This is a musified version of Chapter 16 of Craze: An Insider Account of Sydney's Early Raves, Doofs & Festivals. Join the mailing list to help choose which part of the book gets the next 'chaptercast' treatment.

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From sweaty warehouse beginnings to festival main stages, this episode strolls (and occasionally stomps) from late '80s House & Techno, through the Balaeric wave and deep into the raves which ultimately birthed the thousand-armed beast that is Electronic Dance Music.

Trace the original US DJ/dance-floor feedback loop and follow those repetative beats to the UK and EU where early '90s producers took the most dancefloor friendly elements and stitched them into whole new genres. Discover a few magic tracks from around 1990–1991 where you can hear the whole thing clicking into place.

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TRACKLIST
Capella | Everybody (Hyponotic Cyber Mix)
Beastie Boys | The New Style
Sonz of a Loop Da Loop Era | Far Out
Higher State Of Consciousness | Josh Wink
St Germain | Pomnte Des Arts
Neophyte | Rotterdam Gabber
Wildstylez | Falling To Forever
Rennie Pilgrim | A Place Called Acid
Rhythm Section | Is This Real
Tsunami One | Number 43 With Steamed Rice Please
MYLO | Drop The Pressure
Steve Aoki & Laidback Luke ft. Lil John | Turbulence
Justice | Newjack
Tchaikosvky | Sugarplum Faeries
Cosmic Baby | Cosmikk Trigger 4
Jean Micehelle Jarre | Oxygene 2
Mozart | Eine Kleine Nacht Musik
Shpongle | My Head Feels Like a Frisbee
Hallucinogen | LSD
Neophyte | Rotterdam Gabber
Afrika Bambaataa & Soulsonic Force | Planet Rock
Looney Tunes | Another Place Another Time
Acen | Close Your Eyes
Lenny Dee | Forgotten Moments
Roland TR-808 | Detuned Bass Drum
Beaste Boys | Paul Revere
ABBA | Lay All Your Love On Me
Hithouse | Jack To The Sound Of The Underground
The Mover | We Have Arrived
The Mover | Frontal Sickness
Joey Beltram | Energy Flash
T99 | Anasthasia
Front 242 | No Comment
Lords Of Acid | I Sit On Acid
Praga Khan | Injected With A Poison
Modular Expansion | Hip In The House
Hi Tek 3 | Spin That Wheel
Modular Expansion Unit 1 | Tension Dream
Modular Expansion Unit 1 | Cubes
Digital Excitation | Pure Pleasure (OG Mix & Rave Mix)
Digital Excitation | Lifetime Warranty
Dance 2 Trance | We Came In Peace (1990 & 1991)
Black Box | Ride On Time
Anticappella | 2√231
Capella | Everybody (Techno House Mix)
Sugarhill Gang | Rapper's Delight
Neneh Cherry | Buffalo Stance
Nightmares on Wax | Aftermath
The Pharcyde | Passin' Me By
Nightmares on Wax | Nights Interlude
Nightmares on Wax | Les Nuits
Daft Punk | Assault
Laurent Garnier | The Man With The Red Face
Tiësto & Sneaky Sound System | I Will Be Here
Skrillex | Cinema
Urban Shakedown ft Micky Finn | Some Justice
Cleptomaniacs | All I Do
Charly Lownoise & Mental Theo | Wonderful Days
Miles Davis | So What
Metalheads | Metalheads
T Power v MK Ultra | Mutant Jazz
Roni Size, Reprazent | Brown Paper Bag
Emalkay | Mecha
Will Saul | Pause
Goldie | Inner City Life
New Atlantic | I Know
Pęku | Shoot Me
TLC | Waterfalls
Bass Modulators | Down The Rabbit Hole
Robin Thicke | Blurred Lines
Sheb Wooley | Wilhelm Scream
Prophetia | Rave Is Your Party

Head to crazethebook.com to get the paperback, e-book or audiobook. Sign up to the mailing list to help decide which part of the book gets the 'chaptercast' treatment next.

APRA LIC OL-2801

This is a musified version of Chapter 1 of Craze: An Insider Account of Sydney's Early Raves, Doofs & Festivals. Join the mailing list at crazethebook.com to help choose which part of the book gets the next 'chaptercast' treatment.

_________

By the birth of Sydney's warehouse raves in 1991, there’d been an all-night dance party scene in Sydney for decades, with a few dedicated, promotional teams, and DJs blazing the way with the “biggest dance parties in the world” by 1989.

This episode dives into Sydney’s early rave culture and how it connected with the wider global movement. From the wild, art-soaked RAT parties at the Hordern Pavilion (where Grace Jones once stormed the stage after a cash dispute and a stolen jacket) to the DIY warehouse gatherings you had to chase down on a 0055 number, the scene was already buzzing by the late ’80s.

We’ll touch on the queer and creative energy that fueled the city’s biggest dance crews, the tape-edit pioneers who brought First Wave House and Techno to local ears.

It’s also about the cultural backdrop — the way ecstasy changed the dance floor, how “repetitive beats” freaked out governments from Sydney to the UK, and why rave felt like the great democratisation of dance music. No velvet ropes, no exclusivity: if you were there, you were part of it.

Think of it as a crash course in how Sydney plugged into the global rave network — loud, messy, and impossible to ignore.

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TRACKLIST

1 | Men Without Hats | The Safety Dance
2 | Queen | Who Wants to Live Forever
3 | NJOI | Malfunction
4 | Prodigy | Jericho
5 | BBC Radiophonic Workshop | Tardis Landing Sound
6 | Frankie Knuckles | Your Love
7 | JS BACH | Toccata and Fugue in D Minor
8 | LATIN RASCALS | KISS FM MEGAMIX
9 | Humate | 3.1 (Mijk van Dijk Mix)
10 | Underworld | Underneath the Radar
11 | Prodigy | Your Love
12 | Rage Against the Machine | Killing in the Name Of
13 | Enigma | Sadness Part 1
14 | Kicks Like a Mule | The Bouncer
15 | NWA | She Swallowed It

Head to crazethebook.com to get the paperback, e-book or audiobook. Sign up to the mailing list to help decide which part of the book gets the 'chaptercast' treatment next.

APRA LIC OL-2801