Aceeeeeeeeed!!!!!!
Nov 03 '01
The Bottom Line Slip inside my Acid House and enjoy the Baggy treats within. You don't know any form of music more uplifting...
Finally, after a year of waiting, a whole 52 weeks of unfulfilled promises, it has finally arrived. The much touted, much trumpeted list of the greatest Baggy/Rave songs ever created by grown men in funny trousers. Ok, so I don't remember if I really did tout it at all, but I'm going to present anyway. What the heck...
So what exactly is this Baggy stuff? Well Baggy is a genre of music which mixes acid house beats and indie guitars in a way that paved the way for 90's British guitar music and a large proportion of 90's dance music. For three years, 1989 to 1991, it was the in thing, originating in Manchester under the monicker, "Madchester" after the seminal, original Baggy record "The Madchester EP" by the Happy Mondays. Madchester was spearheaded, not only by the Mondays, but also The Stone Roses, a much more loved up band with unsurpassed talent whose debut album, The Stone Roses would form the blueprint for most 90's indie music in Britain. There were many other little bands accompanying them from Manchester - The Charlatans and The Inspiral Carpets being the best - but soon other parts of the country were swept up by the craze and they adopted the generic term "Baggy" as the fashion of the movement was to wear loose fitting, baggy clothes (Including massive flares). Accompanying these rock infused Baggy bands was a host of Rave acts, whose ethos was feel good music which sounded good in a muddy field in Hampshire or a warehouse in the middle of London. Bands like 808 State, The Shamen and The KLF were the major chart successes for the genre with poppy hooks and beats that you could go for hours on. Then Baggy, like all movements, was superseded by Grunge and, eventually, Britpop, and now people laugh at the mention of Northside or The Soup Dragons. Here is my pick of the 20 essential Baggy songs.
20} Can You Dig It? - The Mock Turtles (Turtle Soup) - Lords of the jangle, Liverpool's Mock Turtles followed the Stone Roses tradition of letting the guitars lead the way, but keeping the lolloping Acid House beats lodged in the background rolling everything along nicely. This is perfect sunny, summery indie music - the sort of thing they don't write any more: twee, happy, jangling and eminently danceable.
19} Hello - The Beloved (Happiness) - The Beloved were a rave band who were reckoned by many to be just too good, the music was so catchy and addictive - a perfect pop product in the vain of the KLF. It's covered in electronic quacking noises, scratching guitars and an underpinning acid house beat to form an overtly energetic and poppy song full of coy vocals and inescapable hooks. Then there's the bizarre lyrics like "Tommy Cannon, Bobby Ball / Hallo, hallo, hallo." Why they're singing about a pair of not very funny 80's comedians is beyond me...
18} Strawberry Fields Forever - Candy Flip (Madstock - The Further Adventures of Fish Rides A Bicycle) - On one brief, hilarious, Napster odyssey I managed to discover this forgotten gem from the depths of 1990. Candy Flip were a two piece who made startlingly silly dance music, culminating in this number two cover of the Beatle's timeless classic. Does it sound exactly like the original? Yes, only it's got an Acid beat the size of a warehouse rave party over it and was quite obviously made by two blokes from Essex with ridiculously floppy fringes and 28'' flared trousers. Not to mention a sampler and only a tiny iota of the Beatle's talent. I laughed my flares off when I first heard it. Beatle's fans should try not to be too offended though.
17} All Together Now - The Farm (Spartacus) - Taking its backing synths from Pacabels Canon this song is rather sweetly poignant as it was released in the wake of the Gulf War. It's rather a cute plea for the world to live together as one rather than shooting the hell out of each other - in an Acid House stylee though! Peter Hooton's vocal apes Shaun Ryder rather too much though, and the Farm are no longer someone you listen to if you want to be hip... That's why I love 'em!
16} She Comes In The Fall - Inspiral Carpets (Life) - The other Madchester band, the Carpets boasted Noel Gallagher as a roadie (Best place for him). They were rather a more energetic prospect than their contemporaries with keyboard maestro Clint Boon piling on the flourishes to give this thumping Baggy classic its bite. The drums are almost militaristic in places until the chorus explodes like a renaissance gavotte set to an acid beat and growling guitars.
15} International Bright Young Thing - Jesus Jones (Doubt) - A true description of what the Jones were at the time - one of the only truly international successes that Baggy produced. Shying away from their more usual techno growl, they produce a acid-inflected pop anthem full of their usual polished robo-dance shenanigans. One big celebration of life from the much maligned masters of three minute electro-pop.
