(RE-written and modified off of article in DETAILS magazine JULY 1992)
Typed out by: Johnny Wishbone
THE TECHNO REVOLUTION - Simon Reynolds
------------------------------------------
Four Years after its invention in a Detroit bedroom, techno is now
dominating dance floors from London to LA. Is it the next musical
insurrection or is it just danceable noise? Simon Reynolds reports.
MIdnight, saturday and I am pushing through a jungle of limbs in the
fluorescent grottoes that make up the LABRYNTH, a hardcore techno club in
northeast London. The ultraviolet light makes teeth glow with an eerie,
extraterrestial hue. It also highlights the dancers drug ravaged
complexions. But then in a rave culture spots are sexy.
First thing you notice is every other boy wearing a woolly bobble hat(a
sock cap with or without a pom), despite the fact that it's a sauna in
here. My guide tells me that the hats help bring on hyperventilation. Next
you notice a lot of kids who seem to have the flu-rubbing vicks VapoRub on
their necks, or passing around tubes of a nasal decongestant spray. In
fact, it's another Ecstacy enhancer. The tingle of the ointment and the
menthol fumes increase the buzz of X-tacy.
The Labryth mostly hosts young white Kids from London's East End and from
Essex, two of the UK's techno strongholds. Although both are very much part
of the rave culture, techno is quite different from house music. It's
almost entirely non-vocal and has little relation to disco or black pop
tradition. There are many types of Techno, but right now the dominant force
is hardcore which is fast paced (130-140 Beats Per Minute,BPM"s..house
clocks in at 120 bpm), heavy bass, and melody free.
Next we hit the Breakfast Club in central London, which starts at 5:00am
and goes on until midday Sunday. Despite an intensive body search on
entrance, there's no shortage of disreputable types whispering offers of
"whizz"(speed), "charly"(cocaine), and various brands of "X" or
"E"(Ecstacy). The dance floor resembles something between a Nuremberg Rally
and a soccer match. Apocalyptic and bombastic, the music's an ambush of
sound, fury, and blaring samples that enforces a new kind of dancing: all
twitches and jerks, like disciplined epilepsy. Close cropped boys move like
they are doing kung fu with an invisible adversary, others mold their hands
into the shape of cocked pistols and let them rip.
Drugs are essential. Most tablets sold as Ecstacy are concoctions of
amphetamines cut with LSD or Valium. Some kids "neck"(swallow) as many as
five X pills a night. Speed promotes megalomania and agression rather than
the tactile intimacy of X. You can see the difference on the dance floor.
The kids seem lost in autistic bliss, and you get the idea that they'd
rather be masturbating than screwing. Pleasure is expressed in slang terms:
On a good night, you're "faced"(off your face), "sledgied"(into oblivion),
"cabbaged"(brain dead).
Complaining that it is to fast to dance to, the older rave crowd dismisses
hardcore techno as the "new heavy metal". They prefer the more song
oriented garage trax. The youth call it "that garage shit" and is just
bland jazz-funk. The battle lines have been drawn.
---------
The Techno story begins in the late 70's in Detroit, when three young
black American friends, Derrick May, Kevin Saunderson, and Juan Atkins,
were electrified by the sound of KRAFTWERK"s "Trans-Europe Express." The
Three became Europhiles and futurists, infatuated with Ultravox, Depeche
Mode, New Order - groups whose cold precision was in stark opposition to
black music's passion and warmth.
Juan Atkins was the first to make music as early as 1981 with the
electro-era outfit CYBOTRON, and then in 1985 as MODEL 500. Soon
afterwards, Kevin Saunderson (as Reese and Inner City) and Derrick May (as
Mayday and Rythm is Rythm) also began recording tracks in their bedrooms.
But in Detroit Techno remained a small subculture with never more than a
few hundred followers.
Nonetheless, their tracks went on to spawn a huge British Subculture. Neil
Rushton, a british pop entrepeneur sold the idea of "Detroit Techno"
compilation to TEN Records, while Saunderson's pop-techno band, Inner City
had two huge world wide hits with "Big Fun" and "Good Life". Then things
started to go wrong. Disillusioned , Juan Atkins and May dropped out of
music and Saunderson led Inner City in a disastrous soul direction. But
still a seed had been planted.
The 90's brought in a new breed of U.K. whiz kids who made records in
their bedrooms using cheap samplers and outmoded analog synths and who were
fired up by a do-it yourself fervor reminiscent of punk. Warp Records in
Sheffield was a hot bed of talent, with groups like Forgemasters, Sweet
Excorcist, and the brilliant LFO. Then came out of Manchester, A GUY CALLED
GERALD, and 808 STATE. But the finest moment in the early scene came with
Orbital's "Chime" a shimmering hymn that was recorded in a few hours for
less than a hundred dollars and went on to become a top twenty hit on the
club charts.
The hardcore mentality picked up in 1991. These days any music illiterate
can cobble together a white-label twelve inch by tossing a few samples over
a looped , sped-up breakbeat. The market has been flooded with obscure,
limited edition white-labels, which are highly prized by Dj's competing to
play the latest tracks regardless of their longterm worth.
