More Music. 1992.

 

 

THE HISTORY!

Waaaaay back in 2020 i was asked to be a part of a documentary on the rave scene in Coventry in the late 80's/ early 90's as part of Coventry being the City of culture in 2020......

.....or 2021, as everything was locked down due to covid. alongside the documentaries there was an immersive experience that i was a part of, playing the part of a raver trying to buy some E's from the attendees. This was met with mixed reactions and the council apparently were not best pleased; i had planned to play the role of a drug dealer and they pooh-poohed the idea. These are a great watch, and i am on them as well (but don't let that put you off!) 

Reflection immersive experience

Reflection media Coventry rave documentaries

Retirement 

It's 2023. I'm 50 in 6 months. When i was 17 years old, if i had spotted a man of my age in a rave, my first thought would be "well that's obviously old bill!" Seeing older folks in a young persons environment immediately reeks of something iffy. I remember being at a rave and seeing a guy in his early 40s off his tits on ecstasy with a wrinkled rubber face gurning away and - being ruthlessly honest - looking a fucking mess. I vowed to never be that guy, in the same way i didn't want to be like my dad, 4 marriages, 5 kids by 4 women,. I'm not gonna be that old man.

Fast forward 32 years and here i am, an old curmudgeon.

This year Amnesia House have put on a trilogy of events to celebrate their 35th anniversary with an all dayer at the Kasbah, Coventry, Slip back in time in Ibiza and another one at the Kasbah in October

Amnesia House

I shall be in attendance for this one with my youngest daughter, now 22. I will not be doing MDMA for many reasons, not least the ones mentioned above. This event will have a mixture of old and young people there, so i will fit in better there. It will be my last rave. I have said this a few times over the last 10 years, but i went with my youngest to see the Prodigy tribute act Jilted Generation (who are amazing, well worth seeing) at The Empire in cov and slipped and fucked my ankle up. As i approach becoming a quinquagenarian,  decrepitude looms large and it takes me longer to recover from injuries. It's just not dignified, is it?

I'm still DJ'ing, well at home. I've not had a gig for 3 years now and that's fine, there's only so long that people will still want to listen to 30 odd year old music. DJ Euphoria has semi retired. i am now playing breaks under the name Itchyfingerrrz, a departure from the sounds i have been playing for 30+ years. take a listen here...... DJ Itchyfingerrrz

So... in conclusion, raving into your 50s isn't for me. I won't stop loving the music but going to a proper full on cheesy quave? Nah.

22: drug dealers

As you're probably aware, drugs are a part of the scene. This means at some point you're going to have to interact with this special breed of person. You may just have that mate who knows everyone and grabs just enough for them and their buddies and that's the safest way of buying drugs; get someone else to do it! I have known a lot over the years and have indulged in it myself, selling Es, whizz, draw and acid tabs. Risk V reward seemed worth it back then, although I wouldn't dream of doing it now. Here are a few tales from the various dealers.... unnamed, obvs...

A dealer in Atherstone, north Warks, had the drug squad camped outside his flat watching his nefarious behaviour and logging all that came and went. This guy gave zero fucks, even taking them bacon sandwiches and cups of tea. One night while feeling mischievous he phoned the police and told them there was a car parked outside of his flat and one of the men in it had a shotgun on his lap. Within 20 minutes the drugs squads car was surrounded by the armed response team. What a guy.

A few of us was struggling to get some LSD so we took a drive over to the Eclipse, Coventry to buy some in the car park outside. We all gave our money to one of lads and he went off to score from some lads about 30 feet away from the  area we were sat in. The lad goes up and has a brief chat, and an exchange takes place before starts to walk back to us examining the contents of the baggie with the trips inside. He then looks at us angrily and turns back to guys he just bought the tabs from, has a bit of a row before one of the dealers wanders off and comes back with a new baggie. When my mate gets back to the car he said "I asked for 10 and the wankers tried giving me 9! You have to get up early in the morning to catch me out!" As we drove back home. He got the baggie out and realised that he had just bought 10 pieces of ripped beer mat. Twat.

More to come soon.....

21: Hiatus

Well its been a while since I last updated this blog of mine. Thanks to all that have enjoyed it, I will try to post new stuff as often as I can.

I am 45 now and went to my last proper rave last year. Amnesia house 30 years anniversary at the Empire, Coventry.  I'm too old for this malarkey now, it was too full, too loud and nowhere to sit.... fucking hell, did I say that?I AM old. Apart from those few niggles the music was outstanding. Frankie Bones played a beautifully crafted set and conversely Grooverider had tech issues and the p.a kept cutting out. He looked as happy as he usually does...