14} Unbelievable - EMF (Schubert Dip) - One of three songs EMF did with the word "Believe" in the title. Many people did believe in their genius as they produced some of the greatest dance/guitar pop records of living memory including this, one of the most used songs on childrens television ever. The crashing intro to the chorus - "Woah! You're unbelievable" won them the love of people the world over not to mention the youthfully exuberant energy which powers this song. And the stories of one of them and oranges really are unrepeatable...
13} I'm Free - Soup Dragons (Lovegod) - The Dragons were like Primal Scream in that they rose from indie obscurity to massive success through embracing Acid House. I'm Free is another celebratory anthem of love and life. And ecstasy probably - never mind. The ultra slick, fluid bass is like a shot of morphine while the drums rarely got more lolloping in any Baggy song. And the words?! Total cr*p! "'Cos I'm free / To be who I choose / To get my blues / Any old time," really this is the most banal, apathetic rubbish set to music. And that's what makes Baggy soooo good!
12} Come Home - James (Gold Mother) - A rather more fraught Baggy track from the eternal Mancunians. This is much more abrasive with squealing guitars over the bridge and Tim Booths rather guttural yell of, "And the way I feel just makes me wanna sccccrrrream!" The chorus is full-on, stadium filling James with a synth riff to match and more incessant Acid beats - although James always tried to distance themselves from the whole Madchester scene.
11} Fool's Gold - The Stone Roses (The Complete Stone Roses) - One of the archetypal Baggy songs, the Roses were the first to fully embrace the Acid house beats and their background in working class Manchester gives this a real feral feel - the real sound of the streets. Mani's nagging bass is one of the most archetypal basslines ever, along with The Guns Of Brixton and Ian Brown's lyrics are full of his trademark darkness as he describes some eternal search in a half-whispered growl. Meanwhile John Squire goes mental with his wah-wah pedal creating one of the most atmospheric, spooky and unstoppable tunes ever.
10} Loaded - Primal Scream (Screamadelica) - Another of the unmistakable ones, this time courtesy of the new Acid convert, Bobby Gillespie. Horns and samples of people wanting "To be free to do what we want to do" pepper this song as the mother of all Baggy beats and bass drives itself into your skull. Rickety piano's, minimal guitars - this is the ultimate in early 90's dance music. About as far away from the Jesus and Mary Chain as Mr. Gillespie could get then...
9} Weekender - Flowered Up (The Best Of Flowered Up) - This song is simply indescribable. A gospel, quasi-religious, jazz infused, acid enhanced, rock bible full of really bad vocals - this was quite possibly the single of the 90's and no-one noticed. Thirteen minutes of pure, unadulterated greatness, Weekender is a song that everyone must hear once and then be in eternal awe of. It's like seeing the light...
8} There's No Other Way - Blur (Leisure) - As soon as Graham Coxon's skewed, unconventional guitar riff slides up and down your mind, you realise that, despite the attempts of the record label to make Baggy by numbers, Blur were always destined for greatness. This really is Baggy distilled into a pure form - a parody of itself - as Albarn goes totally banal on the lyrics and did a performance of it on Top Of The Pops stoned out of his mind on E. In the end this was the song that killed Baggy and Blur went on to be enormous getting as far away from it as possible.
7} What Time Is Love? - KLF (The White Room) - Most fans of modern dance music will probably tell you that such and such a track is banging, and it always turns out to sound just like all the other Trance songs you've ever heard. My advice would be to slam this on and watch their faces as the MC5 proclaim "Kick out the jams motherf..." before being scuzzed up by Bill Drummond just in time. Then the song that defines banging appears with spooky, crunching synths and the MC asking "What time is love?" while emergency sirens and "Mu-mu"'s appear all over the shop. This is intimidating, uncompromising pop music - scary pop if you will - from the band that quite literally wrote the book on how to have a massive pop hit.
6} Progen (Move Any Mountain) - The Shamen (The Shamen Collection) - The Shamen were the real, undisputed kings of the rave though, as this classic track proves. It's got everything that made the Shamen the force to reckon with that they were with "Disco ducks" positive vibes and uplifting beats. Not only that, but it continues their rather worrying obsession with the end of the world, has a hook to die for ("I can move, move, move any mountain") and another one of Mr. C's hilariously bad raps. You love 'em really Daniel!
