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"Everything Starts with an 'E' is a song by
E-Zee Possee featuring vocals from
MC Kinky
Caron Liza Geary (born 15 October 1963 in Paddington, London), known by various stage names, is an English female raggamuffin Deejay (Jamaican)#Toasting, toaster. She was the first white female reggae/dancehall MC.
According to Geary, her first ...
. It is considered by many to be the anthem of the
acid house movement of the late 1980s,
with the "E" in the title widely understood to refer to the drug Ecstasy (
MDMA
3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), commonly seen in tablet form (ecstasy) and crystal form (molly or mandy), is a potent empathogen–entactogen with stimulant properties primarily used for recreational purposes. The desire ...
).
The song began life as an instrumental interpretation of
Jeremy Healy
Jeremy Healy (born Jeremiah Healy, 18 January 1962) is an English DJ and singer. He is a former member of 1980s pop group Haysi Fantayzee.
Career
Healy was born in Woolwich, South London. In the 1980s, with Paul Caplin and Kate Garner, he f ...
and
Simon Rogers
Simon Rogers is an English musician, record producer and composer who has been a member of The Fall, and The Lightning Seeds.
Biography
In 1976, Rogers entered the Royal College of Music, London, later becoming an associate (ARCM) and winn ...
's idea of house music after a trip to
Ibiza which upon being presented to
Boy George
George Alan O'Dowd (born 14 June 1961), known professionally as Boy George, is an English singer, songwriter, DJ, author and mixed media artist. Best known for his soulful voice and his androgynous appearance, Boy George has been the lead singer ...
had vocals added to it by
MC Kinky
Caron Liza Geary (born 15 October 1963 in Paddington, London), known by various stage names, is an English female raggamuffin Deejay (Jamaican)#Toasting, toaster. She was the first white female reggae/dancehall MC.
According to Geary, her first ...
, George and
Eve Gallagher. This vocal version charted number 15 on the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
, and although a music video was created, it was rarely broadcast due to its controversial lyrical content.
Background
E-Zee-Possee was a group compiled by
Jeremy Healy
Jeremy Healy (born Jeremiah Healy, 18 January 1962) is an English DJ and singer. He is a former member of 1980s pop group Haysi Fantayzee.
Career
Healy was born in Woolwich, South London. In the 1980s, with Paul Caplin and Kate Garner, he f ...
of
Haysi Fantayzee
Haysi Fantayzee were a short lived British pop band of the early 1980s. Their best known songs are " John Wayne Is Big Leggy", released in 1982 and " Shiny Shiny", released in 1983.
Career
Haysi Fantayzee was an avant-garde, new wave pop pro ...
fame. It uses a different vocalist for each record owing to his experiences producing the Business Mix of
Boy George
George Alan O'Dowd (born 14 June 1961), known professionally as Boy George, is an English singer, songwriter, DJ, author and mixed media artist. Best known for his soulful voice and his androgynous appearance, Boy George has been the lead singer ...
's "Live My Life" with extra vocals with street rapper MC Cyndee.
"Everything Starts with an 'E was initially produced as an instrumental dance record with assorted samples by
Jimi Hendrix,
Lost in Space
''Lost in Space'' is an American science fiction television series, created and produced by Irwin Allen, which originally aired between 1965 and 1968 on CBS. The series was inspired by the 1812 novel ''The Swiss Family Robinson.'' The series fo ...
and from classical music.
It was written by Healy immediately after his first trip to
Ibiza, where the
acid house movement was in full swing, as Healy's and
Rogers' interpretation of
house music at the time having taken heavy inspiration from the music being played there. The title, "Everything Starts with an 'E, originated from a
Ronald McDonald
Ronald McDonald is a clown character used as the primary mascot of the McDonald's fast-food restaurant chain. He inhabits the fictional world of McDonaldland, with his friends Mayor McCheese, the Hamburglar, Grimace, Birdie the Early Bird and ...
LP which contained the line and was subsequently sampled in the song. Healy then presented it to Boy George, who suggested they use
MC Kinky
Caron Liza Geary (born 15 October 1963 in Paddington, London), known by various stage names, is an English female raggamuffin Deejay (Jamaican)#Toasting, toaster. She was the first white female reggae/dancehall MC.
According to Geary, her first ...
,
a white female
ragga
Raggamuffin music, usually abbreviated as ragga, is a subgenre of dancehall and reggae music. The instrumentals primarily consist of electronic music. Similar to hip hop, sampling often serves a prominent role in raggamuffin music.
