Masaryk University Faculty of Arts Department of English and American Studies Rave Scene As a Specific Part of Youth Culture in Britain (B.A. Thesis) Roman Kuběna Supervisor: PhDr. Lidia Kyzlinková, CSc., M. Litt. Brno 2007
I hereby declare that I have worked on this B.A. thesis independently, using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography. Roman Kuběna
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I would like to thank my supervisor, PhDr. Lidia Kyzlinková, CSc., M. Litt., for providing me with valuable advice and recources.
3 Contents
Introduction ...... 6
1. Youth of the Nation ...... 7
1.1 Leisure, Friends and Style ...... 7 1.2 Meaning and Division ...... 8 1.3 Working Class vs Middle class Youth ...... 8 1.4 Girls and Youth Culture ...... 9
2. Into The Music World ...... 10
2.1 Primary Aspects of Rave Culture ...... 10 2.2 Secondary Aspects of Rave Culture ...... 11 3. The Story Begins, 1987-89 ...... 13
3.1 Pioneers from the Ibiza Island ...... 13 3.2 From Clubs to Warehouses ...... 14 3.3 Acid House and Acid Teds ...... 15 3.4 The American Influence ...... 16 3.5 New Generation of Promoters ...... 17 3.6 In the Political Arena ...... 18 4. Manchester Turns to Madchester, 1989-91 ...... 20
4.1 Fashion and Soccer ...... 20 4.2 Gifted Bands in the Time of Unrest ...... 21 4.3 Ambient House Comes to Light ...... 22 4.4 The Drugs Spoil the Scene ...... 23
5. The Invasion of Hardcore Music, 1991-92 ...... 24
5.1 Hardcore, You Know the Score ...... 24 5.2 Further Fragmentation of House Music ...... 25
4 5.3 Continental Europe Benefits from the UK Production ...... 27 5.4 The Golden Age of Hardcore ...... 27
6. The End of Traditional Rave Culture, 1992-97 ...... 29
6.1 The Crusty raver Movement and the Criminal Justice Act ...... 29 6.2 New Genres Mark the Onset of Post rave Experimental Era ...... 31
7. Use Me, Do Not Abuse Me ...... 33
7.1 A Short History of Ecstasy ...... 33 7.2 The Effects ...... 34 7.3 Danger and Prevention ...... 35 7.4 Other Drugs ...... 36
Conclusion ...... 37
Bibliography ...... 38
5 1. Introduction
In my thesis, I focus on quite a unique phenomenon called rave culture and its integral elements in the form of music, parties, fashion and drugs. I try to describe the way the rave scene evolved, what kinds of music styles it encompassed and I also present several important figures associated with this phenomenon. Since rave culture is primarily a domain of young people, it is useful to approach rave and youth culture as two interactive spheres rather than the individual worlds. In addition to the facts concerning the development of rave culture, I would also like to substantiate the claim that raving was a meaningful experience for many youth and teenage generations.
The work is divided into seven chapters. The first chapter aims to provide a general introduction to youth culture, its characteristics, its ideology and division. The scope of the second chapter is then more specific, examining the rave scene elements, which most appeal to the youths. The following four chapters present a detailed story of rave culture, from its early beginnings up to the post rave era. The very last chapter then demonstrates the impact of drugs, especially Ecstasy, on rave culture. Before proceeding to the first chapter, I have to stress the importance of Simon Reynolds´ fascinating book, Generation Ecstasy (1999) , that turned out to be an invaluable source of information.
6 1. Youth of the Nation The 1950s saw the birth of commercialized youth cultures, working class teenagers
possessed the neccessary spending power. Financial independence led to cultural
independence, and the leisure industries began to recognize youth as a distinct market
... During the 1960s, London became internationally renowned for its swinging scene,
with young people leading the action. By then they had become the undisputed
pioneers in fashion. Their tastes dictated general trends in dress, coiffure and music.
Young people set the pace, and adults followed. (Roberts qtd in Abercrombie 423)
1.1 Leisure, Friends and Style
It is somehow ingrained in human mind to see young people as different and problematic.
Alhough some people feel sympathy for them, others like to attack their free and riotous life, resistance to the authorities and traditional values. Despite these criticisms, youth culture possesses several essential features, which are no longer frowned upon so sharply. These features have been emphasized thanks to the prolonged period between childhood and adulthood. “First, it is a culture of leisure rathen than work” (Abercrombie and Warde 423).
In the leasure time, young people realize their activities that make them young. “Second, the social relationships of youth cultures are organized around the peer group; they are as much collective as individual” (Abercrombie and Warde 423). Young people are free to form communities with similar opinions, interests and tastes. “Lastly, youth groups are characterized by a strong interest in style” (Abercrombie and Warde 423). Latest currents in music are of their immediate concern, they like to discover new trends in fashion, read modern books and use new words that may be understood only within a specific range of people or places.
7 There are several aspects contributing to the development and thriving of youth culture. Nowadays, there are big educational opportunities. Young people spend longer time studying at schools and their childhood lenghtens. Of course, they have also more money to spend for pleasures they like, such as music records, clothes, books or parties.
1.2 Meaning and Division
Youth culture gives meaning to the lives of young people in the often difficult period of maturation. Youth culture is very active, sometimes even hyperactive, but is not hostile to other cultures in society, rather interacts with them. Since “the young are subject to the impact of occupational, educational and economic changes at particular times in history” (Brake 21), the aspect of class highly influences the attitude of young people towards the dominant society. The attitude of working class youth definitely differs from the attitude of middle class youth.
In his book focused on youth culture, Michael Brake brings a more detailed division of youth into four categories based on class differences. “Respectable youth” of middle class prefer the ordinary life with no traces of deviance. “Delinquent youth” originate primarily in working class. They often tend to be violent and thievish. “Cultural rebels” rank among middle class. They are characterized by the interest in education and culture. “Politically militant youth” may represent people from different classes. They include environmentalits, pacifists, student clubs and movements of various kinds.
1.3 Working-class vs Middle-class Youth
In the working class milieu, characteristic features of youth culture include flamboyance and even defiance, which serve as compensatory forces for their lack of power and authority.
