The Origins of UK’s Acid House
Genres Preceding Acid House
Genres that preceded the implementation of Acid House in the UK included electro, house, hip hop, soul and jazz. Many of these genres were imported from the states and given new life in the burgeoning UK club scene. With the implementation of hip hop, house and other more rhythmic genres, the role of the DJ began to change. Rather than getting on the mic and announcing the next song as was the practice with soul and jazz, DJs began beat-matching
and even moved into production.
Acid House’s Creation as a Genre
Although the UK club scene was initially split among many genres, when the Roland 303 came out and producers began to use it for pumping baselines and drums for their tracks, a new genre was born. Acid house, as it was called, was the go to choice of many clubs and created a whole new culture around it.
A Sound for Everyone
In the early days of UK clubbing, the clubs were separated by race and sexuality. But the combination of Acid House and Ecstasy created a club atmosphere where all races and sexual orientations could get along. This rapidly grew the popularity of the scene.
Acid House Popular Culture
Before long, Acid House not only swept underground culture, but also gained mainstream popularity in fashion and pop culture. Even a famous acid house gang called Boy’s Own created a fanzine, record label and rave.
Acid House Today
Acid House while still present, has meshed, evolved and morphed into other EDM sub-genres as well. These include new beat, tech house, electro house and psy trance. In short, any EDM sub-genre with psychedelic influence can be linked to the creation and implementation of Acid House in the UK.