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808 State
| NAME: |
 |
808 State |
| ORIGINAL MEMBERS: |
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Graham Massey, Martin
Price, Gerald Simpson |
| HIGHEST CHART SINGLE: |
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In Yer Face, Number 9 |
| ESSENTIAL TUNE: |
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Pacific State |
| ESSENTIAL ALBUM: |
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808:90- BUY
NOW! |
| FASCINATING FACT: |
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808 State have spent
a total of 70 weeks in the singles chart |
| BAGGY RATING: |
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Dance Pioneers |
SOME WRITING ON THE BAND:
808 State introduced
me and I'm sure many others to house music. The introduction
came in the shape of a tune called Pacific State - a beautiful
record if ever there was one.
Built around a sweeping - soaring saxophone
sound and the Roland 808 drum machine from which they
took their name, it was a Top Ten hit in November 1989
and was the most interesting thing I'd ever seen on Top
of the Pops!!
It was the first hit for a band who were
still troubling the charts with new material in 1997 and
who have collaborated with the likes of David Bowie, Bjork
and UB40 in their long and fruitful career.
It all started back in the late eighties
when Martin Price, owner of the Eastern Bloc record shop,
got together with Graham Massey and Gerald Simpson to
start making music under the slightly suspect name of
Hit Squad Manchester!!
Before long they'd changed their name
to 808 State and release their first album - Newbuild
- to critical acclaim in 1998. The follow-up - Quadrastate
- was also well received, although by this time Simpson
had gone solo as A Guy Called Gerald.
As a result Darren Partington and Andrew Barker joined
the band.
Their most successful album - 808:90 -
was released off the success of Pacific State and was
snapped up by a generation hungry for all they could get
of this relatively new breed of music.
I can't complete this bit of writing without
mentioning MC Tunes! As it was 808 State that unleashed
him on an unsuspecting world! 808 State wrote the music
and Tunes supplied the lyrics on two Top Twenty hits -
The Only Rhyme That Bites and Tunes Splits The Atom.
Nowadays I find the vast majority
of house music too hectic with far too much going on.
I can't imagine wanting to listen to it. I guess I'm getting
on a bit, but 808 State produced innovative, interesting
music that still demands a place on my stereo to this
day.
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