New Book On Sydney Nightlife Achieves Kickstarter Goal

Mary Varvaris

The book revisits “twenty glorious years” in Sydney that included “an explosion of the arts, pushing the envelope of staid and conventional culture.”

ivy Nightclub
ivy Nightclub(Credit: Supplied)

A new book focusing on a 20-year history of Sydney’s nightlife is on the way, having met its Kickstarter fundraising goal this month.

I Feel Love - A History Of Sydney Nightlife: 1980 to 2000 is the project of Sean Finlay (Dance Delirium, Kinselas), Ian Hartley (I.C.E., Skin Deep), and David Milton (UK Clubs, Hip Hop Club).

The trio also enlisted the support of club and radio DJ Stephen Ferris, later gathering contributions from DJ Tim Ritchie, DJ Mark Murphy, and club promoter and graphic designer Dean Van Dyke.

The campaign for the book ended up on Kickstarter because the team were unsure of demand and needed to cover the costs of professional help to produce it properly.

The book revisits “twenty glorious years” in Sydney that included “an explosion of the arts, pushing the envelope of staid and conventional culture.” Together, the team behind I Feel Love recall personal memories of nightclubs in Sydney during those golden years.

A self-published effort, the book will be released via Finlay and Hartley’s Nightclubbing Sydney Pty Ltd. The first 11,000 supporters – most of whom follow the Sydney Nightlife Facebook group – will be first to receive their copies of I Feel Love. You can support the campaign here.

“Whilst the book is about Sydney Nightclubbing in those years, we concentrate for the most part on the core clubbing areas of Darlinghurst and Kings Cross, venturing slightly further afield in the late 80s with the Hordern Pavilion parties and in the 90s with the warehouse ‘Raves,’” the team behind I Feel Love explained.

They continued, “The inner-city areas were where straight and gay DJs, clubbers and party-goers mixed together and created a heady and socially inclusive mix.

“The book ends as the Darlinghurst and Kings Cross clubs become over-policed and clubbing becomes more ‘mass market’, moving into the City of Sydney and to daytime government-approved festivals – when analogue poster and flier design and distribution ends and the internet takes over with Resident Advisor and later social media.”

Finlay, Hartley and co. said that the book was named after “the moment modern dance music truly began.” They shared, “In 1977, Donna Summer and Giorgio Moroder released the groundbreaking track I Feel Love — a fully electronic dance record that changed music forever.”