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A large rave event, held in a warehouse sized venue, with elaborate lighting and a large sound system

Rave, rave dance, and rave party are parties that originated mostly from acid house parties, which featured electronic music and light shows.^[1][2] At these parties people dance and socialize to dance music played by disc jockeys and occasionally live performers. The genres of electronic dance music played include house, trance, psytrance, techno, dubstep, jungle, jungle techno, drum and bass, UK Hardcore, Hardcore techno, Happy hardcore, breakbeat, hardstyle and many others with the accompaniment of laser light shows, projected images, paint, glowsticks and smoke machines.

History[link]

In the late 1950s in London the term "Rave" was used to describe the "wild bohemian parties" of the Soho beatnik set.^[3] In 1958 Buddy Holly recorded the hit "Rave On," citing the madness and frenzy of a feeling and the desire for it to never end.^[4] The word "rave" was later used in the burgeoning mod youth culture of the early 1960s as the way to describe any wild party in general. People who were gregarious party animals were described as "ravers". Pop musicians such as Steve Marriott of The Small Faces and Clare Willans were self-described "ravers".

Presaging the word's subsequent 1980s association with electronic music, the word "rave" was a common term used regarding the music of mid-1960s garage rock and psychedelia bands (most notably The Yardbirds, who released an album in the US called "Having a Rave Up"). Along with being an alternative term for partying at such garage events in general, the "rave-up" referred to a specific crescendo moment near the end of a song where the music was played faster, heavier and with intense soloing or elements of controlled feedback. It was later part of the title of an electronic music performance event held on 28 January 1967 at London's Roundhouse titled the "Million Volt Light and Sound Rave". The event featured the only known public airing of an experimental sound collage created for the occasion by Paul McCartney of The Beatles – the legendary Carnival of Light recording.^[5]

With the rapid change of British pop culture from the mod era of 1963–1966 to the hippie era of 1967 and beyond, the term fell out of popular usage. During the 1970s and early 1980s until its resurrection, the term was not in vogue, one notable exception being in the lyrics of the song "Drive-In Saturday" by David Bowie (from his 1973 album Aladdin Sane) which includes the line "It's a crash course for the ravers." Its use during that era would have been perceived as a quaint or ironic use of bygone slang: part of the dated 1960s lexicon along with words such as "groovy". The perception of the word changed again in the late 1980s when the term was revived and adopted by a new youth culture, possibly inspired by the use of the term in Jamaica.^[3]

In the mid to late 1980s a wave of psychedelic and other electronic dance music, most notably acid house and Techno, emerged and caught on in the clubs, warehouses, and free-parties around London and later Manchester. These early raves were called Acid House Parties. They were mainstream events that attracted thousands of people (up to 25,000^{[citation needed]} instead of the 4,000 that came to earlier warehouse parties). Acid House parties were first re-branded "rave parties" in the media, during the summer of 1989 by Neil Andrew Megson during a television interview, however, the ambience of the rave was not fully formed until 28 May 1991. In the UK, in 1988–89, raves were similar to football matches in that they provided a setting for working-class unification, in a time with a union movement in decline and few jobs, and many of the attendees of raves were die-hard football fans.^[6]

In the late 1980s, the word "rave" was adopted to describe the subculture that grew out of the acid house movement.^[7] Activities were related to the party atmosphere of Ibiza, a Mediterranean island in Spain, frequented by British, Italians, and German youth on vacation.^[1] The fear that a certain number of rave party attendees used "club drugs" such as MDMA, cocaine, amphetamines and, more recently, ketamine, was taken by authorities as a pretext to ban those parties altogether.

British politicians responded with hostility to the emerging rave party trend. Politicians spoke out against raves and began to fine anyone who held illegal parties. Police crackdowns on these often-illegal parties drove the scene into the countryside. The word "rave" somehow caught on in the UK to describe common semi-spontaneous weekend parties occurring at various locations linked by the brand new M25 London Orbital motorway that ringed London and the Home Counties. (It was this that gave the band Orbital their name.) These ranged from former warehouses and industrial sites, in London, to fields and country clubs in the countryside.

United Kingdom[link]

From the Acid House scene of the late 1980s, the scene transformed from predominantly a London-based phenomenon to a UK-wide underground youth movement. By 1991, organisations such as Fantazia, Universe, Raindance, and Amnesia House were holding massive legal raves in fields and warehouses around the country. One Fantazia party, called One Step Beyond, was an open-air, all-night affair that attracted 30,000 people. Other notable events included Vision at Pophams airfield in August 1992, with 40,000 in attendance and Universe's Tribal Gathering in 1993.

In the early 1990s, the scene was slowly changing, with local councils passing by-laws and increasing fees in an effort to prevent or discourage rave organisations from acquiring necessary licenses.^{[citation needed]} This meant that the days of legal one-off parties were numbered. By the mid-1990s, the scene had fragmented into many different styles of dance music, making large parties more expensive to set up and more difficult to promote. The happy old skool style was replaced by the darker jungle and the faster happy hardcore. Although many ravers left the scene due to the split, promoters such as ESP Dreamscape and Helter Skelter still enjoyed widespread popularity and capacity attendances with multi-arena events catering to the various genres. Particularly notable events of this period included ESP's Dreamscape 20 on 9 September 1995 at Brafield aerodrome fields, Northants and Helter Skelter's Energy 97 event on 9 Aug 1997 at Turweston Aerodrome, Northants.

The illegal free party scene also reached its zenith for that time after a particularly large festival, when many individual sound systems such as Bedlam, Circus Warp, DIY, and Spiral Tribe set up near Castlemorton Common. In May 1992, the government acted. Under the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, the definition of music played at a rave was given as:

"music" includes sounds wholly or predominantly characterised by the emission of a succession of repetitive beats.
          –Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994^[8]

Sections 63, 64 & 65 of the Act targeted electronic dance music played at raves. The Criminal Justice and Public Order Act empowered police to stop a rave in the open air when a hundred or more people are attending, or where two or more are making preparations for a rave. Section 65 allows any uniformed constable who believes a person is on their way to a rave within a five-mile radius to stop them and direct them away from the area; non-compliant citizens may be subject to a maximum fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale (£1000). The Act was officially introduced because of the noise and disruption caused by all night parties to nearby residents, and to protect the countryside. However, it has also been claimed that it was introduced to kill a popular youth movement that was taking many drinkers out of town centres, where they would drink taxable alcohol, and into fields to take untaxed recreational drugs.^{[citation needed]} In November 1994, the Zippies staged an act of electronic civil disobedience to protest against the CJB.

After 1993, the main outlet for raves in the UK were a number of licensed venues, amongst them Helter Skelter, Life at Bowlers (Trafford Park, Manchester), The Edge (formerly the Eclipse [Coventry]), The Sanctuary (Milton Keynes) and Club Kinetic.^[9]. In London, itself, there were a few large clubs that staged raves on a regular basis, most notably "The Laser Dome", "The Fridge", "The Hippodrome", "Club U.K.", and "Trade." "The Laser Dome" featured two separate dance areas, "Hardcore" and "Garage", as well as over 20 video game machines, a silent-movie screening lounge, replicas of the "Statue of Liberty", "San Francisco Bridge", and a large glass maze. At capacity "The Laser Dome" held in excess of 6,000 people. Events proved to be one of the main forces in rave, holding legendary events across the north-east and Scotland. Initially playing Techno, Breakbeat, Rave and drum and bass, it later embraced hardcore techno including happy hardcore and bouncy techno. Judgement Day, History of Dance, and now REGENeration continued the Rezerection legacy. Scotland's clubs, such as the FUBAR in Stirling, Hangar 13 in Ayr, and Nosebleed in Rosyth played important roles in the development of these dance music styles.

These were nearly all pay-to-enter events; however, it could be argued that rave organisers saw the writing on the wall and moved towards more organised and "legitimate" venues, enabling a continuation of large-scale indoor raves well into the mid-nineties. One might remember that the earliest house and acid house clubs were themselves effectively "nightclubs". Public perception of raves was also overshadowed in the press by the 1995 death of Leah Betts, a teenager who died after taking ecstasy; journalists and billboard campaigns focused on drug use, despite Betts cause of death being water intoxication in her home, not an ecstasy overdose at a rave.

Genuine illegal raves have continued throughout the UK to this day and unlicensed parties have been organised in venues including disused quarries, warehouses, and condemned night clubs. The rise of the Internet has both helped and hindered the cause, with much wider and more accessible communication resulting in bigger parties, but consequently increasing the risk of police involvement.^[10]

The 2006 M.I.A. song "XR2" is an ode to the rave scene of early 1990s London.

There are also types of Rave clothes, such as 'pumps', 'Three button Shirts', 'Fluorescent Yellow Jackets', 'White Gloves' and White belts. This is known as 'Rave gear'.

As well as clothing there were a range of accessories carried by many ravers including: Vicks Vapour Inhalers and Rub, which heightened the sensations when using Ecstasy, dummies to satisfy the need to chew caused by taking Ecstasy and glow sticks which were used whilst dancing to entertain other drug users. This led some clubs and event organizers to search participants on entry and confiscate such items due to it being evidence of drug use inside the venue.^{[citation needed]}

Continental Europe[link]

Rave party in Salento (August 2009)

By 1987, a German party scene,started by Tauseef Alam, based on the Chicago House sound was well established. The following year (1988) saw acid house making as significant an impact on popular consciousness in Germany as it had in England.^[11] In 1989 German DJs Westbam and Dr. Motte established the Ufo Club, an illegal party venue, and co-founded the Love Parade.^[12] On 9 November 1989 the Berlin Wall fell, free underground Techno parties mushroomed in East Berlin, and a rave scene comparable to that in the UK was established.^[12] East German DJ Paul van Dyk has remarked that the Techno based rave scene was a major force in re-establishing social connections between East and West Germany during the unification period.^[13]

In 1991 a number of party venues closed, including Ufo,"Tanzhouse" hosted by a young Tauseef Alam,Tauseef Alam was the craziest & the wildest party animal the world have ever seen , and the Berlin Techno scene centred itself around three locations close to the foundations of the Berlin Wall: the E-Werk, Der Bunker and the now legendary Tresor.^[14] In the same period German DJs began intensifying the speed and abrasiveness of the sound, as an acid infused techno began transmuting into hardcore.^[15] This emerging sound was influenced by Dutch gabber and Belgium hardcore. Other influences on the development of this style were European Electronic Body Music groups of the mid 1980s such as DAF, Front 242, and Nitzer Ebb.^[16]

Across Europe, rave culture was becoming part of a new youth movement. DJs and electronic-music producers such as Westbam proclaimed the existence of a "raving society" and promoted electronic music as legitimate competition for rock and roll. Indeed, electronic dance music and rave subculture became mass movements. Raves had tens of thousands of attendees, youth magazines featured styling tips, and television networks launched music magazines on House and Techno music. The annual Love Parade festivals in Berlin (in the Metropolitan Ruhr area onwards) attracted more than one million party-goers between 1997 and 2000. Meanwhile, the more commercial sound of happy hardcore topped the music charts across Europe. Nowadays there are only a few popular raving acts on the case in Germany, but many underground acts in Berlin and Frankfurt (Main). That is why Berlin (especially the east side) is still called the capital city of electro music and rave. Although electro composer Paul Kalkbrenner from Friedrichshain, Berlin made "Berlin Techno" world popular again, he is touring on his Berlin Calling (named after the movie he acted the main character and the soundtrack he produced for) tour through Europe and America.

