Acid Tracks
"Acid Tracks" is a 1987 acid house song by Phuture produced by Marshall Jefferson and released by Trax Records. Phuture consisted of Nathan Pierre Jones, better known as DJ Pierre, Earl Smith Jr (known as "Spanky"), and Herbert Jackson. Jones had been interested in developing dance music and became superficially interested in house music after Spanky had taken him to see DJ Ron Hardy perform in Chicago. The trio began developing tracks without finding anything that they felt was satisfying; Jones had heard a track made on the unpopular Roland TB-303 bass machine, which led the group to purchase one.
"Acid Tracks"
In 1985, the group developed a track initially known as "In Your Mind", which they gave to Ron Hardy to listen to. Hardy agreed to play it at the Muzic Box. Although the audience were not at first receptive, the song became more popular over the course of the night. "Acid Tracks" was bootlegged as "Ron Hardy's Acid Track", leading to Phuture seeking out a way to release it on vinyl. The group connected with Marshall Jefferson, then working for Trax Records, who released the popular house music song "Move Your Body". Jefferson assisted with the recording by slowing down the beats per minute and suggesting a vocal change on the B-side "Your Only Friend".
Following its release in 1987, its popularity expanded outside Chicago and it became a foundational acid house track in the United Kingdom.
Re-recording and release[edit]
Unsure how to promote the track, Phuture approached Marshall Jefferson,[7] a house music producer already known for the tracks such as "Move Your Body".[8] Jefferson was performing "Move Your Body" at the Power House in Chicago. Pierre recalled that he wrote a note stating "My name is DJ Pierre. I'm in a group called Phuture, and we did a track called "Acid Tracks", and Ron Hardy has been playing this track off a reel. Could you help us make a record?"[9] The group was in front of a stage where Marshall was performing "Move Your Body", trying to pass him the note. House producer Curtis McClain eventually took the note and passed it on to Jefferson.[5]
Jefferson had recently taken over A&R at Trax Records following Vince Lawrence's departure,[10] and agreed to mix the track, suggesting them to slow it from the original c. 130 beats per minute to about 120 bpm.[5] Although the group initially resisted, Jefferson reassured then that if a DJ wanted to play it faster, they could speed up the record.[3] Jones slowed it to 120 bpm and later claimed that Jefferson's contributions were limited to "setting levels and stuff. But as far as producing, he didn't add any new sounds to it or anything like that."[3] Marshall also suggested changes to the track "Your Only Friend", having Spanky do the vocals instead of Jones, and added a harmonizer to make his voice deeper.[3] Jefferson stated about the recording that he "sat in the studio and watched them", and that Larry Sherman of Trax did not want to put the record out unless Jefferson produced it.[6] "Acid Tracks" was released in 1987.[6][8]
The band were each paid $1500 from Trax, but were unaware of the track's popularity outside the Chicago area. Looking back, Jones says that the deal "kick-started our careers, so I never look back and complain. I state the fact that Trax is the most crooked label on the planet. But good came of it. Phuture was born, and DJ Pierre was here to stay."[11] "Acid Tracks" was followed up with the single "We Are Phuture" in 1988.[12][13]
Reception and legacy[edit]
"Acid Tracks" became a pioneering song for the acid house movement, especially in the United Kingdom[2][5] and the acid style became known for the distinctive sound created on the Roland TB-303 Bass Synthesizer.[14] Following the release of "Acid Tracks", countless similar tracks were released.[6]
The tune became popular in British clubs such as London's Shoom and The Haçienda in Manchester.[8] By 1988, the British music press were describing the emerging rave scene as driven by acid house music.[8] Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton, authors of Last Night a DJ Saved My Life, wrote that this scene had many listeners "ignorant of any distinctions", leading to acid house becoming a shorthand for any house music and techno becoming a blanket term in Britain for new electronic dance music.[14][15] Matt Black, British DJ of Coldcut, described tracks such as "Acid Tracks" and Derrick May's "Nude Photo" having "a phenomenal impact" and that "even straight away you realised that here was a new form of energy that has materialised."[16] British DJ Dave Dorrell recalled that "Acid Tracks" and Armando's "Frequency" and "Land of Confusion" were the first acid house records he got his hands on, stating that "acid house was so far out there that it was beyond anything. There were no direction signs."[17]
Later reception included author Micah Salkind saying that "Acid Tracks" became "[o]ne of Trax Records's most iconic releases",[10] while John Bush of AllMusic gave the song a four-and-a-half star rating out of five, describing it as an "incredibly raw cut [...] Still, the superb acid squelch, ripe for the picking by DJs across the world, continued to impress long after the first hundred or so "covers" and answer records flooded the dance racks."[18] Critic Garry Mulholland noted that other tracks featured an acid house sound prior to the official release of "Acid Tracks", but still included "Acid Tracks" in his book The 500 Greatest Singles Since Punk and Disco, describing it as "the longest, the deepest, the headfuckingest. It fascinated anyone who wanted more than hard disco, and of course, it gave a name to the biggest pop-culture revolution in this book."[19] In 1999, Muzik magazine included the release on their list of the most influential records of all time.[20]
Credits adapted from the singles label sticker.[21]