1988-1991 was considered "The Summer of Love" because the expression of youth culture and their culmination at mass gatherings reflected the same sort of hedonism seen in the original Summer of Love in San Francisco in the 1960's. During this time warehouse parties began getting busted by the police frequently and nightclubs were becoming so overcrowded that it was necessary to enforce rigid door policies.
In 1989 the scene made its way from the inner city clubs & warehouses to the countryside. Soon parties such as Sunrise, Biology, Energy, and World Dance came about. All of which maintained to be unlicensed parties drawing thousands of people per event. Acid house became a term that wore off as parties began to be known within the scene as "raves" and broken beats started to be introduced into the music by labels such as Shut Up & Dance.
On September 16, 1989 the first fully licensed event took place at Jankins Lane on the London/Essex border hosted by a crew called Raindance. However within weeks police busted more than a dozen raves as well as raiding pirate radio station Centre Force and arresting their dj's.
Promoters and partygoers became so infuriated that by the end of January of 1990 the "Freedom to Party" campaign marched in London against the "Increased Penalties Bill." Eight hundred people gathered in Trafalgar Square to hear speeches from both promoters & dj's. Later that same night a nearby warehouse was cracked by Weekend World and invited other crews like Sunrise, Genesis, and Biology for a free party that was organized in just a few hours. Police tried to break up the party but there were so many people trying to get into th building that it ended up being allowed to continue until 9am.
Across the world the idea of raving had become well known. Cities all over the world were getting a slow glimpse at the new music culture that quickly flourished. Even in cities around the United States dj's had begun to play what was known as acid house. At that time many dj's had to mix house music with other forms of music, most often electro, eighties synth pop, and rock.
This mix was made in 2003 after I had purchased my first lot of records from the 1987-1990 range. At the time I did not have a wide variety to choose from but the journey begins with Inner City which is a group that reached the #1 spot on international charts 11 times. It is followed by an eclectic mix of other popular songs during that time period.
Inner City - Good Life
808 State - Pacific State
LFO - LFO
A Guy Called Gerald - Emotions Electric
Critical Rhythm - Fall Into A Trance
Maurice - This Is Acid
Bang The Party - Release Your Body
ID
Liasons D - Sirenas
101 - Rock To The Beat
Lil Louis - French Kiss