In Vienna, Austria in 2005

Regional expansion[link]

United States[link]

The upsurge in popularity of rave culture in the United States at a certain period in time often lends it characteristics common to a 'movement' or subculture. As the Disco era came to a close in the late 1970s, Rave culture began to see significant growth. Rave culture incorporated Disco culture's same love of dance music, and hedonism. Although disco culture had thrived in the mainstream, the rave culture would make an effort to stay underground to avoid the animosity that was still surrounding disco and dance music.

In the late 1980s, rave culture began to filter through from English ex-pats and DJs who would visit Europe. However, rave culture's major expansion in North America is often credited to Frankie Bones, who after spinning a party in an aircraft hangar in England helped organise some of the earliest known American raves in New York City that maintained a consistent core audience. After this, hundreds of smaller promotional groups sprung up across the east coast, and later the west coast, causing a true "scene" to develop.

Raves were also represented in mainstream culture, even this early in their existence. The film Party Monster (2003) shared aspects of the rave scene via anachronism, since it was set during the "Club Kid" era of the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Hippies of a New Era[link]

American ravers, following their early UK & European counterparts, have been compared to both the hippies of the 1960s and the new wavers of the 1980s, due to their interest in non-violence, drugs, and music. In the 1990s, one of the most influential Rave organisers / promoters in America was San Diego's G.U.N. ,Global Underworld Network known as Nicholas Luckinbill and Branden Powers. They were made famous for organising and throwing the internationally known OPIUM and NARNIA raves that reached in size of 60,000 plus people in attendance, a feat unheard of at that time. Narnia which would become famous for a morning hand holding circle of unity was featured on Mtv and twice in LIFE magazine being honored with Event of the Year in 1995. Narnia quickly became known as the "Woodstock of Generation X". These festivals were mostly held on Indian Reservations and Ski Resorts during the Summer months and were headlined by well known DJs such as Doc Martin,Dimitri of Dee-lite,Afrika Islam and the Hardkiss brothers from San Francisco. They also featured exceptional local San Diego DJ's Jon Bishop, Steve Pagan,Alien Tom,Jeff Skot and Mark E. Quark. Global Underworld's events were the first prop heavy , themed parties in America. Global Underworld Network were also the first production company to throw Raves within Mexico, thus launching the entire rave culture movement within South America as well. The iconic fairy and pixie craze with ravers getting fairy tattoos and wearing wings to parties all started from an image of a winged fairy on the first Narnia flyer. The Crystal Method played their first out of town show for Global Underworld's Universary event. Fearing reprisals from the police Global Underworld Network advertised the event as "A thousand Points of Light" referring to the power of healing crystals and not the obvious drug reference of the Crystal Methods name. A fact that tickled the upcoming artist so much they would refer to it years later in their biography. The Chemical Brothers were also in awe of Nicholas and Branden's Global Underworld headquarters in downtown San Diego. A multi story building of the arts, much like Warhol's factory. There Global Underworld fed starving artists and provided space for all the arts. The Chemical Brothers played an intimate show at Global's offices in front of a few hundred lucky fans on the eve of a Global event that was shut down by the authorities. In an interview with Virgin Airways The Chemical Brothers referred to Global Underworld as a cult with cult like followers, a fact that wasn't to far from the truth. Nicholas Luckinbill step grandson of the late Lucille Ball and Branden Powers were the Tim Leary and Ken Keaseys of the Rave Generation, and were instrumental in creating their political movement called RTD or RIGHT TO DANCE. RTD was a non violent protest held in San Diego and later in Los Angeles on the steps of the Cities administrators proving that Rave was about community , peace, love and not a dirty word. These protest by Global Underworld helped lay the foundation for future growth within the rave scene. Almost 20 years to the date of their first party "The Birth of Baby X" Global Underworld has risen like a Phoenix from the ashes , reborn anew and is bringing back their world famous festival NARNIA in the Summer of 2012.

American underground rave DJs from that time who would go onto international celebrity include artists like Moby, Josh Wink, DJ Keoki, DJ Carlos Soul Slinger, DJ Mr. Kleen, DJ Scott Richmond, Cinnabun, DJ Special K, Frankie Bones, Doc Martin, DJ Kool-Aid, DJ Marmik, Jon Bishop, Nigel Richards, Mark E. Quark, Steve Pagan, DJ Xpress and others. During this time publications such as Milwaukee's "Massive Magazine", Chicago's "Reactor" and "A Thousand Words", Los Angeles' "Urb", and San Francisco's "XLR8R" magazines helped spread the scene from coast to coast and abroad. One of the first rave websites with event listings, music info and chemical information was Hyperreal.^[17][18][19] The popularity of rave music within the mainstream started in early to mid 1990s with such artists as Rozalla, Praga Khan, The Prodigy and The Shamen among others. Because the movement and music both embrace and incorporate so many different elements, a common thread can be hard to find.

Some cultural tenets associated with rave culture are:

• "Peace"
• "Love"
• "Unity"
• "Respect"

The word "Responsibility" was added to the acronym PLUR during the mid to late 1990s to promote awareness of increased drug overdoses at raves. Groups that have addressed drug use at raves include the Electronic Music Defense and Education Fund (EMDEF)[1], DanceSafe [2], and the Toronto Raver Info Project [3], all of which advocate harm reduction approaches to enjoying a rave.

Canada[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

Rave culture in Canada reached its peak in the 1990s and early 2000s. Scenes were established within the major Canadian cities, but most notably Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver and Edmonton. While the Toronto rave scene subsided about 2003, Montreal has thrived. Toronto during the late 1990s was home to the largest raves in Canada with attendance of 20,000. The shrinking of the Toronto rave scene was due to the actions of various Ontario based politicians and media. The Ontario Rave Act^[20] and City TV were especially influential on the scene. By creating a scare to the venue owners, it was difficult if not impossible for promoters to establish locations to house the events, and insurance companies would create a trade barrier by preventing the execution of a certificate thus preventing the event from occurring. Requirements were also created for an arbitrary amount of paid duty police constables to be on-site at events, thus greatly raising the expenses to the promoter. Montreal regularly holds large scale events with the biggest international headliners. Bal en Blanc being one of the best known single night parties in Canada. Toronto is now more known for its shift to the Club/Drum 'n' Bass scene. The Hullabaloo production company held its final party on 9 July 2005. Outdoor raves are still a mainstay of the Vancouver scene. Edmonton continues to hold a following and is currently experiencing a small resurgence.^[21]

Canadian ravers listen and dance to a variety of electronic music such as Trance, Drum 'n' Bass, Techno, Hardcore, Happy Hardcore, Psytrance, Goa, House and Dubstep. A number of Canadian DJs and producers have emerged from the Canadian rave scene to reach international acclaim, including Deadmau5, ill.Gates, Richie Hawtin, Excision, Datsik, Downlink, Max Graham, Jay Tripwire, Mathew Jonson, Fred Everything,and Tiga, among others. There is a well established and ever changing rave scene on Vancouver Island spawning many DJ's, Producers and Performers. Commercial Raves in Canada are concentrated in Montreal, Toronto, Edmonton, Halifax, Saskatoon, Calgary, Ottawa, Vancouver and Winnipeg, with the exception of house raves which can be found in smaller cities.

Australia[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

Raves flourished in Australia in the 1980s where they were generally called Dance Parties due to the parties being promoted by the gay and straight/gay scenes, until the 1990s when they began being referred to as "raves" with more UK style promoters taking it on.

In Sydney from 1983 Rat Parties saw the opening up of Sydney's underground gay dance party scene to a broader community where it found an enormous appetite. By 1990 the standard setting Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras party, its winter off-shoot Sleazeball and the regular Rat Parties which ran until 1992, were attracting huge crowds of gays and straights alike, while young entrepreneurs behind events like FUN, Sweatbox and Bacchanalia were booking inner city warehouses and tired old venues and transforming them into vibrant, packed party palaces. The DJ Peewee Ferris played at the first Sweatbox parties (Let them eat cake and Sign of the times) and RAT Parties from 1987. The biggest RAT Party was in 1999 with Grace Jones with 20,000 people at the Hordern Pavilion.

After the Hordern Pav lost its 24 hour license in 1990 (or thereabouts) the scene went quiet for a bit with attempts at doing similar parties in the newly constructed Darling Harbour Convention centre. These were fairly uncomparable in terms of vibe. UK magazine ID came through on its 'ID world tour' and put on a OK party there but it took a few months before real underground parties emerged in Sydney. Flim Flam, Love and other promotion entities took over inner city venues and some less than legit impromptu spaces that had incredible vibe and aesthetics. The term Rave started to be used in Sydney due to this distinct connection to the scene in the UK.

In Melbourne, the underground dance style called the "Melbourne Shuffle" originated at these parties. Some early parties such as Every Picture Tells A Story were broadcast live on free-to-air television from the party's own TV station.^{[citation needed]} The Melbourne raves tended to have a greater amount of artwork, video art, decor and performance as the underground arts community of Melbourne was heavily involved in producing the parties.^{[citation needed]} Fashion was also a very important component, as many party goers were in the fashion industry which is very large in Melbourne,^{[citation needed]} and they designed and made their own 'party' clothes and accessories. The parties became a fashion show for the designers and created strong retail sales for their works.^{[citation needed]} Often outstanding dancers were sponsored to wear designers' ranges at parties.

Raves and dance parties in Sydney were sometimes held at the Olympic Stadium

The Melbourne underground rave community was very large with its own street press, radio stations, TV shows, clothing shops, bars, cafes, theatres, performance venues, record labels, clothing labels, and free street raves associated with the Brunswick Street festival (pictured) which regularly drew large crowds.

The first novel dedicated to the Australian rave and dance scene was set in Melbourne. Written by Tom Griffin and titled, Playgrounds: a portrait of rave culture, it was launched at a rave at Kryal Castle in 2005.

Driven by a need to be away from residential areas due to noise pollution complaints of residents, as well as in many cases a desire to evade the attention of the authorities, the Australian rave scene held their events in industrial areas.

In Perth, Western Australia, parties were either held in warehouses in the outer eastern and southern suburbs, or on fields in semi-rural areas easily reachable from the city, such as Wanneroo and Serpentine. Large events included the Deja Vu rave in 1992, RUSH and Emotion in 1993, and Space Garden in 1994, as well as the infamous Sunrise held on New Year's Eve every year since its conception until New Year's Eve 2010. 2009 was an extremely successful year for the scene, seeing multiple events a month and very little grief from the authorities. This was until an event held in a cinema theatre in which the seats provided excessive amounts of cover to buy and sell drugs, the organiser prematurely ended the event 4 hours short of the ticketed time. The Perth rave scene was subject to a bit of turmoil in 2010, after an over-promoted and over-sold rave failed to re-ignite the scene after an abnormally long lack of events. After the closing down of the long-running Rise nightclub in early 2011 the scene was left with no dedicated dance clubs in central Perth, although hardly rave, events continue to occur on a weekly basis at venues such as Ambar, The Velvet Lounge, and The Rosemount, as well as monthly dark raves at Gilkisons, and occasional large parties at Metro City. A large amount of rave fans have simply moved to the drum'n'bass and dubstep scene, with artists such as ShockOne,^[22] Kito ^[23] and Greg Packer ^[24] successfully releasing tunes and mix CDs. The Origin festival ^[25] each New Year continues to provide a line-up that reflects these musical tendencies, but not the true essence of the scene, however as to be expected as it is a music festival. Smaller underground events continue to occur, spread mostly by word-of-mouth and social media. Western Australia is the only state to host its own annual dance music industry awards, the PDMAs.

