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| Location | Longton, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire |
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| Genre(s) | Electronic music, |
| Opened | July 1989 |
| Closed | September 1992 |
Shelley's Laserdome was a night club in Longton, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. It was at the heart of the house and rave scene in the early 1990s, helping to launch the career of DJ Sasha and featuring regular appearances from Carl Cox. It was eventually shut down by Staffordshire Police. [1] [2]
Before becoming a hit with ravers, the Shelleys building had been used as a roller rink earlier in the 20th century, before becoming the Panopticon Theatre, and then later Alexandra Palace Cinema. After closing as a cinema in the fifties, it housed bingo and shops. [3]
The club's heyday, 1990–91, [2] saw a number of DJs at the beginnings of their careers: both Dave Seaman and Sasha were residents (Sasha was resident between September 1990 and 27 May 1991), [2] who later found fame and success on a global scale. Other DJs who appeared included Doc Scott, Ellis Dee, Grooverider, Mickey Finn, DJ Rap, Stu Allan and local DJ Daz Willott. Legendary Rave Godfathers The Prodigy played a live PA at the club in 1991 whilst dancer Sharky was still with the band.
The first weekly night was Sindrome starting July 1990, [1] [4] and was run by Birmingham's Logical Promotions, Following that came Delight from Manchester, these two nights ran concurrently for a while and was probably the best era. In early 1991, The Haçienda had closed due to shootings by drug gangs, so when Delight began at Shelley bringing its large Manchester following along. [1]
This nightclub has since become legendary because of the diverse crowd (Shelley's was halfway between Manchester and Birmingham), quickly making its mark on clubbing history with help from first-rate, pioneering DJs of the emerging UK house music scene.
Staffordshire rave duo Altern 8, shot the video for their "Activ-8 (Come With Me)" single in the Shelley's car park in September 1991. Mark Archer from Altern 8 had wanted to do a free PA in the club's car park as it would get great footage for the video of their coming single as well as giving the ravers a something to dance to. [5] At 0300 after the club finished, the band started to perform from a lorry they had hired. There was a crowd of thousands as they had made people aware that they were performing. Footage shows the people "going mad" dancing on parked cars. This went on before it was halted by police. [6]
The club was blighted by drug dealing and regular (albeit mostly underground) violence between rival gangs. Staffordshire Police and local authorities revoked the license from management due to these issues. The club's final night was Thursday 12 September 1992. [1] [4]
Since around 2011, Shelley's Reunion events have been taken place in venues around the Stoke-on-Trent area. DJs that appeared at the original Shelley's such as Dave Seaman, Mark Archer from Altern 8, DJ Rap have appeared to play music from the club's heyday. [7]
Breakbeat hardcore is a music genre that spawned from the UK rave scene during the early 1990s. It combines four-on-the-floor rhythms with breakbeats usually sampled from hip hop. In addition to the inclusion of breakbeats, the genre also features shuffled drum machine patterns, hoover, and other noises originating from new beat and Belgian techno, sounds from acid house and bleep techno, and often upbeat house piano riffs and vocals.
A rave is a dance party at a warehouse, club, or other public or private venue, typically featuring performances by DJs playing electronic dance music. The style is most associated with the early 1990s dance music scene when DJs played at illegal events in musical styles dominated by electronic dance music from a wide range of sub-genres, including drum and bass, dubstep, trap, break, happy hardcore, techno, hardcore, house, and alternative dance. Occasionally live musicians have been known to perform at raves, in addition to other types of performance artists such as go-go dancers and fire dancers. The music is amplified with a large, powerful sound reinforcement system, typically with large subwoofers to produce a deep bass sound. The music is often accompanied by laser light shows, projected coloured images, visual effects and fog machines.
Stoke-on-Trent is a city and unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of 36 square miles (93 km2). In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 256,375. It is the largest settlement in Staffordshire and is surrounded by the towns of Newcastle-under-Lyme, Alsager, Kidsgrove and Biddulph, which form a conurbation around the city.
