Acid house is a type of house music. It started in the mid-1980s in Chicago, created by DJs. The sound is known for the squelching noises and basslines made by the Roland TB-303 electronic synthesizer. This invention is credited to Chicago artists Phuture and Sleezy D around 1986.
Acid house became popular in the United Kingdom and other European countries. DJs played it in acid house and later rave events. By the late 1980s, acid house was part of the mainstream in the UK. It influenced pop and dance music styles.
Acid house helped house music become popular worldwide. Its influence can be heard in later dance music styles like trance, hardcore, jungle, big beat, techno, and trip hop.
Characteristics
Acid house music blends the simple, repeating four-on-the-floor 4/4 beat from house music with the unique electronic sound created by the Roland TB-303 synthesizer-sequencer. This sound is made by adjusting the TB-303's settings, such as increasing the filter resonance and decreasing the cutoff frequency, along with changing the accent, slide, and octave parameters to add variation to the bass. Acid house focuses more on the texture of sounds rather than melodies, and it avoids the traditional emphasis of Western music theory. Other sounds, like synthetic strings and short bursts, are usually simple. Some tracks have no vocals, like Phuture's "Acid Tracks," while others include full vocal performances, such as DJ Pierre's Pfantasy Club's "Fantasy Girl." Some tracks are mostly instrumental with occasional spoken word parts, like Phuture's "Slam."
Etymology
There are different stories about where the word "acid" came from in the music genre called acid house. One story says that a group called Phuture created a track they named "Acid Tracks." Before the track was officially released, a DJ named Ron Hardy played it at a nightclub where people used psychedelic drugs. Clubgoers began calling the song "Ron Hardy's Acid Track" or "Ron Hardy's Acid Trax." The track was later released in 1987 on a record label called Trax Records with the title "Acid Tracks." Some sources say Phuture chose the name because the song was already known by that title, while others claim the group's member DJ Pierre named it because the music reminded him of the sound of acid rock. Regardless, after the song was released, the term "acid house" became widely used. Another claim says that the leader of a band called Psychic TV, named Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, may have coined the term.
Some sources suggest the word "acid" refers to psychedelic drugs like LSD or Ecstasy (MDMA). Professor Hillegonda Rietveld, an expert in electronic dance music, explains that in Chicago clubs like The Music Box, the term "acid" described the way people felt when listening to the music. She says "acid" represented broken or unclear experiences, similar to how LSD affects thinking. In the case of "Acid Tracks," the word was more about an idea than direct drug use.
Other accounts argue that "acid" was not connected to drugs. One theory suggests the term came from the slang phrase "acid burning," which means stealing. This idea was shared in the media and even discussed in the British government. In 1991, a person named Paul Staines, who supported free speech, said he created this theory to stop the government from passing strict laws about rave parties.
The name "acid jazz" comes from "acid house," which influenced the development of the jazz genre.
History
Before the term "acid house" was used, an earlier form of the music was called "hi-NRG." This style of electronic music focused on basslines and started with disco music that removed the funk element. Giorgio Moroder's work with Donna Summer helped shape this early style. However, the earliest examples of acid house are still debated by experts.
Sleezy D's song "I've Lost Control" (1986) was the first acid house track released on vinyl. However, it is unclear which track was created first, as no records confirm the exact order.
In the 21st century, attention returned to Charanjit Singh's 1982 album Synthesizing: Ten Ragas to a Disco Beat. The album combined Indian musical traditions called ragas with disco music and used a device called the TB-303, which became important in acid house. Singh was one of the first musicians to use the TB-303 on a commercial recording. The album was released five years before the famous "Acid Trax" track. It was not successful at first in India and was later forgotten. After being rediscovered and re-released in 2010, some music writers compared Singh's work to acid house, suggesting it might be an early example of the style. Another influential track was Ark of the Arqans (1985) by Suns of Arqa.
The first acid house recordings were made in Chicago, Illinois. A group called Phuture, formed by Nathan "DJ Pierre" Jones, Earl "Spanky" Smith Jr., and Herbert "Herb J" Jackson, is credited with being the first to use the TB-303 in house music. The group's 12-minute track "Acid Tracks" was recorded on tape and played by DJ Ron Hardy at the Music Box club. Hardy played the track multiple times during one night after the crowd responded positively.
Chicago's house music scene faced challenges when police cracked down on parties and events. Sales of house records dropped significantly, and by 1988, the genre sold less than one-tenth the number of records compared to its peak. However, house music, especially acid house, began gaining popularity in Britain.
In November 1987, a club called Shoom opened in London. It was one of the first places in the UK to introduce acid house to the public. Founded by Danny Rampling and his wife, Jenny, the club had a dreamy, fog-filled atmosphere and became a key part of a movement known as the "Second Summer of Love." This period saw a decrease in football hooliganism, as fans began listening to music, taking drugs like ecstasy, and joining other clubgoers in peaceful gatherings. This movement was compared to the 1967 "Summer of Love" in San Francisco.
Another club, Trip, opened in June 1988 in London's West End. It focused on acid house music and stayed open until 3 AM. Patrons often spilled into the streets, chanting and drawing police attention. The growing popularity of acid house, combined with strict UK anti-club laws, made it difficult to host events in traditional clubs. After-hour clubbing became illegal in London during the late 1980s, but fans continued dancing in secret locations like warehouses. These secret gatherings marked the beginning of the rave scene. Raves were large events or series of parties organized by production companies or unlicensed clubs. Groups like Sunrise and Revolution in Progress (RIP) were known for hosting massive outdoor events and warehouse parties.
Sunrise organized several large acid house raves in Britain, including "Burn It Up" (1988), "Early Summer Madness" (1989), and "Midsummer Night's Dream" (1989). These events featured large sound systems, fairground rides, and foreign DJs. Media coverage of these parties often focused on drug use and the chaotic nature of the events.
As the term "acid house" became more common, events in the UK and Ibiza linked the music with psychedelic drugs like ecstasy and LSD. This connection was noticed in New York City by late 1988. The mainstream media began reporting on acid house with increasing scrutiny, though some accounts questioned the strength of the link between the music and drug use.
Acid house was also popular in Manchester. The Thunderdome club in Miles Platting became a central place for the scene and helped launch acts like A Guy Called Gerald and 808 State. A Manchester-based producer named Peter Ford, along with Richard Salt, recorded a track called "Oochy Koochy," which was released in 1988 under the name Baby Ford. The song reached number 58 on the UK Singles Chart.
The genre was especially popular among football hooligans in Manchester. According to Colin Blaney, a Manchester United hooligan, acid house venues were the only places where rival gangs could meet without fighting.
Acid house influenced the Madchester and baggy music movements in Manchester, which blended the style with rock music. Bands like the Stone Roses, Happy Mondays, the Charlatans, and Inspiral Carpets became prominent during this time.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, British media and tabloids covered the acid house and rave scene extensively, focusing on its connection to drugs. At first, promoters like Tony Colston-Hayter tried to promote the scene through TV news segments, similar to how pop stars advertised their music. However, media coverage soon shifted to negative portrayals, leading to a ban on acid house music from radio, television, and stores in the UK. A moral panic began in late 1988 when a tabloid called The Sun linked acid house with the drug ecstasy, contributing to a crackdown on clubs and venues that played the music.