Black History Month: DJ Pierre and acid house

Black History Month: DJ Pierre and acid house

19 February, 2010 | 10.00AM

• Written by: Zack Rico
• Filed under: Music News: black history month, dj pierre

Electronic music’s longevity, and some would say most powerful attribute, is from its ability to transmute.

This comes partly from technological determinism - each new invention, software update, and processor refinement brings yet more possibilities - and on the determination of its artists to not sound like guy standing next to them.

If electronic music is anything, it is a culture of remixers obsessed with the future.

One of house music’s most famous mutations came from Chicago’s DJ Pierre, who in 1987 under the name Phuture together with Marshall Jefferson, Spanky, and Herb Jackson, released the very first acid house track.

“We didn’t know what we were doing when we made ‘Acid Tracks’, we were just playing around with the 303 and thought ‘wonder what it would sound like if we put a beat to that acid wiggle’,” Pierre said about the track back in December 2008 (read our in-depth interview with Pierre about ‘Acid Tracks’ here).

As part of our Black History Month celebrations, we sat down with Pierre to find out more about those early acid house days, and decided to take a look back at some of the sub genre’s most memorable tracks.

What was it like in the early days of acid?

Very new, pure, and exciting! It was a culture onto its own, and very original. 
 
How would you compare it to today’s house music scene?

They are complete opposites. Originality is missing today. Basically true talent and originality is not sought after anymore. Back in “da” day you had to be talented to even get through the door, and you had to come with something fresh.

Nowadays people would rather not take a risk on someone who thinks out of the box. They want to recycle what is hot at the moment, and so we are left with replicas. There’s no authenticity, and sorry to say not much innovation exists.

Do you have any unreleased productions from those early years?
 
Definitely. They are very current actually. People have been making similar music today. But if I put that stuff out I would probably be judged very harshly! So maybe I will get another alias and release them soon.

What were your musical influences when you made ‘Acid Tracks’?

My parents, my brother Billy, Ron Hardy, Marshall Jefferson, Lil Louis, Spanky, The Hot Mix 5, Jazz, r&b, funk, soul, pop, reggae, rap, rock, house, disco, 1980s European electronic music.

What gear did you use to make ‘Acid Tracks’?

The Roland 303, 707, 727, 808, and 909. A Tascam four track recorder, a Casio keyboard (I can’t remember which one now), and a cheap Radio Shack line mixer.
 
What did you think would become of the scene back when you started producing?
 
I was pretty young in age and in vision as well.

I had no idea what this music would become worldwide. I didn’t even know the damage ‘Acid Tracks’ was doing outside of Chicago! I am humble to be honest, when it comes to being a part of this thing called house.

Why was house music important for black culture?
 
It was important because it came from us! We did something that black artist years before us had done. We used what they gave us and we created a movement, so we feel connected to it.
 
House music is something that came from black culture. It was born in Chicago and came from musicians who experienced disco, soul, reggae, and other music genres that are considered to be ‘black’.

House music started in the underground clubs in Chicago and it migrated and touched every single part of the world. Music on the whole was impacted and changed by tracks like ‘Move Your Body’, ‘Acid Tracks’, and ‘French Kiss’.

Those originators shaped music, and because it came from black culture it is part of black history.

Who are your black heroes?
 
Definitely Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King are my heroes. I won’t state the obvious as far as they are concerned.

Other people lesser known would be my dad, my uncle, and my aunt. My dad was among the first black drill sergeants in the United States Marine Corps.

My grandfather was an undercover detective and worked to help bring down bootlegging and Al Capone. He was mixed race, so he could pass for white.

My aunt graduated from Chicago’s Art Institute in the 1960s when most blacks either didn’t go to college or were not allowed in. My uncle (my namesake) played and toured with Duke Ellington. 

They are my mentors. I look at what they were able to do when segregation and racism was the law. They are amazing and such an inspiration to me.   

Essential Acid House Classics

We take a look back at some of the wiggly world’s most enduring anthems.

Armando ‘Land Of Confusion’ [1987]

Class A acid house from Chicago’s gone-but-not-forgotten hero Armando Gallop, who died in 1996 of leukemia. ‘Land of Confusion’ is probably the catchiest yet simplest acid house track ever written.

With an infinitely twisting acid line underpinned by a simple house beat, it influenced the acid house scene in countless ways.

Adonis ‘Do It Properly’ [1986]

One of Chicago’s enduring acid house anthems, Adonis’ 1986 debut single ‘No Way Back’ was later released on London Records with two versions - the flip was called ‘Do It Properly’.

A beautifully hypnotic house gem, the track’s blend of acid, sleazy vocals, and raw drum machine funk, can still fill floors today.

DJ Fast Eddie ‘Acid Thunder’ [1988]

Another Chicago house legend, Fast Eddie is best known for his hip house classics such as the magnificent ‘Yo Yo Get Funky’, but before he fused hip hop with house, he experimented with acid.

‘Acid Thunder’ was an instant hit for Chicago’s legendary label D.J. International in 1988, and proved that the genre was more than capable of fusing catchy melodies with acid trips.

The KLF ‘What Time Is Love’ [1988]

British acid house band The KLF were much more than acid house, but the group’s ‘What Time Is Love’ is one of the genre’s greatest moments.

An explosive concoction of hip hop, ambient, techno, and acid house, the track is a bona fide rave classic from a time when ‘popping out for the night’, involved a three day dance marathon in a field in the middle of England.

Van Christie ‘That Shit’s Wild’ [1988]

Trax Records’ second ‘Acid Trax’ compilation included the gem ‘That Shit’s Wild’ by Van Christie.

Slower and funkier than most of the other acid house tracks of the era, the acid veers close to electro-funk at times. That shit’s wild!

Mr. Lee ‘Pump Up Chicago’ [1988]

Another black Chicago youngster, Mr. Lee aka Lee Ricky Haggard was DJing in the city’s clubs from the age of 18.

He provided the rap-styled vocals on ‘Pump Up Chicago’ and ‘Pump Up London’ himself, complete with ‘north side, south side’ lyrics. The track itself is one of the sub genre’s most musical efforts.

Hot Hands Hula, Maurice Joshua ‘This Is Acid’ [1989]

No acid house party is complete with Maurice Joshua and Hot Hands Hula’s 1989 classic ‘This Is Acid’.

Perfectly Ordinary People ‘Theme From P.O.P.’ [1988]

Mike Morrison and Pozitiv Noize’s rather unusual ‘Theme From P.O.P.’ acid cut from 1988, was produced under the name Perfectly Ordinary People. It’s a drum machine classic, complete with pitch frenzy samples and wiggly acid house lines, before it drops into Detroit chord heaven. That’s fresh!

Phuture ‘We Are Phuture’ [1988]

The crew that gave us the first acid house track didn’t release many follows up, but 1988’s evil ‘We Are Phuture’ is perhaps their most poignant.

With Spanky’s dark repetitive vocals ‘Phuture, Phuture...Phuture, Phuture’ you can almost feel the group’s obsession for what lay ahead.

808 State ‘Pacific 202’ [1989]

A milestone for acid house, 808 State’s ‘Pacific 202’ was instrumental in popularising the explosion of acid house during the second summer of love in the UK in 1989.

It was BBC Radio 1’s Gary Davies who took a chance on the record, by playing it every day for three months during his national prime time show.

Along with A Guy Called Gerald’s ‘Voodoo Ray’, it is one of acid house’s biggest moments.

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