808 State

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Biography

Manchester, England (1988 – present)

808 State are an music outfit formed in 1988 in Manchester, England taking their name from the Roland TR-808 drum machine. Widely regarded as one of the pioneers of , they were formed by Graham Massey (from ex- band Biting Tongues), Martin Price and Gerald Simpson (later to record as A Guy Called Gerald).

They released their debut Newbuild in 1988. Autechre and Aphex Twin have often cited the album as being enormously influential, and the group achieved some degree of chart success in the UK in the early 1990s with releases Pacific State, Cubik and In Yer Face.

Olympic the flip side of Cübik was remixed for Channel 4’s ‘After the Pub Television’ show “The Word” (1990-95).

They were considered pioneers of the acid house sound, a staple and foundation of music. Martin Price, who owned a popular and legendary record store called Eastern Bloc and who founded the independent label Creed, joined up with producer and local musician Graham Massey. They teamed up with Gerald Simpson, who collaborated the effort. At this time, 808 State recorded the debut EP Newbuild, in 1988.

MC Tunes (real name Nicky Lockett) was a Manchester rapper, who worked with the band on the 1990 album, The North At Its Heights. The album was a moderate success, reaching #26 in the UK charts, and also saw European and Japanese release. It spawned three UK singles, The Only Rhyme That Bites (UK #10), Tunes Split The Atom (UK #18) and Primary Rhyming (UK #67). Tunes later returned in 1996 to work with on a new track, Pump, taken from their album Thermo Kings. It was due to be released as a single, but this never happened.
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