Being a part of youth culture gives young people a sense of identity and power to deal with
8 everyday problems. Working class youth culture fits John Fiske´s description of
“jouissance,” which “is theorized as a moment of pleasure when the body breaks free from social and cultural control” […] (Fiske 94). This culture is also characterized by the resistance to the dominant powers of the system. With their defiance of different people and resitance to the authority, skinheads may serve as a good example of this attitude. But, since that resistance is only symbolic and the period of youth rather short, it lacks the necessary effectitivity.
In comparison with their working class contemporaries, middle class young people seem to embrace more providence, responsibility and conformity. Of course, they also love their leisure time, spend their time with friends and are interested in style. However, they are not in the need of resisting the authority and subverting the system. Although it is not always the case, their careers tend to be more successful and their future secured. Generally, they are better educated because they see “a link between education and their future careers” (Brake
27). As a reward for their effort, in many cases they can expect adequate job and payments.
1.4 Girls and Youth Culture
Girls also participate in youth culture, but their influence is marginal because “youth culture has been male dominated and predominantly heterosexual, thus celebrating masculinity and excluding girls to the periphery” (Brake 29). Their culture is home oriented and in most cases rather inconspicous. Nevertheless, it has its undeniable system of values and forms a part of youth culture.
9 2. Into the Music World
Young people often refuse the responsibilities of the world and choose to invest their attention, time and money in leisure time. Since leisure time often revolves around music,
“for a broad spectrum of British youth, music is an integral part of growing up” (Thornton
19). Nowadays, youth tend to have very specialist and discriminative music tastes with strong preferences to electronic dance music played at clubs and big outdoor parties. Clubs and parties with loud music, garish design and lightning effects bring the feelings of liberation and escape from daily routine. These events also cross boundaries of class, race, gender and sexuality. The only factor that cannot be overlooked is difference of age because it plays a major role in the amount of entrance fees, spending power and limits related to drinking.
2.1 Primary Aspects of Rave Culture
At the end of 1980s, a phenomenon called rave swept over Britain. Gifted producers brought new music and young people, dressed in the clothes previously unseen, rushed for the parties.
The popularity of rave culture also rested in the fact that in 1993, “the value of the rave market was calculated to be £1.8 billion ($2.8b)” [...] (Thornton 15).
In his article, Scott R. Hutson lists three critical aspects of rave culture: “dance music, long duration, and ecstatic experience” (Hutson 35). All these elements are encountered at raves – “all night dance parties attended by large numbers of youth, sometimes in excess of
20 000” (Weir). A closer insight on these three aspects may bring many interesting findings.
Dance music has many forms and is produced by deejays who play other people´s records. That is why rave music “decenters the subject, refusing the pop star or the cultural icon as the glorified subject” (Martin 93). What counts is the creativity and the ability to elevate the audience. Although several female deejays achieved noticeable success, the deejay culture is distinctly masculine. Many deejays also participate in producing songs and doing
10 remixes, i.e. adjusting songs to dance floor requirements. In genres like house or jungle, the simultaneous release of a bunch of barely recognizable remakes by several different remixers is a common occurence. Since the mid seventies, complicated songs and remakes have been made with a great assistance of technological innovations such as “the invention of the 12 inch single and the development of turntables and mixers” [...] (Reynolds 271).
Hutson´s aspect of long duration reflects a part of Weir´s definition talking about “all night dance parties.” Not long ago, I attended a big indoor party starting at 8 p.m. and finishing at 6 a.m. the following day. Such a party may be partly likened to a traditional rave party, including the time scheduling. One of the reasons, why rave parties last much longer in comparison to the performances of pop or rock stars, rests in higher numbers of performers at raves.
Rave culture is drug fueled, with Ecstasy being the drug of primary importance. The most obvious social effect of Ecstasy is that it has managed to transform youth leisure in
Britain and Europe. Like alcohol, Ecstasy removes inhibitions. What is more, it also diminishes aggresion, promotes tollerance, helps to mingle class, race, and sexual differences, and at least partly removes traditional British qualities of reserve and inhibition.
2.2 Secondary Aspects of Rave Culture
A lot of secondary aspects of rave culture may be found in Justin Kerrigan´s film Human
Traffic , a brilliant probe into the world of rave culture. Even if the age of the protagonists (Jip,
Koop, Nina, Lulu, Moff, etc.) is not mentioned precisely, they are definitely young people, which supports Critcher´s claim that “Commentators agree that the majority were aged 15 to
19, with a minority of 20 to 24 years old” (Critcher 147).
Even if raving affects more strata of society, it is a working class and to a certain extent a middle class youth phenomenon. At one end of the class spectrum are the more
11 conformist working class weekenders using Ecstasy, at the other end are more bohemian middle class supporters using Ecstasy in tandem with LSD and fostering their subcultural ideas. The characters in Human Traffic represent either working class or unemployed people, waiting for the weekend to come. At the beginning of the film, we hear Jip saying that “the weekend has landed, all that exists now is drugs, clubs, pubs, and parties” (Human Traffic ).
One of the best shots, where a nebulous space caused by Ecstasy intoxication is displayed, abounds in words like [...] “we forget all the pain in our life, we want to go somewhere else [...] all the insecurities have evaporated, we are in the clouds now [...] we flow in unison” [...] (Human Traffic ). Such words illustrate that raving fosters the sense of community with feelings of friendliness and openness. Thus, ravers embrace “the four pillars of the rave scene, peace, love, unity, and respect (PLUR) [...]” (Glover 316).
The popularity and proliferation of rave culture owes much to technology, namely the
Internet or World Wide Web. This medium serves as a means of communication, discussion, sharing ideas and images, information about parties and presentation of producers´ work. By means of computers, the promoters often provide flyers depicting the chosen sites and “the transformation of these sites into imaginative landscapes” (Gibson 21). For many ravers, the crucial element of many parties is the appeal of the physical setting. The design in the form of lasers and decorations is a key to success.
12 3. The Story Begins, 1987-89 The existence of the UK rave scene would not be possible without the incredible effort and creativity of black American people. Although having to make do with the suffering and oppression, these gifted people managed to create three distinct genres of electronic dance music, namely Detroit techno, Chicago house and New York garage. In the global world, these genres started penetrating to the other side of the Atlantic. When they reached Britain, they were experimented with and modified beyond all recognition, resulting in many new genres that help to define the UK rave scene.
3.1 Pioneers from the Ibiza Island
From the three genres, house music gradually took the biggest hold. In 1988, one of the first
British house music producers, Mark Moore, released a song entitled “Theme.” 1 This song was received as one of the first British house records. But even in 1987, there were some efforts to enliven the British music scene. These efforts were based more on organization and promotion than on production. In 1987, a really hard working man was Paul Oakenfold.