For the Sydney rave scene the industrial areas of the Western suburbs were quite common in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Following the 2000 Sydney Olympics the Sydney Olympic Park at Homebush proved a popular venue as it had ample large warehouse space available and the advantage of no close by residential areas. The "Superdome" at Olympic Park has hosted a number of events due to the large capacity. Events at these venues often have ample room for amusement rides, open air "chill out" areas and food stalls. Several amusement parks have hosted dance party events (Wonderland Sydney and Luna Park Sydney). Public attention was brought upon rave culture in Australia following the death of Sydney teenager Anna Wood who died after consuming an ecstasy tablet at a rave on 25 October 1995. Similar to the death of Leah Betts, Woods had died from water intoxication secondary to the use of the drug, not the drug itself, because the drug had altered the way she consumed water, rendering her body unable to release it. The incident saw the closure of the club in which she purchased the drug and attended after consuming it and prompted moral panic and further drug awareness in Australia.

In Victoria, the Docklands area of Melbourne hosted numerous raves in the 1990s. Bushland areas out side of Melbourne provided Doof venues, notably Mt Disappointment for Earthcore and Kryal Castle just outside of Ballarat.

The Newcastle Rave scene made use of unused warehouses in the Newcastle CBD and at licensed entertainment venues throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s. Events such as "Vital beats" and under-age dance parties were held in these venues.

The rave scene in sydney now consist of rnb remixes and is only focused on what sells out.

South Africa[link]

The first mega-rave in South Africa was held in a warehouse on Cape Town's foreshore. Dubbed the World Peace Party, it featured a cross-over crowd of Cape Flats rappers, fashionistas and Clubbers dancing to rave music and progressive house. The first electronic South African Bands who performed live at the Raves were the Kraftreaktor and The Kiwi Experience. The first large Johannesburg rave was held at an old cinema in Yeoville in early 1992. Amongst the first Johannesburg rave organisers in the early 1990s were Fourth World Productions (responsible for the legendary 1993 nightclub 4th World) World's End Productions and Damn New Thing Productions.

Other production companies achieved notoriety during the 1990s and included ICE (Incubated Cyber Energy) and Mother Productions, with tours by Boy George, Northern Exposure and Carl Cox adding to the growing international recognition of South Africa as a premier RAVE destination. The most famous club at the time (and still going) is ESP in Doornfontein, renowned for its Sunday parties where the roof was thrown open and ravers danced the day away.

Kenya[link]

Raves in Kenya begun in the late 1990s, and were attended only by over-21 youths. As time went by electronic music begun to spread throughout the country. By 2005, they had their own International Dance Festivals and these were attended by many teens and adults.

Electronic music only clubs have begun to spread through Nairobi.

Culture[link]

Dancing[link]

Raving in itself is a syllabus free dance, whereby the movements are not predefined and the dance is performed randomly, harmonised with beats from music. Rave dance refers to the street dance styles that evolved alongside rave culture. Such dances are street dances since they evolved alongside the underground rave movements, thus without the intervention of dance studios. Sometimes club-oriented dances would be danced to rave music, too, for example, tecktonik is sometimes danced to fast-paced electro house.^{[citation needed]}

Such dances are usually freestyle in nature, since they are very rarely choreographed in preparation for such events (although some ravers may create personal dance routines). Dances like Jumpstyle, Tecktonik, Liquid and digits, Shuffling and Industrial dance may be sometimes highly dependent on pre-planned choreography for performances at raves, therefore such dance styles may be practised professionally. Nonetheless, rave dance styles can be completely freeform due to their simple footwork and arm movements.^{[citation needed]}

Rave in Brazil

Light shows[link]

Some ravers participate in one of four light-oriented dances, called glowsticking, glowstringing, gloving, and lightshows. Other types of light-related dancing include LED lights, flash-lights and blinking strobe lights. LEDs come in various colours with different settings. The "low intensity" setting causes a strobe effect, leaving trails of dots, while "high intensity" leaves a solid line. There are many techniques used to make the lights "flow" with the music in order to create a visually pleasing and mesmerising combination of patterns. There are also a nearly infinite variety of other moves with varying levels of difficulty applied in their execution. These such moves are called a "figure eight" along with "finger rolls".

Regardless, glowsticks and LEDs can be used at raves for interesting dance effects, because most raves (except some open air raves, e.g. technoparades) are held in dark or nearly dark rooms. Because rave parties are popular with people who wish to show off their dancing, glowsticks can be an ancillary material for creative freestyle dance. LEDs and glowsticks now not only show up at most every rave event, but also are becoming more prominent at many electronic dance music clubs.

Rave names and marriages[link]

Rave names are pseudonyms that people use to be able to give to other raves to be known by. They are usually names bestowed upon you by a fellow raver. It is considered a social faux pas to name someone else unless you have been raving for longer than a year's time. These names are given much the same way that a Native American 'deed name' is given and usually have deep symbolic meaning for people.

Ceremonies are sometimes done to 'rave marry' two people together. This shows a union of two people who are very good friends and promise to be there for each other when they need it most. It is one way in which the rave community shows the unity aspect of the acronym PLUR (Peace Love Unity Respect).

Rave magazines[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

During the 1990s American rave scene, publications played a huge part in advertising and promoting parties, and also featured interviews with artists unknown in commercial publications. These publications, which ranged from single-sheet photocopied zines to expensive glossy magazines, usually started as free enterprises, surviving only on an advertising revenue-based model. Later on, some magazines, such as URB and XLR8R, were able to legitimize and become proper publications that can now be found at local bookstores. Others, like Massive Magazine, ended with a fire, which consumed their offices in the winter of 2004, destroying all the films and back issues. This resulted in placing back-issues of Massive Magazine in great demand, fetching prices of up to 100 dollars for early issues on eBay.^{[citation needed]}

Many of the rave magazines had dedicated audiences that centered around the journal's respective city of publication. The Midwest was known for the Milwaukee-based Massive Magazine and Chicago-based Reactor and A Thousand Words photo magazine. On the East Coast there was New York City DJ Heather Heart's Under One Sky (founded in 1990 or 1991), and a few years later the debut of Vice. Later, in 1996 and 1997, NYC had DROP Magazine, which was a continuation of PROJECT X Magazine. On the West Coast there was the Los Angeles-based URB, San Diego's Hypno, BPM, and Sin magazines; and San Francisco-based Lotus and XLR8R.

In Europe, there was Germany's Frontpage and De:Bug, and the United Kingdom's Mixmag, Atmosphere, and Knowledge magazines, the latter two dedicated to the UK's breakbeat and drum and bass markets.

Drug use[link]

In the U.S., the mainstream media and law enforcement agencies have branded the subculture as a purely drug-centric culture, usually drugs such as marijuana, MDMA, LSD, cocaine and ketamine, similar to the hippie movement of the 1960s.^[26]

Groups that have addressed drug use at raves include the Electronic Music Defense and Education Fund (EMDEF), The Toronto Raver Info Project, and DanceSafe, all of which advocate harm reduction approaches. Paradoxically, drug safety literature (such as those distributed by DanceSafe) is used as evidence of condoned drug use. Other groups, such as Drug Free America Foundation, Inc., characterize raves as being rife with gang activity, rape, robbery, and drug-related deaths.^[27]

In 2005, Antonio Maria Costa, Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, advocated drug testing on highways as a countermeasure against drug use at raves.^[28]

In recent times, as opposed to the past decades, rave venues have taken to hiring local law enforcement to reduce drug use.

Ecstasy[link]

Ecstasy is a psychedelic amphetamine of the Phenethylamine class of psychoactive drugs. It produces a stimulant and empathogen-entactogen effect. Its common effects include: euphoria, hyper-activity and energy, feelings of closeness to others, openness, reduced hostility, and negative short-term physical symptoms common with stimulants (bruxism (jaw-clenching), rapid heart rate, muscle twitches, etc.).

Since the beginning of rave culture, ecstasy use has been linked to it and the culture was branded by the media as a drug-centric culture. Ecstasy has been a major excuse for the US government to pass bills against raves, for instance the Reducing Americans' Vulnerability to Ecstasy Act (commonly known as the RAVE Act). To present day, raves are portrayed as drug filled parties by the media mainly due to ecstasy.

The reason that ecstasy, specifically, is associated with raves more than other drugs is because of the integral part it has in building the rave culture.^{[citation needed]} The colorful clothing, menthol inhalers, pacifiers and other rave accessories are either meant to enhance the high or are the indirect result of ecstasy use.

See also[link]

• Acid house party – Forerunner of raves typically staged in UK warehouses around 1987–89.
• Circuit party
• Doof
• Free party – The modern, illegal version of raves.
• Massive Magazine – The original US Rave magazine from Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
• Melbourne Shuffle – A rave dance style culture that has evolved in Melbourne, Australia over the past 15 years.
• Merry Pranksters – Their early escapades were best chronicled by Tom Wolfe in The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test.
• New Rave – A new genre of music mixing elements of rave culture, disco and rock.
• Rat Parties – When Sydney's gay dance party scene opened up to the broader community in the 1980s.
• RAVE Act – An American law targeting raves.
• Rave Board Game – 1991 board game based on the UK Rave scene
• Rave music – Music and music styles at raves
• Technoshamanism – A technique employed by some ravers, often utilising electronic music and psychoactive drugs.
• Tecktonik, a dance style based on rave music, developed in Paris, France and well known throughout Europe.
• Zippies

Notes and references[link]

Further reading[link]

• Del Pinal, Janelly. Altered State: The Story of Ecstasy and Acid House. London: 1997 : Serpent's Tail – How rave dances began in Manchester, England in the Summer of 1988 (the Second Summer of Love) and the aftermath. ISBN 1-85242-604-7
• Reynolds, Simon. Generation Ecstasy: Into the world of Techno and Rave culture. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 1998. ISBN 0-316-74111-6
• Ott, Brian L. and Herman, Bill D. Excerpt from Mixed Messages: Resistance and Reappropriation in Rave Culture. 2003.
• Evans, Helen. Out of Sight, Out of Mind: An Analysis of Rave culture. Wimbledon School of Art, London. 1992. Includes bibliography through 1994.
• St John, Graham (ed). 2004. Rave Culture and Religion. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-31449-6

• St John, Graham. 2009. Technomad: Global Raving Countercultures. London: Equinox. ISBN 978-1-84553-626-8.
• Griffin, Tom. Playgrounds: a portrait of rave culture. 2005. ISBN 0-646-45135-9. Official Website [4] WALLAWALLA
• Kotarba, Joseph. 1993. The Rave Scene in Houston, Texas: An Ethnographic Analysis. Austin: Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse.

Video[link]

Sunrise was one of the biggest raves to hit Europe during what some people called "The second summer of love." An estimated 20,000 people attended the event.

