Wayne Anthony's Acid House Flash Mob 2008

There are not many things in this world i wont have a go at…this is not the time or place to discuss what i wouldn't do…A few years ago (2008) i organised a couple of Acid House Flash Mobs in central London, well actually one was at Liverpool Street Station and the other was in a gallery where an Acid House exhibition was being held. Facebook has many advantages as far as connectivity is concerned but    as far as people clicking I'm Attending on Events Page and them actually coming is few and far between. Both flash mobs had hundreds of people Attending but only a few turned out…We still did it though…

Big Love to those that turned out, Your on my lifetime Guestlist… ;)

THIS IS THE TUNE WE USED

Class of 88 on Kindle, iPad, iPhone, iTouch, Mac, PC

Class of 88 on Kindle

I do love the advancement of technology and am always ready to get stuck into new devices that come onto the market. I'm not a gadget type person i love products with multi-functionality that i can fully utilise in my daily life. These days we carry so many electronic devices that most are opting for all-in-one machines that can do everything but brush your teeth.

Class of 88 on iPad

If when i originally wrote Class of 88 in 1998 i didn't think for a moment that people in the future would be reading my book on cell phones, flat screen pads or devices configured specifically for digital books, i probably wouldn't have believed it at first. Alas here we are, 2011 and though Branson's space travel hasn't quite reached the tourist sector, we appear to be making huge advancements in electronic delivery of digital media.

Class of 88 on iTouch

Although this edition is called The Special Edition it doesn't relate to the fact its available on new platforms, its special because its rewritten with over 100 pages of new content. So it gives me great pleasure to continually remind you of the kindle version (if i don't no-one else will) but also the fact you can read Class of 88 on PCs, Macs, Kindle, iPhone, iTouch, iPad…

Class of 88 on iPhone

DOWNLOAD YOUR COPY NOW FROM AMAZON

I appreciate your continued Support…

The audio of this video is a montage of interviews I've done on BBC, Channel 4, ITV

Smiley Face History - Good or Evil?

Feelgood corporate logo, acid house icon and txt msg emoticon: one chirpy yellow emblem has kept grinning since the first summer of love. Jon Savage celebrates the life of Smiley

In the official poster for the forthcoming blockbuster, Watchmen, the Smiley badge takes centre stage. The image shows The Comedian being punched out and you see the virgin Smiley a second before it receives the small "five to midnight" blood stain that is the Watchmen logo. As anyone who has read Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons's novel will know, The Comedian's murder sets in train a sequence of events that culminates with the destruction of half of New York and a fragile world peace. In the process, the Watchmen have to confront their own contradictions and fears, their own pasts and, in some cases, their own deaths.  This dystopian story features the Smiley as a key symbol; it reappears throughout the book. It works like the homicidal clown, that staple of American horror movies: a great counter-intuitive twist that pits the vapidity of everyday affirmation against an overwhelming sense of doom.  The Smiley has travelled far from its early 1960s origins, changing like a constantly mutating virus: from early-70s fad to late-80s acid house culture, from millennial txt option to serial killer signature and ubiquitous emoticon. That's quite a journey for a simple logo that began in kids' TV and corporate morale-building.

The classic Smiley arrived in the early 1970s. Within a perfect circle, there is the simplest, most childlike depiction of a happy face: two vertical, oval eyes and a large, upturned semi-circular mouth. The choice of yellow as a background colour was inspired: it's the colour of spring, the sun, a radiant, unclouded happiness.  While the origin of the design is contested, it seems that it first appeared during the early 1960s. In 1963 there was an American children's TV programme called The Funny Company, which featured a crude smiley face as a kids' club logo: it was shown on their caps, in the end titles and the final message, "Keep Smiling".

At the same time, Harvey Ball – a commercial artist in Worcester, Massachusetts – designed a simple Smiley for a local company, State Mutual Life Assurance. Noting the depressing ambience of the town (which is real, believe me, I've stayed there), State Mutual started "a friendship campaign" so that their employees would feel good when they interacted with the public and each other.  Ball was paid $45 for 10 minutes work. However, neither he nor the company copyrighted the design, which has left its precise origins open: a Seattle designer called David Stern has also claimed authorship. But the Smiley is based on such an archetypal child's doodle that it could have come out of the ether.  What is not disputed is the extent to which the Smiley took off. In September 1970 two brothers based in Philadelphia, Bernard and Murray Spain, came up with the classic Smiley design to sell novelties. Adding the words "have a nice day", the Spains shifted at least 50m Smiley badges in 1972.  And that wasn't all. There was an eruption of Smiley ephemera: coffee mugs, tea trays, stationery, earrings, keyrings, bumper stickers, bracelets etc. The fad hit the post-1960s mood: a traumatised American public turning to visual soma in order to forget the war in Vietnam and presidential meltdown.

