Phuture - Acid Tracks álbum

CONFIRMED WOW! ON acid LISTENING to THIS must have BEEN ferciuous if YOU were at this witnessing....The original title for the song 'Acid Tracks' was 'In Your Mind'. In My Mind is a seriously good name for a track... This is still hard as fuck music. And if you dont get it welllll Anyway I'm chatting shit....? So read these notes... DJ Pierre had given a tape of the track to Ron Hardy to play at the Muzic Box in Chicago it then appeared on a tape Hardy had labelled 'Acid Tracks'. So this name stuck and Phuture decided to issue it under this title. According to DJ Pierre the 'acid' in the title of the tape was a reference to LSD as this was a popular drug at the club. It was not a reference to the sound of the Roland 303.................. ;)There is mushhhhhhhroooooooooooooooooooooom in this sound space........ Phuture is a series of guys in the same mind! FUNK ;)ALL OF THESE TRACKS ARE SO SO SOOOO GOOD... Lets hope the royalties come through soon to pay ALL of these males and females who are the people who deserve the credit for making this astounding ep.... Alcohol will be your only friend................

just got remastered repress. awesome quality. can't stop listening )

Phuture Jacks is the One, without doubt. great hi hat patterns and devastating B line

Yes mate. The bassline on Phuture Jacks is sinister, raw and seriously funky. Love the pummeling drums and hi hats too. Seriously underrated in my opinion. Proper original warehouse mayhem.

Considered the earliest Acid House tune ever, "Acid Tracks" story begins with the friendship of two friends which later became part of Phuture - DJ Pierre, and Earl Spanky Smith. Very close to each other since the high school, they grew up together in a very strong musical environment, until a day when DJ Pierre got surprised by his friend Spanky when he came on his house while he was DJing and told something like "Hey, I bought a drum machine, it's time to produce!", back in 1984.Since Earl Smith had a job, he could afford the expensive equipments necessary to do it. But at the first moment, it was just a Drum Machine, which made them do drum solos – cleverly used by Pierre on his DJ sets. Earl Spanky had a natural ability with kicks, snares & hi-hats, so he quickly turned himself into an amazing drum line maker.One day, Earl Spanky bought a Roland 303 Acid Bassline, and they both tried with their friend Herbert J to manipulate those sounds, and that acid loop seemed to be already there (as a preset), but at that time they really did not know yet how to create different ones. “We didn’t know how to program. When we plugged it, it was already making that sound. It had plenty of different acid loops. As we didn’t know how to ‘create’, we worked on the only one that sounded good. No one really invented it, it was already in there. We sequenced it, and Spanky made the beats”, said Pierre, trying to remember his first steps as a producer, about 21 years ago. Boom! - "Acid Tracks" was ready.Marshall Jefferson, who was giving them advices, became a sort of an executive producer for their first tunes, and was also behind their partnership with Larry Sherman from Trax Records (the single got out on Sherman’s red label many months later, in 1987). Jefferson told them immediately to slow down the “Acid Tracks” BPMs from 125 to 120, because it was too fast for the dancefloors when it was made. “This is too fast, New York won’t accept it”, remind DJ Pierre about his friend’s advice. The big turning point that made this early Acid House tune a hit lies in the legendary Music Box cellar and its historical resident, Ron Hardy. At the same year of 1985, Spanky came to Pierre and said: “This is the place to be, you gotta go to the Music Box, the DJ there is incredible!” - They both started to be regulars on that venue, more precisely an underground parking place for about three hundred people which would change their lives forever.Ron Hardy did not know them the day these two kids, Pierre & Spanky, decided to give him a tape with the Acid Tracks demo. That was in 1985, just before the party's opening. As soon as they gave Ron the tape, the visionary DJ listened to it and said, smiling: “It’s ok... When can I get a copy?” That first night, Ron was bold enough to play “Acid Tracks” four times. The first one was immediately rejected by the public, and nobody stayed on the dancefloor. But Ron Hardy was a forward thinking mind, so he played a second time, and some people started to pay attention. The third time, it was already well accepted, and in the fourth one, the crowd went mad: the impact was so strong that it became a hit.Nobody imagined who could be the author, the regulars just thought that it was something made by Ron Hardy himself, so they named that tune “Ron Hardy’s Acid Trax”; but later, by the time it was released in 1987, the audiences discovered it was made by Pierre, Spanky and Herb J from Phuture.Also in the same record, another big hit was born. Let’s go back to 1985. Some months later after “Acid Tracks” conception, DJ Pierre started to think about another music. “About that time, I already knew how to program it”, said Pierre on an interview years later. He did some basslines, wrote some lyrics, and recorded them with his personal vocals, but Marshall Jefferson interfered, saying that the sinister lyrics with “This is cocaine speaking!” on its ouverture needed a deeper and more scary voice. Earl Spanky Smith had it, so he owned the chance to sing the legendary tune – as well as to make the beats for it. The tune was baptized “Your Only Friend”. These vocals quote mentioned the white powder influence, which reflected the reality of all those nightclubs at that time. Acid and cocaine were both largely consumed by the underground audiences since the Disco era, and they still dominated the night scene in early House era.

