REMEMBER THE GOOD OLE DAYS OF THE $19 SAM GOODY CD? HAVING PARENTS THAT COLLECTED VINYL, COUNTLESS HOURS WERE SPENT LAYING ON THE CARPET PULLING OUT VINYL AND READING LINER NOTES, LYRICS AND ARTWORK. OUR FIRST VENTURES INTO “MUSIC BUYING” WAS THE BMG MUSIC CLUB – 12 CDS FOR THE PRICE OF 1, & HAVING COMPLETED THE CONTRACTUAL PURCHASE. WE COULD CANCEL OUR MEMBERSHIP, AND THEN DO THE SAME THING AGAIN.
WHEN NAPSTER (AZORIOUS, MORPHEUS, LIMEWIRE, ETC) HIT THE SCENE IN OUR JUNIOR YEAR OF HIGH SCHOOL WHEN 128KB WAS THE NORM, BUT BECAUSE ACXIOM WAS HEADQUARTERED IN MY TOWN, THE WHOLE CITY HAD HIGH SPEED INTERNET IN 1999, AND THE DOWNLOAD FRENZY ENSUED. PICKING UP B-SIDES, TRIP-HOP, & BASEMENT BANGERS, COUNTING THE WEEKS TILL ART SCHOOL & THE UNDERGROUND CLUBS IN LONDON COULDN’T COME FAST ENOUGH
THE GREAT THING ABOUT STUDYING IN CENTRAL LONDON AT 18, YOU ARE STEPS FROM EVERYTHING, CHARRING CROSS ROAD (BOOKS) OXFORD STREET (RETAIL), BOND STREET (FASHION), & SOHO (RECORDS) BACK IN 2000 THE MUSIC SUPERSTORES WERE STILL A THING (VIRGIN, HMV, ETC) WE LOVINGLY CALLED HMV “THE LIBRARY” BECAUSE OF THEIR CASH RETURNS POLICY, EVERY DAY DURING LUNCH WE WENT AND RETURNED WHITE LABELS FOR CASH, AND REPEAT, FOR ALMOST A YEAR UNTIL THE COMPANY GOT SMART & IMPLEMENTED ONE TIME EXCHANGE$. OTHER CHANGES WERE GOING ON IN LONDON, THE “WEEKEND SUPERCLUBS” WERE STARTING TO LOSE APPEAL. ALMOST SUBCONSCIOUSLY THE NEW PROMOTERS HOSTED THEIR PARTIES EITHER MID WEEK, OR SUNDAY NIGHTS.
(SUITS HAVE TO WORK MONDAY MORNING, & THE CLUBS WERE BEING RECLAIMED BY THE CREATIVE UNDERGROUND.) CITY ROCKERS WAS THE HOTTEST LABEL IN LONDON, & ELECTRO WAS JUST STARTING TO EMERGE AT 21ST CENTURY BODY ROCKERS, & THE GHETTO IN FALCONBERG COURT R.I.P (NOW BURIED UNDER TOTTENHAM COURT ROAD STATION) NAG NAG NAG WAS THE FIRST MID-WEEK ELECTRO CLUB IN TOWN, PHIL OK & JOHNNY SLUT WERE BASICALLY PLAYING INTERNATIONAL DJ GIGOLOS, MISS KITTIN & THE HACKER, & TIGA
SHOOTING AT THE CLUB FROM ITS INFANCY, OF MAYBE 15-30 PEOPLE, WAS AMAZING. GOING BACK TO THE STATES FOR A MONTH, & SEEING NAG NAG NAG BLOW UP. IT WAS INEVITABLE AS THE UNDERGROUND SCENE GAINED MOMENTUM, THE FASHION MAGAZINES TOOK NOTICE, WHAT WAS FREAKS AND AUDIOPHILES BECAME FASHIONISTAS & CELEBS QUEUING AROUND THE BLOCK TO SOHO SQUARE OVERNIGHT
AFTER THAT SUMMER, THERE WAS A SENSE OF HYPER-AWARENESS. EVERYONE WAS PAYING ATTENTION TO THE NEW AGE OF INTIMATE CLUBBING THAT CAME ON LIKE A EUPHORIC ONSLAUGHT. RADIO EGYPT, TRASH, THE COCK, GOLF SALE, WRONG MEETING, DURR, FAMILY, KASHPOINT, GAUCHE CHIC, TRAILER TRASH, BOOM BOX, & DOVEBRIDGE STUDIOS, WERE WHAT MADE A DECADE FOR THE AGES
924COLLECTIVE 