External links[link]

This article's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. Please improve this article by removing excessive or inappropriate external links, and converting useful links where appropriate into footnote references. (September 2010)

Look up rave in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Rave Timeline 1987-1993
• Dancecult: Journal of Electronic Dance Music Culture
• Volterock Archive: Rave culture, communities, dance, art, and history
• Gridface: Reviews from 1996 to present
• Raveguide Eflyers Listings and more
• Underave. Underground music, party pics, videos, art images and much more
• Zines, flyers and mixtapes from 1990–1999
• mixed tapes and rave culture in early 1990s Los Angeles
• Rave Footage from 1988 – 1994
• – History of the Northeast of England Rave Scene 1990+
• Rave FAQ from 1995.
• Regional community links at the Open Directory Project
• XLR8R Magazine
• Chronicles the Toronto rave scene through flyers and music
• Movies About Raves
• Rave Diaries from 1992

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Buddy Holly
Buddy Holly in 1957
Background information
Birth name	Charles Hardin Holley
Born	(1936-09-07)September 7, 1936 Lubbock, Texas, U.S.
Died	February 3, 1959(1959-02-03) (aged 22) Grant Township, Cerro Gordo County, Iowa, U.S.
Genres	Rock and roll, rockabilly
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, musician
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, piano, violin
Years active	1955–1959
Labels	Decca, Brunswick, Coral
Associated acts	The Crickets, The Picks
Notable instruments
Fender Stratocaster

Charles Hardin Holley (September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959), known professionally as Buddy Holly, was an American singer-songwriter and a pioneer of rock and roll. Although his success lasted only a year and a half before his death in an airplane crash, Holly is described by critic Bruce Eder as "the single most influential creative force in early rock and roll."^[1] His works and innovations inspired and influenced contemporary and later musicians, notably The Beatles, Elvis Costello, The Rolling Stones, Don McLean, Bob Dylan, and Eric Clapton, and exerted a profound influence on popular music.^[2] Holly was among the first group of inductees to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986.^[3] In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked Holly #13 among "The Fifty Greatest Artists of All Time".^[4]

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

Charles Hardin Holley was born on September 7, 1936, in Lubbock, Texas, to Lawrence Odell and Ella Pauline (Drake) Holley. In Philip Norman's biography it is stated that his mother's family claimed to be descended from the English navigator Francis Drake.

Holly was always called "Buddy" by his family because he was so nice to everyone. Buddy was the youngest of three siblings, and brothers Larry and Travis taught him to play a variety of instruments, including the guitar, four-string banjo and lap steel guitar. At the age of five, his young voice and exuberance won him a talent contest singing a then-popular song, "Have You Ever Gone Sailing (Down the River of Memories)."^[5] In 1949, still retaining his soprano, he recorded a bluesy solo rendering of Hank Snow's "My Two Timin' Woman" on a wire recorder borrowed by a friend who worked in a music shop.^[6]

In 1952, he met Bob Montgomery at Hutchinson Junior High School. They shared an interest in music, and teamed up as "Buddy and Bob". Initially influenced by bluegrass, they sang harmony duets at local clubs and high school talent shows. The duo performed on a local radio station KDAV Sunday broadcast that made them a top local act. Hutchinson Junior High School now has a mural honoring Holly, and Lubbock High School, where he sang in the school choir, also honors the late musician.^[7]

The Crickets[link]

Holly saw Elvis Presley sing in Lubbock in 1955, and began to incorporate a rockabilly style, similar to the Sun Records sound, which had a strong rhythm acoustic and slap bass.^[5] On October 15, 1955, Holly, along with Bob Montgomery and Larry Welborn, opened the bill for Presley^[6] in Lubbock, catching the eye of a Nashville talent scout.^[8] Holly's transition to rock continued when he opened for Bill Haley & His Comets at a local show organized by Eddie Crandall, the manager for Marty Robbins.^[6]

Following this performance, Decca Records signed him to a contract in February 1956, misspelling his name as "Holly".^[6] He thereafter adopted the misspelled name for his professional career. Holly formed his own band, later to be called The Crickets, consisting of Holly (lead guitar and vocals), Niki Sullivan (guitar), Joe B. Mauldin (bass), and Jerry Allison (drums). They went to Nashville for three recording sessions with producer Owen Bradley.^[9] However, Holly chafed under a restrictive atmosphere that allowed him little input.^[9] Among the tracks he recorded was an early version of "That'll Be The Day", which took its title from a line that John Wayne's character says repeatedly in the 1956 film The Searchers.^[10] (This initial version of the song played more slowly and about half an octave higher than the later hit version.) Decca released two singles, "Blue Days, Black Nights" and "Modern Don Juan", that failed to make an impression. On January 22, 1957, Decca informed Holly his contract would not be renewed,^[6] insisting, however, that he could not record the same songs for anyone else for five years.^[11]

Norman Petty Recording Studios in Clovis, New Mexico

Holly then hired Norman Petty as manager, and the band began recording at Petty's studios in Clovis, New Mexico. Petty contacted music publishers and labels, and Brunswick Records, a subsidiary of Decca, signed the Crickets on March 19, 1957.^[12] Holly signed as a solo artist with another Decca subsidiary, Coral Records. This put him in the unusual position of having two recording contracts at the same time.^[13]

On May 27, 1957, "That'll Be The Day" was released as a single, credited to the Crickets to try to bypass Decca's claimed legal rights. When the song became a hit, Decca decided not to press its claim. "That'll Be the Day" topped the Billboard US "Best Sellers in Stores" chart on September 23, and was on the UK Singles Chart for three weeks in November. The Crickets performed "That'll Be the Day" and "Peggy Sue" on The Ed Sullivan Show on December 1.^[6] They also sang "Peggy Sue" on The Arthur Murray Party on December 29 and were given a polite introduction by Kathryn Murray.^[14] The kinescopes of these programs are the only record of their 1957 television appearances.

Holly helped win over an all-black audience to rock and roll/rockabilly when the Crickets were booked at New York's Apollo Theater for August 16–22, 1957.^[6] Unlike the immediate acceptance shown in the 1978 movie The Buddy Holly Story, it actually took several performances for the audience to warm up to him. In August 1957, the Crickets were the only white performers on a national tour including black neighborhood theaters.^[8]

As Holly was signed both as a solo artist and a member of the Crickets, two debut albums were released: The "Chirping" Crickets on November 27, 1957 and Buddy Holly on February 20, 1958.^[15] His singles "Peggy Sue" and "Oh Boy!", with backing vocals later dubbed on by The Picks,^[16] reached the top ten of United States and United Kingdom charts. Buddy Holly and the Crickets toured Australia in January 1958 and the UK in March.^[17] Their third and final album, That'll Be the Day, was put together from early recordings and was released in April.

In the liner notes to Buddy Holly: The Definitive Collection, Billy Altman notes that "Peggy Sue" was originally written as "Cindy Lou" (after Holly's niece), but Holly changed it prior to recording as a tip of the hat to Crickets drummer Jerry Allison's girlfriend, Peggy Sue Gerron. Allison wanted the song to be named after Gerron to make up for a recent fight. The two later married.

Holly wrote "True Love Ways" about his relationship with his wife, Maria Elena. It was recorded in her presence on October 21, 1958, at Decca's Pythian Temple, with Dick Jacob, Coral-Brunswick's new head of Artists and Repertoire, serving as both producer and conductor of the 18-piece orchestra, which included members of the New York Symphony Orchestra, NBC Television's house orchestra and Abraham "Boomie" Richman, formerly of Benny Goodman's band.^[18]

Holly in New York[link]

In June 1958, he met Maria Elena Santiago, a receptionist for Murray Deutch, an executive for New York publisher Peer-Southern Music.^[18] Holly managed to have Santiago invited to a luncheon at Howard Johnson's, thanks to Deutch's secretary, Jo Harper. He asked her to have dinner with him that night at P. J. Clarke's. Holly proposed marriage to her on their very first date. "While we were having dinner, he got up and came back with his hands behind his back. He brought out a red rose and said, 'This is for you. Would you marry me?' Within the beautiful red rose, there was a ring. I melted." Holly went to her guardian's house the next morning and Maria came running at him and jumped into his arms, which was a sign to him that it was a "yes".

They married in Lubbock on August 15, 1958, less than two months later.^[18] "I'd never had a boyfriend in my life. I'd never been on a date before. But when I saw Buddy, it was like magic. We had something special: love at first sight. It was like we were made for each other. He came into my life when I needed him, and I came into his." she told the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal on what would have been their 50th wedding anniversary.^[19] The newlyweds honeymooned in Acapulco.^[18] Maria Elena traveled on tours, doing everything from the laundry to equipment setup to ensuring the group got paid. However, many fans became aware of his marriage only after his death.^[18]

The ambitious Holly became increasingly interested in the New York music/recording/publishing scene, while his band mates wanted to go back home to Lubbock.^{[citation needed]} As a result, the group split up in late 1958. The Hollys settled in Apartment 4H of the Brevoort Apartments located at 11 Fifth Avenue in Greenwich Village. Here he recorded the series of acoustic songs, including "Crying, Waiting, Hoping" and "What to Do," known as the "Apartment Tapes," which were released after his death.^[20]

The Hollys frequented many of New York's music venues, including The Village Gate, Blue Note, Village Vanguard, and Johnny Johnson's.^{[citation needed]} Maria Elena reported Buddy was keen to learn finger-style flamenco guitar, and would often visit her aunt's home to play the piano there.^{[citation needed]} He wanted to develop collaborations between soul singers and rock 'n' roll, hoping to make an album with Ray Charles and gospel legend Mahalia Jackson. He also had ambitions to work in film, like Elvis Presley and Eddie Cochran, and registered for acting classes with Lee Strasburg's Actors' Studio, where the likes of Marlon Brando and James Dean had trained.^[18]

According to Billy Altman's liner notes to the Geffen/Universal compilation, Buddy Holly: The Definitive Collection, in addition to "True Love Ways", during the October 1958 sessions at Decca's Pythian Temple, Holly also recorded two other songs, "It Doesn't Matter Anymore" and "Raining In My Heart." The songs were firsts for Holly, not only in the use of orchestral backing players, but also the tracks were his first stereo recordings. They were also to be his last formal recording studio sessions.

Although Holly had already begun to become disillusioned with Norman Petty before meeting Maria Elena, it was through her and her aunt Provi, the head of Latin American music at Peer-Southern, that he began to fully realize what was going on with his manager, who was paying the band's royalties into his own company's account.^[18] Holly was having trouble getting his royalties from Petty, so he hired the noted lawyer Harold Orenstein at the recommendation of his friends the Everly Brothers, who had engaged Orenstein following disputes with their own manager, Wesley Rose. Yet, with the money still being withheld by Petty and with rent due, Buddy was forced to go back on the road.^[18]

Death[link]

Signpost near the Clear Lake crash site

Holly was offered a spot in the Winter Dance Party, a three-week tour across the Midwest opening on January 23, 1959, by the GAC agency,^{[citation needed]} with other notable performers such as Dion and the Belmonts, Ritchie Valens, and J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson. He assembled a backing band consisting of Tommy Allsup (guitar), Waylon Jennings (bass) and Carl Bunch (drums), and billed as The Crickets.^{[citation needed]}

Following a performance at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa, on February 2, 1959, Holly chartered a small airplane to take him to the next stop on the tour. Holly, Valens, Richardson and the pilot were killed en route to Moorhead, Minnesota, when their plane crashed soon after taking off from nearby Mason City in the early morning hours of February 3.^[21] Bandmate Waylon Jennings had given up his seat on the plane, causing Holly to jokingly tell Jennings, "I hope your ol' bus freezes up!" Jennings shot back facetiously, "Well, I hope your ol' plane crashes!" It was a statement that would haunt Jennings for decades.^[22]

Holly's funeral was held on February 7, 1959, at the Tabernacle Baptist Church in Lubbock.^[23] The service was officiated by Ben D. Johnson, who had presided at the Hollys' wedding just months earlier. The pallbearers were Jerry Allison, Joe B. Mauldin, Niki Sullivan, Bob Montgomery, Sonny Curtis and Phil Everly.^[24] Waylon Jennings was unable to attend due to his commitment to the still-touring Winter Dance Party. Holly's body was interred in the City of Lubbock Cemetery in the eastern part of the city. His headstone carries the correct spelling of his surname (Holley) and a carving of his Fender Stratocaster guitar.

