the author.

2. To my knowledge, these parties are also organised in Australia, the UK and Belgium.

3. For a more comprehensive overview of the youth culture of the gabbers, see Verhagen et al. (2000) and Reynolds (1999).

4. Needless to say, the artistic legacy of gabberhouse is also audible at parties with more recent genres like hardstyle. However, in this article, I focus on parties that explicitly engage with music from the 1990s.

5. In the Netherlands, Radio 5 Nostalgia (www.radio5nostalgia.nl/) and an online ‘Nostalgia shop’ (www.dewinkelvandenostalgie.nl/) both target baby boomers.