The Reactivate album series was the flagship techno compilation trailblazer for React Music, launched by A&R supremo, James Horrocks, after their first release ‘You Got The Love’ from The Source featuring Candi Staton became an international hit.The Reactivate series released 18 compilations as well as several ‘Best Of Reactivate’ collections, racking up sales of over 1,000,000 copies on vinyl and CD, and scoring highly on the album charts.
Launching a new clubwear range with Australia’s Synthd Designs. Reactivate’s iconic sleeves and stellar tracklistings ensured a huge following with albums still being collected to this day. Many of techno’s leading artists were showcased on these albums, and the label was behind the classic, ‘Age of Love’ Jam & Spoon Watch Out for Stella Mix, an evergreen techno classic.
James, it’s great to see Reactivate launching a new clubwear range and how did this come about?
We were contacted by an Australian design team of David Rich and Khan Tihema at Synthd Designs about the possibility of reinventing Reactivate as a clothing brand through a series of remixed designs based on its iconic imagery.
Reactivate was the leading compilation brand showcasing the new sound of European techno and trance in the 90’s/2000’s and where did the idea come from to release these albums?
The idea to compile the Reactivate series of albums came from the lack of availability of underground imported 12 inch records in the shops, especially from Europe. In the years predating iTunes, YouTube, Spotify, you bought vinyl, CDs and tapes in multiple retailers like HMV or Our Price and from specialist dance music shops like Trax Records or Groove Records in Soho, who stocked the latest imported 12 inches and were frequented by DJs buying tracks for the weekend. Most of the imports sold in UK shops were American house records, however in 1988 when ‘new beat’, a slowed down post-acid electro sound became popular, and Italian happy and piano house tracks crossed over from Ibiza, limited quantities of European imports started to arrive in the UK. However, when UK house, techno, rave and hardcore sounds began to make waves with DJs, there was a demand for imports from Belgian producers like Frank De Wulf’s Detroit techno-influenced ‘B-Sides’ releases and R&S Records, and spurred on by the success of crossover tracks from Technotronic, Snap, D-Shake and G.T.O, it challenged the U.S. house scene’s dominance of UK DJ playlists. This meant that there was suddenly a surge of interest in the European rave and techno tracks coming out of Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Italy and Spain and not many places for either DJ or clubber to buy them in 1990. European vinyl was expensive and there was some resistance in the dance music media to the emergent harder sounds leading to less availability of European imports in the shops. As the European techno sound filtered its way into the UK rave scene, we spotted a supply and demand scenario. It was the music the DJs Daz Saund and Trevor Rockcliffe began playing at the clubs we promoted at React: Garage at Heaven on Fridays and Troll at The Soundshaft on Saturdays. Having just set up the React label and scored a hit with our first record, John Truelove’s The Source featuring Candi Staton ‘You Got The Love’, we decided to branch out and be the first label to release a compilation album dedicated to the new European techno, trance and hard beat sounds. With epic tracks like Joey Beltram’s ‘Energy Flash’ and T99 ‘Anasthasia’, ‘Reactivate Vol. 1: The Belgian Techno Anthems’ was born in 1991. It was available on vinyl, CD and cassette tape and charted Top 20 first week. There was so much demand we released another two volumes in 1991, with Reactivate Vol. 2 reaching No. 9 in the charts. The album was the brainchild of React’s Thomas ‘The Techno Engine’ Foley, who had been influenced by the ‘Warehouse Raves’ albums on Rumour Records, which were unmixed compilations of hard-to-find underground tracks that were supported by DJs like Carl Cox, Sasha and Tom Wilson.
Many of techno’s leading trailblazers are featured on Reactivate including Joey Beltram, Sven Vath, G.T.O and Fierce Ruling Diva alongside trance artists such as Ferry Corsten, Tiesto, Armin Van Buuren, BBE and John ‘00’ Fleming and also hard house artists Tony De Vit and Baby Doc & S-J. What made their sounds stick out to you and where were you when you first heard iconic tracks from these artists?
