Acid House was a broad term given to music coming out of Chicago during the late 1980s (Phuture, Lil Louis) and being hungrily devoured by UK DJs. Acid could incorporate anything from House to Techno but the common theme in an Acid track was the distinctive sound of the Roland 303 bass machine. Soon the UK producers had put their own mark on Acid (A Guy called Gerald, S-Express, Guru Josh) and Acid House took hold of Britain’s youth, creating an entire new society of ‘ravers’.

Like Northern Soul, Acid House was probably most influential as a social movement. A new drug, ‘Ecstasy’, was changing the face of clubbing, bringing together young people, all grinning away and loving each other.

The media fuelled hysteria about Acid House to the extent that Acid House records were banned on some radio stations and the UK government enacted legislation to ban ‘raves’. However we can thank the legislation for the best description of Acid House: “sounds wholly or predominantly characterised by the emission of a succession of repetitive beats”.

Mel ‘Feisty’ Fitzpatrick DJ/Promoter

www.feisty.com