ALTERN-8's Mark Archer and Chris Peat started out by making "arm-chair
techno" but shortly after moved into hardcore techno. Wearing outfits made
of chemical warfare protection suits and face masks, Altern-8 are KLF like
pranksters. Their Top three hit "Activ-8" featured a sample of their label
boss's 5 year old daughter saying "nice one, top one, get sorted" a slang
phrase for getting high on Ecstacy that bypassed the BBC sensors. And when
they appeared on a british TV program called "On top of the Pops" they
convinced the camera man to zoom in on a jar of Vicks placed ontop of their
sampler, the equivalent of waving a cocaine spoon on prime time TV. Their
latest single "Evapor-8" cheekily manages to compact two drug references
into a single word.
----------
SPIRAL TRIBE is a loosely knit collective that organizes illegal parties
and outdoor raves while simultaneously recording and ditributing their own
white-label tracks. They are part of the crossover between the rave scene
and the "crusty" subculture (sqaut dwelling nouveau hippies, anarcho-punks,
and slackers who got the name "crusty" from their matted dreadlocks and
hobo garb.)
Hoping to interview the Tribe, I find myself in a dilapidated squat in
northeast London. Ten Years ago a sqaut party would have been dub reggae or
hippie rock, but tonight it's thick techno-voodoo rythm's. Downstairs
assorted figures huddle, rolling joints or snorting ketamine, a brain
deadening anesthetic that is suddenly back in favor. Currently slang terms
for the drug are "baby food" (users sink into a blissful inertia) and "God"
(some are convinced they have met their maker).
The Tribe's spokeman is Mark, who expounds their anarcho-mystical creed
with the gleam of a prophet in his eyes. "We keep everything illegal
because it's only outside the law that there is any real life to be had.
Last summer we did a party that went on for fourteen days. It's a myth that
you need to sleep. Stay awake and you discover the real edges of reality.
You stop believing all the false reality that was hammered into you from
birth."
In the week I've been chasing them for an interveiw, Spiral Tribe have
been lying low. After a rave in rural Wiltshire, thirty-four members were
arrested, their vehicles trashed by the cops and their phone-line they use
to publicize their events cut off. However the Tribe are gearing up to
launch a non-stop conflagration of illegal raves, and most likely more
altercations with the police. Kicking it off will be SOUND SYTEM CITY on
June 21, a massive rave near Stonehenge - traditionally the summer
celebration place for hippies and pagan worshippers until police placed a 4
mile exclusion zone around it a few years ago.
Like alot of Apocalyptic sects, Spiral Tribe combine paranoid conspiracy
theories with fantasies of returning to a lost golden age. They call their
philosophy "terra-technic" and hope to use technology to unleash the
primordial power of the earth. "Like music from non-western cultures,
techno's based on harmony and rythm, not melody," says Seb, one Tribalist,
"We're not trying to get into the future. We're trying to get back to where
we were before western civilization fucked it all up."
---------------------------------
Today Belgium is at the crossroads of the global traffic in Techno-music.
Since 1990 Belgium has unleashed a steady stream of hardcore tunes that
have incited something akin to pandemonium on the dance floors of Britain,
Europe, and America. R&S Records, the country's leading Techno label is run
by Renaat and Sabine Van De Papeliere, a husband and wife team who last
year sold more 12'inch singles in Belgium than all other labels combined.
The belgian story began with a late 80's dance craze called "New Beat".
Dj's started to spin house records at 33rpm rather than 45rpm creating an
eerie trance dance groove. When groups like LORDS OF ACID and A SPLIT
SECOND inorporated that slow motion beat, they became huge hits in Belgium
and ended that country's pop inferiority complex. As the 90's kicked in the
beats per minute accelerated as Dj's began playing techno with their
turntables set to plus eight. With groups like T99, Second Phase, Rythm
Device, a native hardcore was born charcaterized by the "Belgian Hoover"
effect(sound), an ominous drone that sounds like a swarm of bees. Renaat
thinks it's implicitly utopian, allowing people to create their perfect
world on the dance floor."Because there are no words, it leaves your
imagination free. You can escape from everything." While Belgium still
leads the way with the music, Renaat says the frontiers of club life are
being pushed back in Rotterdam, Frankfurt, and Berlin, where Dj's are
talking about a merciless 180 bpm's as a goal. He mentions one club in
Cologne where temperatures reach tropical levels and Dj's wear oxygen
masks. And he dreams of one day holding a Techno-woodstock modelled also on
Berlin's annual rave carnival , the Love Parade. Apparently last years
MAYDAY rave attracted over 30,000 people.
----------------------
In the beginning of this century, the Italian futurists worshipped
technology and speed and prophesied a new music based on the art of noises.
In the century's last decade, young Italian Americans in New York worship
the velocity and noise that is Techno, and they congregate at Limelight for
"Dance Energy" (on Thursdays) and Lord Michael's "Future Shock" (on
Fridays).
"Fifty percent of the kids are just into the music," says Lord Michael,
the promoter/producer who introduced techno to the Staten Island
/Bensonhurst crowd and then lured them into the Manhattan clubs. "They get
off on the agression, cause New York's a very agressive city. The other
fifty percent are taking Ecstacy or acid. Some of them smoke PCP.It's
Wild."