The albums were fed by the music played on the club and rave scene and by our own weekly A&R forays into specialist dance record stores. We were also promoting parties, going to raves, hanging out with DJs and traveling to clubs around the UK and Europe and communicating with European labels met at music trade fairs like Midem in Cannes and Popkomm in Cologne. In those days, multi-genres had been played on dancefloors progressing from the first DJ playing house, the next one playing harder house and techno and the last one playing the biggest, hardest and fastest tracks as well as the anthems. The tracks on Reactivate represented the harder sound being played in a rave arena or the main room of a club all night long or the music played in smaller underground clubs. At the time hard house, techno and the emergent trance sound would be played in the same set on the same floor, particularly in the mixed-gay clubs like Garage, Troll, and Trade in London. I first met Tony De Vit when he came to play a one-off midweek gig at Busby’s in London in 1992, which was mobbed. He was a resident DJ at The Nightingale in Birmingham and had become very popular for his hard and fast techno and hardcore sound. It was then he became a resident at all-nighter Trade, and like Carl Cox and Jeremy Healy had became one of the first UK DJs to be booked nationwide and internationally. Tony was a huge supporter of S-J and Baby Doc and when React licensed their ‘Fever’ single, S-J recorded a full vocal track for the TdV mix we commissioned. The ‘Fever’ track was a huge track at Trade and also in ‘Heaven’ with its climactic breathy breakdown which sent shivers… I remember hearing Joey Beltram’s ‘Energy Flash’ at Garage in Heaven in 1990 around the same time as Richie Hawtin’s Cybersonik track ‘Technarchy’. They both erupted on the dancefloor on first play due to their cutting edge nature and both enveloped the harder edged sounds that were emerging in the U.S. and Europe. Artists like G.T.O. and Fierce Ruling Diva who performed live also contributed to the convergence of post-industrial electro, harder house, techno and gabber sounds.
Ahead of the curve and part of how techno music became so huge on the global stage, how did you stay one step ahead with your releases?
By its nature, the genre named techno had been evolving since its epoch in Detroit in the 80s, with technology being its focus. In the 90s, one crossover instrumental underground dance track led to a glut of copycat releases, which clogged up the shelves and made it harder to find newer music, so when you heard something unique you jumped on it. Of course, the true barometer was how tracks sounded on the dancefloor and that’s why DJs were an essential source of A&R. Artists like G.T.O. and DJs like Mrs Wood, Blu Peter, Rachel Auburn, John ’00’ Fleming, Pete Wardman, Darren Price and Simon Eve provided the React label with invaluable A&R input in this area. React also worked with Carl Cox, Jeff Mills, Eddie Flashin’ Fowlkes, Laurent Garnier, Dave Clarke, Dave Angel, Fumiya Tanaka and Takkyu Ishino amongst other techno artists.
Running React Music, you also went on to have huge underground success with the evergreen classic, ‘Age of Love’ Jam & Spoon Watch Out for Stella Mix, and can you tell us the story behind this slice of house music history?
‘Age of Love’ was originally released on Belgian record shop DIKI Records’ label in 1990, it gained popularity in Ibiza, Goa (where it had become synonymous with the Goa trance scene), and also on the European hi-nrg scene. Heaven DJ Marc Andrews (who worked on the original Reactivate artwork) played the track every Saturday at Heaven, having bought the record at Trax Records on Greek Street in Soho. It had been produced by Bruno Sanchioni (BBE) with a nod to ‘Fade To Grey’ by Visage, but in the vein of ‘Yaaah/Techno Trance’ by D-Shake. The track always resonated with us when we heard it and it would have been included on Reactivate Vol. 1 if it had been newer. Instead, React’s Thomas Foley decided to license and remix the track and arranged with German techno DJ Mark Spoon, who had played at our night at Heaven, to remix it with his studio partner, Jam El Mar, as Jam & Spoon. The result was truly epic and caused a sensation when it was dropped at the Mayday rave in Germany, where Thomas had gone to watch G.T.O. perform live. Mark gave Thomas the DAT tape to go and he spent the rest of the weekend raving with it in his pocket including a trip to Amsterdam for a party at the Milkweg the following night, where Fierce Ruling Diva played it in their DJ set to great effect and the master tape survived the journey back.
During the time you were running React you also promoted your own event, Garage @ Heaven on Fridays which introduced guests such as DJ Hell, Derrick May, Joey Beltram, Svan Vath and Paul Van Dyk. Can you tell us about some of your more memorable moments/nights whilst running Garage?
