Introduction
The beginning of the 19th century can be characterized by the notion “speed”. This phenomenon was perceived as the background mainstream of the society. People changed their vision and perception of culture that is why their demands and interests had been completely transformed. The standards of the society underwent alterations in all spheres of its activities and as a result people needed physical drive instead of various mental trips. Unlike heroine or cocaine, ecstasy, a stimulant drug provides intense and physical delight to the people. One can characterize this emotion as a kind of trance. The introduction of this drug is closely interwoven with the development of rave culture. The characteristics of “speed” are completely combined in ecstasy and rave culture. To understand the influence of these streams on social life it is necessary to investigate their cultural shifts in the period from 80s and to 90s.
The Rave Culture Development
The emergency of rave culture could be observed at the beginning of 1980s. First rave-dancers and representatives of this stream appeared in Ecstasy clubs of Huston. In mid 1980s rave culture, being characterized as electronic dance and psychedelic music, techno and acid house, appeared to be in its peak of development. They were popular in major night clubs and different free-parties of Manchester and London. Such raves were named as Acid House Parties. It should be noted that Acid House Parties are considered to be the first rebranded parties of rave culture in 1989 in the media. It should be stressed that rave parties were similar to demonstration of football matches; they provided a certain setting fir unification of the working class with few jobs; besides it is important to note that a lot of raves attendees were die-hard fans of football.
The emergency of rave culture and its music caused many interactions within the society, to be more exact among politicians. They rejected the development of this culture fining all illegal rave parties. Nevertheless it was not an obstacle for rave blossom in many countries throughout the world (The History of Rave Music, 2006).
There is a controversial opinion as to the motherland of rave music, whether it is America or United Kingdom. Actually, it is a well known fact that the USA initiated the flame of this culture. The first features of the rave cultures took place with American Djs, like for example Frankie Knuckles with his programs disclosing disco records and drum rhythms. The first night club with such music was named The Warehouse. It was the beginning of house music. Only after wide spread of rave musical streams in the USA, the United Kingdom adopted this culture. It should be stressed that house music became very popular in the UK in gay clubs; it had been played there for about 2 years until it became popular all over the whole England. Rave culture covers a lot of musical streams characterized by speed energy and movement. Thus, in 1995 one could observe the beginning of hip-house musical stream. At this period the house music was especially popular in the USA. At the beginning of 1986 one could observe the beginning of underground musical style. The mixture of rave musical rhythms gave start to the beginning of its different creative forms such as techno and deep house. The process of music creation is considered to be very sophisticated and requires its deep understanding. They say that one should feel the music. And it was really so. Djs of 1980s tried to mix the musical noise and join it with house. It was the beginning of Acid House. This stream of rave culture was very popular in the USA while UK felt they were lacking behind and that is why people of England tried to create their own experiments with the music. As a result New Beat appeared. It contained the elements of Techno, Acid and House, though being completely individual (St. John, 2004).
Rave music underwent a lot of steps in formation since 1980s and up to 1990s. At the beginning of 1990s rap music was stepped away and society perceived new stages of Techno House development. Thus, it should be noted that the following types of rave culture appeared as Trance, Jungle, Drum-n-Bass, Hard and Progressive Trance, Happy Hardcore, Hard and Happy House and some others. All these types are considered to form the rave music being based on Disco.
Rave music can be defined as electronically based music containing the high bass level. This musical stream is characterized by fast speed, about 115-300 beats in a minute. In order to create rave tracks Djs used to involve spinning; that is the art of songs mixing through the usage of different speeds, pitches and equalizer for the purpose of ever flowing sounds creation. Nevertheless, spinning can be a part of rave music rather than its background. Rave contains the features of its subcategories such as Underground or Ghetto.
It is important to underline the fact that rave music is a rich culture. It experienced many stages and alterations in its formation. It is an open secret that culture is a nature and cannot be controlled completely that is why the representatives of the rave culture are individuals with their own style of clothing which cannot be strictly identified. It should be noted that Ravers are unique cultural representatives. The typical age of Ravers is about 17-25 years. It is important to stress that males usually obtain female characteristics. They used to wear black vinyl pants, jeans or even sometimes costumes. Taking into account the convenience to move, males used to stick to baggy pants. Very often the absence of any shirt is a normal feature. Speaking about females it is important to state that the style is completely different from that of males. Thus, girls had short hair and wore pants or doll dress. Usually, one can observe the illustration of cartoon characters or lollipops on the clothes of female Ravers. (Simon, 1998)
So, the analysis of historical shift of rave music has shown that it is a powerful and independent culture. The representatives of this culture are usually normal people, only some of them prefer wearing rave style all the time, even outside the rave parties. It can be explained by the fact that this culture helps them feel better and forget about the problems. Nevertheless raving is considered to be a temporary activity existing separately from every day life. It is a culture of speed and escape at the same time. This culture helps its representatives to escape form reality with all its problems and difficulties. Rave is a life in constant rhythm and cloudless reality. It is a major culture in the world history.
