North V South

[Reidster]

Not trying to start an argument by the way.

Just interested to hear whether the tunes from the early 90s that i used to/still love were as big in the South.

A.S.H.A, F.P.I Project, S.L.D, BROS in RHYTHM etc.

I just remember it being more breakbeat/hardcore than uplifting piano.
Or did we just used to celebrate /appreciate in a different way?

 

[nathan]

i wish i could say

I had heard all these tunes down south in clubs. I heard these tunes on the radio but we had raves really we didn't have clubs til licensing forced the clubbers back indoors. In 1991 you would hear everything in the mix I heard for example dj rap playing the source:- you got the love, human resource:-dominator, FPI project:- everybody all over the world in one set. But it was usually more hardcore. The jocks never realised the second there was a glimpse of a piano people would go crazy Nevermind I had some great times though

 

[Man Alive]

Would also be interested to hear about how it was in the North East and Scotland 88-92, as not heard much.

I remember 808 State going mental about a night they DJ'd at in Glasgow in '91 "2000 people in a tent", particularly about the reaction to Come Together.

So Scots, Geordies, Mackems and Boro heads - how was it

I never went further South than Stoke. Always got the feeling that, even in places like Leicester, it was more of a hardcore vibe. Liked all sorts, though, so wouldn't have been a problem for me

Even up here (Mcr) places like the Hippodrome had a repretation as being fairly hard.

Can't forget, though, that the good old Balearic laid back vibe was mostly brought over to this country by good-old London fellas

Future-Shoom-Spectrum

Anyhow, while I've got my typing head on, here's some snippets of the insert, written by Graham Park, of the compilation "North - The Sound of the Dance Underground", released at the end of 1988

I'm not sure how fair it was to the South

"It was the Summer of 1986 and clubs in London are rocking to the sound of East coast Hip Hop and Washington Go Go. Meanwhile, dancefloors 'North of Watford' (Especially in Nottingham, Sheffield and Manchester) are crammed with people jacking to a new sound from Chicago called 'House', and for two years a different kind of North/South divide was established.

Summer 1988 reads very differently with the whole nation rapidly becoming one jacking zone......but what of the North? The jacking continues more fervently than ever, the smileys and ecstasy are evident, but it's not just acid that's being played but all forms of house, and at the centre of it all is Manchester's Hacienda. For almost three years Friday's Nude night has been packed....like Hip Hop the genre is here to stay and will develop....in the North, the House scene resembles Northern Soul in terms of it's dedication and fanaticism...as long as House Music packs the dancefloors then the story of 'North' will continue..."
Graham Park (Nottingham)

 

[lastnightadj]

Down here (Bournemouth) it was pretty much House & Balearic bizznizz until 1990 - then the harder Beltramesque/R&S sounds kicked in and it went a bit hardcore (not to my taste at the time) then at the tail end of 1990/early 1991 some alternative house clubs popped up playing the full on piano sound (DJH/FPI/Double Dee/Congress/Electric Choc/SBAM/Francesco Zapella etc) - this lasted until late 1991 when the more "Progressive" sounds started to dominate -ending up with that Renaissance type vibe being big - and also the quality techono started to get a foothold - but I would say that there was not really anyone playing full on piano after sep 1991 - then by 1992

I remember this DJ moved down from Newcastle and he could not believe the piano tunes we were playing and comparing the tunes we were playing to what Sasha was playing (who TBH was at that point pretty much unheard of)

A lot of that piano vibe was imported from the Flying clubs - a lot of the DJs we had coming down were from that camp - Rocky & Diesel/Scott James etc etc

Flying was playing and selling a lot of piano in London at that time - with it being briefly trendy at the same time - late 90/early 1991 - but by the summer it was pretty uncool to be honest and things seemed to move on to a more garage (think Tony Humphries) and progressive style - there was even an issue of The Face in spring 1991 that documented the Flying scene and mentioning the "Piano scream-ups" they were playing

A lot of this came as a reaction to the more Balearic slow vibe (think Short Film About Chilling) that had come about as a reaction to the "acid ted" mentality of the orbital raves of 1989 - people had got bored of the "mooch" and wanted to party full on again

Even Weatherall played a lot of piano tunes during this short period - notoriously being the 1st person in London to play DJ Professor/Francesco Zapella We're Gonna Do It - he even wrote the sleevenotes for the Sueno album on BCM - professing his love for the genre ..... didn't last long as by 1992 he had moved onto a more techno sound (think 4 Jazz Funk Classics by Carl Craig) and developing the Sabres of Paradise sound.

 

[Tim Acid]

Depends where you went in the south...

This is my experience from 1990-1993

Most clubs had House upstairs and hardcore in the main room.... Big clubs on the South were Sterns and The Rhythm station ... both had Hardcore rooms (main room) and House upstairs

In 1990-1991 it was mainly a mix of House, techno and hardcore all together... but by 1992 the breakbeat and jungle techno upped the tempo and shifted House sideways..... At the travellers festies I would go too, sometimes there would be two systems, one playing hardcore and techno...the other playing more US and Ital house....

