Gilly+
Interview:
Bio:
Party organiser / DJ, 28 at the time. Listen to Gilly talk about meeting Tommy & Kreft and how he started playing records at the parties.
David F+
Interview:
Bio:
A policeman involved in the arrests and control of parties in Blackburn. Aged 40 years old at the time. Listen to David talk about his opinion on illegal parties from the point of view of a policeman carrying out the raids and arrests; and how he formed a friendship with a Blackburn raver later in their lives.
David B+
Interview:
Bio:
Raver from Accrington. 15 – 16 at the time. Listen to David talk about travelling around the North West chasing the parties.
Dameoon+
Interview:
Bio:
Raver from Blackburn. 16 at the time. Listen to Dameoon talk about buying a ticket to a party at a secret location, and the steps they took to find the party.
Mark+
Interview:
Bio:
Raver from Oswaldtwistle. 15 at the time. Listen to Mark talk about the chaos surrounding the parties, getting into venues, balaclava-ed men and being caught up in police blockades at 15 years old.
Jay+
Interview:
Bio:
DJ Jay Wearden from Manchester. 19 years old at the time. Listen to him talk about the musical evolution throughout this era and its ongoing impact on music and culture today, Dj-ing at the Hacienda, the Thunderdome & Blackburn parties, and the organisers’ honourable commitment to everyone’s right to party.
Steven & Sigi+
Interview:
Bio:
Raver from Leyland, 19 at the time. Raver from Oswaldtwistle, 18 at the time. Listen to them describe Acid House ‘the best days of their lives’ and the unity, and how they still party 30 years on.They share some anecdotes of dangerous moments getting into parties in illegal venues.
Damo 1+
Interview:
Bio:
Raver who used to travel to Blackburn parties from Harrogate. Aged 17- 18 years old during this time. The first person in the UK to receive a sentence for attending an illegal gathering. Listen to Damo talk about his own arrest and sentencing, and the changing laws that impacted the rave scene.
Charno+
Interview:
Bio:
Raver from Wigan, 20 at the time. Part of the convoys that led ravers to the secret location of the party. Listen to Charno talk about his ‘car-boot shop’ where he sold drinks, cigarette papers, A-Z maps and local papers to ravers waiting to follow the convoys at motorway service stations.
Tony+
Interview:
Bio:
Party organiser from Mill Hill, Blackburn, 24 at the time. Listen to Kreft talk about the progression of the parties from legal venues like Crackers and Sett End; through to illegal warehouses around Blackburn; the cat and mouse game with the police and the infiltration of outside gangs.
Cono+
Interview:
Bio:
Raver from Ormskirk, 19 at the time. Listen to Cono talk about accidentally stumbling into a party at Blackburn for the first time; his first experience of a rave.
Rosie & Frenchie+
Interview:
Bio:
Raver from Chorley, 22 at the time. Raver from Chorley, 23 at the time. Married in 1989 this couple are still going strong and organising music nights today. Listen to them talk about their passion for the music, and dancing without drugs.
Simon+
Interview:
Bio:
Raver from Preston, 17 at the time. A Junior soldier at the time. Listen to Simon talk about the euphoria, and still chasing the feeling the parties created back when they first started, as he continues to Dj and organise nights.
Alan+
Interview:
Bio:
Raver from Blackburn, 32 at the time. Listen to Alan talk about parties helping break down barriers between Blackburners and the racism which was common in Blackburn during the era.
Daryll+
Interview:
Bio:
Raver from Blackburn, 24 at the time. Listen to Daryl talk ‘shopping expeditions’ to Switzerland to steal sought after labels to sell on to Blackburns football casuals, and chucking GQ magazines across the football terraces.
Paul+
Interview:
Bio:
Raver from the area. 20 at the time. Listen to sound engineer Paul talk about the thumping sounds, and following the noise to find the party.
Jane+
Interview:
Bio:
Convoy Leader from Manchester and editor of rave fanzine ‘Ear to the Ground.’ Listen to Jane talk about moving to Blackburn, being watched by the police, leading the convoys and the rush of outrunning the police into the warehouse.
Neil+
Interview:
Bio:
DJ at the parties. 20 at the time. Listen to Shack talk about the social landscape across poverty, unemployment, violence and racism in Blackburn and the way raves created an outlet for young people; and the evolution of the music and DJs.