These days the New York Techno scene has opened out somewhat. "Most come
from outside Manhattan," says MOBY, a Techno artist and occasional Dj at
"Future Shock"(on Fridays). At 26, MOBY is relatively old for a techno whiz
kid. A former punk who breifly played in the seminal drone-rock band
Flipper. Moby is also a Christain Vegan who abstains from alchohol and
drugs. "I'm ascetic, but I love drug culture. I prefer adrenaline highs,
but I like being in a nightclub where five thousand people are buzzing. As
for my religious beliefs...well, the first Rave was when the Ark of the
Covenant was brought into Jerusalem and King David tore off all his clothes
and danced like crazy."
-------------------------------
In New York Techno may be a form of psychic release , a way of venting the
tensions of urban life. But in San Francisco, some ravers see it as part of
a spiritual revolution. Acid guru Timothy Leary's ideas about "the
politics of Ecstacy" are being adapted for the computer age by a new
generation of heads and freaks, and they're hoping that the rave experience
will bring on a blissed-out of state of "higher understanding". "They are
calling Dj's digital shamens on the west coast," says Todd Roberts,
associate editor of the L.A. dance music magazine URB. Like the
terra-technics, it's all about using futuristic technology to return to the
ancient purpose of music: communal release through ritual , ecstatic
dancing.
While Los Angeles has the most highley developed rave culture in the U.S.,
the accent there is on a certain fashion-conscious hedonism rather than
mystical enlightenment. Ecstacy and LSD are big, but so are crystal meth
and nitrous oxide(laughing gas) - drugs that deliver a buzz but hardly open
the doors of perception.
Techno is being consumed by hordes of suburban kids looking for a new
underground sound (now that the so called alternative rock, from Nirvana to
Nine Inch Nails, has gone mainstream). They are into it because it's
confrontational and agressive , a new way to shock the sqaures and it
hasn't been co-opted yet. So on Friday or Saturday they hit three or four
raves (each numbering between three to five thousand people) before the sun
rises over the Valley. Then they drive through the streets having had the
time of their lives only wanting more. With Techno you can never drive fast
enough to catch up with the Beat.
-typed out by Johnny Wishbone for the Cause....
----------------------------
RAVE NEW WORLD: guide to the best dance music and nightlife in America, the
UK, and Europe.
From July 1992 edition of DETAILS magazine
----------------------------
NORTH AMERICA
ATLANTA - anything goes here, you just have to know where it happens and
when...and though the major clubs are kept in business by a steady stream
of white postadolescents who like their music safe and their crowds
homogeneous, there's a small , eccentric underground dance scene where
X-tacy still rules...after all HOT-lanta is the city that bred such club
characters as Ru Paul, Larry Tee, and Lady Bunny.
Radio stations - WRAS 88.5 fm/college radio station with two dance
shows...The 12 Inch show sundays at 8pm(easy listening techno/house
stuff)...The House Fairy Show saturdays midnite(a bit more
hardcore)....WREK 91.1fm...Anno Domini..wednedays at 10:30pm(a heavy
industrial show).....WUOG 90.5 fm ...college station....Essential
Rhythms show tuesdays 8pm(latest club stuff)
Record stores - Let the Music Play, 2345 Cheshire Bridge Rd.,
404-321-7746...lots of imports and Techno, Dj's buy here.....Wuxtry, 197 E.
Clayton St.,Athens, 404-369-9428...latest imports
Clubs - Berlin, 5920 Roswell Rd., 404-255-4471....best night "Wall of
Techno Sound" saturday nights.....Colorbox, 140 E. Washington St., Athens,
404-369-7315..thrusdays are industrial night "Thrillsville" Djed by Ritchie
D.....The Cove 586 Worchester Drive, 404-875-2464...house and indutrial
music for an ecsatic after hours crowd of gays, transvestites in leather
and silicone....The Eagle 306 Ponce de leon Avenue, 404-873-2453...scary
after hours leather hardcore..techno on mondays.....The Heretic 2069
cheshire bridge Rd., 404-325-3061....almost as scary as the Eagle but in a
scarier part of town.....Masquerade 695 North Ave, 404-577-8178, three
rooms:Heaven(name live acts) Purgatory(local bands) Hell(the basement dance
floor where gothic and industrial is played)...Plastic 721 miami circle NE,
404-261-2101..open only on Tues, Fri, Sat...under 21 club so expect lots of
baggy jeans, baseball caps, and high tops.....Traxx 339 Marietta St.,
404-681-5033...large warehouse like club...saturday is
techno-house....Velvet 89 Park Pl., 404-681-9936...celebrity hangout..very
plush...with techno and industrial Friday thru Monday...home of Romeo
Colgne, the only club character of note since Ru Paul moved to New York
--------------------------
BOSTON - Boston has never been a mecca for dance worshippers mainly because
clubs close at 2 am and the city's best Dj's move to New York once they get
hot.
Radio stations - WERS 88.9 fm college station with a decent dance
show...WZOU 94.5 fm ...disco classics sunday nights and club hits
throughout the day.
Record Stores - Dance Music Plus 240 Meridian St. 617-567-5200...good stock
of imports, techno, house.....Vinyl Connection 23 Huntington Ave.
617-536-2560....techno, house, good imports
Clubs - Chaps 27 Huntington Ave., 617-266-7778....best known gay
club.....The Cotton Club 965 Masachusetts Ave., 617-541-0101...small,
intimate, friendly...crowd gets dressed up and dance to new jack....Indigo
823 Main str., Cambridge, 617-497-7200, best known lesbian club....
-------------------------------
CHICAGO - House music originated here, though the locals ignore that fact.
