Wonderful 808:90 review by Lippy Kid

[markus]

An truly wonderful review of the 90 album by Lippy Kid:

From lippykidmusic.substack.com

52 Albums To Shape A Soul : #32
808 State – 90 (1989)
Lippy Kid
Jul 20, 2025

“Who is the greatest band to ever emerge from Manchester?”.

"It’s funny, maybe it’s the fact that I’m a self confessed music obsessive, plus I happen to hail from the city, but its surprising how many times that question comes up in polite conversation. During a recent dinner on holiday, once my music obsession had been outed, the question was raised yet again. With what seems like ‘Oasis fever’ currently sweeping the UK, Interestingly there was clearly an expectation that I was going to name the Gallagher brothers in my reply.

I’ve often wondered if music fans hailing from other cities get similar questions thrown at them from time to time, although I do recognise that Manchester holds a special interest thanks to the impact of so many of its homegrown talents on UK culture.

But returning to the original question I think I need to dial the clock back to the tail end of the eighties. It was a fascinating time to be living in and around the city principally due to a vibrant cultural scene developing that was soon to be termed ‘Madchester’. At the time there was a sense of something big beginning to develop that was capturing the imagination of those far beyond the city limits.

Everywhere you looked in the city there felt a very strong aspirational spirit developing within the arts and cultural community. Design companies such as Central Station were forming collaborations that started to transform the aesthetic of the city. Clothing brands were being established, Identity and it’s now iconic ‘On the sixth day T-shirts’ a perfect example.

Musically the charge was being led by bands such as Stone Roses, Happy Mondays and Inspiral Carpets and I recall many in the music press being as mesmerised at what was happening as those living there. I recall catching an early gig from the Inspirals and being fascinated at how they were adapting earlier forms of music such as funk, psychedelia and post-punk to create a new type of pop music. But perhaps the biggest thing I noticed was how these bands were opening a bridge between indie music and the dancefloor, and waiting for them on the other side of that bridge was 808 State.

Where many of the other bands gaining popularity in the Manchester music scene at that time appeared to carry a certain retrospective element, 808 State stood apart. This was a band that felt very much rooted in its embrace of dance music and the culture surrounding it. Channelling the House and Techno sounds emerging from across the Atlantic, and fusing it with an emerging sound termed Acid.

At the time, we would sometimes drop in on a nightclub in North Manchester called The Thunderdome. Unlike its rather flashier cousin The Haçienda, The Thunderdome felt a distinctly different affair. It felt like a slightly dangerous environment, but thrilling all the same. I remember the room being so dark you couldn’t see a thing, but the sound system sounded amazing. Acid house was dominating the DJ selections at that time and it was here one night I first heard the sound of ‘Pacific State’. It was a fantastic, totally mesmerising track and to hear it on that sound system sounded immense.

It wasn’t long after hearing it that I started to hear it played regularly on the radio and available to buy in a record shop thanks to the release of the EP Quadrastate. It was whilst listening to the EP at home where I began to truly fall under the spell of what 808 State were doing. This was incredibly forward thinking electronic music and very much seizing the moment. But in just a matter of months 808 State were back with more new music. The album ‘90’ had a seismic impact on me.

I picked up a copy of 90 from Eastern Bloc Records, at the time possibly Manchester’s coolest record shop, and owned by one of the bands founder members Martin Price. I remember the first time I got it home and just took in the sleeve. It looked like a release from the future. Carrying an ice cool, minimalist aesthetic. It just felt like you were holding a valuable artefact.

By the time of ‘90’ 808 State had gone through a number of changes. Gerald Simpson aka A Guy Called Gerald had moved on, and the band had swelled their ranks thanks to the addition of Darren Partington and Andrew Barker both of whom were DJs from The Thunderdome and responsible for regularly dropping ‘Pacific State’ within their sets.

‘90’ sounded truly astonishing when I first heard it. The sounds of the dance floor were very much there, but there was so much more. It was cinematic, lush, filled with imaginative and intelligently used samples. If other bands in the city were grabbing the ‘Madchester’headlines, 808 State were truly soundtracking the moment. The city was on the cusp of huge changes. Technologically, commercially and culturally, and 808 State seemed to capture that sense of change in musical form.

