Class of '88: Find the warehouse. Lose the hitmen. Pump the beats.

by Wayne Anthony

Organised crime puts on a smiley face.When the Summer of Love hit Britain in ’88, Wayne embraced the bright new world of dance music, MDMA and all-night celebrations. But alongside the ecstasy, his natural East End entrepreneurial instincts kicked in, and he began to organise the infamous Genesis dance parties for thousands of kids. Wayne soon became a key figure in the high octane, technicolour rave scene. But beneath the shiny, smiley surfaces, he quickly found himself in a vicious world of violence, police harassment and organised crime, for which he was totally unsuited and unprepared. He was beaten by ex-paratroopers, menaced by gangsters, kidnapped, confronted with sawn off shotguns and threatened with murder, all so Britain could party like never before.When Class of ’88 was first published, it was so popular that Foyles dedicated an entire window to the book for a month. Now, re-issued for the 30th anniversary, this is Wayne’s very lively, highly individual account of the two years he spent as an illegal party promoter, leading the rave revolution which was sweeping the UK, changing lives, music and popular culture forever.

Genres: Music

338 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 22, 2018

Reviews

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

I quite enjoyed the first half, even though the writing wasn't the best (which the writer freely admitted in the introduction). I felt like sympathy with the feelings of the events allowed me to still enjoy it.

Someone had told me that this book makes a really good account of how society changed due to rave culture. They said that the fall in football hooliganism could be directly attributed to the rise of ecstasy. The book isn't that deep - it's just about dancing, shagging and geezers. But yeah, still worth a read if you're into the culture.

The later part was really disjointed, and some of the conclusions were a bit strange, to my ear.

[Stefan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is a bit chaotic at times because it jumps through a period of a couple of years apparently randomly, but the stories are fantastic. Stories on parties and successes achieved, but also if the downsides of organizing massive illegal dance parties and (ab)using drugs guarantee to have a hard time putting this book down.

[Will McKay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wayne Anthony details his experiences in London’s late 80s Acid House scene, both as a participant and as a promoter. The stories are funny and, though a bit unbelievable, interesting; however, the book could be much better with an improved structure and writing. Overall it was a quick and fun read, but gets a bit stale by the end.