Like many supposedly seminal moments in music history/pop culture, acid house has been mythologised in print and on screen to such an extent that it's increasingly difficult to ascertain the reality. Which is precisely what makes the photographs taken by Dave Swindells - gathered together in a new book called Acid House As It Happened - so invaluable.
As Time Out's nightlife editor, Swindells was on hand to document the scene's dramatic explosion in London over the course of a few months in 1988. In conversation with the Guardian's Killian Fox, he talks of the way in which it "changed lives and opened people's minds to other possibilities in life". The pictures, meanwhile, testify to a culture of egalitarianism and liberation - one characterised by joyous, sweaty, communal revelry.
Away from the capital, up in Manchester, the Hacienda soon became synonymous with acid house (even if rave culture first got a foothold elsewhere in the North West). However, the club pre-existed this new music/movement by some years - as these photos, taken by Andy "Beezer" Beese in 1986, remind us.
No comments:
Post a Comment