Piece: Spectrum By Terry Farley

Story: Terry Farley Photographs: Chris Abbot

On April 11th 1988 the vast space that was (and still is) Heaven opened its doors to an ‘Acid House’ night. The problem was apart from around 200 people who frequented Shoom and Future nobody knew what Acid House was, let alone how to dance to it.

The promoters were Ian St Paul and Paul Oakenfold and the club held around 2,500 people. On the first night there were 124 people and everyone passing through the doors got a free E. Two weeks later there were still a hundred or so people wearing an odd mixture of Ibizan hippie and mid 80s football casual clobber trance dancing to music imported straight from Alfredo’s playlist of the 87 season at Amnesia.

Week three saw an influx of curious souls and young kids who had heard whispers around town. The following week the queue went up the hill onto the Strand. The next week had 1200 bods, and then by the following one the 2500 club was packed to the rafters. London had never, and never has since, had a clubbing phenomena like it. The club had a sound system unmatched by any other in the UK and a lazer show straight out of NY’s finest gay clubbing culture. The queue started 2 hrs before opening, and at 3.30 am when the club finished the Strand became a huge party with thousands of kids on E jacking on car roofs and stopping the West End traffic. This was the club that heralded Acid House as an explosion of biblical proportions and its legacy still lingers on today around the world. Fucking awesome…

It was also the start of the superstar dj cult with Oakenfold perched high above the massed crowd in a huge dj booth playing mad classical orchestral recordings of Wagner mixing into heavy Detroit beats with Fini Tribe’s ‘De Testimony’ and Nitzer Ebb’s ‘Join in the Chant’ jostling for peak time action alongside House hits such as Black Riot ‘A Day In The Life‘ and Derrick May’s seminal ‘Strings Of Life.’

The main room also ended up as the birth place of the Acid Ted with bandanas and smiley t shirts replacing Chevignon and Chippie as the look of the sweaty fledgling foot soldiers. On the middle floor the kids who considered themselves too cool for downstairs, the three month Acid House veterans, danced to the more Balearic grooves of Roger the Hippie and Terry Farley. Big anthems up there ranged from Yello’s ‘The Race’, The Woodentops ‘Why Why Why’ to the Mamas and the Papas ‘California Dreaming’ and even Jackie Wilson’s 60s hit ‘The Sweetest Feeling.’ The look up there was more ‘future’ inspired – baggy jumpers, Lee dungarees and beat up Kickers.

This piece originally appeared on Faith, home of acid house banter. Click here to read more from the chaps.

[Terry Farley]

Photos: Last Night Of Shoom

Our mate Graham Styles took these years ago at the last night of the Shoom. Love the one of Pete Heller with arms aloft. Happy happy.

Thanks to Steven Hall, Graham Styles and Emma Warren (who dumped her mates outside so she could get in on the night).

[Apiento]

NME – Acid (The Phuture) By Sarah Champion / Paul Oakenfold Interviewed By Paolo Hewitt (October 1988)

Looks like the NME got well acid house in October ’88. If you haven’t seen these they came courtesy of the Archived Music Press (via Legendary Children) and are a fine read. There’s more on the Archived Music Press site to have a dig through.


[Apiento]

i-D: DJ Of The Month – Nicky Holloway (October 1988)

This one comes from i-D – October ’88 edition. Nicky Holloway already has a bit of a CV by this point and clearly had an eye for taking it to the masses.

[Apiento]

i-D: Club Listings (October 1988)

This is a good read. Lots of scenes crossing over with each other and everyone seems to be figuring out what the fuck just went on. Photo by Dave Swindells.

[Apiento]

i-D Magazine: Club Listings (January 1988)

Classic cover and great club listings from i-D January 1988 with a fine Swindells photo to boot.



Thanks to Matthew J.
[Apiento]

Video: Rocky & Diesel – Summer 1988

Nice one Leo (Zero) Elstob for digging this out. Footage from one of West London’s early balearic parties, Barbarellas in Greenford, with DJs Rocky & Diesel. Some great jacking going on in here.

