THE homegrown stars of acid house reshaped British pop, turning the charts different colours by bringing the sounds of Chicago and Detroit to Britain.

A Guy Called Gerald’s iconic cry Voodoo Ray was a dancefloor anthem that defined a scene and the Manchester DJ was one of the first generation of rave hitmakers.

“When Voodoo Ray was in the charts, I was still working at McDonald's," recalled Gerald Simpson who will be spinning the platters at next week’s Beat-Herder Festival in the Ribble Valley.

“Voodoo Ray was actually meant to be an ‘anti-hit'," he said. "I was happy to just do music and listen to it myself.

“It was an accident but that’s the way to do it sometimes.

“I remember, though, I had two tracks in the charts then, (Voodoo Ray and 808 State’s Pacific State, which Simpson co-wrote) but I was still having to walk to the centre of Manchester from Longsight with a bag of equipment because I couldn’t afford to get the bus.

“But I never played the part – I refused to do Top of the Pops.”

While some house classics are fraying at the edges a quarter of a century on from the rave revolution, Voodoo Ray still sounds as thrilling and exciting as the day it was recorded at Moonraker Studios in Manchester.

It later featured on the soundtrack of the film 24 Party People, starring Steve Coogan, that tells the story of Factory Records and the early Madchester scene.

“I was really excited about the technology at the time and I was trying to get this tribal sound with Voodoo Ray,” said Gerald.

“I noticed that there was a hypnotic element to playing the vocal line forwards and backwards at the same time – it played tricks on your ear.

“I used the same idea for the bass line on Voodoo Ray, so you keep hearing all these phantom tones, things that didn’t really exist on the tape.”

Gerald remains a key figure on the electronic music underground circuit.

Fast forward since Voodoo Ray, he has released nine albums and you will see the trail of a producer who has constantly had a hand in shaping electronica’s legacy.

“I was always into whatever was opposite to pop music,” he said. “I was trying to escape it.

“Pop music was the cheesiest thing in the 1980s, absolutely horrible stuff really.

“When I was at school, I was listening to a jazz fusion band called Return to Forever at the same time as other people were listening to Agadoo.”

Gerald added: “Making music is my life - I’m constantly trying to perfect my sound at live gigs.

“I was at Glastonbury and played the Glade Stage, with six stacks of mega speakers surrounded in a hexagon shape and a gigantic bass sound.

“I was in heaven – but there’s still more to do.

“A lot of pop music is formulaic and has no real surprises.

“It can always get better which keeps me alive.”

A Guy Called Gerald plays the The Beat-Herder Festival, Dockber Farm, Sawley near Clitheroe. The festival runs from Friday, July 15 to Sunday, 17. More details from beatherder.co.uk or the ticket hotline 0844 888 9991.

[Author: Tony Dewhurst]