The Dance Music

As it has become more popular and commercialised so the law has had to become stricter to reinforce the guidelines that citizens must obey. People have always listened to music as it is one of the best forms of freedom. It is a fantastic form of entertainment and has been a community tradition to gather in a group and listen to it. So-called rave psychologists say that the ideas of festivals in the open air is not new as if we looked back to the stone age we would find primitive tribes playing music and dancing in order to pray to the gods for sun, rain, good crops etc. Before house music was introduced to England people had been going out to discotheques and rock-n-roll nights but as the 70’s came a new style of music was demanded. People wanted something synthetic and futuristic to listen to. There had been great influence from black music during the 70’s converting the funk into disco music. It was the black urban ghetto that the earliest forms of modern dance music were created from.

Prominent and forward thinking djs by the likes of masters at work and Tony Dennis grouped together to produce a synthesised music which was futuristic yet tribal in its style sounding like nothing produced before. This innovative and original sound was “Chicago House”. This new sound swept through Chicago as the new acetates dropped in the middle of hip-hop sets to the ecstatic reply of the crowds. Soon there was such a demand for nights of this music that Underground all night events were organised. However at this earliest point there was a heavy influence from the surrounding police forces which restricted access to the organisers as they gathered outside the events. Chicago house spread like wild-fire throughout the U.S. and soon it had reached the east coast where New York took a new hold on the up and dance scene coming.

New York always promoted loud, obtrusive images. This had already been demonstrated with early rap music. When this new style of music was heard the people of Philadelphia and New York realised they could create a new genre of music through following similar guidelines but adding their own east coast influence. They reduced the times between the beats and imitated the same beat to create higher rates of repetition. This combined with erratic sampling and extraordinary synthesised tones became the beginnings of techno. These new styles spread and evolved with incredible force and quickly found their way to the Balearic Islands especially Ibiza. An Island has been commonly associated with freedom and a positive attitude to music and recreational drug use due to its location being simple for imports from Africa, South America, Amsterdam and Spain. Followers of Bagwhan Shree Rajneesh had a base on Ibiza where social understanding and Personal development were believed to be gained through his advocating of the drug ecstasy. With drug use this widespread and religious groups regularly taking drugs made policing the Island complicated and combined with the often slack attitude applied by the Spanish police meant although drug use was illegal it was not clamped down upon as strictly as Great Britain. This attracted a wide range of clubbers from around the globe in search of a hedonistic paradise of Balearic sounds and unforgettable moments. A few of these early holiday makers were Paul Oakenfold, Nicky Holloway, Danny Rampling and Ian st James. When these Britons heard the music and experienced the drugs they realised that this was what England had been missing. British Holiday makers brought back these visions and sounds from Ibiza. This was the beginning of the acid house scene in Great Britain and the start of the struggle between the music and the law.

When Acid house entered England it split into two definitive paths. There was the small but ever increasing club scene often meaning overcrowding and overheating and there was the underground scene. Thousands of secret raves were organised on private or public property and often attracted huge sums of people and go on for days with immense sound levels.

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