[Apiento]

i-D Magazine: DJ Of The Month – Danny Rampling (December 1990)

Taken from the December 1990 issue when Pure was in full swing at the Milk Bar. Nice bit of product placement from Mr Rampling in the chart there.


[Apiento]

Faith Magazine: Mike Pickering Interview

The last issue of the Faith fanzine was one of the best for a long long time. From Kevin Rowlands picking the records that mattered to him to this interview with Mike Pickering of Hacienda and Quando Quango fame which we asked to get a copy of for Test Pressing. Good work chaps.

Thanks to Jimmy P, Terry Farley and the Faith peoples.

[Apiento]

The Face: Whose Smiley Now (Acid House Hits Clapham Common) (August 1989)

Piece from The Face in August ’89 by Sheryl Garratt. The party continues to the parks of South London…

Thanks to Matthew J.
[Apiento]

Record Mirror: Acid Daze (Acid House Piece) (February 1988)

Taken from Record Mirror, February 1988.



Thanks to Matthew J.
[Apiento]

i-D: Body Beats / Acid Tracking

Release yourself… Photograph by Dave Swindells.

Thanks to Matthew J.
[Apiento]

The Face: We Generation – Life After Acid (December 1989)

Taken from The Face, December 1989, Sheryl Garratt, this time with Lindsay Baker in tow, nails the scene at the time. Rave is still on but the small parties are showing the way forward for those with discerning taste.







Thanks to Matthew J.
[Apiento]

i-D: Acid House & Club Listings (April 1988)

I like these pieces. Journalists caught up in a moment and London buzzing. Comparing the now to the then I am wondering – did we get old? Is Punk in Soho the new Wag club? Worrying thought. Young future media types moving in packs… Is house turning into Northern Soul? Old men reliving their youth? We’ll come back to that one with a Test Pressing poll soon. Anyway, here’s more ephemera from times gone by.




Thanks to Matthew J.
[Apiento]

You Tube: Club Culture (1988)

Got to say thanks to our Swedish cousins at Mind On The Run (more from them soon) for finding this classic documentary on the clubbing scene shown on Channel 4 in the UK in 1988.

On a New York hip-hop tip, we get interviews with the Jungle Brothers, Mantronix, Biz Markie, Red Alert & Q Tip, Stetsasonic, Richie Rich, Keith LeBlanc and a great montage to the sound of ‘Don’t Believe The Hype’ in Dapper Dan’s NYC shop.

If you want to go straight for the acid house section go to 14:20 and Mike Dunn saying, ‘So let it be written, so let it be house’. From there we get interviews with Ten City, Daryl Pandy, Tyree Cooper, Robert Owens and at 23 minutes up turns Oakey with that brilliant hair cut and Lisa Loud (wrongly named ‘Nancy Noise’) discussing balearic beat. Dorrell appears and states…


Nailed. Colin Favor tells the Ibiza story, Fat Tony talks escapism and it’s all cut in with some great acid house footage. Bam-Bam, Adonis, Marshall Jefferson, Eddie Richard go on to discuss the music and they show the E’d up video for Paul Rutherford’s ‘Make It Real’. Coldcut, Jazzie B, Youth, Baby Ford and a few others bring up the rear with the London perspective.

Jamie B Rose, the director, whoever he is, deserves a pat on the back. Someone re-release this please. Top top documentary.

[Apiento]

You Tube: Behind The Beat – Acid House

Another great acid house video with interviews with Pete Tong, Mark Moore and Dave Dorrell worth checking for the Dorrell interview alone. (For our European friends he was one of the guys who made ‘Pump Up The Volume’, was a London club face and DJ about town). Aciiied!

[Apiento]

i-D: Club Listings November ’89

London and surrounding still going strong…

[Apiento]

Mixmag: The Balearic Beat Story

From Mixmag in July 1988, Paul Oakenfold and Pete Tong explain where it all came from. Photography by David Swindells.




Thanks to Phil Mison.
[Apiento]

The Acid Test

Great article and good advert on the last page.

[Apiento]