Fascinated by the monumental parties on the Ibiza Island, he tried to shift this unique atmosphere to London. Oakenfold managed to persuade an owner of a small London club to let him start an illegal after hours event. When the regular guests left the club, the owner opened the exit door for Oakenfold and his friends from Ibiza. Not only did they show their love for music, but also their clothes and behaviour popular on Ibiza. The resulting look then was a mix of [...] “baggy trousers and T shirts, paisley bandannas, dungarees, ponchos,
Converse All Stars sneakers” [...] (Reynolds 59). This kind of amusement soon aroused concern among many people. Of course, the police were also interested (because of the
1 See Simon Reynolds´ book Generation Ecstasy (p. 58) for more information about this song.
13 illegality of the the event), and launched several raids. All in all, the corner stone for the successful development of the house scene was laid.
3.2 From Clubs to Warehouses
At the same time, a working class couple named Ramplings started “Shoom,” a small club located in South London. Soon, this place was filled up with people. Unlike the club, where
Oakenfold and his friends engaged in showy dancing orgies, this place was characterized by relative calmness, even certain kind of sophistication. The special atmosphere was accentuated by the presence of smoke and drugs. There, “you would have seen these faces looming at you out of the fog. It was like a sea of connected alienation” (Reynolds 60).
Because of the music, people and the atmosphere of love, peace, unity and tolerance,
“Shoom” was considered a nucleus of rave culture. The fact is that the calmness and serenity encountered at this place were largely the result of limited membership. If everyone had been permitted access, the overall tone of the place would definitely have been very different.
Feeling that the house music gets more and more into public consciousness, Paul
Oakenfold launched two more clubs, namely “Spectrum” and “Heaven.” Based on massive consumption and large scale dancing, they often disturbed the surroundings and their occupants were viewed by many people as deranged. Oakenfold´s work seemed to concentrate on big projects for the élite, which naturally became the focus of the police. When the clubs were closed, the party people gathered in the streets, where they encountered the patrolling police vans. The party people turned on their car stereos, started dancing wildly and produced chants, such as “acieed”. 2 The police were really confused and did not know what to make of it. As a consequence of these strange encounters, loud gatherings like this were banned. But the ban imposed on these activities gave rise to another specific phenomenon.
2 This chant demonstrated that the partygoers were under the influence of drugs and prepared to oppose the authorities. Also “the war cry of 1988” (Reynolds 62).
14 After the closing hours in clubs, instead of dancing in the streets, people turned to illegal after hours house warehouses, such as “RIP” (Revolution In Progress). These parties
“became a site of resistance; they provided the space in which to explore the positive collective possibilities of the festival or carnival” (Luckman 45). There, the first major occurence of Ecstasy and LSD was reported. Since 1988, drugs have become an integral part of the rave culture.
3.3 Acid House and Acid Teds
To the developing rave culture, the occurence of drugs had many unexpected effects. For example, drugs managed to transcend the distance between rave culture and very crude soccer fanaticism. Even if it seemed unlikely, certain parallels between these two cultures were found. First, many football fans gradually became hooked on Ecstasy and found the appeal of the house music. Second, “in the eighties, with mass unemployment and Thatcher´s defeat of the unions, the soccer match and the warehouse party offered rare opportunities for the working class to experience a sense of collective identity” [...] (Reynolds 64). At least for some time, Ecstasy brought about the rebirth of many hooligans into friendly and sociable folk. People were talking about spirituality and new life. They began dressing in the ethnic style and were travelling a lot. The booming house music also influenced the character of leisure time. It caused a shift from alcohol to Ecstasy and soft drinks, such as “Lucozade.”
“Lucozade, once the preserve of concerned parents seeking to get some form of nourishment into the otherwise unwanting stomachs of ill children, became in the ninetees the post dance drink de jure” (Luckman 45). Aroused concern for all night dancing and socializing resulted in parties held almost every day. Many young people lived at night and slept during the day.
When the tabloid press took interest in the existence of the rave scene defined by house music and illegal drugs, it came up with the label “acid house” and warned against drug
15 use and potential risks. The music was described as “drug induced, psychedelic, sky high and ecstatic” [...] (Thornton 131). Those, who supposed that the cautionary coverage by the press and television would discourage young people from taking part in the scene, witnessed an opposite effect. Before the commercialization, drug use was within the limit, at least to a certain extent. But when the irrensponsible youngsters appeared in clubs, eager to taste everything illegal, the consequences were often sad. Needless to say, the fathers of rave culture criticized the press to ruin the scene. Simply, the atmosphere in this time smelled of antagonism. Older participants in the scene criticized and ridiculed the teenagers, labelling them “acid teds,” who were primarily white working class and “were understood to travel in same sex mobs, support football teams, wear kicker boots and be ‘out of their heads’”
(Thornton 100).
3.4 The American Influence
As a result of these disputes, not long after its birth, the scene was stratifying: on one side, there were the exclusive places for the chosen, such as Oakenfold´s projects; on the other, monstrous warehouse parties occupied by teenagers. With the excessive drug use and “acid teds” swarming to the parties, the scene lost much of its innocence. Generally, this era was fruitless in artistic expression. Only a few tracks, highly imitating the American art, were created. The American scene was very productive, flooding the British market with many impressive tracks. “Faced with this deluge of music made by black American artists, it took
UK producers a while to find their own distinctively British voice” (Reynolds 70). The only exception was a relatively rich distribution of short term domestic stuff like T shirts or flyers.
Even if Detroit techno lagged behind house music in popularity, the gifted black US producers called Belleville Three 3 managed to establish themselves in UK, at least for a short
3 Belleville Three (Juan Atkins, Derrick May, Kevin Saunderson and later Eddie Fowlkes) were the founders of Detroit techno sound. See http://www.vanguardsound.com/id24.html for detailed information.
16 period of time. Troubled with the hard lives of black American artists and racial prejudice, it was a great satisfaction for Belleville Three to be embraced by a white European audience.
Hovewer, their initial enthusiasm was replaced by disillussionment. They were negatively surprised by the nature of British scene based on drugs, different clothes and dirty, old warehouses. Although British youth took over the imported music, they built their own culture around it. Eventually, the music itself was also modified, resulting in the huge diversity of genres.
