For those without access to BBC iPlayer, here's a YouTube link, although it could disappear at anytime because copyright and all that: https://youtu.be/Thr8PUAQuag
Acid house is often portrayed as a movement that came out of the blue, inspired by little more than a handful of London-based DJs discovering ecstasy on a 1987 holiday to Ibiza. In truth, the explosion of acid house and rave in the UK was a reaction to a much wider and deeper set of fault lines in British culture, stretching from the heart of the city to the furthest reaches of the countryside, cutting across previously impregnable boundaries of class, identity and geography.
With Everybody in the Place, the Turner Prize-winning artist Jeremy Deller upturns popular notions of rave and acid house, situating them at the very centre of the seismic social changes that reshaped 1980s Britain. Rare and unseen archive materials map the journey from protest movements to abandoned warehouse raves, the white heat of industry bleeding into the chaotic release of the dancefloor.
We join an A-level politics class as they discover these stories for the first time, viewing the story of acid house from the perspective of a generation for whom it is already ancient history. We see how rave culture owes as much to the Battle of Orgreave and the underground gay clubs of Chicago as it does to shifts in musical style: not merely a cultural gesture, but the fulcrum for a generational shift in British identity, linking industrial histories and radical action to the wider expanses of a post-industrial future.
For those without access to BBC iPlayer, here's a YouTube link, although it could disappear at anytime because copyright and all that: https://youtu.be/Thr8PUAQuag
"Hmm, this documentary looks right up my alley as a former raver. I'll just give it a quick glance to makes sure, and if it is, then probably watch it tonight when I have time." <1 hour later>...
"Hmm, this documentary looks right up my alley as a former raver. I'll just give it a quick glance to makes sure, and if it is, then probably watch it tonight when I have time." <1 hour later> "Well, shit. That was great."
No, but seriously, that actually was really great! It was super interesting, and a very unique format too; Being part history lecture, part documentary, part interactive question period with the students. I would love it if more documentaries were done like this.
The first two clips he showed of the TV presenters in the stodgy British nightclub, followed by the first time they encountered a rave was especially hilarious. The Record Producer guy looked incredibly uncomfortable, and I can just imagine his internal dialogue at that moment was mirrored almost exactly by the politician later on wanting to ban the illegal parties. "I don't think it's stuffy or boring to tell people to watch it!" - "Uh, yes it is, bruv." ;)
The part about the parallels between the miners' strikes and the rave scene was especially interesting too. As was the bit about the "new-age travelers" convoys, their pilgrimage to Stonehenge, and how they ended up in Berlin as a result of the crackdown against them. Most of that history is not something I was aware of at all.
Glad you enjoyed it. The format really worked, didn't it. I think a little bit more could have been said about the Free Party scene, but I get the feeling the editing was quite brutal. There was...
Glad you enjoyed it. The format really worked, didn't it. I think a little bit more could have been said about the Free Party scene, but I get the feeling the editing was quite brutal. There was brief mention of Spiral Tribe et al and Castlemorton which could have easily taken up an hour to cover in the context of the programme.
Yeah, I also wish he had touched on Kraftwerk a bit more, considering how important they were to the early electronic music scene. However, as you said, to keep it one hour the editing was...
Yeah, I also wish he had touched on Kraftwerk a bit more, considering how important they were to the early electronic music scene. However, as you said, to keep it one hour the editing was probably pretty brutal already, especially given how much ground he had to cover.
p.s. Thanks for the other Doc recommendations too. I have already seen the Sound Conspiracy one though... I think it may have even been you who recommended it to me ages ago. :P
For those without access to BBC iPlayer, here's a YouTube link, although it could disappear at anytime because copyright and all that: https://youtu.be/Thr8PUAQuag
"Hmm, this documentary looks right up my alley as a former raver. I'll just give it a quick glance to makes sure, and if it is, then probably watch it tonight when I have time." <1 hour later> "Well, shit. That was great."
No, but seriously, that actually was really great! It was super interesting, and a very unique format too; Being part history lecture, part documentary, part interactive question period with the students. I would love it if more documentaries were done like this.
The first two clips he showed of the TV presenters in the stodgy British nightclub, followed by the first time they encountered a rave was especially hilarious. The Record Producer guy looked incredibly uncomfortable, and I can just imagine his internal dialogue at that moment was mirrored almost exactly by the politician later on wanting to ban the illegal parties. "I don't think it's stuffy or boring to tell people to watch it!" - "Uh, yes it is, bruv." ;)
The part about the parallels between the miners' strikes and the rave scene was especially interesting too. As was the bit about the "new-age travelers" convoys, their pilgrimage to Stonehenge, and how they ended up in Berlin as a result of the crackdown against them. Most of that history is not something I was aware of at all.
Thanks a lot for sharing this, ERR.
Glad you enjoyed it. The format really worked, didn't it. I think a little bit more could have been said about the Free Party scene, but I get the feeling the editing was quite brutal. There was brief mention of Spiral Tribe et al and Castlemorton which could have easily taken up an hour to cover in the context of the programme.
There's a half hour thing with Spiral Tribe members here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06j5qcx
and some more docs here, although none of them are as engaging or engrossing as this one: http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/articles/21da87fa-8a5f-4531-bd8b-2ce98cb4c33e
Ed: this is a doc of Sound Conspiracy soundsystem going overland from Italy to Goa, India: https://youtu.be/Jt9W5P1tzF4
Yeah, I also wish he had touched on Kraftwerk a bit more, considering how important they were to the early electronic music scene. However, as you said, to keep it one hour the editing was probably pretty brutal already, especially given how much ground he had to cover.
p.s. Thanks for the other Doc recommendations too. I have already seen the Sound Conspiracy one though... I think it may have even been you who recommended it to me ages ago. :P
I'm hoping that there's more to come. Maybe accompanying articles and/or radio pieces. I'll keep an eye out.