ok, this is the script of my presentation, i did it in like 3 hopurs so its not perfect - the idea is to look at an event in music/popular culture and expand on it's effects in the wider music/culture



The Criminal Justice Bill and the legitimization of Dance Music Culture

http://www.urban75.org/legal/cja.html



Altered States: Story of Ecstasy Culture and Acid House (Five Star) (New ed)

ISBN: 1852426047

By: Collin, Matthew;Godfrey, John

Publisher: Serpent's Tail



http://owen.massey.n...ops/azlist.html



Introduction



I?m going to talk about The Criminal Justice Bill, it?s political mpotivations and it?s effects on the world of corporate clubs, and the music which sound tracked it.



In the Summer of 1987 Paul Oakenfold, Danny Rampling, Nicky Holloway and Johnnie Walker went on holiday to Ibiza. While they were there there was a DJ called Alfredo who was playing what would later become known as ?balearic? (after the island ? a mix of everything from the Cure to LL Cool J to this new house music from America. Whilst they were there they tried a new drug ? ecstasy. Whilst not actually that new (it had been being used in the gay house clubs in America for sometime) it was a revelation for these boys. Rampling came back and started legenderay acid house club shoom, and ecstasy culture spread across the uk., with the UK?s very own ?summer of love? in 1988.



Fast forward 4 years - it is now 1992. The rave movement has gathered serious momentum ? the sound of rave music has reached the suburbs. The sun ran a massive front page article with the headline ?spaced out? with a photo of one of the early biology raves ? the older generation looked on in horror, the younger generation asked ?where can I have some of that?.



Huge illegal raves were operating on a weekly basis throughout the country ? illegal events catering for tens of thousands of ravers who wanted to go and ?av it in a field.



This culminated in Castlemorton ? an event which pretty much grew to the size it did by accident. Originally a free party organised by Spiral Tribe it attracted a motley crew, initially consisting mainly of travelers. Over the course of the weekend the word spread and by the Sunday there were 40,000 travellrs, ravers and party people on site. The new hobby of the suburbs had hit the big time, and it was being broadcast on the national media for all to see. (play footage)



Naturally, the middle aged middle class folk of both castle morton and a tory Britain were outraged. It was no longer an underground scene, with parties happening out in the secluded wilderness, attended by travllers and ?detritus?. It was turning into a massive scene, and that scared the politicians.



The answer to this was the criminal justice bill. This bill, introduced in 1994 was raised with the supposed intention of stamping out ecstasy use, free parties and the dance music scene. it gave the police special powers, with particular refernce made in the ill to raves - A 'rave' is defined as a gathering of 100+ people, at which amplified music 'wholly or predominantly characterised by the emission of a succession of repetitive beats' is played which is likely to cause serious distress to the local community, in the open air and at night.



These sections give the police the power to order people to leave the land if they're believed to be preparing to hold a rave ( 2 or more people); waiting for a rave to start (10+); actually attending a rave (10+). Ignoring this direction, or returning to the land within the next week, are both offences, liable to 3 months' imprisonment and/or a �2,500 fine.



Section 65 lets any uniformed constable who believes a person is on their way to a rave within a 5-mile radius to stop them and direct them away from the area - failure to comply can lead to a maximum fine of �1000. Section 66 & 67 authorising police officers to enter land where a rave is in progress or anticipated. and which allow for the seizure, retention and charges for the confiscation of vehicles and sound equipment.



However the bill also went a lot further than that ? it included clauses relating to ?disruptive? trespass. Section 68 & 69 refer to ?disruptive? trespass - These refer to the new offence of 'aggravated trespass'. Section 68 is committed by anyone trespassing on land in the open air (not including highways and roads) with the intent of intimidating other people engaged in 'lawful activity' on that land or adjoining land, so as to deter them, or obstructing/ disrupting them ('lawful activities' of course include such delights as fox-hunting; earth-raping etc etc...)



Section 69 gives the police sort of preventative powers to direct people to leave land. This direction can be made by a senior officer as long as at least one person is committing or intends to commit aggravated trespass, or there are two or more people present with the 'common purpose' of aggravated trespass.



Failure to comply with this direction carries a maximum penalty of 3 months in prison and/or a 2,500 fine.



And even further than this was the loss of ?right to silence? - Up till now, anyone arrested has had the right to remain silent in police custody - a precious safeguard of a legal system based on the premise that everyone is innocent until proven guilty. Now, a jury can 'draw adverse inference' from the accused's relying on evidence not mentioned to the police at the time of arrest.











So, not only was this bill aimed at clamping down in raves, but was seen as a genral attack on the traveling community and not only that but a general loss of human rights ? the underhand way in which this clauses were added and bought about was lost on on no one, and sparked heavy protests ? culminating in the kill the bill protest, at which protesters marched on downing street to make their views known ? play human traffic.