3.5 New Generation of Promoters
From 1988 on, thanks to many derelict buldings, the illegal warehouse parties prevailed over clubs. They were held in film studios, disused hangars, even on riverboats. Using the falsified licences and leases, the promoters always tried to fool the police and made them believe that the parties were legal. For example, “one of the Labrynth [warehouse] crew used his computer skills to forge a fire certificate” (Reynolds 73). When the police raided the party and saw the certificate and some fire extinguishers, they were no longer interested in stopping the party. However, not all the warehouse parties pursued such techniques. Several parties were moved into clubs, where more legality and less hassle were ensured.
Gradually, a change even more significant to the existence of warehouse parties occured. This change applied mainly to a new generation of promoters. They were no longer cultural enthusiasts interested in music, but underworld figures or enterpreneurs primarily interested in profit. “The spirit behind emergent organizations like Sunrise, Energy, World
Dance, and Biology was an entrepreneurial audacity utterly in tune with the quick killing spirit that fueled the economic boom of the late eighties” (Reynolds 74).
1989 was a breakthrough year for many. This year saw a large scale emergence of big parties and marked “the point at which the all night dancing and concurrent sense of carefree
17 abandonment felt by British holiday makers in Spain's Ibiza began to be replicated in Britain in the form of all night raves” (Luckman 45). Promoters distributed extravagant flyers informing about spectacular sound systems and lights. The importance of flyers made many people claim that “they are to raves what graffiti art is to hip hop and psychedelic posters were to the acid rock of the 70s” (Farley 3). Conflicts between ravers and the police forces became almost everyday business. Chasings, roadblocks, thrills, for many ravers amusing time, but for the police a time of hard work.
People used to clubbing often criticized the impersonal and withdrawn atmosphere of big parties. Since profit was the primary interest of promoters, they always provided breathtaking effects and several famous deejays, who took turns in playing. The original
Ibizan generation heavily distanced themselves from commercial raves and went on embracing the original house and garage music.
3.6 In the Political Arena
The excitement and grandeur of big outdoor parties did not last long. The police used up to date procedures and equipment, such as computer databases, phone taps or helicopters, to prevent people from meeting, which contributed to the disenchantment of many ravers. The effort of the police was to return ravers to licenced clubs. Some activists even tried to take the whole case into the political arena, where the disputes between supporters and opponents of the music scene flared. “Graham Bright, a conservative MP, drafted a bill to increase the penalties for unlicensed parties,” whereas “Tony Colston Hayer and his libertarian sidekick
Paul Staines [...] announced the formation of the Freedom To Party campaign” (Reynolds 79).
However, after a few rallies, the campaign passed into silence, only showing the apolitical character of the whole rave culture. With the failure of many big raves, the general feeling was that it was all over. It might have seemed so for the moment. But the potential of rave
18 was too strong to fade away. Thanks to different approaches, rave soon resurged, morphing into a highly organized leisure industry.
19 4. Manchester Turns to Madchester, 1989-91 This era was characterized mainly by the development of rave culture in Manchester. The presence of many college students and the growing status of house music helped to fuel the whole scene. Many new clubs sprang up, not only in Manchester but also in Blackpool,
Liverpool or Blackburn.
4.1 Fashion and Soccer
Compared with the previous years, there was evidently a bigger emphasis on fashion. The development of fashion was supported by the interest of media, which came up with the term
“scallydelia,” designating the style of clothes of many bands. “Scally (short for scallywag) was actually a Liverpudlian archetype; the Manchester equivalent was the Perry boy, named after their Fred Perry shirts” (Reynolds 94). With the increasing popularity of flared jeans, these two styles gradually merged. In this era, the wardrobe of ravers often consisted of baggy clothes, such as hooded tops or long sleeved shirts, and brightly hued colours, such as pastel coloured sneakers. “The clothes tended to be fun and comfortable rather than sexually provocative” (Oh and Atherley 40). “The widespread circulation of the signature ‘smiley face’ icon [...] signalled the beginning of rave culture's mass economic exploitability (Luckman 45).
New fanzines emerged, reacting on the fashion boom. Since Manchester was, and still is, a well known place for the endless passion for soccer, the fanzines tried to capture the music, fashion as well as the soccer sphere. And since the spheres of music and fashion became closely related, I would like to focus briefly on the important role of jeans.
Although jeans are often worn to mingle with the crowd, many ravers wear them to become the centre of attention. That is why their jeans are sometimes “improved.” It has now become quite ordinary to wear jeans that are bleached. Young people went even further in modifying jeans and introduced ones that are tie dyed, bleached or contain several colours.
20 Dance music events have become a paradise for these unusual looking jeans. Here, apart from their material function concerning warmth and comfort, cultural function comes to play an important role of resistance that is typical for the whole rave culture. Jeans may represent the way by which the participants of these music events try to differentiate and thus resist the forces ot the system, which are in constant opposition to their subculture. “If today jeans are to express oppositional meanings, or even to gesture toward such social resistance, they need to be disfigured in some way [...]” (Fiske 4). Of course, the manufacturers are watching the market and try to exploit this interest in jeans for their commercial purposes. They concentrate some of their manufacturing power on the production of disfigured jeans that meet the requirements of many young customers.
4.2 Gifted Bands in the Time of Unrest
Although apolitical, rave culture in the late eighties was partly influenced by Margaret
Thatcher´s challenge of “enterprise culture,” emphasizing in the working class the virtues of initiative and investment. To the contrary of Thatcher´s assumptions, a significant part of
British working class youth responded by turning to criminal activities. “Eager to participate in the late eighties Thatcherite boom but excluded by mass unemployment, these kids resorted to all manner of shady money making schemes” [...] (Reynolds 95). The illegal schemes included bootlegging in the form of fake clothes, records and computer games, a new wave of illegal warehouse raves, drug dealing, thefts and frauds.
One of the then most popular and active bands were Stone Roses with their breakthrough single “Fool´s Gold.” 4 They represented the working class, self educated, arty and politically aware people. Their greatest achievement, though not very successful, rested in the organization of a big outdoor festival at Spike Island in 1990. Another band worth
4 See Simon Reynolds´ book Generation Ecstasy (pp. 97 98) for more information about the band and this record.
21 mentioning is 808 State. Their album Ex-cell 5 was given an interesting description by some professionals in the field, namely “a pan global fantasia of reeling vistas and undulating impressionism” (Reynolds 101). Despite releasing many tracks, 808 State´s music was wieved as faceless and superficial. The interpreters, on the other hand, were very active, even mouthy.