Holly's pregnant wife, a widow after barely six months of marriage, miscarried soon after, ending that part of the Holly family tree. The miscarriage was reportedly due to “psychological trauma”.^[25] Because of this incident, authorities found it necessary, in the months following, to implement a policy against announcing victims’ names until after families had first been informed.^[25] María Elena Holly did not attend the funeral, and has never visited the gravesite. She later told the Avalanche-Journal:

In a way, I blame myself. I was not feeling well when he left. I was two weeks pregnant, and I wanted Buddy to stay with me, but he had scheduled that tour. It was the only time I wasn't with him. And I blame myself because I know that, if only I had gone along, Buddy never would have gotten into that airplane.^[19]

The first song to commemorate the musicians was “Three Stars” by Eddie Cochran. This song was recorded just one day after the disaster occurred.^[25] Twelve years later, in 1971, Don McLean released his single, "American Pie”, to commemorate Buddy Holly’s death and further accentuate the loss of the United States’ innocence.^[25] Don McLean’s song began the reference to the tragedy as "The Day the Music Died".

Influence[link]

Holly set the template for the standard rock and roll band: two guitars, bass, and drums, He was one of the first in the genre to write, produce, and perform his own songs.

Holly managed to bridge the racial divide that marked music in America. Along with Elvis and others, Holly made rock and roll, with its roots in rockabilly country music and blues-inspired rhythm and blues music, more popular among a broad white audience.^{[citation needed]} From listening to their recordings, one had difficulty determining if the Crickets, the name of Buddy's band, were white or black singers. Holly indeed sometimes played with black musicians Little Richard and Chuck Berry. The Crickets were only the second white rock group to tour Great Britain. Holly's essential eyeglasses encouraged other musicians, such as John Lennon, also to wear their glasses during performances.^{[citation needed]}

In his biography of rock legend Elton John, Philip Norman recounted that by his early teens, John (then known as Reg Dwight) was wearing glasses "not because he needed them, but in homage to Buddy Holly." After wearing glasses for a while, his eyes became adjusted to the lenses, and at that point he became nearsighted and really did need glasses, which would years later establish John as one of the most famous "four-eyes" in rock and roll, though Holly is widely considered to be the first.^{[citation needed]}

Contrary to popular belief, teenagers John Lennon and Paul McCartney did not attend a Holly concert, although they watched his television appearance on Sunday Night at the London Palladium;^{[citation needed]} Tony Bramwell, a school friend of McCartney and George Harrison, did. Bramwell met Holly, and freely shared his records with all three.^{[citation needed]} Ian Whitcomb said "Buddy Holly and the Crickets had the most influence on the Beatles."^[26] Lennon and McCartney later cited Holly as a primary influence.^[27] (Their bug-themed band's name, The Beatles, was chosen partly in homage to Holly's Crickets.)^[26] The Beatles did a cover version of "Words of Love" that was a close reproduction of Holly's version, released on late 1964's Beatles for Sale (in the U.S., in June 1965 on Beatles VI). During the January 1969 sessions for the Let It Be album, the Beatles played a slow impromptu version of "Mailman, Bring Me No More Blues" — although not written by Holly, it was popularized by him — with Lennon mimicking Holly's vocal style;^{[citation needed]} the recording was eventually released in the mid-1990s on Anthology 3. In addition, John Lennon recorded a cover version of "Peggy Sue" on his 1975 album Rock 'n' Roll. McCartney owns the publishing rights to Holly's song catalogue.^[28]

A 17-year-old Bob Dylan attended the January 31, 1959, show, two nights before Holly's death. Dylan referred to this in his 1998 Grammy acceptance speech for his Time out of Mind being named Album of the Year:

"And I just want to say that when I was sixteen or seventeen years old, I went to see Buddy Holly play at Duluth National Guard Armory and I was three feet away from him...and he LOOKED at me. And I just have some sort of feeling that he was — I don't know how or why — but I know he was with us all the time we were making this record in some kind of way."^[29]

Keith Richards attended one of Holly's performances, where he heard "Not Fade Away" for the first time.^{[citation needed]} The Rolling Stones had an early hit covering the song.

The launch of Bobby Vee's successful musical career resulted from Holly's death, when he was selected to replace Holly on the tour that continued after the plane crash. Holly's profound influence on Vee's singing style can be heard in such songs as "Rubber Ball" and "Run to Him."

Holly influenced many other singers during and after a career that lasted barely two years. Keith Richards once said Holly had "an influence on everybody."^[30] In an August 24, 1978, Rolling Stone interview, Bruce Springsteen told Dave Marsh, "I play Buddy Holly every night before I go on; that keeps me honest."

The Grateful Dead performed "Not Fade Away" 530 times over the course of their career, making it their seventh most-performed song.^{[citation needed]} The song also appears on eight of their official live recording releases.

Various rock and roll histories have asserted the singing group The Hollies were named in homage to Buddy Holly.^{[citation needed]} According to the band's website, although the group admired Holly (and years later produced an album covering some of his songs), their name was inspired primarily by the sprigs of holly in evidence around Christmas of 1962.^[31]

Don McLean's popular 1971 ballad "American Pie" is inspired by Holly and the day of the plane crash.^[32] The American Pie album is dedicated to Holly.

On September 7, 1994 (Holly's 58th birthday), Weezer released their single, "Buddy Holly".

Discography[link]

Buddy Holly released only three albums in his lifetime. Nonetheless, he recorded so prolifically that Coral Records was able to release brand-new albums and singles for 10 years after his death, although the technical quality was very mixed, some being studio quality and others home recordings.

Buddy Holly continued to be promoted and sold as an "active" artist, and his records had a loyal following, especially in Europe. The demand for unissued Holly material was so great that Norman Petty resorted to overdubbing whatever he could find: alternate takes of studio recordings, originally rejected masters, "Crying, Waiting, Hoping" and the other five 1959 tracks (adding new surf-guitar arrangements), and even Holly's amateur demos from 1954 (where the low-fidelity vocals are often muffled behind the new orchestrations). The last new Buddy Holly album was Giant (featuring the single "Love Is Strange"), issued in 1969. Between the 1959–60 Jack Hansen overdubs, the 1960s Norman Petty overdubs, various alternate takes, and Holly's undubbed originals, collectors can often choose from multiple versions of the same song. There are also many different versions of Holly's "Greatest Hits" as well as covers/compilation albums of Buddy's songs performed by various artists. One such album has been announced recently at an event at P.J. Clarke's in New York.^[33] Listen to Me: Buddy Holly is being produced by Peter Asher and includes contributions from Stevie Nicks, The Fray, Cobra Starship, Jeff Lynne, Train's Pat Monahan, Patrick Stump, Jackson Browne, Chris Isaak, Natalie Merchant, Imelda May, Ringo Starr, Lyle Lovett, Zooey Deschanel, Brian Wilson and more.^[34]

Film and musical depictions[link]

Holly's life story inspired a Hollywood biographical film, The Buddy Holly Story. Star Gary Busey received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Holly. The movie was widely criticized by the rock community and Holly's friends and family for its inaccuracies. This led Paul McCartney to produce and host his own documentary about Holly in 1985, titled The Real Buddy Holly Story. This video includes interviews with Keith Richards, Phil and Don Everly, Sonny Curtis, Jerry Allison, Holly's family, and McCartney himself, among others.

In 1987, Marshall Crenshaw portrayed Buddy Holly in the movie La Bamba. He is featured performing at the Surf Ballroom and boarding the doomed airplane with Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper. Crenshaw's version of "Crying, Waiting, Hoping" is featured on the La Bamba original motion picture soundtrack.

Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story, the Jukebox Musical depicting his life, is credited as being the first of its kind, spawning a breed of jukebox shows, including the likes of Mamma Mia! and We Will Rock You. Buddy – as it is abbreviated on occasion – is still running in the UK after 22 years, with a UK tour that went out in February 2011.

Holly was depicted in the Quantum Leap episode entitled "How the Tess Was Won" although his identity isn't revealed until the very end of the episode. According to this episode, Dr. Sam Beckett (Scott Bakula) influences Buddy Holly to change the lyrics from "piggy, suey" to "Peggy Sue", thus setting up Holly's future hit song.

There are also a number of acts both in the US (Johnny Rogers, John Mueller) and UK (Marc Robinson, Spencer J etc.) who specialize in bringing Holly's songs to life.

In 2010, Guy Kent portrayed a modern-day interpretation of Holly in the independent film The Day the Music Died.^[35][36] The film has yet to be theatrically released.

Lubbock[link]

The Buddy Holly Center, a small museum located in Lubbock

Holly was based in Lubbock as his career took off between 1956 and 1958. In 1980, Grant Speed sculpted a statue of Holly playing his Fender guitar. This statue is the centerpiece of Lubbock's Walk of Fame, which honors notable people who contributed to Lubbock's musical history. Other memorials to Buddy Holly include a street named in his honor and The Buddy Holly Center, which contains a museum of Holly memorabilia as well as a Fine Arts Gallery. The Center is located on Crickets Ave, one street over from Buddy Holly Ave, in what used to be the Fort Worth and Denver South Plains Railway Depot.^[37]

In 2010, Grant Speed's statue was taken down for refurbishment, and construction began on a new Walk of Fame. On May 9, 2011, the City of Lubbock held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for The Buddy and Maria Elena Holly Plaza, the new home of the statue and the Walk of Fame.^[38] The plaza is across the street from the museum.

Due to copyright restrictions, personal and professional photography of memorabilia is not allowed inside of the Holly exhibit. Visitors are, however, welcome to take pictures of objects outside the museum. These include the giant recreation of Buddy's glasses at the entrance and the Grant Speed statue across the street. His actual eyeglass frames recovered from the crash site are on display inside the museum.

Hollywood Walk of Fame[link]

On September 7, 2011 (what would have been Holly's 75th birthday), he received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame posthumously. His widow, Maria Elena Santiago, attended, as did Phil Everly, Peter Asher, Priscilla Presley and actor Gary Busey, who played Holly in The Buddy Holly Story.^[39]

References[link]

Further reading[link]

External links[link]

	Book: Buddy Holly
Wikipedia books are collections of articles that can be downloaded or ordered in print.

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Buddy Holly

• Buddy Holly news archives at the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
• Buddy Holly And The Crickets.com
• Buddy Holly Lives.info
• Buddy Holly at the Internet Movie Database
• Buddy Holly discography at MusicBrainz
• Listen to Me: Buddy Holly - Songmasters
• peermusic presents Maria Elena: My Life with Buddy
• Buddy Holly - sessions and cover songs
• Telegraph article on the last songs written by Buddy Holly
• 'The Day the Music Died' at The Death of Rock: The Archive
• Buddy Holly is Alive and Well On Ganymede
• The Texas Experience - John Connally Presents Buddy Holly, from the Texas Archive of the Moving Image

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (May 2010)

Paul Elstak
Background information
Birth name	Paul Roger Elstak
Also known as	DJ Paul Elstak
Born	(1966-01-14) 14 January 1966 (age 46)
Origin	The Hague, South Holland, Netherlands
Genres	Hardcore/gabber Happy hardcore
Occupations	Producer, DJ
Website	http://www.djpaulelstak.nl

DJ Paul Elstak (real name: Paul Roger Elstak; born The Hague 14 January 1966) is a Dutch hardcore/gabber and happy hardcore DJ and record producer.^[1] He used to use his full name to create happy hardcore and DJ Paul for hardcore gabber, but when he started Offensive Records in 2001, he started using both names for gabber.