There's a big after hours scene but raves don't always work because the
underground has trouble staying under(no -one can keep a secret) The best
clubs offer rap, house, and industrial.
Radio Stations - WLUW 88.7 fm university station plays the latest dance,
alternative and rap music.
Record Stores - Gramaphone Records Ltd. 2663 N. Clark st.,
312-472-3683...hard to find imports...Wax Trax, 2449 N.Lincoln Ave.,
312-929-0221...alternative and industrial specialists.
Clubs - Avalon 959 W. Belmont Ave., 312-472-3020...laid back....Tuesdays
are open mike nights for up and coming rappers...wednesdays are the Heavy
Metal head banging Chicks Club....Cairo 720 N. Wells st.,
312-266-6620....techno on sundays and mondays.....Exit Lounge 1653 N.Wells
st., 312-440-0535.....weekend nights are body slamming hardcore also with a
bit of rap and goth....scrap metal, mechanical debris, and biker residue
everywhere...no cover charge if you have a tattoo....Kaboom 747 N. Green
st., 312-243-8600...megaclub with six bars, great pop art collection, and a
suspended lazer enhanced walkway....Medusa's 325 N. Sheffield Ave.,
312-935-3635...huge alchohol free club for kids...techno,
industrial.....Shelter 564 W. Fulton st., 312-648-5500...Chicago's most
important club...Dj Mark Farina who leads the afterhours underground with
ambient Techno, Derek Carter who plays a dark sexual groove, Burt
"Non-stop" Blanchard plays electric hip hop and deep house...a must to
attend.....Smart Bar 3730 N. Clark St., 312-549-3604...heavy industrial to
wispy UK fare....Warehouse 738 W. Randolph st., 312-434-9004 loftlike
place...rowdy crowd...house music...casual dress code but no sports
insignias allowed.
--------------------------------
DETROIT - Detroit is a city bred on Motown and blue-collar rock...much like
Chicago but with a more craving for advancement in sound.
Radio stations - CIMX 88.7 fm ...Canadian station that plays alternative
music all day long.....WDET 101.9 fm "Fast Forward Fridays" midnite,
hardcore techno.
Record stores - Buy-Rite Music 7324 W. Seven Mile Road .,
313-864-0219..hardcore Techno and house....Recordtime 25110 Gratiot Ave.,
Roseville, 313-775-1550..for the seroius Dj's
Clubs - Dirt Box, various locations 313-537-2072..this roving party happens
at least once a month in galleries, chinese restaurants, or out of
town...music usually house, industrial, and alternative....Heaven 1050
Larchwood Ave., 313-368-5497...gay black afterhours club for serious
dancers who want the deepest of house...open on weekends till
6am.....Industry 15 S. Saginaw St. Pontiac, 313-334-1999, multi-level
club...safe sex tuesdays where they give out condoms and Virgin label
records...sundays are techno rave nights.
---------------------------
LOS ANGELES - LA's underground is moving from illegal dance clubs, nitrous
tanks, and drunk driving to cozy, smoky bars within five mile radius of
each other.
Radio stations - KCRW 89.9 fm "Militant Mastermix" saturdays at noon...KQLZ
100.3 fm, headbanging music worshipped by Sunset Strippers....KROQ 106.7
fm, best outlet for new alternative bands....MARS 103.1 fm, Techno-rave
industrial music station with a bit of alternative
Record stores - Prime Cuts 7758 Santa Monica Blvd., 213-654-8251, where
Dj's shop and work....Street Sounds 7751 Melrose Ave., 213-651-0630, first
stop for alot of Dj's when shopping....Vinyl Fetish 7305 Melrose Ave.,
213-935-1300...good for industrial stuff
Clubs - Catch One 4067 W. Pico Blvd., 213-734-8849...afterhours club open
till 5am on weekends....gay crowd..."Divas for Dollars" drag performances
on Mondays......Club 1970, 836 N. Highland Ave., 213-669-1000...every
sunday Dj Billy Limbo resurrects 70's trash disco to a John Fluevog
crowd....FUCK!(yes it is a real club), 3909 Sunset Blvd.,
213-664-1929...S&M as art, as Miguel and Dj James demonstrate on Sunday
nights with whippings, waxings, and whackings set to an industrial
groove...Maxx, 6423 Yucca st., 213-463-9661, newly opened...deep
house...Pompeian designed interior....Mayan, 1038 S. Hill St.,
213-746-4287...big beautiful theatre turned dance club where techno rules
on fridays........MORE, 836 N. Highland ave., 213-960-5172, 3am raves for
motley crew types featuring the best non-techno Dj Steve Loria....World on
Wheels, 4645(1/2) Venice Blvd., 213-933-3333, disco rollerfest first
saturday of every month...ten dollar admission gets you skates and fruit
punch....The Troubadour, 9081 Santa Monica Blvd., W. Hollywood,
310-276-6168...Techno-rave nite on thursdays "Joy"...west hollywood crowd.
----------------------------------
MIAMI - good mixture of latino style and modern dance flavors. South Beach
is becoming one of the country's club capitals. Hosts a hybrid of clubs.
Radio stations - WHQT 105.1 fm...hip hop everynite but sundays..WVUM 90.5 fm
college station with a good industrial dance program "Industrial Dance
Consortium" Fridays at 10pm.
