SONGS THAT SAVED MY LIFE #5

When i first started buying records, music was undergoing a revolution. Electronic dance music known as House had crossed the Atlantic in the mid-80's and slowly built an underground following, before infiltrating the charts in the form of hits like Steve "Silk" Hurleys' number one "Jack Your Body", M/A/R/R/S "Pump Up The Volume" and Lil' Louis' "French Kiss". Illegal raves were held in fields and abandoned warehouses up and down the country where young people would take ecstacy and dance all night in a frenzy of glowsticks, psychedelic colours, and the squelching beats of the Roland TB-303 synthesiser-sequencer. Outside the watch of the mainstream music industry, dozens of acts released 12" singles of music that most of them had recorded in their bedrooms, and the phenomenon known as Acid House took hold. The second summer of love was under way.

As someone barely into his teens, illegal all-night raving was way out of my reach. But as Radio 1 and Top Of The Pops bowed to the record buying public, some of these new Acid House/Rave acts made it into the charts and onto the nations screens and airwaves. In this bright new dawn, the best of these acts were exploring all possibilities, and a lot of innovative, diverse music was made. No two records or acts sounded the same. The Orb, Orbital, Shamen, Prodigy, Altern-8, 808 State, and many others all had their own identifiable sound and image. And contrary to the cries of "it's not proper music!" by "real" music fans, i think that some of those songs are just as valid as any by a guitar-wielding four-piece band. Yes, there have been some awful Dance tracks made by chancers with a laptop, but it takes real talent to write a memorable song, regardless of genre or instrumentation. Quite a few songs from that era have stuck with me, but by far the one i hold highest is "Infinity (1990's.....Time For The Guru), by Guru Josh. Essentially a one hit wonder, the former Paul Walden released this single just before Christmas 1989, and it entered the charts at the beginning of the new decade. I heard it on TOTP early that January, and was blown away by the mix of squelchy beats, shimmering, ethereal synth melodies, slightly sinister whispered vocals, and the spacey, slightly outof tune sax that opens the song and appears throughout. It's a song that somehow lifts my mood, with its mystical air and catchy hooks. Even my Mum liked it! It was a huge hit - No. 5 - and seemed like it was in the charts for weeks. Guru Josh released a follow up, "Whose Law (Is It Anyway?), that criticised the anti-rave Criminal Justice Bill, introduced to crack down on illegal raves in the wake of the "Teens on ecstacy" scandal, but it only made No. 26, and an album just failed to crack the Top 40. A remixed/remade version of the song with added new vocals, titled Infinity 2008, made Number 3 under the name Guru Josh Project, but it wasn't as good in my view. Sadly, Guru/Paul Walden took his own life on 28 December 2015 in Ibiza, aged just 51. For me, this song will always remain a favourite, and a classic of the time and genre.