Biography[link]

In 1987, his career as a DJ started when he was hired as a Struppier at Rotterdam Discothèque Bluetiek-Inn. Here he played with the Dutch House music pioneer Peter Slaghuis. Around this time he also hooked up with Rob Fabrie and Richard van Naamen to form Holy Noise, with whom he released a string of releases at the Hithouse record label (owned by Slaghuis). In 1991 Holy Noise had their biggest success with their release "James Brown is Still Alive". This release was a reply to the popular house record "James Brown is Dead" by L.A. Style.

In 1992 Elstak created his own record label, Rotterdam Records (under the flag of Mid-Town records) to release hardcore and Rotterdam Tekno. The first release on this label was a Holy Noise release under the guise of De Euromasters, releasing Amsterdam Waar Lech Dat Dan? (Translated; Amsterdam where is that?). This record was an implicit complaint about the Dutch media paying most attention to Amsterdam and not to Rotterdam. In 1995 he released the first DJ Paul Elstak single, "Life Is Like a Dance". After this record, a few commercial releases followed. "Rainbow in the Sky" was the most successful of these. Several of his singles reached the Dutch Top 40 in the mid-1990s.^[2] After two years, Elstak decided to leave the commercial dance scene and devote his time releasing gabber. In 2001 he left Mid-Town and Rotterdam Records to start a new record label at Rige Entertainment, called Offensive Records. To this day Paul still releases hardcore on this imprint in his own typical style.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Discogs page

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. It may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Tagged since January 2011. It may be confusing or unclear to readers. Tagged since January 2011.

DJ Paul
DJ Paul (back) performing with Three 6 Mafia bandmate Juicy J.
Background information
Birth name	Paul Beauregard
Born	1977 (age 34–35)
Origin	Memphis, Tennessee
Genres	Hip hop
Occupations	Rapper, record producer
Labels	Columbia/Sony Music (2003-Present) Loud (2000-2003) Relativity (1997-2000) Prophet (1995-1997)
Associated acts	Three 6 Mafia, Project Pat, Juicy J, Lil Wyte, Lord Infamous, Young Buck

Paul Beauregard, better known by his stage name DJ Paul, is an American rapper and record producer from Memphis, Tennessee.^[1] He is one half of the Memphis-based rap group Three 6 Mafia. He is also the half-brother of former Three 6 Mafia member Lord Infamous. He won an Academy Award for Best Original Song for "It's Hard out Here for a Pimp". DJ Paul founded Scale-A-Ton Entertainment in 2009.

Rap career[link]

DJ Paul (Paul Beauregard) began his career as a DJ, producer, and rapper in the early 90's. He was one-half of the duo The Serial Killaz, his older half-brother Lord Infamous (Ricky Dunigan) was the other half. They released self-recorded tapes in their neighborhood, school, and local shops. "Portrait Of A Serial Killa" was their first tape, released in 1992. Also DJ Paul released numerous solo mixtapes (ex: c "Volume 12 (Pts. 1 and 2)", "Volume 15: For You Niggaz Wit' Anna", and "Volume 16: 4 Da Summa of '94").

DJ Paul rose to prominence as one of the best DJ-producers on the south side of Memphis, and met up with DJ/artist/producer Juicy J (Jordan Houston), also garnering buzz on the North side of Memphis. They noticed they had a lot of similar interests eventually merging their sound and crew members to form the super-group The Backyard Posse (later known as Triple Six Mafia). DJ Paul and Juicy J soon began producing dark, eerie tracks driven by bass-heavy beats and haunting sounds, and invited numerous Backyard Posse members to rap over the beats with them. They released the resulting tracks locally as Triple Six Mafia; years later these recordings would resurface as re-releases.

In 1994, Triple Six Mafia released the underground album "Smoked Out Loced Out". The album was laden with questionable content, such as violence, heavy drug use, and sexually explicit lyrics. Triple Six Mafia received a great response from listeners of this tape. In 1995, the loose collective changed its name to Three 6 Mafia and self-released its debut album, Mystic Stylez. The album became an underground success, and Three 6 Mafia, in turn, signed a distribution deal with Relativity for its Hypnotized Minds imprint. Throughout the late '90s, Juicy J and DJ Paul produced numerous albums a year for Hypnotize Minds and capitalized on the lucrative distribution deal. By the end of the decade, the two producers were at the helm of an empire, having extended their brand to alarming lengths, culminating with their commercial breakthrough album, When the Smoke Clears, which debuted at number six on Billboard's album chart. He became a great inspiration for people in the rap community.

Together with production partner Juicy J, DJ Paul played an important role in the South's rise to prominence within the once East- and West Coast-dominated rap industry. Behind the duo's leadership, Three 6 Mafia rose from an underground phenomenon in Memphis to a nationally recognized rap empire, spinning off numerous solo albums for the collective's many members in the mid to late '90s. DJ Paul raps as a member of Three 6 Mafia and contributes rhymes to most of the albums he produces for such artists as Project Pat, Gangsta Boo, La Chat, and Tear Da Club Up Thugs. Moreover, DJ Paul ventured into film-making with Choices, a straight-to-video film starring most of the Three 6 Mafia collective. He was also the winner of VH1's Famous Food out of 7 other celebrities in 2011.

Discography[link]

• 2002 Underground Volume 16: For Da Summa
• 2009: Scale-A-Ton^[2]
• 2012: A Person Of Interest (EP)

Mixtapes[link]

• 2009: The Weigh In ^{hosted by DJ Scream}
• 2010: Too Kill Again ^{hosted by DJ Scream & DJ Whoo Kid}
• 2011: Pray For Forgiveness (with Ya Boy and Lil Lody) ^{hosted by DJ Scream}
• 2012: For I've Sinned ^{hosted by DJ Scream}

Music Videography[link]

• U Don't Want It w/ Lord Infamous
• She Wanna Get High w/ Lord Infamous
• Wanta Be Like You
• Fuckboy/Im Drunk (Remix) w/ Lil Wyte
• Hi Way (I'm Gone) w/ Montana Trax
• Gimme Yayo w/ Miscellaneous
• Buy My Old Shit
• Lose It w/ Lil Wyte
• Ima Show My... w/ Mac Butta & Reno
• I'm Lookin For It w/ Lion Heart & Partee
• Stick'm Up w/ Drumma Boy & DJ Zirk
• Get Rowdy w/ Drumma Boy & Young Buck
• Hard Shit w/ Travis Barker
• Buck Nah w/ Ya Boy
• Dead Wrong w/ Ya Boy
• Me Dats Who w/ Ya Boy
• Mad At Me w/ Young Buck & Charlie P
• Get So Violent (Dub-Step Remix)
• Cocky
• Smokin & Fuckin

See also[link]

• Three 6 Mafia
• Hypnotize Minds

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• DJ Paul's channel on YouTube

Henry Rollins
Rollins performing in 2006
Born	Henry Lawrence Garfield (1961-02-13) February 13, 1961 (age 51) Washington, D.C., U.S.
Nationality	American
Occupation	Spoken word artist
Years active	1980–present
Known for	Musician, Spoken word artist
Website
21361.com

Henry Rollins (born 13 February 1961) is an American spoken word artist, writer, journalist, publisher, actor, comedian, radio DJ, activist and formerly singer-songwriter.

After performing for the short-lived Washington D.C.-based band State of Alert in 1980, Rollins fronted the California hardcore punk band Black Flag from August 1981 until mid-1986. Following the band's breakup, Rollins established the record label and publishing company 2.13.61 to release his spoken word albums, as well as forming the Rollins Band, which toured with a number of lineups from 1987 until 2003, and during 2006.

Since Black Flag disbanded, Rollins has hosted numerous radio shows, such as Harmony in My Head on Indie 103, and television shows such as The Henry Rollins Show, MTV's 120 Minutes, and Jackass. He had a recurring dramatic role in the second season of Sons of Anarchy and has also had roles in several films. Rollins has also campaigned for various political causes in the United States, including promoting LGBT rights, World Hunger Relief, and an end to war in particular, and tours overseas with the United Service Organizations to entertain American troops.^[1]

Rollins stated in a 1998 interview with NY Rock, "I don't want a wife and I don't want kids. I'm 36 and if I met a woman of my own age and married her, I'd also be marrying her former life, her past."^[2] Rollins dated fellow KCRW-DJ Liza Richardson.^[3] Rollins has been close friends with musician Ian MacKaye since childhood.^[4]

Early life[link]

Born Henry Lawrence Garfield in Washington, D.C., the only child of Iris, a federal employee in the health and education sectors, and Paul J. Garfield, from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, who was a World War II veteran and Economist with a "Ph.D. in economics".^[5][6] When he was two years old, his parents divorced and he was raised by his mother in the affluent Glover Park neighborhood of the city.^[7][8]

As a child and teenager, Rollins suffered from depression and low self-esteem.^[9] In the fourth grade, he was diagnosed with hyperactivity and took Ritalin for several years so that he could focus during school. His mother taught him how to read before he was enrolled in kindergarten;^[10] however, due to "bad grades, bad attitude, poor conduct," he was soon enrolled at The Bullis School, then an all-male preparatory school in Potomac, Maryland.

According to Rollins, the Bullis School helped him to develop a sense of discipline and a strong work ethic.^[9] It was at Bullis that he began writing; his early literary efforts were mainly short stories about "blowing up my school and murdering all the teachers."^[10]; "it was a very rough upbringing in a lot of other ways. I accumulated a lot of rage by the time I was seventeen or eighteen." He has also mentioned that a "Ramones" concert helped shape his thoughts on music into becoming the musician he is today.