When we took over the running of Garage at Heaven and Troll at The Soundshaft, we inherited our favourite club nights. Troll began as an acid house club back in 1988 with DJs Danny Rampling, Johnny Walker and Steve Bell playing acid and Balearic tracks in a sweaty, dark, strobe-lit mosh pit – it was amazing. Promoter Tim Stabler had introduced Daz Saund and Trevor Rockcliffe to the mix, who we introduced to Garage at Heaven in 1990. Garage had been launched in August 1988 by Justin Berkmann, a UK DJ who had been playing for Larry Levan at Paradise Garage – and left Heaven to co-found Ministry of Sound. His playlist at Heaven was harder New York deep house, techno and post-acid Chicago house, which created a soundbed for the music that was to evolve. Not only had Heaven been London’s first internationally renowned gay club, but it had also become the epicentre of the house scene in London with DJs like Mark Moore (S’Express) and Colin Faver being some of the first London DJs to support house music and it hosted the legendary Spectrum and Land of Oz nights. It also supported hardcore and the first rumblings of jungle and the nascent drum and bass scene at Rage. Heaven was London’s Studio 54 and was attended by many visiting celebrities as well as the UK’s clubbing cognoscenti, so you could be dancing next to Freddie Mercury, Marc Almond, The Pet Shop Boys or someone else famous in the days before the invention of the smartphone.
What other events and parties did you run during the React Music times, as I understand you were one of the first labels to promote events in Ibiza? Can you tell us about these events and who featured on them?
React launched an upfront club night called Wildlife at Heaven on Fridays after the club’s refit in 1998, which was the replacement for the Garage night and featured multi-genres including such luminaries as Carl Cox, John ’00’ Fleming, Danny Rampling, Armand Van Helden, DJ Spoony, and A Man Called Adam and Jose Padilla hosting a chillout room. React then hosted ‘React’ at The Ministry of Sound on Fridays in 2000, which acted as a precursor to Danny Newman’s weekly trance night The Gallery. React first got involved with Ibiza following a deal with Jose Padilla to release the Cafe Del Mar albums and Jose organised for React to be part of the Renaissance Ibiza season in 1994 at Pacha. The label returned to Ibiza in 1995 with Manumission hosting Tony De Vit and Blu Peter at Privilege and also introduced Carl Cox to Space that year, for which he has credited React.
The Reactivate sleeves are instantly recognisable with their eye-catching underwater creatures in neon colours, and how did you find your look for the albums?
The artwork for the Reactivate was subject to graphic design technology together with advancement of commercial art and design skills, which took the album from its rave flyer look in the early days to one of intricate wallpaper print images when Designers Republic took over the styling on Reactivate Volume 5, to the recognisable pop art design of the shark on Volume 9 and crab on Volume 10 from designer Nick Bax, which coincided with the trance wave which was sales pinnacle of the series.
A joint project with Australia’s Synthd Designs, can you describe the range of different things available in the Reactivate range? Will you be stocking them in any UK outlets or shops, or are sales all online?
We have a full range of men’s and women’s printed clothing to posters, clocks, accessories etc. It is online only as is handled by a pay to print service, which operates in every country. The details of which can be found on Synthd Designs website.
As Reactivate picks up steam again, are there any plans to launch a new React-style label and what ideas have you got up your sleeve?
We are considering plans to launch Reactivate as a stand-alone label releasing main room techno and progressive in the near future.
On the Synthd Designs website, as well as being able to shop the range, there’s also a blog you’ve written about how React Music started and I understand there’s plans afoot for more exclusive posts and a gallery featuring flyers, sleeves, etc?
The blog posted on the Synthd website is the first part of a 4-part series documenting the history of React and Reactivate and there will be more galleried images, when we can find the boxes everything is stored inside.
Top 5 Reactivate anthems everyone should hear…
Age of Love ‘Age of Love (Jam & Spoon’s Watch Out For Stella Mix)
Beltram ‘Energy Flash’
Marmion ‘Schoneberg’ (Marmion Remix)
S-J ‘Fever’ Baby Doc Remix
Elevator ‘Shinny’
Reactivate launches a new clubwear range with Australia’s Synthd Designs and check out the designs and blog at…
https://www.facebook.com/SYNTHDDesigns
https://www.instagram.com/synthd_designs/