Record stores - Underground Records 3303 NW 7th st., 305-649-8622...good
selection of dance music...Yesterday and Today Dance Music, 1614 Alton Rd.,
Miami Beach, 305-534-8704...very club oriented
Clubs - Avenue A, various locations, no phone...must contact the Spot for
information 305-532-1682....Boomerang, 323 23rd st., Miami Beach,
305-532-1666, thursdays are UK inspired Rave nights...saturdays are rare
groove nites..attracts the area's leading Dj's like Luis Diaz, David Knapp,
and Carlos Menendez....Cameo Theatre, 1445 Washington Ave., Miami Beach,
305-532-0922, converted theatre presents big name acts during the
week....weekends are for dance music extravaganzas.....Paragon 1235
Washington ave., Miami Beach., 305-534-1235, large area that hosts to gays,
models, tourists, and fitness freaks....weekends are happening....Warsaw
Ballroom, 1450, Collins Ave., 305-531-4555, best gay club around only
rivaled by the Paragon...music gets popular after being played here by Dj
David Padilla.....Water-Front, 3615 NW S. River Dr., 305-635-5500, gay bar,
salsa club, and a madhouse....boat rides are available on the club's party
boat....bizarre and wonderful.
------------------------------
MONTREAL - Like New Orleans, Montreal is a pot of mixed french and english
spices with other ethnic spices in the mixture as well. The nightlife
reflects it's ethnic mix. You have Potugese, Italian, Haitain, West
African, French, English, Jamaican, and other sorts of people. Most clubs
stay open till 3am.
Radio stations - CKMF 94.3 fm....saturdays are all dance with "Club
Energie"...CJFM 95.9 fm.....top forty but friday and saturday nite stay up
with the "Party Mix" from 7pm till 4am,
Record stores - Archambault Musique, 500 rue Ste.-Catherine est,
514-849-6201. Huge selection of everything...Le Club De Disques W.O.W.,
1448 Peel st., 514-281-6443...international 12'inch singles and US hits.
Clubs - Balattou, 4372 boul. St.-Laurent, 514-845-5447...a gigantic club
featuring Afro-Caribbean and Latin Music....Disalvio, 3519 boul.
St.-Laurent, 514-845-4337...intimate cliquey club favored by pop stars,
fashion types..jazz,funk,house,hip hop....L'Esprit, 1234 rue de la
Montagne, 514-397-1711, spooky former funeral home located in the english
speaking part of town...dance pop....Metropolis, 59 rue Ste.-Catherine est,
514-288-2020...huge futuristic dance palace....house, hip hop, techno...the
crowd is a mix of all......Station C, 1450 rue Ste.- Catherine est,
514-523-0064, Montreal's gay Disneyland, a complex of four clubs including
K.O.X.(for men) and K-2(for women).
-------------------------------------
NEW YORK - NY breaks all rules and gets away with it. The city has set the
standard for nightlife in North America and possibly the World.
Radio stations - WRKS 98.7 fm...rap and house on fridays and
saturdays...WQHT 97.1 fm..plays the top 12'inch on Fridays..WDRE 92.7 fm
plays alternative dance and industrial and gothic...WNYU 89.1 fm plays
nightly alternative and house.
Record stores - Beat Street, 446 Fulton st., Brooklyn, 718-624-7465..for
rap, reggae, house, and imports...BPM, 334 Bleecker st., 212-929-2434,
imports, and place to get club passes...Decadance, 119, Christopher st.,
212-691-1013, specializing in 12'inch singles and imports...Downtown
Records, 164 W. 25th st., 212-924-5791, underground house...popular with
Dj's...Vinylmania, 60 Carmine st., 212-924-7223....lots of 12'inch singles
from floor to ceiling.
Clubs - The Bar Room, 432 W. 14th St., 212-366-5680...fridays are "The Clit
Club" New York's biggest lesbian party...saturdays are "Meat" an all techno
gay party....Zanzibar, 430 Broad St., Newark , New Jersey, 201-643-8338,
open till 7am on weekends....Keep Refrigerated, various locations,
718-388-9766, Brooklyn based floating party which dances to house and local
bands.......Limelight, 660 6th ave., 212-807-7850, Lady Bunny a popular
club character presents saturdays "Shampoo"...wednesdays are Disco 2000
with Dj Keoki....Pyramid, 101 ave. A., 212-473-7184, wednesdays are
"channel 69" bad drag performance art...sundays are "fuck"...no frills gay
dancing......The ROXY, 515 W. 18th st., 212-645-5156, large
madhouse...roller skating wednesdays...gay dancing on saturdays hosted by
Dj Frankie Knuckles and Larry Tee....Save the Robots, underground dance
club from 3am till 8am...gets very packed...ask around for
details.....Sound Factory, 530 W. 27th st., 212-643-0728, large
non-alcholic after hours club..peaks around dawn.....The Spectrum, 802 64th
st.,/8th ave., Brooklyn, 718-238-8213....the Saturday Night Fever disco
club from the movie...complete with the original dance floor....Tilt, 179
Varick st., 212-246-3423, best night is the "Mental House" saturdays with
Dj Steve McMahon.
-----------------------------
PHILADELPHIA - a friendly little town in which all Dj's are pals, the drag
queens don't bite and the punks are too polite to start any trouble. Philly
discovered X-tacy a little late but they will swallow almost anything.