5} Step On - Happy Mondays (Pills Thrills & Bellyaches) - A rickety piano, a man complaining how, "You're twisting my melon man." It can mean only one thing - the Happy Mondays timeless cover of John Kongos' "He's Going To Step On You." This is one of those defining moments in Baggy by which everything else is compared with Ryder's lairy word of warning to the downtrodden woman who's twisting his melons. Whatever that could mean. Couple those lolloping beats to some of Bez's finest "Freaky Dancin'" and you know what the true meaning of Baggy is... Fun! The video for some reason features the band raving it up in front of a giant letter E. Can't think why...
4} I Wanna Be Adored - The Stone Roses (The Stone Roses) - Kind of like a religious experience, the build into the Roses finest hour (and the opening of their phenomenal debut) is like the dawning of the new age. "I don't have to sell my soul," croons Ian Brown, "He's already in me." Then I just swoon as the true quasi-religious extravagance of this track washes over me. He wanted to be adored and, dammit, he was...
3} Loose Fit - Happy Mondays (Pills Thrills & Bellyaches) - The song that totally defined the whole Baggy ethos had to be this, the Happy Mondays finest hour. It's a dark, steamy affair about a pair of trousers on one level, and a rejection of conformity on the other. Regardless of whether or not it's about an unwillingness to wear skin-tight trousers, the brooding, spooky acid beats and niggling guitars mixed with Ryders tuneless growls of "It's gotta be a loose fit / Don't have to be legit," make this the dangerous, illicit sound of the dark, dirty streets.
2} Slip Inside This House - Primal Scream (Screamadelica) - For me, the real definer of Acid House is this wafting, mesmerising, mystical mantra from the Primal Screamers. The bass is squelchy, pushing the song on in the background while the tablas and rhythmic thumping of the drums gives this a trancy, trippy, psychedelic, Eastern kind of a feel. Then you get Gillespie's vocodered, sinister voice inviting us to "Trip inside this house as you pass by." With new-age posturing like "All surroundings are evolving" you'd be forgiven for thinking it's the sixties again - you wouldn't be far wrong seeing as it's a cover of a sixties psychedelic tune.
1} Only One I Know - The Charlatans (Some Friendly) - Perhaps the biggest surprise for you will be to learn that above all the others, my favourite Baggy song of all time is this Deep Purple hammond riff stealing, breathy, zonked out vocalled, driving bass endowed little corker. The Charlatans were always thought of as also-rans, but really they were miles ahead. When Tim Burgess sings "Everyone has been burned before / Everybody knows the pain," there's not a single person in the world who can be failed to be moved by the euphoria of the chorus. It's like the Baggy Everybody Hurts: I know it's painful, but we've all been there. Hold on! Then when the bass solo appear, you suddenly realise that Baggy was the greatest genre ever...
I like comments. I shall say no more...
Other tracks worth checking out:
Hallelujah - Happy Mondays (Madchester Rave On EP) - Started the whole thing really.
Take 5 - Northside (Chicken Rhythms) - Don't laugh - they were touted to be bigger than the Roses once!
Purple Love Balloon - Cud - Not floppy enough to be Baggy, not arch enough to be Britpop. Also not that good but this is a "choon" and a half!
Dizzy - Vic Reeves and The Wonderstuff - The fiddlers and their more punky, mouthy ethos rule the 'Stuff out from being technically Baggy. I'd lump 'em in though... This has pop frills and Britains most over-rated comedian (Bar Eddie Izzard) on lead vocal.
Kill Your Television - Ned's Atomic Dustbin (God Fodder) - Same problem as the Wonderstuff. They did have two bassists though...
Outer Space - The Prodigy (Experience) - The Essex ravers only really had one song. It's a good 'un though...
Mysterious Ways - U2 (Achtung Baby!) - Thirty year olds gettin' with the kids.
La Trisstesse Deurera - Manic Street Preachers (Gold Against The Soul) - One nutter reckoned this was the last Baggy song ever. I guess it does sound a bit Aciddy...
Tomorrow Never Knows - The Beatles (Revolver) - It predates Fool's Gold by 23 years and yet does the same thing - mixing dance beats with indie guitars.
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Divine_Cheese
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Member: Paul Lawston
Location: Up My Own Bottom
Reviews written: 63
Trusted by: 122 members
About Me:
Divine Cheese: Science Communicator by day, Evil Puppet Master By Night.
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