Hi could you tell me where you sourced this information i would love to use in an essay

An all round classic release which still holds up to this day. However, a special mention for the B1 track Phuture Jacks is so desperately needed. Vastly underrated compared to the other two, and for those who were there first time round it was a proper, underground, warehouse annihilator.

Ok, did someone ever notice the very low volume singing just before the beat of 'acid tracks' kicks in. I just discovered this today....turn up the volume, put on your headphones and pay good attention.

LOL @ 'some guy was just having a good time while recording and he was captured forever :P'

I have the Belgian release of Acid Trax, and it too has the (very muted) singing at the start & end of the track.So I don't think it's to do specifically with Trax's habit of using recycled vinyl. Besides, recycled vinyl will obviously not retain any previous recorded sound whatsoever.Was Acid Tracks recorded live to tape? That could explain it, some guy was just having a good time while recording and he was captured forever :P

yup its in other trax records eps too. probably because of the recycled vinyls. its also in armandos downfall.

Yeah, I noticed that upon purchase.It's also at the end of the track. :)

It's all about that hypnotic squelch...

Yup, a real crowd pleaser back the glory days of the Hacienda (Infamous Manchester club)

Probably . . . . The best track ever made. . . . Nothing matches, toooo deep. Bought this from Si john, (roni size reprazent) the first month release. Still amazes me.

Repress is out now

repress incoming according to hhv.de

A commonly overlooked song (...to add to the below list) that possessed a Roland TB-303 Baseline is UB40's "She Caught the Train" on Labour of Love (1983). This is actually the only song I've heard anyone use the TB-303 as the manual taught and illustrated in SONG mode... Meaning, instead of a loop, the bass was programmed throughout the song changing pitch in patterns and such. I've owned several TB-303's since 1990 and one thing is true... It was a very tedious instrument to program, especially building an entire song, in which UB40 accomplished only a year after it was introduced. Check it out:http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpI8_5tJFyQ

There are at least 3 different acid lines in this track

i think its just one, but with the accents turned on and off.

Look-up Charanjit Singh "Synthesizing: Ten Ragas to a Disco Beat" (1982) and prepare to have your mind blown.

the geezer who made this said it all really.either way this is a milestone tune.classic in every sense.

Just to clarify some things for those who came here looking for the roots of the use of the Roland TB-303, acid house, or “the acid sound” in general.Start with a listen to Charanjit Singh's "Synthesizing: Ten Ragas to a Disco Beat" LP (1982). Perhaps the earliest record to use the 303 with an acid bass line. Insane record.Next,Conventional 303 bass lines:Paul Haig “Justice” (1983)Jesse Saunders “On And On” (1984) [recorded in 1983]Some interesting approaches to the 303:Sakata Sextet “Trauma” (1982)Orange Juice “Rip It Up” (1982)Ryo Kawasaki "Lucky Lady" LP (1983)Car Crash Set “Imagination” (1983), “Breakdown” (1984)Somnambulist “Things I Was Due to Forget” (1983)Shannon “Let The Music Play” LP (1983)Xena “On The Upside” (1983)C.O.D. "Uphill (Peace of Mind)" (1984)Jimi Tunnel “U-Turn” (1984)Newcleus “Automan”, “Jam On It” (1984)Ice-T, The Glove, & Dave Storrs "Reckless" (1984)Chris “The Glove” Taylor “Itchiban Scratch” (1984)Mark Lane “Who’s Really Listening?”, “Das Nicht (Factory)" (1984)Mantronix “Bassline” (1985)Jazaq “All Systems Go” (1985)Hypnobeat “Slash! Buffalo Eats Brass” (1985)Now we’re getting a little acidic:Heaven 17 “Let Me Go” (1982)Portion Control “All Present and Correct” (1982)Aviador Dro “Destino Contra Dios” (1983)Alexander Robotnick “Problèmes D'Amour” (1983)CTI “Dancing Ghosts” (1984) [recorded in 1982]Pietro Insipido "Aerobic Tonight" (1984)Section 25 “Looking From A Hilltop" (1984)Knight Action “R-Trax” (1984)Spencer Tune “Nightmare” (1986)Crystalite “Cut By A Laser” (1986)Hypnobeat “Can God Rewind?”, “Negen” (1986)Ice-T “Squeeze The Trigger” (1987)Birth of acid house:Phuture “Acid Trax” (1987) [first played out in 1985]Sleezy D. “I’ve Lost Control” (1986)Adonis “No Way Back”, "We’re Rockin Down The House” (1986)Virgo “My Space” (1986)It was also experimented with very early on in 1982 by Blancmange and Tom Ellard of Severed Heads.There are examples of proto-acid made without the 303, but anyone claiming it was used before late in 1981 are misinformed, because that's when the box was built.Pink Floyd used an EMS VCS-3 and Synthi, neither of these really made squelchy, rubbery, or bubbly "acid" sounds on their recordings though.Queen's "Radio Ga Ga" (1984) uses a Jupiter 8.Mr. Finger's "Washing Machine" (1986) uses a Juno 6, but should be included in early acid house classics. Proof that you don't need a 303 to make "acid house". You can add No Name's "Jason's Revenge" (1986) to that list.All of Brian Dougan's Humanoid acid tracks from "Humanoid Sessions 84-88" were made in 1988. The tracks made in 1984, 1986, and 1987 were experimental music made under his Zeebox alias without a drop of acid in them. Just check the credits.I'd say some Giorgio Moroder produced stuff like Donna Summer's "Our Love" (1979), Nik Pascal Raicevic's tripped out electronics (check out "Light Stimulus" from his 1973 Magnetic Web LP ), or Tangerine Dream's synth manipulations from their live performances in the 70's may qualify as proto-acid.