The Smiley was the perfect feelgood symbol of a moment when 1960s ideas of freedom, hedonism and experimentation hit the American masses. The fad was so mainstream that it bypassed the iconography of post-hippy rock, which, still remaining in thrall to counter-cultural ideas, ignored such mass pablum.  It did hit the comics, though. In May 1972, Mad magazine published a Smiley cover – with the distinctive facial features of Alfred E Neuman contained in one of those yellow circles. A failed DC attempt from 1973/4 called Prez: First Teen President featured the first sinister use of the symbol in the figure of Boss Smiley, a Smiley-faced leader of an ultra-rightwing militia.  This was prescient. The Smiley presented such a fixed facade of childlike contentment that it was ripe for subversion. Evil was rendered even more sinister by this blank, expressionless face, a trigger horror image like a girl's doll with a broken eye, a prom queen (remember Carrie?) or 1950s style suburbia.

This continued in the late 1970s. If there was one thing that punk railed against, it was false consciousness. The Smiley was an icon worth mutilating, and the cover for the UK 12-inch of the Talking Heads' Psycho Killer picked up on the Taxi Driver vibe that would later inform Watchmen with an image of a distorted Smiley on the putative killer's T-shirt.  In 1979, Bob Last and Bruce Slesinger put together a collage of Californian Governor Jerry Brown and a Nuremberg-style rally to illustrate the UK Fast Records release of the Dead Kennedys' California Über Alles. Behind the podium were large red, white and black banners: in place of swastikas were large Smileys.  Written during 1985 and published in 1986, Watchmen used the Smiley as a visual metaphor for a narrative that examines guilt, failure, megalomania and compromise with a corrupt power structure. All is not well beneath the idealised superhero surface, as the novel spirals into an existential crisis of betrayal, mass extinction, the transience of human existence.  The Smiley is worn by the most corrupt and violent superhero, The Comedian. It even travels to Mars, when Jon and Laurie end up in the midst of a rock formation shaped like a Smiley. (Life followed art, as in early February 2008 it was reported that an orbiting satellite had spotted a big Smiley drawn on the face of the red planet).

Then came the explosion. In February 1988, Bomb The Bass released the first pop reference to Watchmen, using the blood-stained logo on the cover of their hit Beat Dis. Tim Simenon has used the Smiley repeatedly: in the videos for the summer '88 hit Don't Make Me Wait (and for last year's Butterfingers). In the previous month, Danny Rampling had used the Smiley in a flyer for his club Shoom. He'd got the idea from seeing the designer Barnzley at the Wag Club in a shirt covered "in a lot of smiley faces". Embedded into the second "o" in Shoom, the symbol took a few weeks to catch on, but when it did, it swept the country as the logo of acid fashion.  As acid house became acieed that year, the Smiley flip-flopped from dream symbol to harbinger of wickedness. Just as the early days of acid were beatific, so the media's initial response to this new youth cult was positive. This changed in the autumn as "smiley culture" was associated with headlines like "Evil Of Ecstasy" and "Shoot These Drug Barons", and the fad quickly subsided.

This negative association continued into the early 1990s. Mutations of the symbol were used by Nirvana (crossed-out eyes, drooling mouth) on their famous "Corporate Rock Whores" T-shirt, as well as in the 1991 Fangoria comic Evil Ernie (angry eyes, mouth with bared teeth).  During the last decade, the Smiley has become an acknowledged part of pop culture history. In the US, it's become a shorthand for the high 1970s, referenced in that great touchstone of modern history, Forrest Gump, where Tom Hanks's mud-spattered T-shirt provides the origin for the design.  Quite apart from the Watchmen associations, the Smiley is coming back in the UK as part of acid retro fashion, just in time for the 20-year revival. Coincidental to this, it has also been used as a sinister signature – left at murder sites by a US group called The Smiley Face Gang who, it is alleged, have been responsible for around 40 killings. The symbol still oscillates between Heaven and Hell.

