Looking For The Balearic Beat / Following The First Rush: An Introduction

I feel I should introduce the coming week’s posts. To explain why I wrote them, why I’m posting them and apologise for their shortcomings. A few folks have heard this story before. To them, again, I apologise.

Back in 2019 I was commissioned to write a “potted” history of the “Balearic Beat”. The piece was intended to act as the text for a catalogue that would accompany an exhibition of associated artwork and memorabilia, itself part of the opening of the Potatohead complex in Bali. The one that now has the DJ Harvey-designed disco. 

The remit was only 20 odd pages, so it wouldn’t be exhaustive. More a whistle stop tour. However, since the narrative over the decades has become super over simplified, I was at pains – as far as possible – to get my facts straight. 

By the end of the year I had the thing mapped out and typed up. There were holes. There was always more detail to add, since every interview suggested someone else to talk to, but what I had was more than sufficient for the commissioned task. Then COVID-19 hit and the Potatohead launch was cancelled, and I was left holding this manuscript. Something I hasten to add I would never have written unless asked (1). 

During the pandemic I contacted and interviewed a number of new people – aiming to plug a few of the more obvious gaps. I was also trying to talk to folks who hadn’t really been interviewed before. Who hadn’t publicly told their part in the story. I then touted the pieces around to a few magazines and small publishing houses. No one was even interested in seeing them. Ibiza / Balearic apparently had been rinsed. 

There seemed no point in continuing with the project so I set about tidying up what I had and then posting it here, on Ban Ban Ton Ton. The timing has, generally, been one “chapter” every summer – when music release schedule slows down and there’s not so much new stuff to review. Three of the essays have already “published”:  

Bohemians, Beatniks and Hippies

Soundtracking Paradise

Sure Beats Workin’

Perhaps to make sense of the latest instalment you might need to go back a bit, but I’ve tried to reword this one so that it hopefully also works as a stand alone. That said, for the site I’ve had to divide it into 5 parts, since, for an online article, it was massive. 

Again, an excuse, a disclaimer, this isn’t meant to be exhaustive. I know there are things I will have missed. I am simply drawing a line under what I have on my hard drive. Please feel very free to contact me directly, or leave any interesting details / anecdotes in the comments. 

To be honest, in the past, these things have tended to pick up more hate than love – from people pointing out what I’ve got wrong, what I’ve omitted, or for simply “not being there.” The latter is something I’ve never pretended. 

It was Mark Seven who taught me that, while my epiphany took place in `88, at Nicky Holloway’s Trip, was still a “ted”. I was late to the party, but I grew up in South London in the same working class environment, and am also around the same age, as a lot of the original “Amnesiacs”. 

I do understand the Balearic Beat’s social / cultural backdrop. I know where they were coming from. It’s just that I was lucky, and landed a grant in 86 that sent me to Leeds University. 

When I returned from Uni, and fell back in with old school friends, a fair few of whom were dealing, being left-leaning, I saw the “movement” as political – as a huge two-fingered fuck off gesture to the powers that be who had consigned generations to dead end jobs or the dole. I was an instant, obsessive convert. While I missed the beginning, from `89 through to `92 I was “there”. 

I was a regular at West London hosted dos, like Flying, and Boy’s Own (when I could secure a ticket), and South London shindigs, such as those run by Fascination. I followed the DJ Tony Wilson before I became a Weatherall groupie. I even attended most of the Mancunian clubs mentioned. However, I never belonged to any clique or inner circle. I was / am always just a punter. 

While reading I would like you to also please keep in mind that while writing it was the “Balearic Beat” I was chasing. The term itself was a marketing construct, coined by Pete Tong, Paul Oakenfold and Trevor Fung, to describe the eclectic mix of music they heard during the mid to late `80s in Ibiza. On the island, the music never bore this label. Likewise, in the clubs across Europe – just like Future, Shoom, Spectrum – also inspired by epiphanies experienced at clubs such as Amnesia, the eclecticism wasn’t branded. It just was. So the term, until around the 2000s, was uniquely British. 

It was this beat that was the essays’ sole focus. I couldn’t let myself be sidelined by legendary parties and raves where the soundtrack was “house music all night long”. That’s a whole other, far, far more complicated story.*

A huge thank you to everyone who helped and contributed, either by interview or informal chat: 

Roger Beard, Paul Doherty, Greg Fenton, Chris Galloway, Adrian Gent, Richard Hampson, Damon Havelin, Sean Johnston, Jagz Kooner, Steve Lee, Liggy Locko, Lisa Loud, Justin Marr, John Matthews, Phil Mison, Justin Robertson, Darren Rock, Dr. Sally Rodgers, Mark Seven, Balearic Mike Smith, Timm Sure, Kevin Swain, Andy Thomas, Martin Wason, and my little sister, Lizzie.

If you’re interested the history covered in this coming chapter, for further reading / watching I thoroughly recommend the following references: 

Luke Bainbridge’s Acid House: The True Story

Cynthia Rose’s Design After Dark

Matt Trollope’s Centreforce

Rob Ford’s Members Only.

Boy’s Own: The Complete Fanzines 1986 – 1992, originally published by DJ History

Bill Brewster & Frank Broughton’s The Record Players

ID Magazine Issue #56, June 1988

Jo Bartlett’s Indie Through The Looking Glass blog.

Joe Roberts’ Red Bull Full Circle article.

Tabitha Denholm`s Berkshire Goes Balearic

John Godfrey’s piece on Flying for The Face.

A Short Film About Chilling

Dave Haslam’s book, Life After Dark.

