Acid House

Smiley faces, baggy clothes, ice pops and sounds that made it seem like a cloak of euphoria had descended on the planet, never to be lifted . . . course, all good things come to an end, but while it lasted, acid house was nothing short of a revolution, superceding the rare groove scene, anticipating the ascent of the superstar DJ, and opening up a whole new galaxy of sonic possibilities. April 30th, 1988, delivered the movement's first chart hit, "Theme from S'Express", while other key slabs of acid house vinyl included A Guy Called Gerald's "Voodoo Ray" (especially massive in Manchester during the summer of '88), and 808 State's 12" remixed "Pacific State", titled "Pacific 202".

Prime acid house movers from both sides of the Atlantic unite in Next Steps.

Prolific purveyors of experimental dance music, Psychic TV (aka PTV), came up with the cunning ruse of releasing fake compilations of made-up artists, to give the impression that the acid house scene was more expansive than in fact was the case — and to get a flavour of the outfit's sonic trickery check out the groovesome squelches of "Turn On, Turn In to the Acid House" which made clear the movement's connection to the original summer of love back in 1967. "Do It Properly" is the work of Chicago-based acid house pioneer Adonis, while "An Instrumental Need" by fellow Chi-Towner Ralphi Rosario appears on an acid house compilation of tunes played at Manchester's legendary venue, the Hacienda.

Blow your whistles, ravers, as acid house spreads its love into the '90s, in Deep Cuts.

Once acid house really kicked in as a substantial social phenomenon during 1988, it necessarily changed and mutated — heady ideals gave way to pure hedonism, and the music began to evolve away from its Chicago house roots, and took on new tones and colours while retaining its euphoric essence. "Is There Anybody Out There?", released in 1991, is a small masterpiece of groove-driven sampling, weaving in the subtlest hint of "Once In a Lifetime" by Talking Heads, and adding a grin-inducing blast of "Crazy Horses" by the Osmonds, not to mention the eponymous Pink Floyd lyric. "Move Any Mountain" took the Shamen into the mainstream Top Ten in '91, and scored Top 40 in the U.S. as well.

Take the foundations of Chicago house, couple it with the distinctive sound-distortions of the Roland TB-303 synth, and filter it through Ibiza (where lynchpin DJs Danny Rampling and Paul Oakenfold had holidayed in '87) onto the streets of London and Manchester, where it radiated outwards in unstoppable, goggle-eyed fractals. Violence and aggression took a down turn, utopian hopes were raised, and the music covered a nation-tribe of clubbers in stardust. Acid house was a glorious, era-changing rainbow of chaos, and these tunes formed the scene's glowing core.