As you might expect, the Smiley has also been surrounded by copyright controversies ever since the early 1970s when a Frenchman, Franklin Loufrani registered the trademark as Smiley World in some European countries. Wal-Mart tried to copyright the Smiley in 2006, but lost the case to Smiley World.  It has also swept the digital world via emoticons, suggesting various moods from confused to secret-telling, sarcastic to psychotic. (Naturally, the emoticon trademark has already been claimed, by the Russian company Superfone).  It may seem weird that such a bland symbol should be used to convey emotion, in such a way that creates as much distance as real empathy. But then there is something powerfully archetypal about an image of a happy face that resembles the sun. Infantilisation or greater communication, joy or horror: the Smiley can encompass everything. It pretends to be our servant, but it will rule us all....Written by Jon Savage 2009

Wayne Anthony Interview Montage - Acid House on Kindle

  

EXCLUSIVELY ON KINDLE (AMAZON)

The Special Edition 2011

The Special Edition has been completely rewritten and now includes brand new stories from Wayne Anthony’s epic journey into the world of Acid House and the organisers that staged some of the biggest illegal warehouse parties in the history Great Britain. The party promoter was the first amongst his contemporaries  to tell his true story to the world. Genesis is one of the founding companies that created and neutered a platform for large-scale all night dance parties. This brought Wayne and his Genesis partners to the attention of gun totting mercenaries, well known gangsters, bank robbers, and members of parliament, riot squads though worse of all The Media. This true story tells the epic tale of England’s biggest sub-cultural movement that began on the Island’s of Ibiza and Tenerife in 1987. The influence of promoters such as Wayne Anthony can be felt in almost every dance music venue in the world today. Ten years on this Special Edition goes even further into the history of the worlds biggest Acid House promoters.

Over 100 Added Pages

Class of 88 - Amazon Kindle Link - http://amzn.to/c88kindhome

Class of 88 - The True Acid House Experience (Special Edition) OUT NOW

The Special Edition 2011 has been completely rewritten and now includes brand new stories from Wayne Anthony’s epic journey into the world of Acid House and the organisers that staged some of the biggest illegal warehouse parties in the history Great Britain. The party promoter was the first amongst his contemporaries to tell his true story to the world. Genesis is one of the founding companies that created and neutered a platform for large-scale all night dance parties. This brought Wayne and his Genesis partners to the attention of gun totting mercenaries, well known gangsters, bank robbers, and members of parliament, riot squads though worse of all The Media. This true story tells the epic tale of England’s biggest sub-cultural movement that began on the Island’s of Ibiza and Tenerife in 1987. The influence of promoters such as Wayne Anthony can be felt in almost every dance music venue in the world today. Twenty years on this Special Edition delves even further into the history of the worlds biggest Acid House promoters. 

Over 100 Added Pages

Paperback Coming Later so for now: EXCLUSIVELY on KINDLE

Works on ipads, imac, iphone, itouch, PC's
and Android devices

 BUY RIGHT NOW ON KINDLE - FOLLOW THIS LINK

 SOME REVIEWS OF THE ORIGINAL BOOK 1998

  ‘ It’s gonzoid journalism of the best get-stuck-in-kind, with more parties, drugs, blags and scrapes with the law than a lifetime of tabloids could produce. And it still tells us everything the academics come out with.... ‘                                                                                        NME (  APRIL 98 )

‘ This is a book about parties, some of the biggest and most successful ever thrown in Britain ..... In this context house parties are not the sort of events that feature in Tatler, illustrated by photographs of the scions of aristocratic families toasting each other with champagne ‘  DAILY TELEGRAPH ( JAN 98 )

 
  ‘ Wayne was at the forefront of a revolution for Britain’s youth as they rejected boozy fights on a Friday night for an unprecedented unity on the dance floor. And the catalyst was Es and binding beats ‘.                                                                                      EAST LONDON ADVERTISER ( FEB. 98 )

 ‘ Some bloke takes an E in 1988 and thinks he’s Nick bloody Hornby ‘. LOADED ( MAR 98 )

 

‘ Written in “ cheerfully conversational “ style, it probably won’t win any Booker Prizes but, as a grittily authentic tale of the early rave scene’s, has few equals ‘.  VENUE ( JAN 98 )

 

CLASS OF 88 on FACEBOOK

Wayne Anthony and Siruis23 interview the UK / USA Heroes of the Day

Open publication - Free publishing - More dance music

Youth & The Orb present Impossible Oddities (New Album)

The Orb and (man like)Youth need no introduction. The lads have been about since we first started knocking back little fellas in the heyday of Acid House…Yeah Baby….Getting goose pimples on the mere mention of Acid House oooooooooo…

So the lads have been locked into remix culture and produced an album that everyone loved in the office. 'Sunshine on a Rainy Day' got everyone spraying walls, 'erm not painting walls, dancing…by walls! Anyway, no need for a meat wagon officer nothing to see here…

Impossible Oddities is bright, cheerful and cuddly…LSD Magazine will be running a competition to WIN A SIGNED PRINT OF THE COVER ARTWORK BY JIMMY CAUTY…Stay Tuned…This is the official blurb…
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Various: The Orb and Youth present...

