Pacific State
Song by 808 State
The orginal Pacific State is on the album Quadrastate. On the single titled Pacific the original goes by “Pacific State Origins” and has various edits and remixes of the song. Pacific 202 is actually the popular ‘90s remix.
United Kingdom 1989.
It's been three years since House Music has started to devastate everything in its way.
The English musical landscape is completely turned upside down by this genre put on the map in Chicago in 1986. House tracks invade the English charts.
The hysteria is such, that the enormous sales of the maxi 45 rpm allow artists and independent labels to reach the British top 10. Not seen since the Punk movement.
London and Manchester are in turmoil.
The clubs are packed every night, and the first Raves or Acid House Parties are in the sights of the British government. The English youth went crazy.
The rate of absences in high schools and universities is so high that the Parliament wants to ban the diffusion of this music. London has become the center of the world again, musically, culturally, and also in fashion. The world has its eyes on what's going on there.
In this hysterical atmosphere surpassing Swinging London at the end of the Sixties and the Punk movement in the summer of 1976, the record "Pacific State" of the Mancunian group 808 State is released.
Formed by Graham Massey, Martin Price, and Gerald Simpson in 1987. Attracted to Hip Hop and Indie Rock initially, the band was slapped in the face when they first heard acid house records from Chicago.
They turned to electronic dance music in 1988 and recorded their first album, "Newbuild.
The album is a messy but a touching one. You can feel the fascination for Chicago and the desire they have to do well, but the impression of wanting to do too well ''à la'' is not perfected.
The Roland 808 drum machine and Roland TB 303 are used in excess on all the tracks, but none stand out. But, if you wait for the mini-album "Quadrastate" and the marvelous title "Pacific State" the magic really starts to operate and the group finally finds its mark.
Soaring intro, equatorial bird sounds, magnificent synthesizer pads, saxophone, we feel that Gerald Simpson (who will later become A Guy Called Gerald) listened to the wonderful Sueno Latino in a loop.
Detroit is starting to put out its first house records. The rough side of the beginning is erased to put forward a well constructed abstract musicality, which is not without reminding the producer Paul Hardcastle of his incursions into Jazz Funk electronique.
Simpson (who is considered to be the only composer of this track) is a fan of black music, and this is clearly felt on this track that already foreshadows the High Tech Funk side that the Detroit producers will take some time later (Underground Resistance and the track Jupiter Jazz among others).
The track will be released on the independent label Creed Records of Martin Price. It will help make for beautiful days in the Clubs of Ibiza.
And for a few years, Ibiza becomes the sanctuary for connecting clubbers from around the globe, again.
Before being signed on ZTT (Trevor Horn’s label), Gerald Simpson will leave the band and not taste the success of his song. He departs a few months before the track's release and will not even be credited as the author. Lawsuits will follow that will last for years. His name will be mentioned again on the reissues of the album years later.
Pacific State" will be a huge success, reaching number 10 in the UK charts and at the end of 1989 will be played by BBC Radio 1, Kiss London and Capitol Radio.
Many artists will be inspired by this song and will open the road to a whole ambient/chillout/new age scene already emerging like Dream Frequency, The Orb, Orbital, and even KLF, who will make an entire ambient album.
Gerald Simpson will still know success with the title "Voodoo Ray" now under the name of A Guy Called Gerald. He will also record superb albums of Drum & Bass and remains one of the most innovative producers of the late '80s, middle '90s.