POSTCARDS FROM 88… Danny Rampling
There’s no doubt that the summer of 1988 marked a watershed moment in the history of dance, as the house rhythms of Chicago, artistic exuberance of Ibiza, and electronic soundscapes of Detroit surged through club culture. Acid house had arrived.
With this in mind, 909originals presents ‘Postcards from 88’, a series that sees leading DJs, promoters, journalists, club owners, photographers, and of course the clubbers themselves, shed some light on just what went on during those halcyon days, 30 years ago.
This week’s ‘Postcards from 88’ comes from someone who needs no introduction, a legendary DJ that helped put acid house on the map – Danny Rampling.
Danny brings his Shoom ‘Summer of Acid’ party to Paradiso Amsterdam on Friday 24 August. Click here for ticket details.
Q. Do you remember what you were doing as the Summer of 1988 started?
Having the time of my life! I had finally made it professionally as a DJ, and created Shoom from the influence of Ibiza in 1987. Shoom was in full swing every Saturday at the Fitness Centre on Thrale Street, and everything felt so optimistic for so many people.
We were collectively shaping a new exciting youth culture movement that brought about great positive change, unity, fun, lifelong friendships, happiness and opportunity. Everything was so revolutionary, fresh and dynamic.
During summer of 88, I went along to the Amnesia Ibiza opening party, to hear DJ Alfredo play in the open air and celebrate the Balearic acid house scene gathering major momentum.
Q. When or where did you first realise that ‘something different’ was happening with music, particularly dance/club music?
Listening to the late Colin Faver, Jazzy M and Steve Jackson on pirate radio, shortly before the infamous Ibiza 1987 trip.
Q. Was there a particular tune from the Summer of 1988 that stood out for you? Why?
Theme from S-Xpress by DJ icon and Shoom regular Mark Moore. I recall running up to the booth shortly after hearing Mark play the track at Pyramid in Heaven, to enquire what the track was. Mark passed me a cassette tape recording, which I immediately played on my Kiss FM Friday afternoon pirate radio show.
A few weeks later, the track went straight to number one in the pop charts! We were all so happy for Mark and there was an impromptu celebration at Clink Street Warehouse on the Friday night.
Theme… is one of so many tracks that made a positive impact in 88.
Q. Why do you think that people are still so interested in the origins of the dance scene, old school and everything that goes with it?
People are becoming more aware of the history and heritage of the scene. The new wave of DJs and producers are greatly influenced by the early House and Techno sounds, and have taken the core elements musically and updated the sounds with their creativity in the present styles.
You can hear this in so many productions in recent years and a whole new wave of acid, 303-led productions are in abundance currently.
There’s so much good 303/acid-influenced music coming from the Berlin scene, for example, as well as from the original acid dons: DJ Pierre, Hardfloor and others.
Q. If the ‘you’ from 1988 could give the ‘you’ from 2018 a piece of music-related advice, what would it be?
Spend more time in the studio producing music, create a record label, and take Shoom around the world. Also, go ahead and play large raves when opportunity knocks – never look a gift horse in the mouth!
[Thanks again to Danny for this week’s interview. Postcards from 88 continues next week. Images from dannyrampling.com. Check out the other interviews in the series by clicking here]
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