So in 1992 more House only clubs and Raves started up... DIY Soundsystem for example were more Progressive house based than say Spiral tribe and sweats system.....then came Ministry of Sound, Club UK, The gardening Club, House of Windsor and so on.....

But in 1992 onwards the house was more US house and garage and Progressive house from what I remember.... and not quite so hands in da air pumping ital... if you know what i mean.....

Tunes Like SLD, Brothers in Rhythm, Rozzalla, FPI Project were more heard in KISS FM on day time radio or Steve Jacksons dance chart ' the House That Jack Built' and commercial clubs during that period in the south..

 

[lastnightadj]

Definatly agree with what Tim says above - Sterns and that definatly started towards the more US House side of things - and when this closed down a lot of that crowd went on to Tonic in Bognor Regis which was a big US House club in 1992

 

[brixtonite]

diversity

I was lucky enough to be in Essex (some might disagree ) and London over my formative years... just a bit too young to get away with the first wave of raves, but I was able to sample everything clubland had to offer.

In London there were defined club circuits for each genre:

Original US house and garage was championed at The Wag, Gass, Colloseum etc before they went all 2-step and sold out - it got all gangsta'fied

Hardcore and later drum n bass was all over the show - from the Labrynth and Lea Valley to the North East, Lazerdrome in Peckham, AWOL at the Rocket/Paradise to the North along with Club UN, The Island Ilford and the Rex - though most of these were characterised by one off events or monthlies rather than weeklies.

Then there were the clubs that would host eclectic house nights, even though they may have been known for a certain style - Club UK springs to mind, The Gardening Club another.

What was most exciting were the underground house nights/clubs... only really advertised within the underground circuit - playing the whole range of house from prog to hard to club classics - all a mix n match - though many of these went bouncy techno after a while as thats what the kids wanted - Imperial Gardens in Camberwell, Soundshaft at the back of Heaven, Grays Inn (now a lapdance place I think) near the Law Courts, The Chunnel in Vauxhall (wotta venue) for SunnySide Up which then went to the SW1 in Victoria (the BEST Sunday daytime club London ever saw), the 414 for legendary Sunday night/Monday morning mashups, Strawberry Sundae @ Cloud 9, not forgetting Sundays at this 'new place' called The Cross up at KingsX. All of these characterised by a small but up for it crowd... no nasty peeps in there.

There is a resurgence of quality nights in London - you just need to find em. My fave at the mo is at The Egg - lovely security - they don't search you, they know that if you are there, you are there to have fun AND of course, spend your money at their bar.

I've always regretted not travelling round looking for clubs - guess I was spoilt in London. Though the scene down south was more to my tastes - ie: HARD hahaha

Mid90s music from Up North seemed to be majorly proggy and/or piano based - or in some cases, considerably "mediocre"... maybe it was just my outlook at the time.

 

[Northern Star]

I think it depends on where ya went in whatever town tbh :$

We had a good mix of all sorts up here....some would say southern tunes some would say northern tunage

I agree that there was a slight difference but on the whole in the early dayz it was largely the same especially toward the back end of the 80's...the big tunes were played all over the country with the different dj's filling in the gaps with their personal taste...hence the difference phones:

Wht might have a been a big tune in liverpool may have depended largely on the dj, as it would have in manchester or london.........if u were a regular of any particular place u always remember tunes they played there and cus u know them well u know them to be big tunes .....where as sum1 in the next town would be listening to a totally different personal selection.........the residents djs are worth their weight in gold and i always prefer the residents nights more than guest nites in most cases as they know their crowd phones: Im sure if we got a collective together and spoke about different clubs from different regions we all realise that the same stuff was goin on in every town be it the north or the south....but we just frequented certain places because that was our prefered thing

Certainly the case round here any how

Sozzled so waffling

 

[Reidster]

Great feedback chaps, thanks.

Just hearing some of those club names from London really brings back memories.

The stories i used to hear about Danny Rampling, Nicky Holloway and Dave Dorell bringing the vibe back from Ibiza and implementing that into the club scene over here.

I'm from the North myself, but always felt that the movement down south was always one step ahead.

Used to listen to a lot of the Junior Boys Own stuff myself but didn't really venture down for the clubs.

It was more noticable when we used to go to Ibiza and Tenerife in the early 90s and then Agia Napa later on, and had the mixture of people and music all in the one place.

