808 State

808 State is also a nickname for Hawaii, derived from its telephone area code.

808 State are an English dance outfit formed in 1988 in Manchester, taking their name from the Roland TR-808 drum machine. Widely regarded as one of the pioneers of acid house, they were formed by Graham Massey, Martin Price and Gerald Simpson (later to record as A Guy Called Gerald) and released their debut Newbuild in 1988. Autechre and Aphex Twin have often cited Newbuild as being enormously influential, and the group achieved some degree of chart success in the UK in the early 1990s with releases "Pacific State", "Cubik" and "In yer face".

History

The group 808 State was formed in 1988 in Manchester, England. They were considered pioneers of the acid house sound, a staple and foundation of rave music. Martin Price, who owned a popular and legendary record store called Eastern Bloc and who founded the independent label Creed, joined up with producer and local musician Graham Massey. They teamed up with Gerald Simpson, who collaborated the effort. At this time, 808 State recorded the debut Newbuild, in 1988.

MC Tunes (real name Nicky Lockett) was a Manchester rapper, who worked with the band on the 1990 album, The North At Its Heights. The album was a moderate success, reaching #26 in the UK charts, and also saw European and Japanese release. It spawned three UK singles, The Only Rhyme That Bites (UK #10), Tunes Split The Atom (UK #18) and Primary Rhyming (UK #67). Tunes later returned in 1996 to work with on a new track, Pump, taken from their album Thermo Kings. It was due to be released as a single, but this never happened.

Simpson left the group in 1989 to form his own solo project, A Guy called Gerald. Voodoo Ray was his biggest song. At this point, the remaining personnel enlisted Andrew Barker and Darren Partington (known as the Spinmasters) to record an EP called Quadrastate in 1989. A very popular hit on the club floors came forth from this effort, entitled Pacific. Their next album, Ninety, was well-received by the ever-growing rave culture at that time. There were other singles released, some of which ended up on the 1991 album el, which featured vocals from Bernard Sumner (New Order) and ex-Sugarcubes vocalist Björk.

In 1992, Price left the group to do solo producing, eventually forming his own label, Sun Text. The remaining members released a fourth album called Gorgeous, and after that, did some remix work for David Bowie, Soundgarden, and other performers, before returning with the album entitled Don Solaris in 1996.This album marked a change for the band who wanted to shake off their rave moniker and with 'Don Solaris' they created a beautiful cinemascopic sound.The album featured contributions from James Dean Bradfield from the Manic Street Preachers who sung vocals on 'Lopez' which reached number 20 in the UK singles charts. This song was remixed by Brian Eno.The song 'Bond' featured vocals by Doughty from the band Soul Coughing and 'Azura' featured Louise Rhodes from Lamb.They released a greatest-hits compilation named 88:98 in 1998-their last on record label ZTT and a 1998 remix of Pacific soared high in the charts. In 2000 a very imporant event happened.Their pioneering 1988 acid house album 'Newbuild' was re-relased to critical acclaim.This album-so raw and different in 1988 is generally regarded as a major influecne on modern artists such as Apehx Twin. And in 2003 they released Outpost Transmission which again featured guest collaborations this time with the likes of the Alabama 3 and Guy Garvey from Elbow. The band is still active, touring and performing DJ sets, and occasionally performing in the full line up.

Pseudonyms and side projects

808 State and its various members have recorded under a variety of pseudonyms. An early EP, containing the tracks Massage-a-Rama and Sex Mechanic, was released under the name Lounge Jays. These tracks have since been re-released by Rephlex Records on the Prebuild LP. Another early EP, Wax on the Melt, was released under the name Hit Squad Mcr. This is the only EP to which all five members of the group (Graham Massey, Martin Price, Gerald Simpson, Andrew Barker and Darren Partington) contributed simultaneously.

Graham Massey recorded a solo EP under the name Massonix. He was also a member of Biting Tongues, an experimental jazz rock group signed to Factory Records. Martin Price left 808 State in 1991 and released a couple of EPs under the name Switzerland. Andrew Barker has produced a small number of tracks as Atlas while Darren Partington has recorded under the name Jeep. Together they're perhaps more familiar to Sunset 102FM listeners as The Spinmasters.

Trivia

In the USA, "the 808 state" is a nickname for Hawaii, due to 808 being the telephone area code.
In the Royal Air Force mailing system for British Forces Post Office addresses, RAF Aldergrove in Ireland is BFPO 808, sometimes called the 808 state.
The bird call that can be heard in all versions of the track Pacific is the distress call of the North American Loon.

Band members

Graham Massey - guitars, keyboards, saxophone (1988-present)
Martin Price - keyboards (1988-1990)
Gerald Simpson - keyboards (1988-1989)
Andrew Barker - keyboards (1989-present)
Darren Partington - keyboards, percussion (1989-present)

Discography

For more details about the discography, see 808 State discography.

External links