Geordie+
Interview:
Bio:
Party Organiser. Listen to him talk about the criminality of organising these events from setting up in illegal venues, finding sound systems and generators and the gangsters who tried to invade the scene.
John & Mark+
Interview:
Bio:
Party organisers, in it from the beginning. Mark, 20 at the time Listen to two party organisers talk about the long arc of the scene, how it progressed and became more organised; describing it as a ‘game changer’ and a movement that hit back against the negative sense of place the 80’s left for young Blackburners.
Tracey+
Interview:
Bio:
A raver and convoy leader. 19 at the time. Listen to her describe the inclusive environment where you could dress as you liked, be yourself and social and racial division were changed.
Tommo+
Interview:
Bio:
A raver who attended the parties. 18 at the time. Listen to Tommo chat with Joe about some of the parties around the North and how it felt to be a part of them.
Skinny+
Interview:
Bio:
DJ at legal and illegal parties.18 at the time. Listen to him talk about his first experience at the Sett End and how legitimised an aspect of the parties by going on to hire out PAs to legal venues.
Rob+
Interview:
Bio:
Raver at the time who went on to become a DJ. Listen to how a few choice words can incite a riot and land you in jail and a warehouse party with a single strobe light in a building full of asbestos can be enough to inspire a 30 year music career as a DJ.
Julie+
Interview:
Bio:
Raver from the area. 17 at the time. Listen to her talk about police searches, different parties she attended as she compares the experience to the 60’s Summer of Love.
Damo 2+
Interview:
Bio:
A raver from the area. 17 at the time. Listen to him talk about casual car theft and bad trips.
Wendy+
Interview:
Bio:
A raver from the era. 22 at the time. Listen to her reflect on a beautiful morning moment as the sun comes up and shines through the rafters of the warehouse.
Amanda+
Interview:
Bio:
Raver from Blackburn. 15 at the time. Listen to her talk about her love for urban music from Soul through to Chicago House.
Joules+
Interview:
Bio:
A sound engineer from Blackburn. 20 at the time. Listen to him talk about being held up and gun point, tactics for stopping the police from confiscating the sound systems and how a sore throat changed the course of his life.
Damien+
Interview:
Bio:
Raver from Blackburn.15 at the time. Listen to Damien talk about his experiences as a young raver and his perspective on the powerful things that can emerge unexpectedly from down-at-heel communities.
Suddi+
Interview:
Bio:
Raver and one half of Hardcore Uproar. Listen to him talk about the tracks that inspired him from Unique 3 to De-Lite and how it shaped his passion for music as he continues to DJ today.
Joe+
Interview:
Bio:
Party organiser & sound engineer from Blackburn. Listen to him talk about his role setting up huge sound systems at the warehouses and an ingenious method of smuggling out the PA under the noses of the police, at the end of the party.
Stuart+
Interview:
Bio:
A civilian photographer for the police, 24 at the time. Listen to him talk about his job following the police to document the parties around the North, the perception of the parties from the perspective of the police and being hit by projectile bricks as he entered the parties.
Adele+
Interview:
Bio:
A resident, aged 19 at the time. Listen to her talk about living close to Monroe’s and how local residents really felt about the parties.
Jackie+
Interview:
Bio:
Raver, aged 13 at the time. Listen to her talk about being one of the youngest people at the parties, getting caught by her parents and the greatest punishment of all for an 80s teenager.
Mel+
Interview:
Bio:
Raver, aged 18 at the time. Listen to her talk about a community where everybody was welcomed with open arms. Listen to Mel’s observations of the organisation of the parties and how a chaotically formed subculture gained military-like planning precision.
Klak+
Interview:
Bio:
Klak, sound engineer and poster artists for the parties. Listen to Klak talk about the DIY ingenuity of the organisers using limited equipment to create flyers, posters, sound, lighting and pirate radio stations on a shoe-string.
Gary+
Interview:
Bio:
Raver, aged 18 at the time. Listen to Gary talk about the symbiotic relationship between Blackburn and Manchester’s parties and the parties social impact on Blackburn, discussing in detail how the rave revolution settled difficulties represented by gang culture and violence. Listen to Gary reflect on the cultural impact of the party scene across the UK.
Bob+

Bob Singh Research Written in 1999