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Not so much a celebration of dancing, more a piece of reflective melancholy told from the position of the wallflower, a broken-hearted woman who takes vicarious pleasure in watching a 17-year-old dancer. Their first two albums, Newbuild and Quadrastate, were pioneering records, and their big crossover hit Pacific State still sounds like nothing else. Massey and Price brought in two fresh-faced DJs by the name of the Spinmasters, aka Darren Partington and Andy Barker, who also hosted a seminal radio station on Sunset Radio. The original line-up was Martin Price, Graham Massey and Gerald Simpson, but the later soon went solo as A Guy Called Gerald and made his own mark with Voodoo Ray.
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Very much done a disservice by being lumped in by some with the whole Madchester movement, 808 State, named after the Roland TR-808 drum machine, were true electronic innovators.
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