Tyree* – Acid Over

One of London's biggest in 1988 - especially the 'piano' mix and used briefly in mixes the 'piano matey' mix. The first house tune I heard like the majority of people outside Chicago was "Love Can't Turn Around" which I didn't like at all - then a few weeks later I heard 'Jack The Groove' 'House Nation' and 'Let's Get Brutal' (or 'This Brutal House' as it was known on it s first UK 12 inch.) I was blown away by those tunes especially Nitro Deluxe and Raze. So by the time I heard this I was already pretty attuned to boundary breaking sounds. I was originally a New Romantic in 1981/82 which was a great time for dance/pop music then when that all died off really suddenly at the start of 1983 I went into the end of the jazz-funk scene which was absolutely massive in London and the south east then electro but that was good for only a couple of years so we really did need house when it arrived in England in 1986/87 to liven things up. 1985 was probably the worst year in popular music ever, - or up to 2005 anyway when I lost complete touch with any popular music that wasn't trance or hard trance.

Massive track, deep 303 vocoder action. I only got to hear it years later, and it still blew my mind. I wonder how those who got to hear it first hand in 1987 reacted?

Chicago 87, but kept going in the UK through 88 in the underground clubs, esp. Shoom, Spectrum and the mega-Brixton clubs, Hacienda, right through to 89 when things were more outdoors than indoors.

Is the Acid Over (Piano 'Matey' Mix) version the same as the Piano Mix in the original release ?

From 1987 to 1989, an underground House tune named “Acid Over” invaded the charts in the USA and Europe. The strange, dark atmosphere made it different from the average. “When acid music reached its peak in Chicago, I was kinda’ tired of listening to that 303 sound”, declared the author Tyree Cooper about the acid house era that reigned that time.

“Originally, I did the track in Detroit with Lidell Townsell and William S. We were in Detroit for a massive house show at St. Andrews hall. We were staying at some friend of theirs, and we had some machines with us, like TR909, DX7, SH101, an 808, a mirage keyboard and a Fostex eight-track mixer. We laid down a few tracks and one of those was called "Acid Over". What few may know is that this early tune was not the one that was released officially. “Now, when we left Detroit, everyone went their separate ways. DJ International (which was a famous label back then) wanted a acid record from me, and of course I told them I had one”, said Tyree – “but I really didn’t have one”.

It was really hard to afford the expensive equipments to produce on the eighties. “Back in those days, I didn’t have any studio gear, so I went to some friends and record whatever I needed to record. When a president of a company asked me for a acid track, I just could not say I don't have one because I don't have a studio. No”, confessed the author abruptly. The producers had to dig hard, and find out solutions to solve out all the difficulties with the equipments.

“I asked Lidell Townsell if I could borrow his TB303 and TR909 and do this acid track for my record company. So Lydell lent me his machines, and I tried to remember which patterns were mine, ‘cause I didn’t want to steal any of my friend’s songs. While listening to the 303, I really couldn’t remember which one was mine, so I said "f*ck it, I'm just gonna erase one these patterns and make a new one”. When the track was finished, Tyree called it ‘Acid Over’. “I thought that this track was not gonna sell any records, but I was wrong” – confessed Mr. Cooper.

Another interesting aspect about ‘Acid Over’ lies in its title name. Tyree gave it for a very straight reason – according to his own words, “all because I was tired of acid music in Chicago, that's why I gave it that title”. It’s important to remember that the acid house productions started on 1985, since ‘Phuture - Acid Tracks’, soundtrack of the Music Box.

The most amazing version of “Acid Over”, thought, was the Piano Mix. The piano lines were elegant, sophisticated and jazzy – much more than you could imagine from an early House tune. “Yeah, I basically created an entire new version”, stated Tyree. “The piano was played by my friend Pete Black. I made a suggestion and he said "ok, I think I know what you're talking about" and then he commenced to play what you hear on the record”. Sublime ensemble, isn’t it?

"Acid Over" appeared during the first wave of Chicago Acid-House classics. This amazing track had a big impact on the emergent UK Acid House movement.It became an anthem for this new generation of clubbers. Many remixes appeared during 1988 on Uk labels as "Ffrr" & also an fantastic version featured the famous video 'The Evil Acid Baron Show'.