So what did this mean for dance music? Because the scene which was undeniably massive had been curtailed did this mean that dance music would now become a shrinking violet? Would the ?supposed? original intention of the bill take effect?



I think the categoric answer to that is a resounding ?no?. Although dance music may have suffered a decline in popularity over the last couple of years you can?t deny that in the period from 1994 to 2003 dance music was everywhere ? so popular in fact that it became a victim of it?s own success, with its influnces spreading tentacle like in the world of pop, hip hop and rock. (play missy Elliott ? 4 my people) as u can hear, thw house infuenec in this is huge.



So what happened? How did dance music get so big after an attempt to kill it off?



By the time castlemorton had happened, the music which accompanied it had become a ragtag selection of hardcore or ?rave?. The scene wasn?t so much about the music, but about the party. By cracking down on illicit raves it forced ravers into clubs. Befoire this many clubs were the traditional meat market commercial clubs, catering for drinkers who wanted to fight and pull. However the influx of ravers soon changed that. The difference between raves and clubs is that clubs can be branded and can aim to attract a particular type of crowd. House nights sprang up, along with specific techno and trance clubs. Clubbers were given choice and could carry on doing what they were doing in fields but in clubs, an arguably safer environment with medics on hand should anything go wrong.



Of course the success of these clubs and dance music at the time can inextricably be linked to the type of ectasy that was being produced at the time. For example, in 1998/199 dutch chemists worked out how to synthesize safrolle, a chemical which had bee banned required to make MDMA, using pollen from daffodils. This lead to strong pills in the infamous ?mitsubishi brand? ? strangely enough at this time euphoric trance got very popular, with clubs like gatecrasher selling out their 2000 person cap[acity every week, and people dressing up as ?cyberpunks?, brandishing glowsticks and taking on silly personas ? coincidence? I think not.



The rise of dance music did not go unnoticed by many companies with a consumer interest in the youth market. Alcohol sales fell sharply as clubbers switched off from booze and hit the pills and the big companies reacted against this with the introduction of alcopops ? sweeter than the usual alcoholic drinks many were branded to appeal to the clubber with the ?bahama buzz? and ?lovebyte? proving more popular.







The government was in a difficult situation ? having now outlawed free parties and driven clubbers in clubs they had not cracked down on the problem of drug use but had in a sense legitimized it. Although in theory they were very ?anti? drugs, it was far easier to stop and shut down a rave than it was to stop a club night from happening. It is also extremely difficult to police inside a night club. Further to this people were still dying from ectasy use, for example leah betts ? the governemts drug policy simply didn?t work.



They issued guidelines relating to clubs ? clubs should be air conditioned, free water should be available and medics should be on hand. Although some of these factors did not become law, it definitely gave the impression that the govt had decided, well its going to happen, so we should make it as safe as possible.



All the while this was going on ravers new found identities within the clubs led to genres and sub genres ? house merghed with techno to become tech-house, drum n bass was born from the echo?s of hardcore, nu-skool breaks sparnag out of that and so on. If the criminal justice bill hadn?t been introduced it is unlikely that all of these genres would have been created due to the lack of focus within the free part scene ? the focus moved away from the party and on to the music.



However the governemtn got what they wanted ? they moved a scene out of the general public eye, quelling parents fears. They stopped the ?detritus? of travelers collecting in one place. However. In doing this they provided a legitimate place for ravers to go and express themselves within the clubbing world.



An questions?

8O



wow. well done. history put in a law context, influences... that should be a success! good luck!

I wish I had the courage to read all this... however, I trust the Boy.

That's a pretty good paper which will make a great presentation, mipps - it's interesting to read about the laws in other countries and see how they stack up to the laws here in the States.



I always find it interesting how the government works in such a way to cultivate fear, playing on parents' supposed worse nightmares.



Saw it happen here, with plenty of exposes in the news and the eventual clauses in our patriot act which have all worked to stifle the scene and but put a lot of promoters out of business - the liability has become too high and there's just too much at risk these days.



One thing I think might be worth mentioning (maybe not now that the paper is done) is the government crackdown on ecstasy use leading to rogue pills on the market. We know it is possible for people to suffer adverse affects of ecstasy, and in more-rare-than-we're-led-to-believe cases it can cause death - but in actuality it is the rogue ecstasy along with cocktailing drugs that has contributed to deaths related to the 'scene.'

hehe, cheers guys. it all went well, my lecturer told me i was in the top end of the grade bracket so im well pleased :D everyone else kind of picked a musical genre and tried to explain how it influenced the wider culture, but i came at it from a different angle which he found 'refreshing' so that was cool :)



yeah whirly, it sounds like they've done in the states what they did with the CJB - made the promoters liable for anything that goes on - the difference being of course that the CJB only relates to free parties and not to clubs.



