Fellow DJs Marshall Jefferson, Roy the Roach and Bushwacka have spoke out in support of Danny Rampling whilst Slipmatt has given a nod of agreement to others who have stuck up for him. Additionally Slipmatt along with Ellis Dee and Fergus amongst others have also been booked to play at events that don't sit well with some people in the dance community.
On the other hand Mr. C has spoken out against him as have several other DJs/producers plus of course the fans of dance music, some of which used to like Danny Rampling but don't anymore. One of the points being made is that you can't be part of the house music movement and also support political figures on the right.
The official story of acid house is that Danny Rampling along with fellow DJs Paul Oakenfold, Nicky Holloway and Johnnie Walker went to Ibiza, took ecstasy whilst clubbing in Amnesia and decided to bring that experience with them back to the UK.
The the 2nd summer of love happened, people from all walks of life coming together and uniting at these raves. Football hooligans went from fighting each other to hugging each other and everyone was one big happy family.
Makes a lovely story, but was that really the case. I wasn't raving in the acid house era so I can't say for sure, but I can draw on my own experiences when I did go raving at the end of the 90s.
Obviously there are elements of truth to it and there were pilled up ravers who wanted to be everyone's friend there. At the same time a rave didn't exactly feel like a safe place to be and I'm talking about legal licensed events here. One of the first raves I went to made the news after someone was attacked there with a hammer. It's quite well documented about the violence you would get at raves when jungle became a thing, though I've also heard Billy Bunter say there were still plenty of incidents before those days.
When I was too young to go raving I imagined to be all about peace, love and unity. I also had the idea that it was the music bringing people together, not the drugs . If you think about it logically though, if the drugs bring people together then you'll separate again once you're off the drugs. If it's music or something else then why do you need the drugs. It's also worth noting that whilst many were on drugs there were still plenty of people who weren't.
Going back to the acid house days the story almost contradicts itself. Danny Ramplings event back then was Shoom and it was said to be notoriously difficult to get into. So on one hand you're free to express yourself, be who you want to be and you will be accepted into this rave community. On the other hand you need to impress the door picker to actually get into the club.
Acid house may have been about smiley t-shirts but by the 90s it was smart shirts and shoes and even then you weren't guaranteed to get into a house night. When I lived in Newcastle I used to go to Promise and Shindig and whilst I never got turned away myself I often witnessed people in the queue being turned away because of what they were wearing.
At the end of the day you can unite with others through a mutual interest in the same music but the music isn't going to change your outlook on other aspects of life.
There was a happy hardcore message board that's now long gone that was one of the most toxic internet forums I've ever seen. It had reached a point where most users had gone off the new happy hardcore and most of the activity was in the off-topic board where people were arguing about everything else including politics. In the end there was one user who had MC'd at a number of events who was making countless posts in support of the BNP. Hardly the peace, love and unity he would have been preaching on the microphone.
This is the point, when you consider the quantity of people who have had some involvement in the dance music scene as a whole, whether it's a DJ, MC, producer, promoter or simply a raver you're not going to all have the same views on everything, political or otherwise. The peace, love & unity was at best a night at a rave, certainly not in day to day life.
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