Genesis'88 was a party promotion crew who threw some of the first acid house parties also known as

raves A rave (from the verb: '' to rave'') is a dance party at a warehouse, club, or other public or private venue, typically featuring performances by DJs playing electronic dance music. The style is most associated with the early 1990s dance mus ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

from 1988 to 1992. It was founded during 1988 during the UK's discovery of

acid house Acid house (also simply known as just "acid") is a subgenre of house music developed around the mid-1980s by DJs from Chicago. The style is defined primarily by the squelching sounds and basslines of the Roland TB-303 electronic bass synthesiz ...

. They were an organisation that staged acid house parties in empty industrial warehouses in London and within the

M25 motorway The M25 or London Orbital Motorway is a major road encircling most of Greater London. The motorway is one of the most important roads in the UK and one of the busiest. Margaret Thatcher opened the final section in 1986, making the M25 the lon ...

area. "Over the course of 1989, promoters such as World Dance, Genesis, Helter Skelter and Energy succeeded in setting acid house nights free of the urban core's constructions, staging ever more elaborate Orbital parties in borrowed and rented fields, the odd warehouse, or some other similarly vacant structure". At that point in time acid house parties were deemed illegal by authorities because most promoters of the period gained entrance into buildings by breaking and entering.

Overview and history

Fuelled by the drug

MDMA 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), commonly seen in Tablet (pharmacy), tablet form (ecstasy) and crystal form (molly or mandy), is a potent empathogen–entactogen with stimulant properties primarily used for Recreational dru ...

(Ecstasy),

nightclub A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gener ...

goers in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

were desperate for events that catered to their needs and went on until the early hours of the morning. Genesis’88 found empty warehouses in

and transformed them into

state-of-the-art The state of the art (sometimes cutting edge or leading edge) refers to the highest level of general development, as of a device, technique, or scientific field achieved at a particular time. However, in some contexts it can also refer to a level ...

dance arenas that consisted of professional lighting rigs, sound systems and colourful decorations. Unbeknownst to the buildings' owners the Genesis promoters would wear their best business suits and convince police riot squads that the warehouses were acquired through legitimate channels. Matthew Collin writes in ''Altered State: The Story of Ecstasy Culture and Acid House'': "From their first party in October 1988 onwards, Genesis developed a prodigious reputation for cracking open huge warehouses and holding illegal raves, week after week, from Aldgate to Hackney, Tottenham to Walthamstow". To give themselves more credit they would assume official titles such as

George Michael George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the most significant cultural icons of the MTV generation and is one of the best-selling musici ...

’s

personal manager A talent manager (also known as an artist manager, band manager or music manager) is an individual who guides the professional career of artists in the entertainment industry. The responsibility of the talent manager is to oversee the day-to-day ...

project manager A project manager is a professional in the field of project management. Project managers have the responsibility of the planning, procurement and execution of a project, in any undertaking that has a defined scope, defined start and a defined f ...

for a major

record company A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produc ...

. Genesis enjoyed a succession of events that saw attendances rise from 300 to 15,000

people A person (plural, : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of pr ...

. Victims of their own success, Genesis were targeted by the UK government and the

criminal underworld Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...

attracted by

media Media may refer to: Communication * Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass el ...

articles of huge profits (£500,000) being made by such promoters. The Genesis organisers were

kidnap In criminal law, kidnapping is the unlawful confinement of a person against their will, often including transportation/asportation. The asportation and abduction element is typically but not necessarily conducted by means of force or fear: the p ...

ped and threatened with

death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

if they didn’t comply with the

gangster A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from ''mob'' and the suffix '' -ster''. Gangs provide a level of organization and ...

s. They demanded 25% of all profits in return for 24-hour protection. This plight was shared by other promoters who had also encountered the same terror tactics.Collin, M. ' ''Altered State: The Story of Ecstasy Culture and Acid House''. p. 142. This, coupled with the government's label of "Public Enemy No.1", brought about the end of illegal acid house parties. Genesis continued arranging parties until 1992 before deciding to quit staging these events. One of the promoters Wayne Anthony, penned a book called ''Class of 88 - The True Acid House Experience'' ().

Genesis events

1988

1989

1990

1992

References

External links

Wayne Anthony's Acid House '88 Email List
{{Electronic music festival Acid house Rave Rave culture in the United Kingdom Electronic music festivals in the United Kingdom Electronic music event management companies