totally agree with you about the misinformation regarding e - rogue pills are a nightmare, even if it's just that they're super strong this can actually sometimes not be a good thing, especially if your planning on doing quite a few that evening. and if it's not rogue pills, then usually a person has dehydrated or worse drunk too much water and thinned their blood. both horrible ways to go, but i think an adverse toxic reaction to e is pretty rare - kind of like being allergic to peanuts or something.



i def wouldnt legalise pills, but i think pill testing kits should be supplied at clubs - the problem is if u start doing this then your REALLY legitimizing drug use, it is in effect an admission of the promoter thsat yes, people do drugs here, so i cant see it happening. which is a real shame.



actualyl jsut recenlty theres been new laws bought in that hold promoters of clubs liable for drugs on the premisies as well - not heard too much about it, so it might just have been a cotton wool policy to get them through the election, but things are def heading that way here i think - interestingly Home in leicester square got closed down bcause of a 'drug' problem - the ironic thing is u go to turnmills or fabric or the end and u get exaclty the same type of crowd - i think the council just didnt want it going on in such a mainstream location like leicester square.



i guess its do it, but only where its out the public eye. or something.

good read man.

A good use of a few minutes of my time to read. Thanks for posting.



Although I knew most of the history surrounding the CJB, it filled in a few important details. This in particular shocked me:

And even further than this was the loss of ?right to silence? - Up till now, anyone arrested has had the right to remain silent in police custody - a precious safeguard of a legal system based on the premise that everyone is innocent until proven guilty. Now, a jury can 'draw adverse inference' from the accused's relying on evidence not mentioned to the police at the time of arrest.

This is simply unbelievable.



Where I live these issues are virtually nonexistent as there is no real "club" scene to speak of. Clubs are boozed-up, but I'd never even seen a pill until a couple of weeks ago. The odd "rave" takes place, but based on the people I know who attend and the DJs who spin I'm not sure I'd waste my money or time.

Yay! final exam completed this morning!

Good paper by the way, i didnt understand a bt of it for a while though until i realized it was british law X-D

Darkstarexodus Escribi�:

but I'd never even seen a pill until a couple of weeks ago.

I'm so proud to have been a part of that }:-)

What course are you studying Mippio? It sounds quite interesting...

im doing music production & sound engineering degree, it rocks hard i love it 8)



not only do we do live recording and sequencing but we do music business, music culture, acoustical analysis, live sound, loads of stuff. i love it :) beats doing business studies and law which i tried to do in manchester!! X-D

I would love to do a course like that but unfortunately I have no musical talent! Haha! I'd ace the theory modules tho. I'm studying Multimedia Technology and I have Sound design as an option next year which I'm probably gonna do... I have loads and loads of ideas but trying to use and have the patience to learn music software just baffles me! :?

haha evryone has musical talent dude! you just got to bring it out thats all :) if you want to get into production it def helps if you already play an instrument, just so you haver the basics of chords and stuff - and yeh music production can be pretty baffling and it takes aaaages to learn but its really satisfying once it starts to fall into place - if you've got a pc with an alright soundcard i'd recommend getting reason - its like an all in one studio in a box, and its got synths, samplers, drum machines, loop players and fx - u can write cool tunes on it and al the stuff relates to hardware gubbins, so if u ever upgrade to a hardware studio you'll have a good grasp of the basics.



Multimedia Technology sounds well cool - is that like using dreamweaver and stuff?

No i disagree :p I dont think everybody has musical talent.

haha, alright then miss arguementative, ill explain what i mean a bit more :P ;-)



everyone has musical talent, even if its just clapping your hands - some people might be better than others, but pretty much everyone can at least do that.



ive heard so many people say 'i cant do music' then give them a bash on a piano or mess about on the decks for a bit and so many peole actually find they can do it, it just takes a bit of practise :)



what i think a lot of people, like electricgirl, has is IDEAS - what they need to do is work with people who can help them realise any artistic visions they've got. and finding someone cool to work with is tricky - ive know m'chebne for 15 years (pausebutton dude) and its just right - its weird working with anyine else X-D

I see what u mean...but oooow how i wish i still had that one funny movie on my pc..

It was of a wedding and there was this guy clapping totally out of the rythem......it was SO FUNNY!

haha thats a really good indicator actually - generally if u can dance in time you'll def be able to dj, and probably be able to write tunes as well.



if u got no rhythm on the floor, u got no rhythm in yer soul!! X-D

mippio Escribi�:

haha thats a really good indicator actually - generally if u can dance in time you'll def be able to dj, and probably be able to write tunes as well.



if u got no rhythm on the floor, u got no rhythm in yer soul!! X-D

oh shit, now im screwed :'( why couldnt you have told me this before i spent countless hours pirating music production software! :x :'(

hehe, i said 'generally' ;) - im sure ill be proved wrong left right and centre!!

Multimedia is cool - its basically learning how to express through lots of different medias... WEbsites, Music, Film, advertising etc



Its really broad so you can go into many different avenues after you graduate - Hopefully! :?