They fiercely expressed their opposition to rock and punk music.
4.3 Ambient House Comes to Light
Interestingly enough, the British dance scene in 1990 was packed with old punks embracing the new technology and tending to dance music to a certain degree. In music, the nineties were also marked by feelings of positivity, care and synergy. There was a strong “shift from
‘I’ to ‘we,’ from materialism to idealism, from attitude to platitude” (Reynolds 103). The rave scene became a fertile soil for New Agey ideas. Out of the primary music representative of the rave scene, acid house, another stream developed that was termed “ambient house.”6 Acid house represented active and high energy music whereas ambient house went more in the slower and smoother direction. As for the fashion, ravers started dressing in white, showing their purity of soul.
Of all the bands in Manchester, “Primal Scream were most successful merging rock´s romanticism and rave´s drug tech futurism” (Reynolds 106). After several years dedicated to jazz and rock music, they started visiting house parties in 1989. In 1990, soon after their rave scene experience, they released a track called “Loaded,” 7 which sold over a hundred thousand copies. Suprisingly, in 1991, during their tour to the new album Screamadelica, 8 the band decided to return to the beauties of rock music. The most striking act of this marvellous band was their ability to create the linkage between rock history and contemporary dance music.
5 See Simon Reynolds´ book Generation Ecstasy (p. 101) for information about 808 State and their projects. 6 “Ambient house” is a music style that is described as dreamy, chill out and quiet music (http://www.electronicmusicstyles.com/ambient_ambient_house.html). 7 See Simon Reynolds´ book Generation Ecstasy (p. 107) for a short description of this track. 8 See http://www.answers.com/topic/screamadelica for the review and tracklist.
22
4.4 The Drugs Spoil the Scene
By 1991, Manchester rave scene was already in decline. Several bands were entangled in court cases and drugs only deteriorated the appearance of the whole scene because “in any drug based pop scene, there comes a point when the collective trip turns bad, when the rush gives way to the crash” (Reynolds 108). People wanted to get higher and higher, which resulted in the drug overuse and abuse. Drugs meant money for rival gangs “that have taken control of rave drugs, adding more lethal substances to the psychedelic menu” (Oh and
Atherley 39). For example, heroin began to be used as the admixture of Ecstasy. The renowned Manchester club “Hacienda” also got into trouble with drug gangs, who intimidated and attacked the staff. The attendance lowered and the atmosphere deteriorated. Due to all these troubles, Manchester was renamed “Gunchester.” Liverpool and Blackburn witnessed similar accidents. The era characterized by the domination of Manchester in the British dance music scene came to an abrupt end.
23 5. The Invasion of Hardcore Music, 1991-92 As the first generation of ravers predominantly tending to acid house burned out, a second, larger generation appeared on the scene. The authorities wanted to suppress the illegal raves and move the whole rave culture into the commercial sphere. Rave spread from London and
Manchester to become a nationwide leisure culture.
5.1 Hardcore, You Know the Score
In this era a distinctively British rave sound was formed. There was no longer any need of
American imports. Cheap computers and devices for playing music contributed to the development of many home based studios. The opponents of rave music decried it as machine made and soulless, the supporters, on the contrary, emphasized the slogan “hardcore, you know the score” (Reynolds 113). “Hardcore” in this time referred to the underground music which was not part of the mainstream genres listened to by the majority of population.
Typical genres of hardcore music were hip hop, house, raga, breakbeat and techno music. 9
Even if many of them still remained subcultural, from 1991 to 1992 these genres combined and mutated, thus giving rise to new, unique forms.
Hardcore music was organized around two basic models, namely “the cottage industry and the local community” (Reynolds 114). The meaning of cottage industry revolved around the music production primarily made by means of computers and cheap, home studios. The local community then represented the practices in the music business, which were based on the closed circle encompassing young deejays, music shops, labels and parties. Deejays worked in shops, played at parties and made tracks for labels. It turned out to be very convenient because shops enabled deejays to keep in touch with their audience and parties provided the opportunities to test new tracks on the dance floor. In new thriving music centres
9 The website http://www.di.fm/edmguide/edmguide.html provides description of individual genres, including the music samples.
24 like Sheffield, which was and still is famous for its stainless steel, the production echoed the industrial character of the city.
Orbital (also known as Paul and Phil Hartnoll) were representatives of the so called
“bleep and bass” 10 style. Their debut “Chime” 11 was created in a very short time but immediately ranked high on the UK charts. Their success infuriated all enemies of machine produced music because all that young Hartnoll brothers did was to press the button and stand onstage, without any moves or gestures. Nevertheless, “to this day, Chime is a rave anthem, guaranteed to trigger uproar; the Hartnolls claim that various elements of the track have reappeared as samples in some fifty other tracks” (Reynolds 119).
5.2 Further Fragmentation of House Music
Despite the gradual fragmentation of the scene, in 1991 there were still only two pivotal genres – house and techno. House music was further divided into the subgenres of “deep house” and “hardcore house.” 12 The regional differences gradually became important as well.
The aforementioned “bleep and bass” style of house was contrasted with a different sound in the South. Breakbeat lay at the heart of distinctive Southern house music. House music producers managed to implement the breakbeats into their house tracks. The result was the development of “breakbeat house.” 13 Breakbeat house caugh on like wildfire because it suited well the modern trend of home studios. Another reason for its popularity was that “it also appealed to a multiracial London area population that had grown up on black American imports like jazz funk, hip hop, and rare groove” (Reynolds 120). Primary figures in the breakbeat house sphere were two black British youngsters from North East London. They
10 “People called the Northern style of house ‘bleep and bass’ or just ‘bleep’” (Reynolds 117). 11 Simon Reynolds gives a sophisticated description of this track (p. 119). 12 See http://www.di.fm/edmguide/edmguide.html for information about these subgenres. 13 Again, http://www.di.fm/edmguide/edmguide.html.
25 used the crude abbreviation SUAD standing for “Shut Up and Dance.” 14 They embraced the theme of racism and urbanization and their tracks appealed the house audience. The lyrics of their biggest hit, called “Raving I´m Raving,” dealt with the Ecstasy problem:
Put on my raving shoes and I boarded the plane,
touch down in a city where the sky looks blue, in the middle of the pouring rain.
