Thanks to my very good friend and old buddy Kenny (DJ Kinetic aka Acid Army) for getting on touch recently. Here’s an Acid Army mix featuring a right old romp through some great Detroit, Chicago and acid classics – well worth a listen…
Thinking back, I was lucky to grow up surrounded by great characters and people who had the vision to see beyond the mundaneness of day to day life. Back in his teens K had moved to London and by the time he moved back he had become one of our wee crew. Like a lot of us, he didn’t have a whole lot of material things but what he did have was boundless energy, a tremendous empathy for avant-garde music, and the force of character to create his own vision of what the future was going to be all about.
He came back from London with tales of the acid revolution, smiley faces, C90 tapes of Fantasy FM (the London pirate radio station), and a vision of 808’s, 909’s and 303’s.
Another thing he came back with was a record collection. It wasn’t a big collection, but every slab of 12inch vinyl was a testament to his superior taste and knowledge. There was Trax, Transmat, Nu Groove, DJ International, Belgian New Beat. In fact a microcosm of what this whole blog is about…
Highlights included (if memory serves me right!)…
KA Posse – Stick Music on DJ International of Chicago. Deep, deep, deep acid………………………… “To understand me is a way of life, ssssssssssssssssssssssssstick music”
Tech Trax Inc -Tech Trax Inc, on Nu Groove of New York, the lyrics of which were like a manifesto for the future:
“If you were wondering what Tech Trax Inc really is, I will explain it to you, if I may, yeah!
Tech Trax Inc is a series of unusual techniques, musical techniques, which by midi recording, has been recorded onto trax, many trax, 24 traxs, yeah!
And with these unusual techniques and all these traxs, we had no choice but to incorporate, to incorporate Tech Trax Inc, yeah!
Tech Trax Inc.
We at Tech Trax Inc tend to come up with new ideas, new concepts, new ways of seeing things, feeling things, doing things, yeah!
Tech Trax Inc.
The future is ours to see, let us show it to you, let us give it to you in our music. Open your mind, open your heart, let all the good vibrations fill your soul, yeah!
Tech Trax Inc.”
K Alexi Shelby – My Medusa, on Transmat of Detroit. A highly personal, dark and seductive votive to the elusive Lee-Sah.
C’Hantal – The Realm. Every DJ’s old friend and one of the most sampled acapellas in house. The lyrics are an anthem for the Xstacy generation.
“Something for your mind, your body and your soul. It’s the power to arouse curiosity, the purpose, the goal which one acts on, a journey of force hot like the sun and wet like the rain. Rhythmatic movements in unison with others prolong acts of sensation with no limits or boundaries. Eternity is past, wrong is right. It’s the point of greatest intensity, pleasures of the highest sense, feelings of warmth and security, willing and unwilling sensations of the mind, a condition, the ultimate seduction… The Realm”
Ecstacy Club – Jesus Loves The Acid, Kenny had this on the seminal Hardbeat 1st Compilation album on Belgian label Complete Kaos – a showcase for the emerging Belgian scene that would come to dominate the dancefloors in 1989/1990 . This tune to my ears is still up there as one of the best underground tracks of the late 20th century. Massive kick, bass and acid lines, and an unrelenting and almost repressive rhythm gives this track a sinister undertone. Like all the best acid, this track is bigger than you, it knows you, it envelopes your soul and the only response is submission to the groove.
“ahhhhhhhhhhhhh acid……..ahhhhhhhhhhhhh acid”
Many a happy hour was spent in Kenny’s bedroom, talking, toking and taking in tunes. My brother and I got a bank loan to pay for two Technics SL-1200’s (our first foray into a lifetime of unsecured debt) and my pals clubbed together to buy our first mixer. Kenny taught us how to mix and led us in our musical mission. Well, thanks Kenny for all the great memories and setting me off on my own musical adventure. Cheers mate.
djwuggs 
im so grafeul to have met and grew up with you WUGGS , i connected right away on so many levels especially the music, so many great memories DJing with you , thanks so much for this , really the scene was full of open minds , our little crew was always about taking music to different levels , particularly the new beat ,hard beat, post punk avante garde scene from Belgium, which was a massive influence , German techno &,early Transmat from Detroit and of course the acid house movement,to me it still is ,always will be music that changes the way you think and feel …. and from the guys who’s minds were opened either at our small gigs , or the more regular nights in and around Glasgow , when they talk to me about how we played a big part in opening them doors playing music that you wouldn’t usually hear , fills me with great happiness … I must say .. 23rd precinct and Bomba , not forgetting the man like yogi Haughton provided me and others with endless tune spotting afternoons , when i wasn’t back down in london claiming vinyl … without these guys it would’ve been possible . oh big shout out to lars sandberg and mel bar who gave me, the wee guy back home up from London at 15 year old, my first chance to play a little set at the legendary Batcave (henry africas ) when the rest of the crowd were probably clockling each others casual clothes ……. absolutey brilliant .. the beat goes on……..kenny ( london) 2012 .. aciiiied! L.O.V.E
Its a way ov life buddy,
Wow amazing memories guys and cudnt agree more about our home town Rutherglen having a “scene” all of its own in relation to introducing people to sounds and genres of music from around the globe that have etched their significance into the historical archives of Acid/house/techno progression. Jamie, Kenny and Wuggs three guys have the pleasure knowing and sharing our youth at a fundamental time in popular culture. And the reason I’m writing this ……. without realizing it at the time that wee “scene” we shared and enjoyed with a mix of the soundest folks ever didn’t only shape my lifelong love of music but makes me the contented man I am today ….. Much love lads 👌👍
I im truly grateful for the influence that K has had on my musical outlook. In connecting with people like. Yir good self Wuggs, and bringing new sounds and ideas from London to Glasgow. Proud to say he is a friend and still influences my musical directions
Cheers 🙂