 

[brixtonite]

...the big tunes were played all over the country with the different dj's filling in the gaps with their personal taste...hence the difference phones:

Wht might have a been a big tune in liverpool may have depended largely on the dj, as it would have in manchester or london.........if u were a regular of any particular place u always remember tunes they played there and cus u know them well u know them to be big tunes .....where as sum1 in the next town would be listening to a totally different personal selection.........the residents djs are worth their weight in gold and i always prefer the residents nights more than guest nites in most cases as they know their crowd

agreed - residents are the bread n butter of clubland... I've never been a big name deej sort of person... every time I've actually planned to go out to a night because of a certain dj I've been left underwhelmed - the last time I went out on a planned big name night was for Krivit and Regisford @ the End - they were cack... I've got 90/91 vinyl that credits Regisford as a producer or remixer and they rock, but his attempts to wow the crowd were shite.

 

[Tim Acid]

To be honest back then I did not know who was on the decks at the time... I just remembered the tunes...to be honest I could not give a toss who was in the dex...I was in it for the drugs ....the music came second...the DJ came in third place and the MC needed shooting .... ..hehe .. nah but to be honest and the same goes today...if it is good music then I am happy

agreed - residents are the bread n butter of clubland... I've never been a big name deej sort of person... every time I've actually planned to go out to a night because of a certain dj I've been left underwhelmed - the last time I went out on a planned big name night was for Krivit and Regisford @ the End - they were cack... I've got 90/91 vinyl that credits Regisford as a producer or remixer and they rock, but his attempts to wow the crowd were shite.

 

[spiely]

... I just remembered the tunes...to be honest I could not give a toss who was in the dex...I was in it for the drugs ....the music came second...the DJ came in third place and the MC needed shooting

sums it up nicely

 

[Northern Star]

To be honest back then I did not know who was on the decks at the time... I just remembered the tunes...to be honest I could not give a toss who was in the dex...I was in it for the drugs ....the music came second...the DJ came in third place and the MC needed shooting .... ..hehe .. nah but to be honest and the same goes today...if it is good music then I am happy

Aye.......spot on........

 

[Man Alive]

Just read the following on a 'Dance Tunes of my youth' thread on a football sight, re D-Shake

"Yaaaah was played up north, Techno trance down south."

Not sure about that Prefered Techno Trance myself

 

[stuck in Aahz]

I moved to the UK in 95 for the sole purpose of checking out all the legendary clubs we had been hearing about in the US. I lived near London until 98, and had every intention to check out all of what the north had to offer, but never did. Once I hit a few London clubs I was hooked, and had no need to travel farther. Club UK, The Complex, Return to the Source at Bagleys, The Fridge, Ministry of Sound, Camden Palace, Labyrinth, the Dreamscape and World Dance raves, and the illegal underground warehouse party circuit I got involved with were just too much fun to bother traveling farther than necessary to have a good time. Looking back I have no regrets, but it would have been nice to see what the north was all about.

 

[lastnightadj]

"Yaaaah was played up north, Techno trance down south."

Techno Trance was rinsed down here (its all about the intro ) .... but I never, ever heard anyone play Yaaaaaah

Also I always played Why Did You Do It and not Why Naked by C-Concept ....WDYDI was a massive Balearic tune in the version by Stretch and it never occured to me to play the dub of C-Concept until I heard about it on here

 

[Mojo]

To be honest back then I did not know who was on the decks at the time... I just remembered the tunes...to be honest I could not give a toss who was in the dex...I was in it for the drugs ....the music came second...the DJ came in third place and the MC needed shooting .... ..hehe .. nah but to be honest and the same goes today...if it is good music then I am happy

Ditto .

 

[eve]

To be honest back then I did not know who was on the decks at the time... I just remembered the tunes...to be honest I could not give a toss who was in the dex...I was in it for the drugs ....the music came second...the DJ came in third place and the MC needed shooting .... ..hehe .. nah but to be honest and the same goes today...if it is good music then I am happy

quality statement

 

[italianjunkie]

I moved to the UK in 95 for the sole purpose of checking out all the legendary clubs we had been hearing about in the US. I lived near London until 98, and had every intention to check out all of what the north had to offer, but never did. Once I hit a few London clubs I was hooked, and had no need to travel farther. Club UK, The Complex, Return to the Source at Bagleys, The Fridge, Ministry of Sound, Camden Palace, Labyrinth, the Dreamscape and World Dance raves, and the illegal underground warehouse party circuit I got involved with were just too much fun to bother traveling farther than necessary to have a good time. Looking back I have no regrets, but it would have been nice to see what the north was all about.

club uk-the dodgiest club ive ever been in-went there with a group of m8's from carlisle in 95-dont know weather it was the fact we all had skinheads or we were from up north but u know when u stick out like a sore thumb-that was us!!!!
maybe had summit to do with the pills and paranoia?

 

[Tim Acid]

Must have been your pills or feeling like a fish out of water.... I always had good nights at Club UK, shame it got closed down.

club uk-the dodgiest club ive ever been in-went there with a group of m8's from carlisle in 95-dont know weather it was the fact we all had skinheads or we were from up north but u know when u stick out like a sore thumb-that was us!!!!
maybe had summit to do with the pills and paranoia?