House music hit big internationally in 1987. It was popular in most big cities and in New York and Chicago it was primarily played in gay nightclubs. However in San Francisco, the gayest city in the United States, the crowds continued to listen to high energy disco. A lot of people felt that house music wasn't gay enough. It was too repetitive and too cold for many listeners. Similarly the majority of clubbers did not want to change. After the major AIDS breakouts in the eighties, people living in San Francisco wanted some stability and worrying about the hot new wave of music was not a priority.
In February of 1989, DOc Martin started a Saturday weekly called Recess at City Nights. His idea was to mix gays and straights together which was a completely new concept at the time. Unfortunately the night only lasted a few weeks as attendance began to wear thin after the novelty of the new party wore off. Doc Martin soon moved to Los Angeles to become a dj on their rave circuit while a man named Pete Avila took over things in San Francisco and opened a party called Osmosis.
Osmosis was barely successful, however it provided a haven for people to gather. This haven was a meeting ground for a group of people who would soon form San Francisco's first rave movement. During the year 1990 a group of about a dozen British kids had moved to San Francisco and began dj'ing at Osmosis. These dj's were Garth, Markie Mark, and Jeno. Each of these dj's had participating in the Tonka movement in the late 80s in during England's acid uprising. The Tonka movement was part of the DIY method of traveling sound systems & free parties. Having the same background these dj's stayed together as a collective and called themselves WICKED. Their vision was to bring this DIY method of partying to San Francisco.
The members of WICKED left England to get away from the stress that was surrounding the rave scene. The busts. The promoters that were in it for the money. The clubs and their door policies. Everything was crumbling to them in England. They wanted to live a free partying lifestyle. This ideology struck well with the partykids of San Francisco. The stories of WICKED peace parties and one-love, open air events were attractive. WICKED's full moon parties were the most defining piece of San Francisco's rave history.
WICKED raised money for their free full moon events by hosting a weekly in the basement of a Thai restaurant called Big Heart City. The venue was often used for Goth bands. The party was simply titled "WICKED" and often had a smiley face logo on the front with a quote and a lineup on the back. They were simply flyers which was quite standard back then.
The first Full Moon Rave was in March of 1991 and only drew 80 people. However the people that showed spread the word of the good time and more people caught on to the parties.
While each crew member was dj'ing the WICKED events, Jeno made a large impact on music listeners that came out to the events. He collected broken beat tracks, primarily off of the Shut Up & Dance label. His mixing has been described as "alien" because at the time people were anticipating pounding four-to-the-floor acid house. This method of using breakbeats was new to every dj in San Francisco and pushed the envelope to inspire the rave culture of the United States.
DJ Freshtrax & Ace - Troy
Fantasy UFO - Fantasty (Master of the Universe)
Feel the Power - Feel the Power (Feel the Klonk)
Frankie Bones - Call It Techno (Bonesbreak Dub)
Nation 12 - Hear the Drummer Get Wicked
4 Hero - All Be Free
Direct - Let It Ride
