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Second Summer of Love
The Second Summer of Love was a 1980s social phenomenon in the United Kingdom which saw the rise of acid house music and unlicensed rave parties. Although primarily referring to the summer of 1988, it continued into the summer of 1989, when house music and the prevalence of the drug MDMA fuelled an explosion in youth culture culminating in mass free parties and the era of the rave. The music of this era fused dance beats with a psychedelic, 1960s flavour, and the dance culture drew parallels with the hedonism and freedom of the 1967 Summer of Love in San Francisco. The smiley logo is synonymous with this period in the UK.
The Second Summer of Love began in 1988 in the UK, and rose from the house music British nightclubs dating from 1987 to 1988 Shoom (run by Danny Rampling), Future (run by Paul Oakenfold), Spectrum (run by Oakenfold and Ian St Paul), Trip (run by Nicky Holloway), and The Haçienda (run by Mike Pickering and Graeme Park). It was particularly associated with the sudden increase in independent gatherings outdoors in fields and in disused warehouses as well as with the new underground club scene, which had often become called raves. Beyond those held around London, events sprung up in areas such as Blackburn and Nottingham, before spreading across all the UK, with very large numbers of distinct gatherings held weekly by late summer of 1988. There were both illegal and legal gatherings in terms of adherence to event planning laws.
While the prime musical point of convergence throughout the phenomenon was house music at first mostly imported from the US underground nightlife centres Chicago, Detroit and New York, another basis for the scene was focused upon enabling people to open up to other genres of music. This was typically music seen as not very commercial for the time, including music of the hippie eras and some folk derived music.
Five DJs associated with the early British house music scene reported they were inspired to start these events after holidaying on Ibiza in the summer of 1987 with their friend Johnny Walker. Ibiza was where acid house music first became popular in Europe and the after-hours nature of the club scene emerged.
In the early stages of the Second Summer of Love, the events and parties were often held in empty warehouses across the UK and were essentially illegal. Vague flyers around towns and cities advertised events and information travelled by word of mouth (as well as the newly popular mobile pager) between clubbers who were obliged to party incognito. Increasingly huge parties started to be put on around the M25 orbital of London by promoters including Biology (Jarvis Sandy, Micky Jump and Tarquin de Meza), Energy (Jeremy Taylor and Tin Tin Chambers), Genesis (Andrew Pritchard, Wayne Anthony and Keith Brooks), Sunrise & Back to the Future (Tony Colston Hayter and Dave Roberts) and Weekend World (Tarquin de Meza). In London, events were put on by Raindance and Labrynth.
1989 saw acid house explode, partly helped by the media attention, and also the big rave promoters. As Gavin Hills is quoted in Simon Reynold's Energy Flash, "1989 was the real explosion. The raves were very special. In some respects it was still underground, still something of a special club, even though it was a mass movement."
Against the backdrop of Thatcherite United Kingdom which had promoted individualism, it was both a reflection of, and a reaction to it.
The summer of 1989 also saw the forming of the Pay Party Unit, a national Police unit headed by Ken Tappenden. This unit attempted to disrupt and investigate not only those organising parties, but also record shops, clubs, and radio stations involved in their promotion.
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Second Summer of Love
The Second Summer of Love was a 1980s social phenomenon in the United Kingdom which saw the rise of acid house music and unlicensed rave parties. Although primarily referring to the summer of 1988, it continued into the summer of 1989, when house music and the prevalence of the drug MDMA fuelled an explosion in youth culture culminating in mass free parties and the era of the rave. The music of this era fused dance beats with a psychedelic, 1960s flavour, and the dance culture drew parallels with the hedonism and freedom of the 1967 Summer of Love in San Francisco. The smiley logo is synonymous with this period in the UK.
The Second Summer of Love began in 1988 in the UK, and rose from the house music British nightclubs dating from 1987 to 1988 Shoom (run by Danny Rampling), Future (run by Paul Oakenfold), Spectrum (run by Oakenfold and Ian St Paul), Trip (run by Nicky Holloway), and The Haçienda (run by Mike Pickering and Graeme Park). It was particularly associated with the sudden increase in independent gatherings outdoors in fields and in disused warehouses as well as with the new underground club scene, which had often become called raves. Beyond those held around London, events sprung up in areas such as Blackburn and Nottingham, before spreading across all the UK, with very large numbers of distinct gatherings held weekly by late summer of 1988. There were both illegal and legal gatherings in terms of adherence to event planning laws.
While the prime musical point of convergence throughout the phenomenon was house music at first mostly imported from the US underground nightlife centres Chicago, Detroit and New York, another basis for the scene was focused upon enabling people to open up to other genres of music. This was typically music seen as not very commercial for the time, including music of the hippie eras and some folk derived music.
Five DJs associated with the early British house music scene reported they were inspired to start these events after holidaying on Ibiza in the summer of 1987 with their friend Johnny Walker. Ibiza was where acid house music first became popular in Europe and the after-hours nature of the club scene emerged.
In the early stages of the Second Summer of Love, the events and parties were often held in empty warehouses across the UK and were essentially illegal. Vague flyers around towns and cities advertised events and information travelled by word of mouth (as well as the newly popular mobile pager) between clubbers who were obliged to party incognito. Increasingly huge parties started to be put on around the M25 orbital of London by promoters including Biology (Jarvis Sandy, Micky Jump and Tarquin de Meza), Energy (Jeremy Taylor and Tin Tin Chambers), Genesis (Andrew Pritchard, Wayne Anthony and Keith Brooks), Sunrise & Back to the Future (Tony Colston Hayter and Dave Roberts) and Weekend World (Tarquin de Meza). In London, events were put on by Raindance and Labrynth.
1989 saw acid house explode, partly helped by the media attention, and also the big rave promoters. As Gavin Hills is quoted in Simon Reynold's Energy Flash, "1989 was the real explosion. The raves were very special. In some respects it was still underground, still something of a special club, even though it was a mass movement."
Against the backdrop of Thatcherite United Kingdom which had promoted individualism, it was both a reflection of, and a reaction to it.
The summer of 1989 also saw the forming of the Pay Party Unit, a national Police unit headed by Ken Tappenden. This unit attempted to disrupt and investigate not only those organising parties, but also record shops, clubs, and radio stations involved in their promotion.