Impossible Oddities: The Story of WAU! Mr Modo

W.A.U!. Mr Modo was the product of likeminded music freaks and lifelong friends Youth and Dr Alex Paterson setting out to celebrate and play their part in the acid house revolution sweeping the UK in the late 80s. In the process, they became two of the most well-known and lastingly influential names to emerge from the whole movement, while the label epitomises the innocence and questing spirit of the era. When Youth played bass in apocalyptic post-punk band Killing Joke, Alex was a roadie, prone to leaping onstage and singing Stooges songs in the encores. When Youth left the Joke, the pair found their musical outlooks swiveled by tapes of New York’s dance music radio stations and their jaw-dropping mastermixes.

‘We wanted to form a label after spending 1986-87 listening to the likes of Tony Humphries’ adds Alex. The first Orb single, recorded at KLF’s Transcentral squat HQ, was a homage to KISS FM., called The Kiss EP. Meanwhile Alex and Youth started demoing a song they called ‘Little Fluffy Clouds’ [a never-before heard version which opens this compilation]. After hooking up with former Killing Joke road manager Adam Morris [aka Mr Modo], the label became known as W.A.U!. Mr Modo. 

The music started flowing freely as names including STP Twentythree [Alex and Jimmy], Insync, Paradise X and Lyndsey Holloday recorded there. ‘We set about sampling our record collections and creating new music with a new vocabulary,’ recalls Youth. ‘This extended further with the Orb and KLF, where Alex's genius was soon realised by his amazing sound collage abilities, where we practically got rid of all musicians and created entire tracks from collaging other records.’ The two CDs also feature the cream of the early W.A.U. releases; a stellar collection of half-forgotten names from the acid house archives [several featuring Alex and Youth], including STP Twentythree, Eternity, Discotec 2000, Delkom, Johnson Dean, U.N.C.L.E., Paradise X, Sun Electric, Indica All Stars, Mystic Knights, Insync, Sound Iration and Zoe, with ’Sunshine On A Rainy Day’, one of the label’s biggest hits.

The recordings here can now be considered the acid house equivalent of Alan Lomax’s field blues recordings or compilations of DIY bedroom punk; snapshots of seminal moments in musical history. In many ways, acid house was like punk rock all over again; like that movement, Youth and Alex were again in the thick of it but soon out front, leaders of the field within a very short time. This is where it all started. To accompany this celebration of the label, this must-have, collectors package includes a fold out scrap book poster of press cuttings from the time unearthed from Paterson’s personal archive as well as iconic cover art from Jimmy Cauty.

ALL INFO INCLUDING SAMPLE TRACKS CAN BE FOUND HERE

Evening Telegraph - Friday 11th 1989

Due mainly to the tireless efforts of England's national media Acid House events were staged up and down the country. There wasn't a village untouched by the Acid House tsunami...

Record Mirror - February 1988

Remember the Record Mirror? It should be noted that magazines of this sort despised Acid House, House music or electronic dance music. House music forced them to open the pages up to this new genre as it did with all the rock magazines of the period...

Class of 88 - Amazon Best Sellers List

In the last few years I've been monitoring secondhand sales of the original Class of 88 paperback book and I'm shocked, delighted and gutted i didn't get a royalty on £450 that was once paid on amazon.com. There's a huge difference in prices between the two sites as sometimes on amazon.co.uk prices can start at £10 and max out at £450. I almost fell over when i saw the £450 but over on amazon.com the standard price for the book is $350.

I should point out that authors don't receive any royalties on secondhand books and i think its great that someone can read my book and actually earn 500 times the cover price. What i find somewhat disturbing is the fact I've sent many of these sellers a private message congratulating them on the fact they get so much money on this title. I'm polite, courteous and gentle with my words but not one of them have ever replied to my message. 

Two American companies in particular are obviously sourcing the copies wherever they can and putting them up for over $300 dollars each time. These companies have been consistent throughout the time I've been paying attention and must have sold easy a dozen copies each. In effect I've made them a few quid and they wont even reply to my message…

When the new Special Edition Class of 88 comes out in shops next year I'll be swapping brand new signed editions for original copies…

I did a little investigating on the book on amazon and found some other facts that Im also quite proud of. Taking into consideration that the book hasn't been in print for eight years I think the stats speak for themselves...

Amazon (July 2012)

Secondhand copies of this title have been on sale for the past seven years and have sold for £25 - £500.

Amazon Best Sellers Rank - Books (overall) Class of 88 144,225
Amazon Best Sellers List - Alcohol & Drug Abuse - Class of 88 N0.72
Amazon Best Sellers List - Drugs - Class of 88 N0.87