Ralph Lawson’s 20:20 Vision website.

NOTES

1. I was, of course, was never paid. 

2. For example the whole never-ending who-adopted-house-first North vs South debate. My money’s on the North, since I first heard a house record in a club in Wakefield in `86. 

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25 thoughts on “Looking For The Balearic Beat / Following The First Rush: An Introduction”

  1. I was in amnesia in 1987.

    I was in KU in 1987.

    I was in Glorys in 1987.

    I was in Pacha in 1987.

    I was in es paradis in 1987.

    I was at The Cafe del Mar in 1987.

    I was in Shoom in 1987/88.

    I was in Spectrum in 1988.

    I was in Future in 1987/88.

    Not many were.

    Part of The Beckenham/South East London crew.

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  3. The very first Balearic Beat ‘do’ in London, before Shoom, Future and Spectrum was…

    Balearic Beat…Autumn of 1987, in a club called ‘Ziggys’ in Streatham.

    Trevor Fung and about 30/40 other people.

    I was there.

    🕺🏻

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      1. Note:

        If it was a reunion, then only about 12 people would have been there.

        Ibiza 87, certain people that were ‘involved’, kick started a whole new ‘wave’.

        We took that scene from Ibiza 87 and gave it a London twist. It was unique.

        In my opinion, it’s never been fully, and with the utmost respect, properly documented.

        Very very few people can say that they were there from the VERY beginning.

        Starting with Ibiza 87 right through to the London wave…I and a small amount of people were.

        🌻🕺🏻🌺

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      3. If you are in touch with Danny Rampling. Nancy Noice. Phil Mison to name 3, ask them about me, Mark Hattley. My brothers nick name was Stu Ku.

        🌻🕺🏻🌺

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      5. I understand.

        I was not aware of that.

        It’s the experience, the perspective of ‘The Players’ that, in my opinion, tells a story, each story is unique to that person.

        I wish you all the best.

        Mark.

        🌻🕺🏻🌺

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      6. Mark, again I agree. The “originals” back stories would be fascinating. Together they’d help explain how and why this thing happened. Put things in proper social / cultural context – very much like talking to Alfredo about how he escaped from Argentina`s fascist dictatorship. For me these things are far more interesting than what this is – which is basically a list of parties, clubs and records. All the best, Rob

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      10. I’m currently in South East Asia, hence the strange time for this communication, +6 hrs.

        🌻🙏🌺

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      12. Let’s not forget, Spain was being ruled by a dictator, Francisco Franco up until 1975. Jose Padilla, Cesar de Malero and Nelo know all about that, plus many many more.

        Pinochet, the Chilean dictator, was given a safe house in London by Thatcher.

        Alfredo’s story is echoed by many people. Including critical thinkers from The UK that hated Thatcher’s approach to many things.

        As I’ve said, she was bordering on dictatorship.

        We escaped.

        🌺🕺🏻🌻

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      15. A handful of the ‘originals’ ended up in Koh Phangan, Thailand in 1989…That was partly due to Ibiza 87. I was there.

        🌻🕺🏻🌺

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  4. Ouch, hope i didn’t say “ted” Rob! Was prob just trying to convey how precious people held the scene in those days and how it felt to see it change.

    With all these years of perspective i can see how truly special that time was for anyone who lived it, no matter where or when their journey began. We lived through something amazing and it left us forever changed

    Fantastic work as always friend.

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    1. Don`t worry Mark you didn`t use the dreaded T-word – I could never imagine you doing that – it was just the conclusion I came to after hearing you talk with such passion about the start of the “scene” – when there were probably only a couple of hundred people involved.

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  5. i most certainly wasn’t there!

    I did listen to two recent You Tube interviews with Ian (St) Paul which covers his life, the Balearic Acid scene, and what he did after. He seems a very entertaining character. From what you have written I think you would enjoy if you haven’t heard. I think ISP is also planning on doing his own podcast soon.

    The interview with Alfredo that Ben Turner did is also interesting where he touches on some UK djs copying his playlist. I suppose is a two way thing as he probably got more well known and got more DJ work through them.

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    1. Ian St. Paul is key, central to the whole London Balearic Beat thing – a lot of it wouldn’t have happened without him. He is covered (too briefly) in an earlier chapter: https://banbantonton.com/2024/08/21/looking-for-the-balearic-beat-sure-beats-workin/
      and he would be a great person to interview.

      I was lucky enough to interview Alfredo – who gave me the biggest insight into the original spirit of Ibiza – as a sanctuary for all sorts of people looking to escape persecution – https://banbantonton.com/2024/12/25/alfredo-fiorito-thank-you/

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  6. Also it is worth reading James Hamilton’s disco pages from late 85 to 88, they are all online in their entirety. It gives a great insight into how House entered into the consciousness of the UK, he reviews pretty much all the now House classics on the week of release.And the updates mention djs and where they were playing.

    He also reviews a lot of records that later became Balearic hits Fini Tribe, Mandy Smith etc

    There is also the interesting revelation that Stop Bajon was massive in Scottish clubs in 87.

    I guess this highlights back then pre 88 there were lots of fad and scene free UK djs who didn’t play things to be fashionable or hip, they played them because they liked them and got the floor moving. Maybe that makes them Balearic before the fact!

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    1. Thanks John, I need to check the James Hamilton stuff – House taking hold is a bit of a different – and much bigger – story – Balearic I think was always niche : ) I think Stop Bajon was a spin for a lot of non-Balearic Northern DJs – like Greg Wilson – before the Second Summer Of Love rediscovered it

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