I honestly didn't enjoy it. You cant reclaim your youth by dancing all night and snorting an ungodly amount of wanker dust (cocaine) or necking a Gary (Ecstasy) or two AND retain your dignity at the same time.

I will always love the music and the memories, but that's me done with going out and getting off my noodle now; I'm about to become a grandad for goodness sake! I have 3 adult daughters and have passed the baton onto them.

Thanks again folks, I will be trying to update regularly with new tales of stupidity....

Like the time I offered a policeman a spliff when I was off my tits on a quite strong Gary.....

20: My Radio Shows

I have a fortnightly radio show on Friday nights, 6:30 - 8pm on Future Drumz Radio playing Old skool, Jungle, J-Tek,  Hardcore, House, Happy Hardcore and assorted styles of Breaks. Here are some links to download my shows, or better still have a listen live and join the chat room for shouts out to you and your mates or request tunes.

http://www.mediafire.com/download/1hhb399u6ub9u16/euphoria161015.flac

http://www.mediafire.com/listen/a2ngts489bvn08a/euphoria301015.wav

http://www.mediafire.com/listen/ils41q7s3sgtv26/euphoria13112015.wav

19: MC's.....

A contentious issue right here, are MC's an integral part of the scene or just plain annoying?


NOT REALLY AN MC, BUT DJ DEREK ROCKIN' THE MIC

The MC debate has been going on for as long as i have been raving. Some people love them, some people hate them but you cannot escape the ubiquitous mic wielders at most raves. Way back when, the job of the MC was to hype the crowd; to compliment the dj whilst being the front and centre view for the ravers as the dj's generally were a bit dull to watch. Standing proud at the front of the stage, getting people to blow whistles or cheers as a dj drops the tune or as a break down kicks in. Somewhere along this journey the MC has been evolving and changing style and direction, and this is where the split in opinion really shows. The MC used to be about helping the DJ, but now a lot of MC's are only interested in spitting their lyrics and making a name for themselves rather than complimenting the music. D&B is the worst offender for this, and sometimes when i see a flyer i am gobsmacked at the amount of MC's on the line up. 2 MC's per DJ is retarded. Why do some promotors think that is a good idea? D&B MC's are notorious for constant chatter at speeds hitherto unknown outside of the world of the hummingbird, all unintelligible to the average human (ba-buddah-ba-buddah ba-buddah ba) and relentless; circular breathing techniques must be all the rage for the modern mic abuser. As this is an old skool blog, i will stick to what i know, as i have little interest in the D&B scene.

I loved a few MC's, the ones that knew when to be quiet and when to go and get the crowd hyped up. Man Parris falls into this catagory along with Top Buzz's Mad P, easily my favourite MC's but there are a lot of notable others like Cool N deadly, Conrad, Ribbz, Robbie Dee (coming back to him shortly) and others. Cool N Deadly was on the first tape i ever had, grooverider from Amnesia House, 1990 and i loved that tape, his style was laid back and as his name suggests, very cool. If you listen back to any Top Buzz tapes from 1991, Mad P sounds like his voice was due to break compared to a couple of years later. I learned a few new words when i was a youth thanks to Patrick, from lines such as "..and it happens to detrimental" which was one of my favourites. Having no clue what detrimental meant encouraged me to use a dictionary (something only nerds did, in my opinion at the time) Conradr was LTJ Bukems MC, his style really complimented LTJ's progressive style at the time and this is the only compliment LTJ will ever get from me, as i found his music dull and for the chin strokers only. Robbie Dee was mental. Absolute nuttiness which went perfectly with Rattys frenetic style of chopping up beats and scratching. Some of the stuff he came out with was of questionable integrity "i don't think we're getting paid tonight so i'm sending a bucket round in ten minutes" and "if someone has a pound can they go to reception please and claim it" had me laughing like a drain. There was a lot of terrible MC's as well. A serial offender was Loud and Nasty, A.K.A Neville from Amnesia House. As he lives fairly near to me this is all i am going to say about him. I remember going to a rave at fantasy island, Ingoldmells, just outside Skegness and there was an MC called MC motivator, dressed in a leotard, complete with bum bag and moustache. I was off my noodle and genuinely thought i had either lost my mind or the real Mr Motivator had turned his hand to rhyming over happy hardcore now. There used to be an MC at the Eclipse on members night with glasses with little lights on the side that would wander around the dance floor with radio mic in hand, walking up to people and shouting "dance you bastard!" in their faces. Not the best MC ever, in fact i would go so far as to say a total and utter bell end. And that's the thing, an MC is only as good as people tell them they are. I have an MC i use when appropriate and he knows when to let rip and when to STFU, and this is the mark of a decent MC, along with decent lyrics, obviously.