Dan Sicko - Techno Rebels (1 Chapter - Welcome To The Machine - America Wakes Up To Techno, 1997-2010)

Techno Rebels Techno Rebels The Renegades of Electronic Funk SECOND EDITION REVISED AND UPDATED Dan Sicko WITH A FOREWORD 0 A PAINTED DETROIT, BY TURTLE MICHIGAN BILL BOOK BREWSTER © 2010 by Wayne State University Press, Detroit, Michigan 48201. rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced without formal permission. Manufactured in the United States of America. 14 13 12 11 10 5 4 3 2 1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Sicko, Dan. Techno rebels: the renegades of electronic funk / Dan Sicko; with a foreword by Bill Brewster. — 2nd ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-8143-3438-6 (pbk.: alk. paper) 1. Techno music—History and criticism. I. Title. ML3540.S53 2010 781.66—dc22 2009033759 00 Designed by Isaac Tobin Typeset by The Composing Room of Michigan, Inc. Composed in Minion Pro and Courier Contents FOREWORD PREFACE BY BILL BREWSTER vii ix 1. Welcome to the Machine AMERICA WAKES UP TO T E C H N O , 1997-2010 1 2. Party Out of Bounds T H E P R E - H I S T O R Y OF T E C H N O , 19 7 8 - 1 9 8 3 13 3. Time to Express TECHNO'S FIRST ARTISTS EMERGE, 1981-1989 41 4. Nation to Nation FINDING A HOME IN B R I T A I N ' S RAVE CULTURE, 1988-1991 65 5. Off to Battle REDEFINING THE DETROIT UNDERGROUND, 1990-1995 83 6. Applied Technology THE MYTH OF TECHNO COLLIDES WITH REALITY, 7. Beyond the Dance THE FUTURE NOTES 147 INDEX 155 SOUND OF TECHNO, 1999-? 131 1991-2001 113 Foreword History is bunk, said that old Detroit pioneer, Henry Ford, and he may well have been talking about techno rather than motor cars. Since techno left Michigan and headed out east it has been widely misunderstood while critics have merrily deracinated its origins to the point where plenty probably still believe it began in Holland when T^sto's mum gave birth to a cuteas-a-button trance superstar. Most of Detroit's musical past is well documented, from John Lee Hookers urban blues to the modern jazz of Elvin Jones and Milt Jackson; the gospel of Aretha and the Clark Sisters, the hard rock of MC5, Bob Seger and Ted Nugent and Tamla Motown's conveyor belt of soul stars. But techno? Well, of course we know it really comes from Detroit and that its pioneers were Derrick May, Juan Atkins, and Kevin Saunderson. Beyond that is a hinterland of conjecture and supposition. Devoid of any bands, swimming pool-based antics, and, crucially, lyrics, dance music has often been ill serve