80s Roll 13: Madonna comes out of the NYC club scene, 1st House records come out of Chicago, Hi-NRG is go, Electro becomes Freestyle

80s Roll 13: Madonna comes out of the NYC club scene, 1st House records come out of Chicago, Hi-NRG is go, Electro becomes Freestyle

From Let It Roll by Pantheon Media

May 6, 2026 · 38 min

About this episode

The episode discusses the emergence of Madonna from the NYC club scene and the evolution of various music genres in the 1980s.

Hosts Nate Wilcox and Ed Legge continue their discussion of Michaelangelo Matos' "Can't Slow Down: How 1984 Became Pop's Blockbuster Year" with a look at the dance club scene that produced Madonna, her work with DJ/producer Jellybean Benitez, the emergence of House music in Chicago, the HI-NRG scene in the gay clubs and the rapid evolution of electro into Latin freestyle. GO TO THE LET IT ROLL SUBSTACK TO HEAR THE FULL EPISODE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ -- The final 15 minutes of this episode are exclusively for paying subscribers to the Let It Roll Substack. Also subscribe to the LET IT ROLL EXTRA feed on Apple, Spotify or your preferred podcast service to access the full episodes via your preferred podcast outlet. We've got all 350+ episodes listed, organized by mini-series, genre, era, co-host, guest and more. Buy the book and support the show.⁠ Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to support the show. Thanks! Email ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠letitrollpodcast@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠…

People in this episode

Hosts: Nate Wilcox, Ed Legge

Topics covered

  • Madonna
  • House music
  • HI-NRG
  • Electro
  • Freestyle
  • Dance club scene
  • 1980s music

Keywords

  • Madonna
  • House music
  • HI-NRG
  • Electro
  • Freestyle
  • 1980s
  • dance clubs

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Let It Roll Substack, Apple, Spotify

Books & works: Can't Slow Down: How 1984 Became Pop's Blockbuster Year

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