Huge 90s group return for gig three decades on from chart hit and being rocked by drug-dealing scandal and tragedy
NINETIES group 808 State are performing in London later this month – more than three decades on from their song storming the charts.
The group – now fronted by Graham Massey – were formed in 1980s Manchester and have been branded “one of the most important dance music acts of all time”.
808 State are set to perform for a gig at Dingwalls in London on October 13, 2023.
Originally formed by Graham Massey, Martin Price and Gerald Simpson, the band rose to fame in 1989 when their song Pacific State was picked up by BBC Radio 1 DJ Gary Davies.
This was followed by the non-album single Let Yourself Go, as well as a 1989 one-off single for WAU! Mr. Modo Recordings.
By this point, Simpson had started a successful solo career as A Guy Called Gerald and left the group.
Andrew Barker and Darren Partington, known as the Spinmasters, joined the group in 1989 following his departure.
The band signed to the ZTT label later that year and their album Ninety was awarded 10 out of 101 by the NME.
The Guardian declared that with this record, “808 State mapped out the future of club music, utilising techno, ambient and rock…”
At the peak of chart success, 808 celebrated with a massive hometown gig filling the G-Mex stadium.
They released their biggest-selling album Ex:el in 1991 and went on to sign in the USA to influential hip-hop label Tommy Boy, where they collaborated with the likes of Quincy Jones, David Bowie and Afrika Bambaataa.
With the 1993 album Gorgeous, they delivered their most successful album in the States.
Around this time, Price had decided to leave the band.
They released a greatest hits compilation album, 808:88:98 in 1998
Partington left the band after being jailed for 18 months in January 2015 for dealing heroin and crack cocaine.
He was a recreational drug user and owed £300 to his dealer, who then threatened him and persuaded him to work it off by dealing himself, the Manchester Evening News reported.
Despite the band’s success, Partington was said to be making as little as £7,000 a year from DJing when he was arrested.
Massey and Barker continued to perform as 808 State, and they toured a 30th-anniversary live set at the end of 2018.
The self-released full-length Transmission Suite arrived in 2019.
Tragedy struck on November 6, 2021, when it was announced that Barker had died after a brief illness aged 53 – leaving Massey as the sole remaining member of the group.