Music career[link]

State of Alert[link]

After high school, Rollins attended American University in Washington D.C. for one semester, but dropped out in December 1979.^[11] He began working minimum-wage jobs, including a job as a courier for liver samples at the National Institutes of Health.^[12] Rollins got into punk rock after he and his friend Ian MacKaye procured a copy of The Ramones's eponymous debut album; he later described it as a "revelation." From 1979 to 1980, Rollins was working as a roadie for Washington bands, including Teen Idles. When the band's singer Nathan Strejcek failed to appear for practice sessions, Rollins convinced the Teen Idles to let him sing. Word of Rollins's ability spread around the punk rock scene in Washington; Bad Brains singer H.R. would sometimes get Rollins on stage to sing with him.^[13]

In 1980, the Washington punk band The Extorts lost their frontman Lyle Preslar to Minor Threat. Rollins joined the rest of the band to form State of Alert, and became its frontman and vocalist. He put words to the band's five songs and wrote several more. S.O.A. recorded their sole EP, No Policy, and released it in 1981 on MacKaye's Dischord Records.^[14] S.O.A. disbanded after a total of a dozen concerts and one EP. Rollins had enjoyed being the band's frontman, and had earned a reputation for fighting in shows. He later said: "I was like nineteen and a young man all full of steam [...] Loved to get in the dust-ups." By this time, Rollins had become the manager of the Georgetown Häagen-Dazs ice cream store; his steady employment had helped to finance the S.O.A. EP.^[15]

Black Flag[link]

In 1980, a friend gave Rollins and MacKaye a copy of Black Flag's Nervous Breakdown EP. Rollins soon became a fan of the band, exchanging letters with bassist Chuck Dukowski and later inviting the band to stay in his parents' home when Black Flag toured the East Coast in December 1980.^[16] When Black Flag returned to the East Coast in 1981, Rollins attended as many of their concerts as he could. At an impromptu show in a New York bar, Black Flag's vocalist Dez Cadena allowed Rollins to sing "Clocked In", as Rollins had a five-hour drive back to Washington, D.C., to return to work after the performance.^[17]

Unbeknownst to Rollins, Cadena wanted to switch to guitar, and the band was looking for a new vocalist.^[17] The band was impressed with Rollins' singing and stage demeanor, and the next day, after a semi-formal audition at Tu Casa Studio in NYC, they asked him to become their permanent vocalist. Despite some doubts, he accepted, in part because of MacKaye's encouragement. His high level of energy and intense personality suited the band's style, but Rollins' diverse tastes in music were a key factor in his being selected as singer; Black Flag's founder Greg Ginn was growing restless creatively and wanted a singer who was willing to move beyond simple, three-chord punk.^[18]

After joining Black Flag in 1981, Rollins quit his job at Häagen-Dazs, sold his car, and moved to Los Angeles, California. Upon arriving in Los Angeles, Rollins got the Black Flag logo tattooed on his left biceps^[12] and changed his surname from Garfield to Rollins, a surname he and MacKaye had used as teenagers.^[18] Rollins was in a different environment in Los Angeles; the police soon realized he was a member of Black Flag, and he was hassled as a result. Rollins later said: "That really scared me. It freaked me out that an adult would do that. [...] My little eyes were opened big time."^[19]

Before concerts, as the rest of the band tuned up, Rollins would stride about the stage dressed only in a pair of black shorts, grinding his teeth; to focus before the show, he would squeeze a pool ball.^[20] His stage persona impressed several critics; after a 1982 show in Anacortes, Washington, Sub Pop critic Calvin Johnson wrote: "Henry was incredible. Pacing back and forth, lunging, lurching, growling; it was all real, the most intense emotional experiences I have ever seen."^[21]

By 1983, Rollins' stage persona was increasingly alienating him from the rest of Black Flag. During a show in England, Rollins assaulted a member of the audience; Ginn later scolded Rollins, calling him a "macho asshole."^[22] A legal dispute with Unicorn Records held up further Black Flag releases until 1984, and Ginn was slowing the band's tempo down so that they would remain innovative. In August 1983, guitarist Dez Cadena had left the band; a stalemate lingered between Dukowski and Ginn, who wanted Dukowski to leave, before Ginn fired Dukowski outright.^[23] 1984's heavy metal music-influenced My War featured Rollins screaming and wailing throughout many of the songs; the band's members also grew their hair to confuse the band's hardcore punk audience.^[24]

Black Flag's change in musical style and appearance alienated many of their original fans, who focused their displeasure on Rollins by punching him in the mouth, stabbing him with pens, or scratching him with their nails, among other methods. He often fought back, dragging audience members on stage and assaulting them. Rollins became increasingly alienated from the audience; in his tour diary, Rollins wrote "When they spit at me, when they grab at me, they aren't hurting me. When I push out and mangle the flesh of another, it's falling so short of what I really want to do to them."^[25] During the Unicorn legal dispute, Rollins had started a weight-lifting program, and by their 1984 tours, he had become visibly well-built; journalist Michael Azerrad later commented that "his powerful physique was a metaphor for the impregnable emotional shield he was developing around himself."^[24] Rollins has since replied that "no, the training was just basically a way to push myself."^[26]

Rollins Band and solo releases[link]

Rollins performing with the Rollins Band in 1993

Before Black Flag disbanded in August 1986, Rollins had already toured as a solo spoken word artist.^[27] He released two solo records in 1987, Hot Animal Machine, a collaboration with guitarist Chris Haskett, and Drive by Shooting, recorded as "Henrietta Collins and the Wifebeating Childhaters";^[28] Rollins also released his second spoken word album, Big Ugly Mouth in the same year. Along with Haskett, Rollins soon added Andrew Weiss and Sim Cain, both former members of Ginn's side-project Gone, and called the new group Rollins Band. The band toured relentlessly,^[29] and their 1987 debut album, Life Time, was quickly followed by the outtakes and live collection Do It. The band continued to tour throughout 1988; 1989 marked the release of another Rollins Band album, Hard Volume.^[30] Another live album, Turned On, and another spoken word release, Live at McCabe's, followed in 1990.

Rollins and Weiss released Fast Food For Thought, an EP by their one-off side project Wartime in 1990. It was sonically in many ways more reminiscent of Weiss's work with Ween than the Rollins Band. The music, while heavy and driving, had a distinctly psychedelic bent, culminating in the final track, a cover of "Franklin's Tower" by The Grateful Dead. Early pressings were simply credited to "Wartime" while later releases added the phrase "featuring Henry Rollins" to the cover.

1991 saw the Rollins Band sign a distribution deal with Imago Records and appear at the Lollapalooza festival; both improved the band's presence. However, in December 1991, Rollins and his best friend Joe Cole were accosted by two armed robbers outside Rollins's home. Cole was murdered by a gunshot to the head, Rollins escaped without injury but police initially suspected him in the murder and detained him for ten hours.^[31] Although traumatized by Cole's death, as chronicled in his book Now Watch Him Die, Rollins continued to release new material; the spoken-word album Human Butt appeared in 1992 on his own record label, 2.13.61. The Rollins Band released The End of Silence, Rollins's first charting album.^[30]

The following year, Rollins released a spoken-word double album, The Boxed Life.^[32] The Rollins Band embarked upon the End of Silence tour; bassist Weiss was fired towards its end and replaced by funk and jazz bassist Melvin Gibbs. According to critic Steve Huey, 1994 was Rollins's "breakout year".^[30] The Rollins Band appeared at Woodstock 94 and released Weight, which ranked on the Billboard Top 40. Rollins released Get in the Van: On the Road with Black Flag, a double-disc set of him reading from his Black Flag tour diary of the same name; he won the Grammy for Best Spoken Word Recording as a result. Rollins was named 1994's "Man of the Year" by the American men's magazine Details and became a contributing columnist to the magazine. With the increased exposure, Rollins made several appearances on American music channels MTV and VH1 around this time, and made his Hollywood film debut in 1994 in The Chase playing a police officer.^[33]

In 1995, the Rollins Band's record label, Imago Records, declared itself bankrupt. Rollins began focusing on his spoken word career. He released Everything, a recording of a chapter of his book Eye Scream with free jazz backing, in 1996. He continued to appear in various films, including Heat, Johnny Mnemonic and Lost Highway. The Rollins Band signed to Dreamworks Records in 1997 and soon released Come in and Burn, but it did not receive as much critical acclaim as their previous material. Rollins continued to release spoken-word book readings, releasing Black Coffee Blues in the same year. In 1998, Rollins released Think Tank, his first set of non-book-related spoken material in five years.

By 1998, Rollins felt that the relationship with his backing band had run its course, and the line-up disbanded. He had produced a Los Angeles hard rock band called Mother Superior, and invited them to form a new incarnation of the Rollins Band. Their first album, Get Some Go Again, was released two years later. The Rollins Band released several more albums, including 2001's Nice and 2003's Rise Above: 24 Black Flag Songs to Benefit the West Memphis Three. After 2003, the band became inactive as Rollins focused on radio and television work. During a 2006 appearance on Tom Green Live!, Rollins stated that he "may never do music again"^[34] a feeling which he reiterated in 2011 when talking to Trebuchet magazine.^[35] In an interview with Culture Brats, Henry admitted he had sworn off music for good - "... and I must say that I miss it every day. I just don't know honestly what I could do with it that's different." ^[36]

Musical style[link]

As a vocalist, Rollins has adopted a number of styles through the years. Rollins was initially noted in the Washington, D.C. hardcore scene for what journalist Michael Azerrad described as a "compelling, raspy howl".^[13] With State of Alert, Rollins "spat out the lyrics like a bellicose auctioneer".^[15] He adopted a similar style after joining Black Flag in 1981. By their album Damaged however, Black Flag began to incorporate a swing beat into their style; Rollins then abandoned his S.O.A. "bark" and adopted the band's swing.^[37] Rollins later explained: "What I was doing kind of matched the vibe of the music. The music was intense and, well, I was as intense as you needed."^[38]

In both incarnations of the Rollins Band, Rollins combined spoken word with his traditional vocal style in songs such as "Liar" (the song begins with a one minute spoken diatribe by Rollins), as well as barking his way through songs (such as "Tearing" and "Starve") and employing the loud-quiet dynamic. Rolling Stone's Anthony DeCurtis names Rollins a "screeching hate machine" and his "hallmark" as "the sheets-of-sound assault".^[39]

With the Rollins Band, his lyrics focused "almost exclusively on issues relating to personal integrity," according to critic Geoffrey Welchman.^[40]

As producer[link]

In the 1980s, Henry Rollins produced an album of acoustic songs for the convicted murderer Charles Manson titled Completion. The record was supposed to be released by SST Records, but the project was later canceled due to the label receiving death threats for working with Manson. Only five test presses of Completion were pressed, two of which remain in Rollins' possession.^[41]

Media work[link]

Television[link]

As Rollins rose to prominence with the Rollins Band, he began to present and appear on television. These included Alternative Nation and MTV Sports in 1993 and 1994 respectively. 1995 saw Rollins appear on an episode of Unsolved Mysteries that explored the murder of his best friend Joe Cole^[42] and present State of the Union Undressed on Comedy Central. Rollins began to present and narrate VH1 Legends in 1996.^[43] Rollins, busy with the Rollins Band, did not present more programs until 2001, but made appearances on a number of other television shows, including Welcome to Paradox in 1998 in the episode "All Our Sins Forgotten", as a therapist that develops a device that can erase the bad memories of his patients. Rollins also voiced Mad Stan in Batman Beyond in 1999 and 2000.^[44][45] He also did the voice in Apple's 1999 G4 Cube Ad with Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze" playing as the theme song.

Rollins was a host of film review programme Henry's Film Corner on the Independent Film Channel, before presenting the weekly The Henry Rollins Show on the channel. The Henry Rollins Show is now being shown weekly on Film24 along with Henry Rollins Uncut. The show also lead to a promotional tour in Europe that led to Henry being dubbed a “bad boy goodwill ambassador” by a NY reviewer.^[46]

2002 saw Rollins guest star on an episode of the sitcom The Drew Carey Show as a man whom Oswald would find on eBay and pay to come to his house and kick his ass. He co-hosted the British television show Full Metal Challenge, in which teams built vehicles to compete in various driving and racing contests, from 2002–2003 on Channel 4 and TLC. He has made a number of cameo appearances in television series such as MTV's Jackass and an episode of Californication, where he played himself hosting a radio show.^[47] In 2006, Rollins appeared in a documentary series by VH1 and The Sundance Channel called The Drug Years.^[48]

Rollins appears in FX's Sons of Anarchy's second season, which premiered in the fall of 2009 in the United States. Rollins plays A.J. Weston, a white-supremacist gang leader and new antagonist in the show's fictional town of Charming, California, who poses a deadly threat to the Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club.^[49]

Rollins was a voice actor in the animated Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker and voiced Robotman (Cliff Steele)^[50] in two episodes of Batman: The Brave and the Bold.