Wayne Smi ...
muffin
toaster
A toaster is a small electric appliance that uses radiant heat to brown sliced bread into toast.
Types
Pop-up toaster
In pop-up or automatic toasters, a single vertical piece of bread is dropped into a slot on the top of the toaste ...
who had previously featured on his song
Kipsy. She then used the song to write what according to her was an anti-drug rant.
Boy George and
Eve Gallagher both provide backing vocals for the record.
It was rejected by every label George went to and eventually he opted to front the money himself,
pressing a thousand copies with the intent to get it played in the clubs. Its first play was in the Hacienda in
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
,
and after becoming a theme for many of the raves,
Virgin Records
Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), Tom Newman. It ...
surrendered and signed the band. Although
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
Radio 1 initially banned the song due to controversial lyrical content,
it was performed on the
Sky1 show ''Hits International'',
and would later chart at #15 on the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
,
remaining the flagship for George's
More Protein label
as well as an anthem for the entire
acid house movement of the late 1980s.
It later appeared on E-Zee Possee's album ''The Bone Dance'' alongside follow-up singles "
Love On Love", "
The Sun Machine" and "
Breathing Is E-Zee"
as well as on ''
Now That's What I Call Music! 17''.
After the earlier ban, the song was played on BBC stations at various times in 2010 and later.
[E.g.]
Dave Pearce, BBC Radio 6, 21 March 2010"Dave Pearce Meets Boy George", BBC Radio 6, 16 July 2011Dave Pearce, BBC Radio 2, 12 May 2012
Critical reception
In 1990, David Giles from ''
Music Week
''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future.
History
Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...
'' wrote, "Third release of a track that's been popular in clubs but has, as yet, failed to ignite the public's imagination. Not on patch on their recent
Love On Love single; it obeys the golden rules of
house too closely, right down to the chants of "
ecstacy" (drug references will of course be fervently denied). Already in the 40, though, so expect a big hit this time round." On the 1996 release, the magazine rated it three out of five.
Looking back in 2001, Simon Cantlon of
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...
gave the song a negative review, noting that the song "had not aged well" although conceded that the track "is considered a classic by some".
Promotion and release
"Everything Starts with an 'E was originally released on 31 July 1989, and peaked at number 69 on the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
, leaving the top 75 chart after only one week.
However, the single was re-released less than a year later, on 5 March 1990, and climbed to number 15 on the UK chart.
It remained in the chart for eight weeks, making it the longest chart running for the band.
A music video was made for the song after the song cracked the top 20. Despite this, the band were not allowed on
Top of the Pops
''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most o ...
to promote it, and the song was not broadcast at the time on music video channels.
It features
MC Kinky
Caron Liza Geary (born 15 October 1963 in Paddington, London), known by various stage names, is an English female raggamuffin Deejay (Jamaican)#Toasting, toaster. She was the first white female reggae/dancehall MC.
According to Geary, her first ...
rapping to the song as well as
Marc Massive and
George Long dancing alongside her.
When the song achieved mainstream success, MC Kinky didn't have a manager or an agent, and as such received many calls to her landline requesting that she perform somewhere.
These performances often took place in obscure locations off the
M25 motorway around London, at acid house raves with "hundreds of thousands" of attendees.
She recalled that she often had to curl her hair in the car and put on reflective clothing inside pub toilets, and that "when the screechy guitar on 'Everything ... ' began, the crowd would roar like a football stadium." Once she had performed, she used to start dancing inside the crowd, during which she would find herself bombarded with people claiming that she had changed their lives.
Track listing
PROCD 1
#"Everything Starts with an 'E (Edit) – 3:36
#"Everything Starts with an 'E (12" Mix) – 7:10
#"Everything Starts with an 'E (Sir Frederick Leighton Remix) – 7:49
#"Everything Starts with an 'E (Beats) – 6:47
PROT112
#"Everything Starts with an 'E (Renegade Soundwave Mix) – 5:23
#"Everything Starts with an 'E (Renegade Soundwave Dub) – 3:27
PROTR112
#"Everything Starts with an 'E (New 12" Mix) – 7:13
#"Everything Starts with an 'E (Instrumental) – 5:18
Chart positions
Release history
References
{{authority control
1989 debut singles
1990 singles
1989 songs
E-Zee Possee songs
MC Kinky songs
Songs about drugs
Songs written by Simon Rogers