Those Halcyon Days: Acid House Turns 20

"Acid house was the most democratic and radical musical revolution to occur in the history of rock n' soul" Justin Robertson

Twenty years ago this summer, a new musical movement began to emerge in the UK. It spread from underground clubs in London and Manchester and ended up defining an era. That's right, it might be hard to believe but the Second Summer of Love was two decades ago and its trippy influence is still being felt.

When Danny Rampling set up one of the first successful acid house nights in the UK back in 1988, no one could have predicted that the squelchy electronic music would change the face of clubland, infuriate Daily Mail readers and cause the government to introduce draconian new laws.

Opening the doors to Shroom in 1988, Danny was simply trying to put on a good night to showcase the exciting music that he had experienced the previous summer while on holiday in Ibiza with mates Nicky, Johnny and Paul.

As Danny explained in an interview in the Guardian: "It wasn't until 1988 that [acid house] exploded and took the whole country by storm.

"Myself, Nicky Holloway, Johnny Walker and Paul Oakenfold had a complete revelation in Amnesia the summer before and were totally inspired. I had a crystal-clear vision of what I wanted to create back in England, and I'm sure the others felt the same."

As the movement grew and acid house began to rule the country, people rejected the idea that DJs needed to be confined within clubs and more and more outlandish venues, from disused warehouses to open fields, were pressed into service as temporary dance Meccas. It was the birth of the free party and rave had arrived.

Across the country, DJs like Graham Massey from 808 State and Phil Hartnoll from Orbital were blowing ravers away with the new sound and a generation of people were being switched onto music (with a little help from a new drug called ecstasy which made its way across the Channel and arrived just in time to kick start the movement).

Looking back, Manchurian DJ Justin Robertson managed to sum up just why the music and the movement were so important. Simply put, he said that the fact that anyone could create anthems using cheap technology "liberated music", allowing "people anywhere and everywhere to create music on their own terms, from their own bedrooms".

From its creation, right through to its reception, acid house really was the most egalitarian of genres.

"Whereas punk was a largely middle class art school concept, acid house crossed all class boundaries. Old Etonians raved next to brickies; it was a positive, communal rejection of the materialism of the 80's - non elitist, new, exciting, euphoric, and we could all join in," Robertson added.

For a few glorious years, the movement blossomed, but it could never last. Letting TV cameras into the Apocalypse Now rave held in Wembley Studios probably wasn't the smartest move with hindsight and the footage, broadcast on ITV, proved to be the beginning of the backlash against acid house and everything it stood for.

The always reliable Sun kicked things off in August 1988, when it ran an expose on the Heaven night club and reported: "Junkies flaunt their craving by wearing T-shirts sold at the club bearing messages like 'can you feel it?' and 'drop acid not bombs'."

When Janet Mayes tragically died at a rave, authorities cracked down and the tabloids went into overdrive. The Daily Mail produced a headline describing one party as an "evil night of Ecstasy" and the government was forced to act.

The result? The much maligned Criminal Justice and Public Order Act of 1994, with its embarrassing definition of the whole scene as one that featured music with "sounds wholly or predominantly characterised by the emission of a succession of repetitive beats".

Yet rave refused to die. Free parties continued and underground dance music thrived even as commercial Euro trance dominated the charts in the late 1990. Now, as fans prepare to celebrate the Second Summer of Love turning 20, there are a multitude of nights celebrating the event up and down the country.

In London, celebrations kicked off, appropriately enough, at a secret location. The Mulletover rave in March boasted a line up chocked full of veterans from 1988. Sets from Guy Call Gerald and DJ Pierre showed that acid house was still the stuff to turn a sweaty warehouse of strangers into a swarming mass of smiles.

Manchester's always had a bit of a chip on its shoulder when it came to the beginnings of acid house and there was simply no way the city was going to be outdone by its southern rival when it came to celebrating the genre's 20th birthday.

True to form, Sankeys provided a truly stellar line up at its Tribal Gathering Presents 20 Years of Acid House party in March. Getting pioneer Danny Rampling to play a set was achievement enough, but the promoters topped it by persuading US trailbrazer Frankie Knuckles and New Order founder Bernard Sumner to come along and show all the young pups how everyone used to party.

As if that wasn't enough, David Vincent, Sankeys' owner, revealed that the club was planning another party on June 29th which will recreate those halcyon days of 1988.

David explained: "We are doing a Hacienda party on Friday June 21st with Todd Terry, Graeme Park and, hopefully, Danny Rampling."

Can't wait until June? Well fear not, because over the May bank holiday weekend, the spirit of rave will again soar in Manchester as the second of the city's Lost Weekends takes place as part of the Warehouse Project.

While line ups featuring 2manydjs, Ricardo Villalobos and Skream might be wholly modern, the ethos of the event - taking place beneath Piccadilly Train Station - is pure rave. As is persuading Josh Wink to play. The guy's song Higher State Of Consciousness came out back in 1995 and its 'Original Tweekin' Acid Funk Edit' probably did more than anything else to keep the spirit of acid alive during the dark days of Robert Miles and ATB.

Chatting to the Guardian, Manchester rave legend Mike Pickering revealed that the location for the Warehouse Project was particularly apt.

"One of the first big raves in Manchester was put on behind Piccadilly Station by Chris and Antony Donnelly. Bizarrely, it was directly opposite what is now, 20 years on, the Warehouse Project."

Come the summer, and the big festivals are also getting in on the acid house celebrations. Take Gatecrasher Summer Sound System. First up, you've got Prodigy, a band that emerged from the free party scene and successfully seduced the mainstream with their punk dance ethos, headlining the event. On top of that, there's even a whole stage dedicated to 20 Years Of Acid House.

The organisers said: "It's 20 years since acid house caught fire in the UK, flaming from clubs like Shroom and the Hacienda to explode at the giant M25 raves that caught the imagination of a nation.

"Now for 2008, Gatecrasher Summer Sound System marks this very special anniversary with an arena celebrating 20 Years Of Acid House."

With sets from 808 State, X-Press 2, the Shaman's Mr C, Mark Moore and Alex Patterson, it's perhaps one of the best single places this summer to see how acid house has managed to survive two decades.

But then there's the Dance Village at this year's Wickerman Festival competing for title of best acid house celebration. Hosted by Skiddle, the event will see sets from X-Press 2, Mr C and Tim Sheridan in a very rare back-to-back set and the Hacienda tour - featuring Graeme Park, Peter Hook and Bez. The guys from Skiddle described the acts as a few of their "acid house favourites".

As Justin Robertson explained: "Sounds have moved on since then, but you can still hear the spirit of those records in fields, clubs and warehouses up and down the land."