Radio stations - WDAS 105.3 fm, outstanding rap and house mixes on weekend
nights...WKDU 91.7 fm, university station that plays alternative and
industrial sonic blasts.
Record stores - Third Street Jazz & Rock, 20 N. 3rd st.,
215-627-3366...lots of imports of techno, house, and industrial.
Clubs - Black Banana, 247 Race st., 215-925-4433...longest standing after
hours eurodisco in town...Dj Doz and Xanadu are occasional
hosts....Revival, 22 S. 3rd st., 215-627-4825, the town's most comfortable
spot for the widest cross section of dance cultures....Xero, 613 S. 4th
St., 215-629-0565...a friendly mix of b-boys and college students....Ricky
Lee Raves on thursdays and saturdays..hardcore techno on fridays and pure
house on sundays.....The Warehouse, 700 N.Delaware ave., 215-829-9993...Dj
Robbie Tronco promises a house party on the riverside.
----------------------------------
SAN FRANCISCO - The bay area dance scene is as rich as ever. Not as trendy
as the LA scene but more laid back and casual. The scene may be small but
not small minded.
Radio stations - KMEL 106.1 fm...dance chart dominated....KSOL 107.7 fm
..dance hits, soul, funk, and hip hop.
Record stores - Amoeba Music, 2455 Telegraph ave., Berkeley, 510-549-1125,
soul, funk,jazz,hip hop and lots of 12'inches...Reckless Records, 1401
Haight st., 415-431-3434...good selection of 12's , imports, and rare white
labels.
Clubs - DNA Lounge, 375 11th st., 415-626-1409, dance club with live
entertainment...body peircing demonstrations, special disco nights and
industrial rave nights....Kennel Club, 628 Divisadero,
415-931-1914...warehouse space...live alternative music acts...thursdays is
gay dancing night...world music on saturdays and sundays.....Toon Town,
various locations, 415-267-4886...hardcore grooves, crammed with ravers,
hippies, and the lunatic fringe who dance till sunrise.
------------------------------
SEATTLE - Seattle's thriving new crop of dance clubs may mean the end of
the city's outlaw warehouse raves. Nightlife here is beginning to calm down
while still losing none of the grunge that put Seattle's music scene on the
map.
Radio stations - KCMU 90.3 university station known for its "Rap Attack
Show"....KUBE 93.3fm plays hip hop and techno.
Record stores - Orpheum, 618 Broadway E., 206-322-6370, huge Dj selection,
all sorts of mixes...Underground Dance Music, 422 E. Denny way,
206-329-0556...dance and imports.
Clubs - And The Weathered Wall, The Purity Remains, 1921 5th ave.,
206-448-5688...big club, warehousey ambience to it...plays house, techno on
fridays, and gay nights on wednesdays......The Edge, 315 Occidental ave.,
S., 206-621-9251...chic cavernous club....best night on thursdays
"decadence"...progressive rock on fridays and saturdays...old wave on
sundays....OZ Nightclub, 131 Taylor ave. N., 206-448-0888, dark club...hip
hop and house on wednesdays...acid house and industrial on saturdays...no
gang wear dress code in effect....RE-Bar, 1114 Howell st., 206-233-9873,
ambient industrial Mondays...queer disco on thursdays...funk and hip hop on
weekends........Romper Room, 106 1st ave. N., 206-284-5003...after hours
club..Dj's play evrything from old wave to no wave.
----------------------------------
TORONTO - bars and clubs stop serving at 1am so there's a huge market for
what are locally known as "booze cans" warehouses that are rented for the
night by party throwers who sell alchohol illegally. Also the drug scene is
big too in these warehouse parties. Techno is the main sound though the
garage , house sounds still are going strong.
Radio stations - CFNY 102.1fm ...Chris Sheppard's Techno stint at the club
"RPM 2000" is simulcast friday nights....CING 107.9fm a mix of techno,
house and rap.
Record stores - HMV, 333 Yonge st., 416-596-0333...great for UK
imports....Play de Record, 357A Yonge st., 416-586-0380...lots of
12'inches, white labels, imports, salsa...Seekers Books, 509 Bloor st. W.,
416-925-1982...postindustrial CDs and plenty of obscure european
labels....Starsound, 427 Yonge St., 416-977-0525...all purpose dance music.
Clubs - Factory, 19 Mercer st., 416-408-2870..recently legitimized
warehouse club with techno on fridays and saturdays till 6am....Go-Go, 250
Richmond st. W., 416-593-4646...five low-concept floors and a rooftop
patio...wednesdays are gay nights....RPM 2000, 132 Queens Quay E.,
416-869-1462...fridays and saturdays feature Dj Chris Sheppard(producer of
TECHNO TRIP cd compilation and Sheppard's REvenge Technotrip 2)...techno
weekends...psychedelic dance on mondays....lots of suburban people flock
to here.
-----------------------------
VANCOUVER - Though the music scene here is geared toward live alternative
acts, dance is moving up at a rapid pace. Especially in the gay clubs in
the West end and Yaletown neighborhoods. These clubs tend to draw a wide
range of people who'll dance to everything from house to disco.