Have you listened to Kristallo by Kraftwerk? Came out in 73 and I would qualify it as proto-acid too.

Amazing information. Thank you.

check out Alexander Robotnick - Krypta 1982 - Base dance.

Much more insight than moogacid's comment

Regardless of who used the TB-303 first in a song, Acid Trax is sure the first one in the house and techno scene. With its release it also influenced the Belgian new beat scene, by that they started to create a slow tempo acid version of new beat tracks, and by doing that, acid became popular in Belgian clubs. And it in the end, acid became a genre on its own, with even a harder version called acidcore.Even when I listen to the song Radio Gaga from Queen from 1984, it sounds like it has a TB-303 in it, or it is something that sounds familiar.

check out 'Queens 'The Game' LP. That's when they started using synths with some Euro producer. Good stuff. Can't find my Trax Phuture 12 anywhere on discogs....

Radio gaga was the first noted use of a tb303, that little arp you hear is a filter ror with no resocenence (excuse spelling)

On its release in 1987 House Music had been around for a couple of years and had found a formula. Nothing much was changing until this monster landed on the scene.I first heard this played on the radio one Saturday night at 2:30 am, quickly followed by the B-Side track 'Your Only Friend'. To say I was blown away would be an understatement. Okay, we may have heard this sound before, and those 303 lines may not have been entirely new, but in this context, with that much prominence, it was ground shaking. There had been a couple of House tracks before with acid lines, at least one that was just as intense, Sleezy D's 'I've Lost Control', but this had been largely missed outside of Chicago. This track was also much more finely tuned. I mean it was raw as hell but it was well programmed and melodic in someways. Relentless but never repelling. The acid sound, so unfamiliar then, was used to full effect. Repetative and hypnotising.Then there was the B-Side track 'Your Only Friend'. Actually an anti drug song but it was never accepted as so. This followed a more traditional house pattern with the deepest of bass lines and a vocal from the depths of a bad nightmare.The other B-Side track 'Phuture Jacks' was also in a class of it's own but somehow failed a little in comparison to the two other tracks on this release. A well composed, slightly less intense track with a little more jump to it and if it had been released on it's own 12" I'm sure it would have been just as big. This 12" release changed my life in some way. It is one of the only releases I can still remember hearing for the first time, and then eagerly hunting down the following day. Twenty years has passed since then and I can still feel the thrill every time I play it. It is without doubt a milestone in Electronic music history.

