Idris Elba's How Clubbing Changed the World Page #7

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life, with like lemonade wage.

Do you really like it?

Is it, is it wicked?

Course it is.

Don't go anywhere, folks,

when we get back,

club culture goes for a spin

around the M25,

picks a fight with the police,

flirts with Tony Blair,

and we go back to the night

that set the template for modern

British clubbing.

Sin.

Welcome back to our countdown of

clubbing's most significant moments.

I'm Idris Elba,

in case you were wondering.

Now, in the late '80s, as the

popularity of house music exploded,

a whole generation

wanted to dance all night long.

Unlicensed warehouse parties in city

centres were springing up everywhere

but the police would shut them down.

This new British youth movement

was reaching critical mass

and something had to give.

I think the kids just felt like,

"We need something."

And, you know, the funny thing was,

there was a feeling this was coming.

You know, it felt like a revolution.

It really, really did.

A handful of young entrepreneurial

house-heads began organising

huge illegal raves

in secret locations around the M25.

In a world before Facebook

and mobiles, getting to raves

was a bit of a mission.

Well, apparently only one person

knows where it is.

What, in the whole place?

Getting to the party

was equally as exciting

as actually being at the party.

What happened, you'd go to buy the

tickets, when you bought the ticket

you were then given phone numbers

that you'd call from call boxes.

'Thank you for calling the location

information line concerning biology.'

We had to put our 10p in

to find out where these parties were

and then get out our A-Z,

our street maps and work out

where we were going to be going

at two o'clock in the morning.

If you're going to find this party,

you've got to get on the M25,

find exit number 15 and awayyou go.

I remember,

like a scene from Close Encounters,

we just saw this light beaming

from about a mile in front of us

and we was like, "Wow, that's it."

Overnight, the M25 raves

became a matter of national concern.

Middle England was outraged

and the man in charge

of policing this new phenomenon

was former Chief Superintendent

Ken Tappenden.

When this all first started,

we were quite mystified.

We didn't know what to think

and we were bemused by it.

In these small towns,

the biggest problem they had was,

like, missing cats and dogs

and here they had 30,000 people

off their head on drugs.

My constituents were ringing up,

saying that

"There is an absolute commotion

and chaos here in the village.

"Just hundreds of cars have appeared

with thousands of people.

"They're all going to some kind of

show and, my God, we can hear it."

I cannot bear to see you leave me

I'm begging you, don't go

Begging you, begging you...

As you can see,

this is the expanse of the field

and you can see how, eventually,

there was 20,000 people

in this field and no way could

we stop that for three nights.

What they couldn't understand was

here were all these people

that had the ability to mobilise

thousands and thousands of young

people every weekend.

The government and the police were

looking for the ulterior motive.

They just didn't understand

that all it was for

was so that people could go

and take drugs in a field.

I had never seen anything like it

in my life

and neither had the MPs

when we called them out.

They could not believe

we can't do anything

and someone put in the paper

they thought they saw

the Commander dancing.

But the music was wonderful.

That M25 raves were clubbing as it

had never been seen before

and, against the backdrop

of Thatcher's Britain,

they reflected a divided

generation's desire to get together

and party as one.

This wasn't an elitist thing,

it wasn't just about London

and cool people.

This was about everyone.

Everyone could be a part of this.

A party for everyone.

Sounds like a politician's dream.

In their 1997 election campaign,

Labour presented themselves

as a young, with it alternative

to the previous Tory government.

Modern, forward looking, utterly

in tune with the times and instincts.

What we do say

is that Britain can be better.

Things can only get better...

At number 15,

it's Labour campaign anthem

Things Can Only Get Better

by D:
Ream.

A club banger that had

been around for four years.

Of course, young people

like catchy tunes

and it was no doubt very effective

as part of Labour's appeal

in the '97 election.

But was it just a handy slogan

or was Labour trying to speak to

a whole new generation

of Cool Britannia clubbers

in a new way?

Blair was the new wave, wasn't he?

He would adopt anything

and everything to make himself

look cool to those people

and it kind of worked for a while.

..Can only get better...

How much this song swung Labour's

landslide victory we'll never know

but, any way you cut it,

raving politicians?

No, mate.

While Tony Blair was moving into

10 Downing Street,

two French producers called

Daft Punk

were redefining the limits

of what dance music could be.

In the 1997 they released

their debut album Homework.

People weren't able to pull off

dance music albums before Daft Punk.

It was totally way off

what was happening at that time.

They were such big risk takers.

Like Around The World,

let's just say.

Slow and had the vocal

and everything.

It was like, "What? No.

What is that?" It was crazy.

Around the world

Around the world

Around the world

Around the world...

But it wasn't just their sound

that blew people's minds.

Dance music videos were always,

like, cheap, cheesy and, you know,

Daft Punk came, working with

the best directors, like...

They were coming with an artist

statement and that was new.

The follow-up album, Discovery,

turned the generation of kids

into urban beats on to house.

A lot of kids of my generation

with a similar background to me,

that was the album.

Because what they did is they made a

house album with hip-hop techniques.

Harder, better

faster, stronger.

Kanye West was introduced to

Daft Punk by DJ A-Trak.

That then resulted in Kanye sampling

Daft Punk on Stronger.

N-N-Now that that don't kill me

Can only make me stronger

I need you to hurry up now

Cos I can't wait much longer.

Most of the music from Homework

on till now in dance music

and, by the way, and R&B and rap now

- homage to Daft Punk.

Without a doubt.

Our work is never over

Work it harder...

They are the Led Zeppelin of

dance music, as far as I'm concerned.

Our work is never over.

Right, remember the holiday

Paul Oakenfold and Danny Rampling

took in Ibiza?

Good.

Well, here's what happened

when they got back to the UK.

In Ibiza, we found something

that no-one else did

and when you find something

no-one else does and it's fantastic,

the first thing you want to do

is share it.

Paul Oakenfold and Danny

were trying to recreate the scene

that they had found in Ibiza.

God bless them, they wanted to

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