Everybody was happy, Ecstasy shining down on me, yeah got a first class ticket,
feel as good as a boy can be, I'm raving I'm raving,
I'm raving till the sweat just pours down off me, I'm raving I'm raving,
but do I really feel the way I feel? (Shut Up and Dance)
Since the lyrics described a positive Ecstasy experience, the authorities reacted quickly and banned the track from playing. But the ban ensured that practically all remaining copies sold out and more people learned about the track. SUAD also laid the groundwork for jungle, 15 a subculture that later evolved out of breakbeat music.
Hailed as the first significant and truly indigenous black British music, jungle was mainly a domain of younger patriotic producers. The whole scene represented a community, a collective project in which everybody participated and nobody was a star. The music itself combined hip hop, reggae and hardcore elements. In many ways, jungle was subcultural and outlaw music in the form of pirate radios and drugs, with junglists more inclined to marijuana than Ecstasy. By 1994 jungle was well established as a self sufficient economy, with its pirate radio stations turning to legal side. “London´s KISS FM was the largest and most celebrated instance of a pirate station going legal” [...] (Thornton 148).
14 See Simon Reynolds´ Generation Ecstasy (p. 121). 15 http://www.di.fm/edmguide/edmguide.html
26 5.3 Continental Europe Benefits from the UK Production
From the UK, we can set out on a short journey to Continental Europe, where the hardcore music soon spilled. The biggest impact was seen in Belgium, where predominantly techno music evolved. A native Belgian hardcore was gradually born. Many techno music followers were appalled by the brutalism of the new style, which was characterized by stiffness, rigidity and sound effects like church bells or sirens. As the music spread, every European hardcore scene had its own variations: “the Belgians called the music ‘skizzo’ (schizophrenic), the
Germans used the term ‘bretter’ (meaning to ‘beat’)” (Reynolds 127).
Some experts were able to see the historical parallels between hardcore and heavy metal. They claimed that in the late sixties, British groups remodelled the blues, then the
Americans took the British version and remodelled it again. This remodelling then resulted in the birth of heavy metal. The story of hardcore was more or less similar. In the late eighties, black producers from Chicago and Detroit took the original Continental European music and turned it into house and techno. When the American music returned to Europe, the British and
Belgian young people created a mutant called hardcore.
5.4 The Golden Age of Hardcore
In 1992, the offshoots of hardcore, such as breakbeat or techno, still belonged to the underground scene while house music moved more into the mainstream, mainly due to the commercial rave parties. The lineups at these events included many big names and bands, for example Carl Cox or Prodigy. 16 They “toured clubs playing sets with computers, samplers and
‘improvised’ keyboard parts, vocalists and other instrumentalists” [...] (Thornton 84). The clothes worn by party people, for example hoods, white gloves, gas masks and woolly hats,
16 See Simon Reynolds´ Generation Ecstasy (p. 130).
27 resembled a kind of uniform. Accessories in the form of whistles, air horns and geometric dance moves helped to create a turbulent atmosphere.
The British rave explosion peaked at the end of 1991. The explosion was so vast that
“in terms of hit rate, this ‘golden age of hardcore’ compares with the punk/New Wave period of the late seventies” (Reynolds 131). The opponents of rave complained about the tempo of music. For them the music was too fast to dance to. To a certain extent, their complaints were justified because “at the end of 1991, the average rave tune was around 125 beats per minute; by the last months of 1992, it was reaching speeds of 150 bpm plus” (Reynolds 135). Except for speed, squeaky vocals were characteristic of 1992 hardcore. The modification of female vocals lead to the shuddering and shivering sounds. The initial sounds were distorted beyond the point of recognition.
As there are parallels between hardcore and heavy metal, there are also parallels between the golden age of hardcore and the American garage punk of the mid sixties. Both genres were the domain of teenagers, both were oriented around the riff sounds. Sixties punk was a movement of bored kids who gathered in garages and produced music to kill the time.
Similarly, their nineties hardcore equivalents gathered in bedrooms and created music by means of computers. Just as the punk snobs sneered at the garage bands for their lack of talent, professional house and techno producers debased hardcore enthusiasts for the low value of their production.
Even if the hardcore´s drugginess was apparent in its sound, I claim that the drugs or dance were not the core of this music. Rather, hardcore expressed an urge for release from constraints and a lust for exhilaration. The intensity of hardcore brought a rage to live after a week of monotonous drudgery. A few hours of intensive music experience helped the people, at least for a while, escape from everyday problems. Nobody could blame the young generation for that.
28 6. The End of Traditional Rave Culture, 1992-97
“The Criminal Justice Act” of 1994 put a stop to the unrestrained outdoor festivals, from which commercial clubs benefitted considerably. Those who refused to participate in the conforming commercial events, followed the experimental post rave directions.
6.1 The Crusty-raver Movement and the Criminal Justice Act It´s 11 PM on a Satturday nigt in May 1992. We´re cruising slowly a country lane
somewhere in the English West country [...] Gradually, our car has become part of a
convoy [...] Our destination is Castlemorton Common, an area of public countryside in
Worcestershire where this year´s Avon Free Festival – one of the dozen or more
summer festivals attended by “New Age travellers” – is taking place. (Reynolds 163)
Travelling and festivals date back to the early seventies, when hippies crisscrossed the country in the similar way. After a period of silence, the early ninetees saw the emergence of free parties taking place at abandoned airfields or on hilltops. The people standing behind the organization of free parties were called “The Spirals.” They represented “part of the crossover between the rave scene and the ‘crusty’ subculture – crusties being squat dwelling anarchohippy punk types” [...] (Reynolds 163). The overall concept of the parties was then called “Spiral Tribe.” 17 These parties witnessed a symbiosis between the rave scene and the travelling crusties. Initial differences in lifestyle and outlook of crusties (nomads wearing dreadlocks, DM boots and piercings) and typical ravers (fashionable people wearing baggy trousers) were crossed by the common interest in dance and drugs. Travellers and ravers thus formed an unexpected alliance.
Places surrounding the parties resembled third world shanty towns. The overnight spree sharply contrasted with morning weariness and exhaustion. The parties irritated the
17 “Spiral tribe started hooking up with the travelers in the summer of ’91 and rapidly became prime movers on the scene” (Reynolds 164).
