Google Groups no longer supports new Usenet posts or subscriptions. Historical content remains viewable.
Dismiss
Rave History
1 view
Skip to first unread message
Tommie Hoffman
Aug 6, 2009, 5:13:23 AM8/6/09
to
What is a rave?
An all night event, a rave is where people go to dance, socialise, get
high and generally have unhibited fun with other likeminded people.
Some say it's about the creation of a community, togetherness and re-
connecting with something perceived as lost (anyone remember the glory
days of Northern?). Others just say it's about necking loads of pills
and getting wasted with your mates in a field.
Where rave?
Normally in an unused warehouse, club, beach, field, aircraft hangar
or a sports arena - anywhere which could accommodate a huge sound
system and lots of people. In the heydays of the late '80s, the larger
Do's attracted tens of thousands of people. The venue would usually
remain secret up until hours before the rave was due to begin as means
of keeping the police away. Organisers would often have backup sites
in mind in case the cops caught wind of them - which they did with
increasing frequency.
Etymology?
The word rave first came into use in the UK during the late 50's,
referring to the wild bohemian parties of the time. It was next
briefly revived by the mods, but didn't come back into usage until the
mid eighties illegal London warehouse party scene. However it seems
likely that the term 'rave' came from Jamaican usage rather than a
revival of any previous usage in Britain.
Who?
Rave crowds are mostly (but not exclusively) young from all sections
of society .
Music?
Rave music is now tagged 'dance' music, or as some government pension-
planner put it, music with a distinctive 'series of repetitive beats'.
Early ravers made the discovery that the combination of ecstasy and
music with fast, repetitive beats was a marriage made in disco heaven.
The big Do's have a line-up of top name DJs as well as some live
performances by dance music bands.
Why so successful in UK in the 1980s?
Theories are many as to why the UK went wild for raving in the late
80s and beyond. It occurred during a period of major consumerism and
individualism. Thatcher was telling everyone to look after number one
("no such thing as society"!). There was bound to be a reaction to
this - a bunch of English DJs had just got back from Ibiza where they
had tasted rave culture & ecstasy first hand. Within a year rave
culture had flourished. Instead of money and power, rave called for
empathy, intimacy, spirituality and the joy of losing yourself in the
crowd. (Remember Northern, anyone?) Interestingly, check out a 1986
novel 'The Last Election', by Pete Davies.
The End?
By the early '90s, the police, Tory government, middle England and
tabloid press had all had enough of rave culture. Thatcher's
government acted, passing the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act
(1994).
addressing the issue of raves, Sections 63, 64 & 65:
A 'rave' is defined as a gathering of 100 plus people, at which
amplified music is played which is likely to cause serious distress to
the local community, in the open air and at night. These sections give
the police the power to order people to leave the land if they're
believed to be:
Preparing to hold a rave (two or more people) Waiting for a rave to
start (10 or more) Actually attending a rave (10 or more) Ignoring
this direction, or returning to the land within the next week, are
both offences, liable to 3 months' imprisonment and/or a '2,500 fine.
Section 65 lets any uniformed constable who believes a person is on
their way to a rave within a 5-mile radius to stop them and direct
them away from the area - failure to comply can lead to a maximum fine
of '1000.
The Act effectively killed off free parties or events not licensed
through local government. Aceeed is dead, long life Aceeed.
An all night event, a rave is where people go to dance, socialise, get
high and generally have unhibited fun with other likeminded people.
Some say it's about the creation of a community, togetherness and re-
connecting with something perceived as lost (anyone remember the glory
days of Northern?). Others just say it's about necking loads of pills
and getting wasted with your mates in a field.
Where rave?
Normally in an unused warehouse, club, beach, field, aircraft hangar
or a sports arena - anywhere which could accommodate a huge sound
system and lots of people. In the heydays of the late '80s, the larger
Do's attracted tens of thousands of people. The venue would usually
remain secret up until hours before the rave was due to begin as means
of keeping the police away. Organisers would often have backup sites
in mind in case the cops caught wind of them - which they did with
increasing frequency.
Etymology?
The word rave first came into use in the UK during the late 50's,
referring to the wild bohemian parties of the time. It was next
briefly revived by the mods, but didn't come back into usage until the
mid eighties illegal London warehouse party scene. However it seems
likely that the term 'rave' came from Jamaican usage rather than a
revival of any previous usage in Britain.
Who?
Rave crowds are mostly (but not exclusively) young from all sections
of society .
Music?
Rave music is now tagged 'dance' music, or as some government pension-
planner put it, music with a distinctive 'series of repetitive beats'.
Early ravers made the discovery that the combination of ecstasy and
music with fast, repetitive beats was a marriage made in disco heaven.
The big Do's have a line-up of top name DJs as well as some live
performances by dance music bands.
Why so successful in UK in the 1980s?
Theories are many as to why the UK went wild for raving in the late
80s and beyond. It occurred during a period of major consumerism and
individualism. Thatcher was telling everyone to look after number one
("no such thing as society"!). There was bound to be a reaction to
this - a bunch of English DJs had just got back from Ibiza where they
had tasted rave culture & ecstasy first hand. Within a year rave
culture had flourished. Instead of money and power, rave called for
empathy, intimacy, spirituality and the joy of losing yourself in the
crowd. (Remember Northern, anyone?) Interestingly, check out a 1986
novel 'The Last Election', by Pete Davies.
The End?
By the early '90s, the police, Tory government, middle England and
tabloid press had all had enough of rave culture. Thatcher's
government acted, passing the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act
(1994).
addressing the issue of raves, Sections 63, 64 & 65:
A 'rave' is defined as a gathering of 100 plus people, at which
amplified music is played which is likely to cause serious distress to
the local community, in the open air and at night. These sections give
the police the power to order people to leave the land if they're
believed to be:
Preparing to hold a rave (two or more people) Waiting for a rave to
start (10 or more) Actually attending a rave (10 or more) Ignoring
this direction, or returning to the land within the next week, are
both offences, liable to 3 months' imprisonment and/or a '2,500 fine.
Section 65 lets any uniformed constable who believes a person is on
their way to a rave within a 5-mile radius to stop them and direct
them away from the area - failure to comply can lead to a maximum fine
of '1000.
The Act effectively killed off free parties or events not licensed
through local government. Aceeed is dead, long life Aceeed.
0 new messages