808 State

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

808 State is an English electronic group, founded in Manchester in 1987 by Graham Massey, Martin Price and Gerald Simpson. The name comes from the Roland TR-808 drum machine and from the shared state of mind of its members. Price owned the influential record shop Eastern Bloc Records and started the independent label Creed. The three began as a hip hop group, Hit Squad Manchester, and switched to acid house. In 1988, over a weekend in January at Spirit Studios in Manchester, they recorded their debut Newbuild, which came out in September.

Music and breakthrough

The breakthrough came in 1989 when BBC Radio 1 DJ Gary Davies picked up the track Pacific State. It spent eleven weeks in the British chart and reached number ten. Simpson left that year to go solo as A Guy Called Gerald, and became embroiled in a legal dispute with the band over the writing credits. After Newbuild and Ninety in 1989 came Ex:el in 1991, Gorgeous in 1993, Don Solaris in 1996 and Outpost Transmission in 2002. The group also recorded an acid house version of Blue Monday by New Order, which was not released until 2004.

Influence

Their early work influenced the emerging acid house scene in England. AllMusic called the group one of the most important dance acts of all time, with an influence on techno and alternative dance music. Aphex Twin found the sound colder and at the same time more human than Chicago acid.

Listening

• 
  Pacific · 808 State, 1989
  Apple Music ↗

Discography

Studio albums

• 1988Newbuild
• 1989Ninety
• 1991Ex:el
• 1993Gorgeous
• 1996Don Solaris
• 2002Outpost Transmission
• 2019Transmission Suite

See also

• Transmission Suite
• Rave