29 population of neighbouring dwellings, raised the interest of newspapers, police and the
Conservative government. The reaction of government caused that “raves were one of the key targets of the Criminal Justice Act (1994)” [...] (Storry and Childs 175). One of the parts targeted primarily squaters, travellers, ravers and free festivals. This part defined rave as “a gathering of a hundred or more persons, whether or not trespassers, at which music is played during the night, such music being that which is wholly or predominantly characterized by the emission of a succession of repetitive beats” (Henderson qtd in Critcher 149). If there was a suspicion of setting up a rave, the police was given the power to disperse the gathering.
Moreover, the police was granted permission to stop anyone within a certain distance of the potential rave. Disobedience could than result in “a three month prison sentence or £2,500 fine” (Reynolds 173). After the successful event at Castlemorton, the plans to throw a monumental megarave in the East London area were marred by the efficient intelligence network of the police. The dispersal of many parties and the growing disenchantment of ravers almost lead to the end of the “Spiral Tribe” era. However, people looking for the escape from the rigid British laws eventually found a drug paradise in India and contributed to the development of a new music wave, “Goa Trance.” 18
After the police interventions and the enactment of “the Criminal Justice Act,” free parties in England continued to take place on a much smaller scale. In 1994, the most active collective in terms of parties, was “Exodus.” 19 Formations like Exodus focused on a strategy based on the precept “small is beautiful.” The strategy rested in a careful choice of isolated locations where to throw parties, and also aimed to ensure the survival of a free party scene as the only alternative to the increasingly costly and commercial clubs.
18 See http://www.di.fm/edmguide/edmguide.html for the denition of this genre. 19 See Simon Reynolds´ book Generation Ecstasy for the information about “Exodus” and their strategy.
30 6.2 New Genres Mark the Onset of Post-rave Experimental Era
When the rebellious outdoor raves were suppressed and replaced with commerical clubs and parties, for many the era of traditional rave culture was replaced by experimental rave.
Techno music gained a new dimension and morphed into “intelligent techno” 20 celebrating creativity, humanity and electronic sounds. This era was thus marked by a constant struggle between intelligent techno and hardcore at what direction it should go. Young experimentalists produced beautiful and innovative sounds, which contributed to the development of music streams like “progressive house” 21 and “trance.” 22 As a result of this development, a firm dividing line between the toughness of hardcore and the ambience of electronic music was drawn.
If anyone met the standards of electronic music, it was Richard James, also known as
Aphex Twin. Studying electronics at Kingston University, he summarized his distinctive music style in one sentence, saying “I´ve always been into banging things and making weird noises” (Reynolds 187). In 1992, James released the album called Selected Ambient Works ,23 where he presented ambient sounds and showed his inclination towards experiments.
The booming trance music revived the acid house sound of the late eighties. Trance built upon a terrific tension combined with exhilaration. Highly predictable, trance music enabled the listener to prepare for the climax. Many genres were also influenced by an influx of ideas from jungle, hip hop, etc., which further contributed to the diversity of the scene. The dissolution of boundaries between genres was inevitable as was the friction between the producer´s intention and the dance floor´s requirements. House and techno music mutated as it was adapted to fit the desires and purposes of different environments.
20 http://www.di.fm/edmguide/edmguide.html 21 http://www.di.fm/edmguide/edmguide.html 22 http://www.di.fm/edmguide/edmguide.html 23 Simon Reynolds discusses Richard James and his Selected Ambient Works in detail (pp. 186 89).
31 The British music gradually spread into Europe, with Germany emerging as a centre of post rave experimentalism. The biggest focus in Germany was on the party organization
Mayday and above all, on the renowned massive street rave Love Parade. German rave purists criticized rave culture for its shift from a liberating experience in the form of illegal parties and pirate radios to “a form of cultural fascism” because “fascism was mobilizing people for the war machines [whereas] rave is mobilizing people for pleasure machines”
(Reynolds 364). Today, in Britain, the feelings of nostalgia are mixed with “disagreement over when exactly the lost golden age was: 1988 89, or 1991 92, or even 1994” [...]
(Reynolds 389).
32 7. Use Me, Do Not Abuse Me The insight into the UK rave culture would never be complete without its integral element, the drugs. Drugs are inevitably linked with the dance music events and act as a medium for intensifying music and dance experience. Of course, most of them are illicit because they can have bad effects to human body. They often are a temptation, which is hard to escape. “In
1996 the government reported that Ecstasy seizures had increased from zero in 1988 to
300.000 doses in 1993 and 5.8 million in 1996 [...] (Parker qtd in Critcher 157). What is even worse, relatively little is sometimes known about these drugs and their effects. The story of the most used and abused one follows.
7.1 A Short History of Ecstasy
Ecstasy, containing a substance called “MDMA,” 24 was and still is the most common drug at dance events. Introduced already in the time of the First World War, partly used in the
Nicaraguan War and redeveloped by Alexader Shulgin in the 1960s, Ecstasy became later associated with the dance music environment. In the contemporary dance music scene, “it acts as both party igniting fun fuel and the catalyst for ego melting mass communion” (Reynolds
81). First used for the purpose of supporting the act of dance in the US, it appeared in the UK in 1985. There it was soon banned and added to the list of dangerous drugs “according to the
Misuse of Drugs Acts 1971, alongside heroin and cocaine” (Reynolds 82). At first, relatively little was known about its effects and its distribution was negligible. But during the following years, partly due to its illegal status, which stimulated curiosity, it became the prime mover of many raves. When the press moused out that the new drug is on the scene, it released a story entitled “Evil of Ecstasy,” depicting its negative effects and possible risks. Even if it may seem a bit exaggerated, some people even said that in the eighties, the time “characterized by
24 “Ecstasy is the popular name for 3,4 methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDMA)” (Critcher 146).
33 social atomization and the Thatcher inculcated work ethic, Ecstasy was a miracle cure for the
English disease of emotional constipation, reserve, inhibition” (Reynolds 65).
7.2 The Effects
The effects of Ecstasy can be divided into three categories. First, it is above all a social drug.
Since Ecstasy elicits the feelings of friendliness and empathy, it is commonly used in the company of more people. If used by a solitary individual, the emotional outlet would have nowhere to go. Second, Ecstasy contributes to the enhancing of senses. All music sounds crisper, all colours are more vivid, all smells and tastes are more delicate. Rave music, which is largely based on the repetitive patterns, and the atmosphere of the music environment decorated by lasers and many other light effects is well suited to the effects of the drug,
“enabling the dancer to move with greater fluency and ‘lock’ into the groove” (Reynolds 84).