The Emergency of Ecstasy
Ecstasy or MDMA (methylenedioxymethamphetamine) is a drug developed for the first time in German in 1912. It is considered to be a “designer” drug being very popular among young generations. This drug was developed by Merck, German pharmaceutical company. At the beginning of 1980s it was used in Texas, but non-medically calling it ecstasy. Initially this drug was classified as empathagen. In medicine it was prescribed by doctors to patients for the purpose of their defenses clearing and better interrelation. Medical effect of this drug helped the doctors to free their patients form fear and guilty finding common language and having communicative contact with them (Ecstasy History, 2008).
Nevertheless ecstasy was spread through many countries very quickly being predominantly used illegally and for non medical purpose. In 1985 ecstasy was widely used by the population especially within rave parties. In some countries such as, for example, China the government prohibited the promotion of things harming human health. Nevertheless, it did not stop the spreading of ecstasy. Psychiatrists managed to prove the effectiveness of treatment provided through the usage of ecstasy and as a result its promotion illegally was not so much controlled. Despite this, the drug examinations have shown that it should relate to one of the most restrictive categories of drugs. Being very popular among the representatives of the rave culture, ecstasy was perceived as the market product bringing much profit. As a result the consequences of ecstasy usage raised the level of crimes throughput many countries. In 1987 when rave culture became popular in Ibiza, ecstasy covered Spain being promoted there among the tourists. With the movements of rave one could observe simultaneous spreading of ecstasy. Nevertheless in 1992 the government of England tried to prohibit and fine the organizations promoting this drug (Brian, 2003).
Nowadays ecstasy is completely available in many states of the world. It is widely used among young people as it helps them to free their thoughts, get complete relaxation and get as much energy as it is necessary to feel the rhythm of life. Though ecstasy was very popular among the representatives of rave culture, the effects of its constant usage can be really fatal such as the dysfunction of central nervous system and electrolyte depletion.
So, initially the development of ecstasy was closely connected with rave culture. Young generation of 1980s considered this drug to be the part of rave culture. They could not exist separately because ecstasy as well as rave music fulfilled the same function of complete escape from reality. They helped Ravers forget about daily routine and ecstasy effects kept its users in form for a long period. Negative symptoms of drug influence never stopped people from its frequent usage.
The Interaction of Rave Culture and Ecstasy in 1980-90s
The USA recognized the development of rave culture as a drug-centric phenomenon. As a result the government provided different law enforcement programs and established agencies in order to seize the level of drug usage. For example the emergency of The Toronto Raver Info Project and Electronic Music Education and Defense Fund is aimed at the reduction of harmful drug promotion among young people.
It should be stressed that despite the fact that USA gave a start to the development of rave culture, the promotion of ecstasy prevails in Germany. The rave scene is considered to be popular there in modern times. Nowadays the programs directed at drags war support are developed everywhere. The promotion of ecstasy is directly associated with cultural values of the society. Despite the fact that rave culture shift was observed in 1980-1990s its features and standards remained among contemporary population. The development of electronic music and dance musical styles influences the rhythms perception of the population. Rave music contains the sense of freedom, responsibility and respect within the society; but all this is usually accompanied by the promotion of such club drugs as ecstasy, ketamine, speed. The increased usage of ecstasy predetermined the high level of cocaine promotion among the population and clubbers. Such situation resulted in a completely increased level of criminal activities among the population. Thus it should be noted that certain drug measures are to be taken (Schwartz, 1996).
It is necessary to underline the fact that rave culture and ecstasy promotion within the society are closely interacted with each other. This tendency is rooted from 1980s, the period of rave culture development. High level of drug usage gave more freedom to younger generations and as a result the level of crimes completely increased. People are to differentiate between the musical reality, relaxation experienced through it and severe reality of our modern life with its standards and norms.
Conclusion
So, the analysis of ecstasy and rave culture has shown the shift they made at the period of 1980-1990s. It should be noted that the alterations within society brought complete changes to the development of art and culture. Thus, the positions of rave culture ad ecstasy at the beginning of 1980s and modern one are completely different. The analysis has shown close connection between the notion and meaning of speed and rave culture. The introduction of this culture in 1980s has proved the necessity of the population in something new and energetic. The combination of sounds presented in the rave culture helped to create one of the most significant musical styles and cultures in the world. It helped to understand the demands of previous generations living in that time and compare them with modern one. The introduction of rave and ecstasy manage to change the life of many people throughout the world.
References
- Brian, Ott. Excerpt from Mixed Messages: Resistance and Reappropriation in Rave Culture. 2003.
- Ecstasy History. 2008. Web.
- The History of Rave Music. 2006.
- Schwartz, Richard. MDMA (Ecstasy) and the Rave. Pediatrics, Vol. 100, pp. 705-708. 1996.
- St. John. Rave Culture. New York, Routledge. 2004.
- Simon, Reynolds. Generation Ecstasy: Into the world of techno and rave culture. New York. Little Brown Company. 1998.