808 State
Biography
808 State emerged from the underground club scene of Manchester in the late 1980s, becoming one of Britain's most influential electronic music acts and helping to define the sound of acid house and techno for a generation. The group was formed in 1987 by Martin Price, owner of the Eastern Bloc record shop in Manchester's city center, alongside Graham Massey, a former member of the experimental pop band Biting Tongues. Initially joined by Gerald Simpson (later known as A Guy Called Gerald), the collective began creating hypnotic, sample-heavy tracks that would soon capture the imagination of the UK's burgeoning rave scene.
The group's breakthrough came with their 1988 debut album "Newbuild," a raw and uncompromising exploration of acid house that perfectly captured the euphoric energy of Manchester's Haçienda nightclub. The album's title track became an instant classic, with its relentless 303 bassline and hypnotic rhythms embodying the spirit of the Second Summer of Love. "Newbuild" was recorded using minimal equipment – primarily a Roland TR-808 drum machine (from which the band took their name), a TB-303 bass synthesizer, and an Akai S1000 sampler. The album's lo-fi aesthetic and infectious grooves made it a cornerstone of the acid house movement, influencing countless producers and DJs across the UK and beyond. By the time of its release, Simpson had left to pursue his solo career, leaving Price and Massey to recruit new members Andrew Barker and Darren Partington, known as the Spinmasters, who brought their own DJ sensibilities to the group's evolving sound.
The quartet's creative peak arrived with 1989's "Quadrastate," an album that showcased their growing sophistication as producers while maintaining the raw energy that made them underground favorites. The record demonstrated 808 State's ability to craft both dancefloor destroyers and more introspective pieces, with tracks like "Cobra Bora" and "Qmart" becoming staples of the early rave scene. However, it was their follow-up single "Pacific State" that truly launched them into the mainstream. The track, with its distinctive saxophone sample and euphoric breakdown, became a crossover hit that introduced electronic dance music to a broader audience. "Pacific State" reached number 10 on the UK Singles Chart and remains one of the most recognizable tracks of the acid house era, its soaring melodies and emotional depth proving that dance music could be both cerebral and deeply moving.
Building on this success, 808 State released "Ninety" in 1989, an album that represented their full artistic maturation and commercial breakthrough. The record featured collaborations with New Order's Bernard Sumner on the anthemic "Spanish Heart" and showcased the group's expanding palette of sounds and textures. "Ninety" demonstrated their ability to create music that worked equally well in intimate headphone listening sessions and massive warehouse raves. The album's success helped establish 808 State as one of the leading lights of the "Madchester" scene, alongside bands like Happy Mondays and The Stone Roses, though their electronic approach set them apart from the guitar-driven sounds of their contemporaries.
Throughout the 1990s, 808 State continued to evolve, releasing albums like "Gorgeous" (1993) and "Don Solaris" (1996), which incorporated elements of ambient music, breakbeat, and drum and bass. Their willingness to experiment and push boundaries kept them relevant as electronic music continued to fragment into numerous subgenres. The group's influence extended far beyond their recorded output, with their DJ sets and live performances helping to shape the culture of electronic music performance and their Eastern Bloc record shop serving as a crucial hub for the Manchester music scene.
808 State's impact on electronic music cannot be overstated. They helped bridge the gap between underground club culture and mainstream acceptance, proving that electronic music could be both artistically ambitious and commercially successful. Their use of sampling, their integration of live instruments with electronic production, and their ability to create tracks that were simultaneously futuristic and emotionally resonant influenced countless artists across genres. From the Chemical Brothers to Underworld, many of electronic music's biggest names cite 808 State as a crucial influence.
Today, 808 State continues to perform and record, with various lineups keeping the flame alive. Their legacy as pioneers of British electronic music remains secure, their early albums still sounding fresh and innovative decades after their release, testament to their vision and creativity during those crucial formative years of dance
