| 808 State |
| Background information |
| Origin |
Radcliffe, Bury, England |
| Genre(s) |
House
Techno
Ambient techno
Acid
house
IDM
Rave |
| Years active |
1988 - present |
| Label(s) |
ZTT |
Associated
acts |
Biting Tongues |
| Members |
Graham
Massey
Andrew
Barker
Darren Partington |
| Former members |
Martin
Price
Gerald Simpson |
808 State is an English electronic
music outfit formed in 1988
in Radcliffe, Bury in Greater
Manchester, taking their name from the Roland
TR-808 drum
machine and the "state of mind" shared by the members. 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
United Kingdom in the early 1990s with releases of their "Pacific State",
"Cubik" and "In Yer Face".
|
Contents
- 1 History
- 2 Pseudonyms
and side projects
- 3 Band
members
- 4 Discography
- 5 External
links
|
History
808 State was formed in 1988 in Bury, England. Martin Price was the owner of a
record store called Eastern Bloc, and was also the founder of
independent label Creed. Customers Graham Massey of the band Biting
Tongues, and Gerald Simpson, joined with Price to form a hip-hop group
called Hit Squad Manchester. Soon after the band shifted to an acid
house sound, recording the debut Newbuild in 1988,
while using the name 808 State for the first time. The album was
released on Price's own record label.
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
DJs. Andrew
Barker and Darren Partington (known as the
Spinmasters), recorded an EP called Quadrastate in
1989. Their next album, Ninety, was well-received
by the rave culture.
MC
Tunes (real name Nicky Lockett) was a Manchester
rapper,
who worked with the band on his 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 - featuring a
sample of "The Big Country" performed by The City of Prague
Philharmonic - (UK #10), Tunes Splits The Atom (UK
#18) and Primary Rhyming (UK #67). Tunes later
returned in 1996 to work with on a new track, Pump,
taken from 808 State's album Thermo Kings. It was
due to be released as a single, but this never occurred.
Album cover of Ex:el (1991).
808 State's next album was released in 1991 Ex:el,
which featured vocals from Bernard Sumner (New
Order) and ex-Sugarcubes vocalist Björk, other hits
include In Yer Face, Cubik, Olympic
& Lift.
Album cover of 808:88:98 (1998).
In 1992, Price left the group to perform 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
aimed to create a more 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 Mike
Doughty from the band Soul Coughing and 'Azura' featured
Louise Rhodes from Lamb. They released a greatest-hits
compilation named 808:88:98 in
1998-their last on record label ZTT and a 1998 remix of Pacific soared
high in the charts. In 2000, their pioneering 1988 acid house album
'Newbuild' was re-released.
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.
As of April 2007, a CD re-issue of the album Quadrastate
is in the works with no specified release date. The band is still
active, touring and performing DJ sets, and occasionally performing in
the full line up. The official 808 State website, globalState, is also
still active, with new unreleased tracks and information added
frequently, along with a semi-active message board.
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 is soon to release the solo album 'Subtracks'
under the name Massonix. He is also a member of Biting Tongues, an experimental jazz
rock group once signed to Factory Records. He has a side
project with "Toolshed" which grew from the Manchester night.
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,
Benaco and remixed various tracks.
Darren Partington has recorded under the name Jeep.
Darren and Andy appeared on Kiss 102 from 1994 to 1997.
Band members
- Graham V Massey (born 4 August 1960, in Manchester) — guitarist, keyboardist,
saxophonist
(1988-present)
- Martin Price (born 26 March 1955, in Manchester) — keyboardist (1988-1990)
- Gerald Simpson — keyboardist
(1988-1989)
- Andrew Barker (born 9 March 1968 — keyboardist (1989-present)
- Darren Partington (born 1 November 1969, in Manchester) — keyboardist, percussionist
(1989-present)
Discography
For more details about the discography, see 808
State discography.
Albums
- Newbuild (1988)
- Quadrastate
(1989)
- Ninety
(1989)
- Utd. State 90
(1990)
- Ex:el
(1991)
- Gorgeous
(1993)
- State to State
(1994)
- Don Solaris
(1996)
- Thermo Kings
(1996)
- 808:88:98 (1998)
- State to State 2
(2002)
- Outpost Transmission
(2003)
- Prebuild
(2004)
External links
| v • d • e 808 State |
| Graham Massey | Martin Price | Gerald
Simpson | Andrew Barker | Darren Partington |
| Discography |
| Albums Newbuild
| Quadrastate | Ninety
| Utd. State 90
| Ex:el
| Gorgeous
| State to State
| Don Solaris
| State to State 2
| Outpost Transmission
| Prebuild |
| Live and Compilations: Forecast |
Thermo Kings |
808:88:98 |
| VHS/DVD 808:90ptical | Optibuk |