Radio stations - CITR 101.9fm(cable for pure sound)...University of British
Columbia's station which has the best dance program friday nights called
"Homebass" hosted by Dj Noah every friday night at 9pm. CKZZ 95.3 fm the
latest in dance pop...saturday nights are "party mix" nights...COAST 1040
am(cable 88.5fm) "club 1040" plays on saturdays as well...evrything from
alternative to techno...CJSF 93.9 cable fm...Simon Fraser University
station..."Pandora's Psycho Groove-a-thon" fridays and industrial "Tactical
Agression State" saturdays at noon.
Record stores - Odyssey Imports, 534 Seymour st., 604-669-6644...Western
Canada's largest selection of imports and a good selection of 12'inch
singles....Zulu Records, 1869 W. 4th ave., 604-738-3232...imports,
alternative, industrial..in store listening.
Clubs - Celebrities, 1022 Davie st., 604-689-3180...the biggest and best
gay club in town...sunday nights are techno, mondays are classic
disco.....Graceland, 1250 Richards st., 604-688-2648...Warehouse like with
house on fridays "Panic" with Dj Chad and saturdays techno "Beyond the
Dance" with Dj Noah also the Dj of "Homebass" radio show on CITR
101.9fm...LUV-A-FAIR, 1275 Seymour st., 604-685-3288...city's trendiest
alternative dance club...tuesdays are dance classics...wednesdays are
underground music....Twilight Zone, 7 Alexander St., 604-682-8550...theme
nites five times a week, best night on fridays "Blitzkreig" for alternative
dance.
--------------------------------
EUROPE
AMSTERDAM(Holland) - The current club favorites are house, techno, and the
recent Gabberhouse(hardcore house) named after the Gabbers-footballers who
dance all night, mostly under the influence of X-tacy. Clubs stay open
until 5am on average.
Radio stations - Amsterdam Extra 106.8 cable..latest in club
records...Radio Three 91.5 fm hardcore on wednesdays
Record stores - GET Records, Utrechtsestraat 105, 31-20-622-3441, Dj's
favorite spot.....Rythm Import, Singel 10, 31-20-622-2867...the city's best
selection of club music and imports.
Clubs - ROXY, Singel 465, 31-20-620-0354, trendsetting house Dj's spin for
fashion victimized crowd..hard to get in if you don't have a membership
card...Subtopia(a.k.a. Das Boot), behind the central station on a boat, no
phone...underground gabberhouse till 9am on weekends.
------------------------------
BARCELONA(Spain) - this is Barcelona's year with an invasion of tourists
and athletes for the olympics. Barcelona bars don't get crowded till 1am.
Clubs hit their stride between 3am to 5am.
Radio stations - Radio Club 25 95.5 fm...new dance and pop.
Record stores - Blanco Y Negro, Carrer Calvet 29, 34-3-209-9899, european
and US imports from house to garage trax...TOCS, Carrer Consell de Cent
341, 34-3-215-3121...well balanced dance selections.
Clubs - Centro Ciudad, Carrer Consell de Cent 294, 34-3-487-7722...heavily
strobed basement club with a casual good time crowd...Districto Distinto,
Avinguda Meridiana 104, no phone...an early AM stop for crusing
singles....Satanassa, Carrer Aribau 27, 34-3-451-0052...small sweaty club
known for its homo-erotic sculptures, and retro-disco music.
-----------------------------
BERLIN(Germany) - Since the Berlin wall came down west germans have sought
empty warehouses in the east to hold raves and they found them. Most venues
are near where the old wall use to be. The scene is becoming agressively
divided. There's the Teutonic/industrial faction who wear military outfits
and dis any location that is not "toxic" enough to make them ill. Then
there's the fun/global thinking crowd and the hippie/funk/soul crowd.
Radio stations - Radio 4U 98.2 fm alternative dance, techno, house.
Record stores - Hard Wax, Reichenberger Str. 75, 49-30-618-8846...the
owner Mark is responsible for the Detroit-Berlin connection....Virgin
Records, Kurfurstendamm 12-15, 49-30-880-0810, new megastore, good place to
find UK rarities....WOM, Augsburger Str. 36-42-882-7541...another megastore
with a great dance department.
Clubs - Planet, Alt-Stralau 44-45, no phone...large warehouse open saturday
night till noon sunday....Tresor, Leipziger Str.(Potsdamer Platz),
37-2-229-23-46...a pre-war bank vault....great place for techno...hosts a
few stars like Westbam and Derrick May....Walfisch, at subway station
Heinrich-Heine Str., no phone...after hours club for zombies..good hard
music....W.M.F....in the old public Toilets under Potsdamer Platz, no
phone...booming sounds...best on saturdays.
-----------------------------
LONDON(England) - Clubland is beginning to recover from the euphoria of the
late 80's. It is now the young rave crowd and the re-emergence of the older
club scene. Clubbers are wandering back to the smaller venues and listening
to the slower grooves. Dressing up and communicating are back in.
Radio stations - Capital 95.8 fm...good rap show, rave music on friday and
saturday nights....KISS 100 fm..London's finest and only legal twenty four
hour all dance station...Spectrum International 558-am Bizzare mix of pop
music from all around the world....Pulse 90.6fm pirate station that plays
hardcore techno.