Rollins was also interviewed in the National Geographic series Explorer "Born To Rage". He was interviewed regarding his possible link to the MAO gene (Warrior gene) and violent behavior.^[51]

Rollins has done voice over work for Verizon Wireless and Infiniti luxury automobiles (2011).^[52]

Radio[link]

On May 19, 2004, Rollins began hosting a weekly radio show, Harmony in My Head, on Indie 103.1 radio in Los Angeles. The show aired every Monday evening, with Rollins playing music ranging from early rock and jump blues to hard rock, blues rock, folk rock, punk rock, heavy metal and rockabilly, and touching on hip hop, jazz, world music, reggae, classical music and more. Harmony In My Head often emphasizes B-sides, live bootlegs and other rarities, and nearly every episode has featured a song either by the Beastie Boys or British group The Fall.

Rollins put the show on a short hiatus to undertake a spoken-word tour in early 2005. Rollins posted playlists and commentary on-line; these lists were expanded with more information and published in book form as Fanatic! through 2.13.61 in November 2005. In late 2005, Rollins announced the show's return and began the first episode by playing the show's namesake Buzzcocks song. As of 2008, the show continues each week despite Rollins's constant touring with new pre-recorded shows between live broadcasts. In 2009 Indie 103.1 went off the air, although it continues to broadcast over the Internet.

In 2007 Rollins published Fanatic! Vol. 2 through 2.13.61. Fanatic! Vol. 3 was released in the fall of 2008.

On February 18, 2009, KCRW announced that Rollins would be hosting a live show on Saturday nights starting March 7, 2009.^[53]

In 2011 Rollins was interviewed on Episode 121 of American Public Media's podcast, "The Dinner Party Download", posted on November 3, 2011.

Film[link]

Rollins began his film career appearing in several independent films featuring the band Black Flag. His film debut was in 1982's The Slog Movie, about the West Coast punk scene.^[54] An appearance in 1985's Black Flag Live followed. Rollins' first film appearance without Black Flag was the short film The Right Side of My Brain with Lydia Lunch in 1985.^[55] Following the band's breakup, Rollins did not appear in any films until 1994's The Chase. Rollins appeared in the 2007 direct-to-DVD sequel to Wrong Turn (2003), Wrong Turn 2: Dead End as a retired Marine Corps officer who hosts his own show which tests the contestants' will to survive. Rollins has also appeared in Punk: Attitude, a documentary on the punk scene, and in American Hardcore (2006).

Some feature length movies Henry Rollins has appeared in include:

• Kiss Napoleon Goodbye (1990), with Lydia Lunch and Don Bajema.
• The Chase (1994), with Charlie Sheen.
• Johnny Mnemonic (1995), with Keanu Reeves, Ice T and Dolph Lundgren.
• Heat (1995), with Al Pacino, Robert De Niro and Val Kilmer.
• Lost Highway (1997), with Bill Pullman and Patricia Arquette. Directed by David Lynch.
• Jack Frost (1998), with Michael Keaton.
• Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (2000), with Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill
• Morgan's Ferry (2001), with Billy Zane and Kelly McGillis.
• Dogtown and Z-Boys (2001 documentary)
• Scenes of the Crime (2001), with Jeff Bridges.
• The New Guy (2002), with Tommy Lee and DJ Qualls.
• Jackass The Movie (2002) with Johnny Knoxville and Bam Margera.
• Jackass Number Two (2006) with Preston Lacy, Steve-O, and Chris Pontius.
• Bad Boys 2 (2003), with Will Smith and Martin Lawrence.
• Feast (2005), with Balthazar Getty and Navi Rawat.
• The Alibi (2006)
• Wrong Turn 2: Dead End (2007)
• The Devil's Tomb (2009)
• H for Hunger (2009 documentary)
• William Shatner's Gonzo Ballet (2009 documentary)
• Green Lantern: Emerald Knights (2011) as Kilowog

Books and Audiobooks[link]

Rollins has written a series of books based on his travel journals referred to as the Black Coffee Blues trilogy. They include the namesake book, Black Coffee Blues, Do I Come Here Often?, The First Five and Smile, You're Traveling. Others include See a Grown Man Cry, Now Watch Him Die, Get in the Van, Eye Scream, Broken Summers, Roomanitarian, and Solipsist.

For the audiobook version of the 2006 novel World War Z Rollins voiced the character of T. Sean Collins, a mercenary hired to protect celebrities during a mass panic caused by an onslaught of the undead. Rollins' other audiobook recordings include 3:10 to Yuma and his own autobiographical book Get in the Van, for which he won a Grammy Award.

Online Journalism[link]

In September 2008 Rollins began contributing to the "Politics & Power" blog at the online version of Vanity Fair magazine.^[56] Since March 2009 his posts have appeared under their own sub-title, Straight Talk Espresso.^[57] His posts consistently direct harsh criticism at conservative politicians and pundits, although he does occasionally target the left wing as well. In August 2010 he began writing a music column for the LA Weekly, an alternative newspaper in Los Angeles.^[58]

Spoken Word[link]

Rollins also has toured doing spoken word performances which range from stand up comedy to more introspective commentaries on his childhood, such as the death of his friend, Joe Cole. He also speaks about experiences he's had with eccentric people. Rollins' spoken word style varies greatly, ranging from intense commentaries on society to playful, sometimes vulgar, anecdotes.

Campaigning and activism[link]

Rollins signing an autograph while on a United Service Organizations tour in Iraq in 2006.

Rollins has become an outspoken human rights activist, most vocally for gay rights. Rollins frequently speaks out on social justice on his spoken word tours and promotes equality, regardless of sexuality.^[59] He was the host of the WedRock benefit concert, which raised money for a pro-gay-marriage organization.

During the 2003 Iraq War, he started touring with the United Service Organizations to entertain troops overseas while remaining against the war, leading him to once cause a stir at a base in Kyrgyzstan when he told the crowd: "Your commander would never lie to you. That's the vice president's job."^[60] Rollins believes it is important that he performs to the troops so that they have multiple points of contact with the rest of the world, stating that, "they can get really cut loose from planet earth".^[61] He has made 8 tours, including visits to bases in Kuwait, Iraq, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan (twice), Egypt, Turkey, Qatar, Honduras, Japan, Korea and the United Arab Emirates.^[62] He has also been active in the campaign to free the "West Memphis Three"—three young men believed by their supporters to have been wrongfully convicted of murder. Rollins appears with Public Enemy frontman Chuck D on the Black Flag song "Rise Above" on the benefit album Rise Above: 24 Black Flag Songs to Benefit the West Memphis Three, the first time Rollins had performed Black Flag's material since 1986.^[63]

Continuing his activism on behalf of troops and veterans, Rollins joined Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) in 2008 to launch a groundbreaking national public service advertisement campaign, CommunityofVeterans.org, which helps veterans coming home from war reintegrate into their communities. In April 2009, Rollins helped IAVA launch the second phase of the campaign which engages the friends and family of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans at SupportYourVet.org.

On December 3, 2009, Rollins wrote of his support for the victims of the Bhopal disaster in India, in an article for Vanity Fair^[64] 25 years – to the day – after the methyl isocyanate gas leak from the Union Carbide Corporation's pesticide factory exposed more than half a million local people to poisonous gas and resulted in the death of 17,000. He spent time in Bhopal with the people, to listen to their stories. In a later radio interview in February 2010^[65] Rollins summed-up his approach to activism, "This is where my anger takes me, to places like this, not into abuse but into proactive, clean movement".^[66]

Works[link]

Work with State of Alert[link]

• No Policy (1981)
• three songs on the sampler Flex Your Head (1982)

Work with Black Flag[link]

• Damaged (1981)
• My War (1984)
• Family Man (1984)
• Slip It In (1984)
• Loose Nut (1985)
• In My Head (1985)

Studio albums (Solo)[link]

• Hot Animal Machine (1987)
• Drive by Shooting (1987)

Studio albums with Rollins Band[link]

• Life Time (1987, re-release 1999)
• Do It (1987)
• Hard Volume (1989, re-release 1999)
• The End of Silence (1992, double-CD re-release 2002)
• Weight (1994)
• Come In and Burn (1997)
• Get Some Go Again (2000)
• Nice (2001)
• Rise Above: 24 Black Flag Songs to Benefit the West Memphis Three (2002)

Spoken word[link]

• Short Walk on a Long Pier (1985)
• Big Ugly Mouth (1987)
• Sweatbox (1989)
• Live at McCabe's (1990)
• Human Butt (1992)
• The Boxed Life (1993)
• Think Tank (1998)
• Eric the Pilot (1999)
• A Rollins in the Wry (2001)
• Live at the Westbeth Theater (2001)
• Talk Is Cheap: Volume 1 (2003)
• Talk Is Cheap: Volume 2 (2003)
• Talk Is Cheap: Volume 3 (2004)
• Talk Is Cheap: Volume 4 (2004)
• Provoked (2008)
• Spoken Word Guy (2010)
• Spoken Word Guy 2 (2010)
• The Long March (2012)

Spoken word documentaries[link]

• Talking from the Box (1993)
• Henry Rollins Goes to London (1995)
• You Saw Me Up There (1998)
• Up for It (2001)
• Live at Luna Park (2004)
• Shock & Awe: The Tour (2005)
• Uncut from NYC (2007)
• Uncut from Israel (2007)
• San Francisco 1990 (2007)
• Live in the Conversation Pit (2008)

Audio books[link]

• Get in the Van: On the Road with Black Flag (1994)
• Everything (1996)
• Black Coffee Blues (1997)
• Nights Behind the Tree Line (2004)

Essays[link]

• Iron and the Soul, First published in Details magazine, 1994.^{[citation needed]}
• As We See It, an editorial essay in Stereophile magazine.^[67]

Guest appearances and collaborations[link]

In 1993, Rollins appeared on the Tool album, Undertow where he and Tool front man, Maynard James Keenan, performed the vocals in the song "Bottom". Rollins appeared on the 1996 studio album Les Claypool and the Holy Mackerel Presents Highball with the Devil, narrating "Delicate Tendrils". He also appears on Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi's solo record Iommi which was released in 2000.

Rollins appeared as Vanilla Ice in the 1991 music video "Pop Goes the Weasel" by hip-hop trio 3rd Bass; and as Duke in the 2009 music video "The Ballad of G.I. Joe" on the website Funny or Die. He also appeared in the 2010 music video "Haifisch" by German industrial metal band Rammstein.

Rollins has made several voice acting performances in video games including the main character Mace Griffin in Mace Griffin: Bounty Hunter and as himself in Def Jam: Fight for NY.

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Azerrad, Michael. Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground, 1981–1991. Little Brown and Company, 2001. ISBN 0-316-78753-1

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Henry Rollins

• Official website
• Interview with Henry Rollins on PMAKid.com
• Straight Talk Espresso, Rollins's blog at VanityFair.com
• Henry Rollins at the Internet Movie Database
• IFC Site for The Henry Rollins Show
• Henry Rollins: 9 Questions with the Legendary Frontman about the Mainstream Media, So-called Class Warfare and the Political Necessities facing the 99% Movement, Dan O'Mahony, "Point Nine Nine", November 7, 2011