House music - Second summer of Love

Hip-hop, synth-pop and rare groove may have dominated the clubs in the early 1980s but from the mid eighties a new genre was to emerge from Chicago in House dance music.

Taking its name from the Warehouse, a largely gay club where DJ Frankie Knuckles complemented 1970's electronic rock and soul and gave it a new beat. Chicago house was born and was to explode big time in Europe.

The most distinctive Chicago track was Phutures 'Acid Tracks'. A trance beat with a heavy bass sound with backing by a Roland TB-303 synth sound. This 12 minute track released in 1987 effectively became the blue print for euro style 'acid house'. The track Landed in the UK that year via DJs Danny Rampling and Paul Oakenfold who returned from the euro Acid capital of Ibiza.

Acid house first took hold in clubs such as Shoom in London and the Hacienda in Manchester.
During 1988 the whole thing exploded, it moved out of clubs into a more wider rave scene. More and more out of town locations such as open fields or empty warehouses were becoming prime locations and causing anxiety to communities, police and the government. It was proclaimed the second summer of love. This was due to the party goers use of Ecstasy and the infamous 'smiley' logo. The whole rave culture soon prompted tabloid scare stories and the inevitable Police crackdown on unorganised raves. The whole culture had developed quickly and soon all young people were embracing the whole euphoria of being lost in a ecstatic haze of visual stimulation and a lot of hands in the air music.

From a music point of view, the early pioneers in the UK were 808 state and a Guy Called Gerald both from Manchester. Although some concede that S-Express big chart success in 1988 'Theme from S-Express' and MARRS 'Pump up the Volume' made the initial breakthrough into peoples conscience. We then saw an onslaught on the charts from acts like Coldcut, Bomb the Bass and Yazz.

However, as with many genres music changes and evolves into other styles and House music was no different. By the early 1990 super clubs such as Ministry of Sound in London or Cream in Liverpool signalled the end of the traditional rave and bought it back in house prompting different styles such as ambient to hardcore techno.

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