Record stores - Black Market, 25 Darblay st., Soho, W1,
44-71-437-0478...dance shop split into house upstairs and soul
downstairs...City Sounds, 8 Proctor St., High Holborn, WC1,
44-71-405-5454...specializes in house, garage trax, and white labels...TAG
Records, Westside Basement, the Trocadero, Picadilly, W1,
44-71-434-0029...Hardcore, techno, 12'inch paradise with loud instore
music...also carries white lables...Vinyl Zone, 112 New Kings Rd., Fulham,
SW6, 44-71-384-2320....where alot of the Dj's shop.
Clubs - Bar Industria, 9 Hanover st., W1, 44-71-493-0689.."Macho Sluts"
saturdays is a friendly gay night for drag queens...music a mix of garage
trax and trash....Club Dada, 24 Shaftesbury ave., W1, 44-71-734-8802...busy
central London club...young hardcore crowd...fridays are "kinky disco" and
saturdays are "3rd Base" hardcore techno.....Maximus, 14 Leicester Square,
WC2, 44-71-734-4111...dark, smoky, jam packed club...saturdays are " Love
Ranch" a house party that draws a spirited crowd in feathers and bra
tops...long lines and a no-nerd door policy.....Ministry of Sound, 103
Gaunt st., SE1, 44-71-378-6528...Cavernous industrial club...New York Dj's
make frequent stops here...The Rocket, 160 Holloway Rd., N7,
44-71-700-2421...converted victorian theatre...saturdays "The Orange Club"
is a techno-rave like party...lasers, visuals etc.
--------------------------------
MADRID(Spain) - Most clubs are walking distance from each other and they
get going at about 3am. The young crowd here is status conscious. If it's
expensive then it must be popular is the general attitude.
Radio station - Radio Vinilo 95.1 fm the dance music station.
Record stores - Madrid Rock, Gran Via 25, 34-1-523-2652...a megastore with
wide selections....Quality, calle sandoval 13, 34-1-445-2294...a good Dj
resource.
Clubs - Archy, Calle Marquez de Riscal 11, 34-1-308-3162, designed to look
like a medeival castle.....Pacha, Calle Barcelo 11, 34-1-446-0137, the rich
dance here to house and disco....Provisional, Calle Fernandez de los Rios
59, no phone...for serious dancers...gets going at around 4am with techno
and hip hop.
-------------------------------
MANCHESTER(England) - its massive dance scene reflects all concievable
personal tastes and musical styles. Clubs are msotly trouble free and shut
at around 2am. Illegal after hours clubs come and go.
Radio stations - Pirate stations: Frontline and Unity between 100.5 and
104.5 fm...they play a variety of dance music....they are often busted but
pop up within a number of days...KEY 103fm plays house, hip hop and techno
on saturday and sunday evenings.
Record stores - Eastern Bloc, 5-6 Central Buildings, Oldham st.,
44-61-228-6432...sells all types of dance to Dj's and the
public...Manchester Underground Records, 33 Fennel st., 44-61-839-4043,
underground sounds....Spinn Inn, Unit 1, Market Centre,
44-61-834-5383...all sorts of dance music.
Clubs - The Hippodrome, 13 Corporation st., Middleton, 44-61-654-9454, old
theatre in a quiet part of town...fridays are techno and saturdays are
house to hardcore....The Hacienda, 13 Whitworth st. W.,
44-61-236-5051...famous warehouse style club..plays house and garage
trax...PSV, Royce Rd., Hulme, 44-61-226-8108...eccentric druggy crowd..the
jumping off point for after hours parties....The Wiggly Worm, West Mosely
st., 44-61-236-9748...Techno thursdays and soul nite fridays.
----------------------------------
PARIS(France) - Clubs in France are expensive and don't start till midnite.
They usually close at dawn. Clubs are the best place to hear music as the
record stores are still stuck in the Michael Jackson phase.
Radio stations - Nova 101.5fm...best dance station in france
Record stores - BPM Records, 8-12 rue Keller, 33-1-40-21-0288...latest in
US deep house and garage trax...Champs Disques, 84 ave., des champs
Elyse'es, 33-1-45-62-65-46. the top Dj's shop here....USA IMPORT, 17 rue du
Bourg Tibourg, 33-1-42-72-54-14...tiny shop but sells the latest techno and
house.
Clubs - La Luna, 28 rue keller, 33-1-40-21-09-01...city's trendiest gay
club...acid trax...sauna like environment.....La Locomotive, 90 boul. de
Clichy(place Blanche), 33-1-42-57-37-37, large club...3 story...crazy kids
get sleazy on Thursdays....Follies Pigalle, 11 place Pigalle,
33-1-48-78-25-58,...the club of the moment...weekends are retro-disco and
house....trendy clubbers.....Sheherazade, 3 rue de Liege,
33-1-48-74-85-20...old russian cabaret...fridays british Dj's play deep
house, soul, funk, and rare groove on the other nights.
------------------------------------
Compiled on July 19/1992 by Johnny Wishbone for the Cause....Peace!
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Another file downloaded from: The NIRVANAnet(tm) Seven
& the Temple of the Screaming Electron Taipan Enigma 510/935-5845
Burn This Flag Zardoz 408/363-9766
realitycheck Poindexter Fortran 510/527-1662
Lies Unlimited Mick Freen 801/278-2699
The New Dork Sublime Biffnix 415/864-DORK
The Shrine Rif Raf 206/794-6674
Planet Mirth Simon Jester 510/786-6560
"Raw Data for Raw Nerves"
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