The final instalment in Shane Meadows’ This is England quadrilogy is released this autumn. The last chapter in this tale of disaffected youth will be set in 1990, using the burgeoning acid house scene as its backdrop.
This is right up my street: I love gritty British drama, love acid house and regard 1990 as a particularly good vintage. It’s the year I went to my first rave (in a squat above a kebab shop), bought a NAF NAF onesie and fell hard for electronic music.
The English language, with all its wonderful idiosyncrasies, is also close to my heart. So while I’ll be making sure the wardrobe is bang-on and the soundtrack just so, I’ll be listening keenly, to check that the script is authentic (or pukka as we might have said back then).
For acid house, like most sub-cultures, had its own language; used by ravers for ravers, to ensure that parents and the long arm of the law were kept firmly in the dark about their nefarious gatherings.
Given that the scene started out as a series of illegal parties in fields, derelict warehouses (and the odd kebab shop), you can see why “cheesy quavers” had to develop their own cryptolect.
One of my favourite phrases from this time was “What’s the ku?” meaning “Where’s the party?” At one point, I remember hearing it every weekend, but I now doubt its very existence. This was before social media and Urban Dictionary, so certain slang terms were lost for ever; one of the last casualties of the oral tradition. Therefore, I’m not sure if we were talking about a ku or a coup.
DJ and producer David Dorrell, who was pivotal to the scene, believes either could work. He maintains that given the inventive use of co*ckney rhyming slang at the time, it most likely relates to the Ku Klux Klan (plan): “Oi oi what’s the ku?”; translation: “Excuse me, old chap, which junction off the M25 will we be convening on this weekend?”
I’d like to think that it relates to the (less offensive) French word coup – meaning something that happens spontaneously and outside government control, or something that is a “right result”. However, since the average “spangled” or “mashed” raver often struggled to string a sentence together in their native tongue, French might be a step too far.
While I would never condone taking class A drugs on this blog, it would be impossible to examine the lingo of the period without mentioning the impact that MDMA had on it. However many words the Inuit may have for snow, the raver probably surpassed that when referring to E. So well did this alternative vocabulary work that the Shamen were able to appear on Top of the Pops – during Drug Awareness Week no less – and rhapsodise about its effects in plain sight, by dropping rave-ese throughout their hit single Ebeneezer Goode.
The song also features co*ckney rhyming slang which, as the ultimate crypolect, was another big feature, transcending Bow bells and used by ravers around the country and in some cases, regionalised. Scousers would “neck” Gary Abletts (tablets) as a totally inappropriate tribute to the Liverpool and Everton footballer, while Chas ’n’ Davers in the south referenced the former Fulham and England star Jimmy Hill (pill).
Those north of the border had their own cant. DJ Tim Hacking, who played across Scotland at the time, remembers phrases such as “I’m off me napper” and “mud stomping to the beats” to describe the squelchy terrain of the forests where Scottish shindigs were held.
The acid house scene has had a well-documented impact on the cultural landscape. Its legacy has been attributed to everything from ending violence on the football terraces to a greater acceptance of gay culture. However, less has been written about whether any of its original vernacular has survived.
After years in the youth culture wilderness, electronic music has seen a surge in popularity in recent years. It would be interesting to know whether these neo-ravers have developed a new argot or are borrowing words and phrases from their forefathers.
Just in time for This is England ’90, and for those millennials who might not have a Danny (La Rue) what the characters are talking about, here is a glossary of terms to ensure that you too can parlez acid house.
To have it (verb): to thoroughly enjoy oneself.
To large it (verb): see above.
To go radio rental/chicken oriental: see above.
Keep it locked: don’t change the frequency on your radio – instead, listen to this crackly, barely audible pirate station for perpetuity.
One more Terry and June (tune): bravo, DJ, encore!
Oi oi saveloy – two potential meanings: how lovely to see you again, old friend/what have we here then?
Phrases you were most likely to hear:
I’ve never noticed this before, but you’re actually really beautiful.
Can I have a sip of your water?