Opening tracks ‘Magical Dream’ and ‘Ancodia’ established an immediate elevated atmosphere. No looking backwards, this was music for escapism and a shared sense of an optimistic future. ‘Cobra bora’ upped the levels. Even today it remains one of my all time favourite electronic tracks. Its brilliant use of Van McCoy’s ‘The Hustle’ underpinned with an acid-techno beat, before giving way to a jagged acid brass attack that just lifts you to another planet. Its both cinematic and ecstatic in its delivery. Like Leonard Bernstein’s score for West Side Story given a futuristic acid house makeover.

And then Pacific State 202. Given an even more lush makeover for the album. The arpeggiators driving at full pelt and Graham Massey’s glorious saxophone sounding at their most hypnotic and beautiful.

The album 90 remains at an elevated level from beginning to end. Turning to side two and kicking off with ‘Donkey Doctor’ once more you’re reminded that although these tracks represent superb examples of dance music, their construction and delivery almost resemble that of traditional songs. Pop music, but without the lyrics. The euphoric ‘808080808’ is a completely spellbinding example of this. The machines behind the music operating at maximum capacity and controlled and synchronised through superhuman powers by members of the band.

From the moment I heard 90 I became fascinated by the band. There is an industry and obsessive worklike ethic to the way in which their music has been created that I have complete admiration for. Not dissimilar to a band such as Kraftwerk. The idea of a band clocking in and out of working with the array of electronic machinery that informs their music. A band of working class brothers.

Its incredible to think of the journey the band would follow from this point. Their collaborative element proving such a definitive aspect of their approach to music. Working with people such as David Bowie, Björk even the progressive rock band Yes just a few of the many, many names in their portfolio.

When I think of all the bands emerging from Manchester in the time I’ve been following music, 808 State remain the one I can most relate to in terms of their deep connectivity to the cultural veins that run through the city and the manner in which they presented their work.

With band members now departed and sadly passing away, Graham Massey remains the sole member carrying the torch for the band’s legacy. And it’s through his authenticity and deep commitment to the city and arts within it that its clear to see the spirit of 808 State remaining alive and well. You’re just as likely to see Graham appearing as 808 State at a large festival somewhere as you are to catch him generously giving his time to deliver a low-key DJ set at one of his favourite record shops.

Shortly before the Pandemic struck I was fortunate enough to get to interview Graham for a community radio show I was hosting. In the interview he talked to me about the days in 808 State along with the album they were about to release ‘Transmission Suite’.

Looking back at Pacific State he described how they’d initially titled it the ‘808 State Theme’ and went on to discuss so much about his own influences and how much he’d recognised their music had inspired others. The interview, originally planned for an hour, turned into two hours of broadcast, plus an additional hour off mic and we both had a hugely enjoyable time chatting together.

Our paths would cross again a couple of years later. After establishing a short term record project I titled ‘Cue Dot Records’, Graham graciously provided the closing track for the final release in the record label series, a remix of the track ‘Tangie Biscotti’ by Manchester band Scissorgun. To this day I still have to pinch myself that ever happened.

Last December in 2024 808 State put on a one off performance of the album ‘90’ in its entirety at Manchester’s New Century Hall. A fitting venue given that during the eighties the hall had been used to hold a series of Acid House parties. The gig marked thirty five years since the album had been released and it proved a huge celebratory occasion. As they performed to a sold out crowd, it was fascinating to see the reaction to the music. The audience appearing as enthralled and entranced as the first time they’d heard these sounds. And although some of the bodies may have aged a little in the passing years, there was certainly no shortage in effort for remaking those shapes and reliving those moments from all those decades ago. A truly exceptional and in many ways emotional night. It just felt like a privilege to be there.

Its interesting now to look at the city Manchester has become since the album 90 was released. The growing steel and glass skyscrapers and its accompanying gentrification. The music of 808 State seems as fitting for the cities landscape as it ever did and it really does now feel that the music they were creating was putting in place a soundtrack for the journey the city was about to embark upon.

So to answer that opening question. Who do I consider as the greatest band to ever emerge from Manchester? I’ve never been a big fan of the word ‘greatest’ when used to discuss music and art, but I can say that unquestionably in my heart, I will always consider 808 State as my favourite. An inspiration in music and art from the first time I ever heard them right up to the present day. A band that will remain forever meaningful to me."

[Mark808]

Fantastic article.