Thus, many dance music producers deliberately fill their music with “Ecstasy friendly” sounds, further emphasizing the overall effect experienced. Third, there are probably no drugs without side effects. Some side effects of Ecstasy, including dry mouth, nausea or face pulling, are more irritating than harmful. Physical exhaustion and emotional states such as irritation or moody behaviour may occur within several days. Although psychological effects may be dangerous, the main danger lies in its physical risks. The thing is that “Ecstasy raises body temperature; dehydration and nonstop dancing can push it as high as 108°F” [...]
(Reynolds 87). These conditions can then lead to a collapse and that is why many rave parties contain places such “safe spaces,” 25 occupied by medicians offering help and transport to hospital in case of sickness or overdose. Some party organizers even provide for places called
“drug safety check stations,” 26 where ravers can have their drugs checked for purity. Even if
25 “Physicians often go to raves to create ‘save spaces’ for medical triage and urgent referral to local emergency rooms” (Rome 542). 26 “This is an effort to increase the safety of illicit drug use by letting users know exactly what they are taking” (Rome 542).
34 such places may be a ground for many disputes, they may also become extremely useful sources of help. Only the people possessing the highest degree of naivity would assume that there are no drugs at parties today.
7.3 Danger and Prevention
We live in the information age and many people today know better how to take care of themselves. The Ecstasy related deaths are quite a rare phenomenon. Only taking more pills or mixing several drugs sometimes results in serious difficulties. When compared to other drugs, either legal or illegal, the numbers concerning Ecstasy are generally favourable. As for the legal drugs, “in the UK there are around 100,000 deaths per year from tobacco related illnesses, 30,000 to 40,000 from alcohol related illnesses and accidents” (Reynolds 88).
Illegal drugs such as “heroin and solvent abuse each claim about 150 lives per annum, while amphetamine´s death toll is about 25” (Reynolds 88). These numbers are quite high and fairly exceed the number of deaths connected with Ecstasy, because “in the first ten years of British rave, Ecstasy has been implicated in approximately 70 deaths, an average age of seven per year (Reynolds 88). Current numbers do not reveal any major difference. Thus, given various statistics, you are far more at risk driving or skiing than being on Ecstasy.
When talking about drugs, words such as prevention, information and education are often emphasized. This is definitely true, but these words can sometimes have negative effects. The most famous Ecstasy fatality in Britain, that of Leah Betts, validates this belief.
Leah Betts, aged 18, died at her own birthday party. The report said that after she had used the drug, Leah felt unwell. Having been told that water was a remedy, she drank too much quickly. Then, incredibly enough, she died by drowning. The problem was that the advice given was not appropriate in her circumstances because drinking lots of fluids “applies only to intense aerobic activity” (Reynolds 88).
35 7.4 Other Drugs
Other drugs commonly used include Marijuana, DHP or Rohypnol. Marijuana becomes increasingly popular among young people. It occurs not only at dance parties but also at events, where many people are likely to spend some time together. DHP is not so widely known drug. It is sometimes used for an especially vicious purpose, namely to “incapacitate a victim, preventing her or him from resisting sexual assault” (Rome 543). Rohypnol is mainly available in Europe. This drug is less common among ravers but can be lethal when combined with alcohol. As for the inhalants, on the one hand, the use of inhalants is in decline giving way to more popular drugs, but on the other hand they are readily accessible via common household products, such as glues, solvents and aerosols.
All in all, the dominating Ecstasy seems to be raver friendly only when one pill is used and not supported with other drugs. However, its effects are far from beneficial and its place on the list of illegal drugs undeniable. The bad thing about illegalization is that it helps to create an illegal drug market producing drugs of a different quality. “A more recent study conducted in the UK reported that concentrations of MDMA varied 70 fold between tablets”
(Weir). Even if they represent the dark side of rave culture, their omnipresence is evident and worth studying.
36 Conclusion
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, rave culture represented a significant subcultural phenomenon in Britain. Since young people were the prime movers of rave culture, older generations often viewed it as resistant and offensive. Nevertheless, apart from the undeniable countercultural aspects in the form of drugs, illegal warehouse and outdoor parties, raving also brough energy and sense of meaning to the lives of many young people after a week of monotonous drudgery. For example, the aforementioned “PLUR” ethos of rave culture, standing for peace, love, unity and respect, further illustrates that one does not have to be too much sceptical about the nature of raving.
In addition, rave culture may pride itself on a vital contribution to the world of electronic dance music. Many contemporary music genres, not only in Britain, have come from a whole once called “rave.” Today, the scene is extremely diverse, but the original genres of house and techno, although highly modified, still take up the running.
The dark side of rave culture is, of course, represented by drugs. Clubs, parties and festivals are unthinkable without taking pills. The principal drug associated with the rave scene is Ecstasy. It is frequently called the “social drug,” as it contributes to the feelings of empathy and unison on the dance floor.
Rave culture is very much based on the “raving” community that is made up by friends. They embrace a rage to live and look for the escape from the everyday stereotypes.
As for the rave´s countercultural spirit, it is no longer active. As a consequence of “the
Criminal Justice Act” of 1994, the illegal free parties and festivals were suppressed and commercial clubs began to dominate. Today, parties and clubs form part of a hi tech leisure industry. Except for the financial demands, no sacrifices are required to participate and except for the drug effects, only few aftermaths influence everyday life.
37 Bibliography
Primary Sources
Abercrombie, Nicholas and Alan Warde. Contemporary British Society . Cambridge: Polity Press, 1988. Brake, Michael. Comparative Youth Culture: The Sociology of Youth Cultures and Youth
Subcultures in America, Britain and Canada . London: Routledge, 1990. Fiske, John. Understanding Popular Culture . London: Routledge, 1989. Reynolds, Simon. Generation Ecstasy: Into the World of Techno and Rave Culture. New York: Routledge, 1999.
Storry, Mike and Peter Childs. British Cultural Identities . London: Routledge, 1997.
Thornton, Sarah. Club Cultures: Music, Media and Subcultural Capital . Hannover:
University Press of New England, 1996.
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Brandon, Nick. Vanguard Sound, the Belleville Three . 2004. Techno Radio New York . 18 Apr. 2007.
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