Considered the earliest Acid House tune ever, "Acid Tracks" story begins with the friendship of two friends which later were behind Phuture - DJ Pierre and Earl Spanky Smith. Very close to each other since the high school, they grew up together in a very strong musical environment, until a day when DJ Pierre got surprised by his friend Spanky when he came on his house while he was DJing and told something like "Hey, I bought a drum machine, it's time to produce!", back in 1984. Since Earl Smith had a job, he could afford the expensive equipments necessary to do it. But at the first moment, it was just a Drum Machine, which made them do drum solos – cleverly used by Pierre on his DJ sets. Earl Spanky had a natural hability with kicks, snares & hi-hats, so he quickly turned himself into an amazing drum line maker. One day, Earl Spanky bought a Roland 303 acid bassline, and they both tried with their friend Herbert J to manipulate those sounds, and that acid loop seemed to be already there, but at that time they really did not know yet how to create different ones. “We didn’t know how to program. When we plugged it, it was already making that sound. It had plenty of different acid loops. As we didn’t know how to ‘create’, we worked on the only one that sounded good. No one really invented it, it was already in there. We sequenced it, and Spanky made the beats”, said Pierre, trying to remember his first steps as a producer, about 21 years ago. Boof, the "Acid Tracks" was ready. Marshall Jefferson, who was giving counsels to them, became a sort of an executive producer for their first tunes, and was also behind their partnership with Larry Sherman from Trax Records (the single got out on Sherman’s red label many months later, in 1987). Jefferson told them immediately to slow down the “Acid Tracks” BPMs from 125 to 120, because it was too fast for the dancefloors when it was made. “This is too fast, New York won’t accept it”, remind DJ Pierre about his friend’s advice. The big difference that made this early acid house tune a hit probably lies on the combination between the legendary Music Box cellar and its historical resident Ron Hardy. At the same year of 1985, Spanky came to Pierre and said: “This is the place to be, you gotta go to the Music Box, the DJ there is incredible”! They both started to be regulars on that venue, more precisely an underground parking place for about three hundred people which would change their lives forever. Ron Hardy did not know them the day these two kids (Pierre & Spanky) decided to give him a tape with the Acid Tracks demo. That was still in 1985, just before the Music Box opened. As soon as they gave Ron the tape, the DJ listened to it and said, smiling: “It’s ok... When can I get a copy?” That first night, Ron was bold enough to play “Acid Tracks” four times. The first one was immediately rejected by the public, and nobody stayed on the dancefloor. But Ron Hardy was a visionnary, and so he played a second time, and some people started to pay attention. The third time, it was already well accepted, and on the fourth one, the crowd went mad; the impact was so strong that it became a hit. As nobody imagined who could be the author, the regulars thought that it was something made by Ron Hardy himself, so they named that tune “Ron Hardy’s Acid Trax”, but later, by the time it was released in 1987, the audiences discovered it was made by Pierre, Spanky and Herb J from Phuture. Let’s go back to 1985. Some months later of “Acid Tracks” conception, DJ Pierre started to think about another music. “About that time, I already knew how to program it”, said Pierre on an interview years later. He did some basslines, wrote some lyrics, and recorded them with his personal vocals, but Marshall Jefferson interfered, saying that the sinister lyrics with “This is cocaine speaking!” on its ouverture needed a deeper and more scary voice. Earl Spanky Smith had it, so he owned the chance to sing the legendary tune – as well as to make the beats for it. The tune was baptised “Your Only Friend”. With a quote that sounded like mentionning the white powder, “Your Only Friend” was like reflecting the reality of all those nightclubs at that time. Acid and cocaine were both largely consumed by the underground audiences since the Disco era, and they certainly remained consumed by them since the early House scene.

Fantastic milestone record that coined the name 'acid'. It's such a shame that all the original Trax records were pressed on re-cycled vinyl(!) and that often had lumps & bits of paper in them. The artists were all payed a flat fee ($25?) and got no royalties :(

This kind of sound were used way before : even in some late 70's Pink Floyd records !!! Let's just say that the powerfull way to use it as the central sound and the denomination "acid" clearly came from this record. Another point is that this record has been made without synchronizer, and as it is quite long .... well .... another way to be so pychedelic !!!

Like anyone that eared "Acid Traks" in 1987 I was amazed.It was so futuristic and so different of the other house music records.....Just a TB 303 synchronised with a TR 727 and a TR 707, to enter the legend.I can't get enough listening to this 12 minutes of pure madness.Thank you Pierre.

We can also add Bryan Dougans, who began to record acid tracks using a 303 in 1984. A compilation of his early tracks are available on Rephlex. I think DJ Pierre has always been a bit pretentious with this all acid thing :-) ...

Hardly the first ever record to use the tb-303 for an acid sound (DAF "Verschwende Deine Jugend" 1982, Heaven 17 "Let Me Go" 1982, Sleazy D "I've Lost Control" 1985, Section 25 "Looking From A Hilltop" 1982), but it uses it to a much more powerful effect. 12 minutes is a bit long for such a simple beat and acid line but nevertheless one of the trippiest records ever. Pyschadelic, scary stuff.

"Phuture was me and two other guys, Spanky and Herbert J. We had this Roland 303, which was a bassline machine, and we were trying to figure out how to use it. When we switched it on, that acid sound was already in it and we liked the sound of it so we decided to add some drums and make a track with it. We gave it to Ron Hardy who started playing it straight away. In fact, the first time he played it, he played it four times in one night! The first time people were like, 'what the fuck is this?' but by the fourth they loved it. Then I started to hear that Ron was playing some new thing they were calling 'Ron Hardy's Acid Trax', and everybody thought it was something he'd made himself. Eventually we found out that it was our track so we called it 'Acid Trax'. I think we may have made it as early as 1985, but Ron was playing it for a long time before it came out." DJ Pierre quote from The History Of House