Jungle is a genre of dance music that developed out of the UK rave scene and sound system culture in the 1990s. Emerging from breakbeat hardcore, the style is characterised by rapid breakbeats, heavily syncopated percussive loops, samples, and synthesised effects, combined with the deep basslines, melodies, and vocal samples found in dub, reggae and dancehall, as well as hip hop and funk. Many producers frequently sampled the "Amen break" or other breakbeats from funk and jazz recordings. Jungle was a direct precursor to the drum and bass genre which emerged in the mid-1990s.
Happy hardcore, also known as 4-beat or happycore, is a subgenre of hardcore dance music or "hard dance". It emerged both from the UK breakbeat hardcore rave scene, and Belgian, German and Dutch hardcore techno scenes in the early 1990s.
Alexander Paul Coe, known professionally as Sasha, is a Welsh DJ and record producer. He is best known for his live events and electronic music as a solo artist, as well as his collaborations with British DJ John Digweed as Sasha & John Digweed. He was voted as World No. 1 DJ in 2000 in a poll conducted by DJ Magazine. He is a four-time International Dance Music Awards winner, four-time DJ Awards winner and Grammy Award nominee.
Altern 8 is a British electronic music act, comprising Mark Archer and Chris Peat, until Peat left the group in 1994. Best known in the early 1990s, their trademark was electronic rave music with a heavy bass line. Notable Altern 8 tracks included "Activ 8", "E-Vapor-8", "Frequency", "Brutal-8-E", "Armageddon", "Move My Body", "Hypnotic St8" and "Infiltrate 202".
Carl Cox is an English house and techno club DJ, as well as radio DJ and record producer. He is based in Hove, Sussex, England.
The Essential Mix is a weekly radio show on BBC Radio 1 currently broadcast between 0:00 and 2:00 a.m. UK time on Saturday morning. Originally broadcast on 30 October 1993, the Essential Mix features contemporary DJs and music producers of electronic dance music. The show has been presented since its inception by Pete Tong and features an uninterrupted two-hour mix from a different artist each week, overlaid with occasional continuity announcements delivered by Tong. With a broadcast run of nearly 30 years, the Essential Mix is one of the longest-running programmes in the current BBC Radio 1 schedule. It is one of very few Radio 1 shows which is not broadcast live.
UK hard house or simply hard house is a style of electronic dance music that emerged in the early 1990s and is synonymous with its association to the Trade club and the associated DJs there that created the style. It often features a speedy tempo, offbeat bass stabs, hoovers and horns. It usually contains a break in the middle of the track where no drums are present. UK hard house often uses a long and sharp string note to create suspense. Most of the time, the drops are introduced by a drum roll.
Longton is one of the six towns which amalgamated to form the county borough of Stoke-on-Trent in 1910, along with Hanley, Tunstall, Fenton, Burslem and Stoke-upon-Trent. It is in the ceremonial county of Staffordshire, England
Electronic dance music (EDM) is a broad range of percussive electronic music genres originally made for nightclubs, raves, and festivals. It is generally produced for playback by DJs who create seamless selections of tracks, called a DJ mix, by segueing from one recording to another. EDM producers also perform their music live in a concert or festival setting in what is sometimes called a live PA. Since its inception EDM has expanded to include a wide range of subgenres.
Renaissance is a British electronic dance music club brand and record label. Renaissance was started by Geoff Oakes at Venue 44 in Mansfield, England in March 1992. Renaissance was Geoff Oakes' antidote to the sci-fi imagery and dressed down clubbers of the 'rave' scene. Early resident DJs at Renaissance were Ian Ossia, Sasha, John Digweed and Nigel Dawson; other DJs with long-time attachments include Dave Seaman, Nick Warren, David Morales, Anthony Pappa and Hernán Cattáneo.
The Golden Torch, more commonly known as The Torch, was a nightclub in Tunstall, Stoke-on-Trent, England. Opened as a mod venue, it later became important to fans of Northern soul with their all-nighters. Peter Stringfellow was amongst the many DJs who at some time had a residency there while the main soul all-nighter DJs included Keith Minshull, Colin Curtis, Alan Day and Maretyn Ellis
Tribal Gathering is the original British electronic dance music festival that between 1993 and 2004 catered for different types of dance music cultures such as techno, house and drum & bass. After 18 years, Tribal Gathering returns in 2023 for a two-day event to celebrate its 30th anniversary.
Acid house is a subgenre of house music developed around the mid-1980s by DJs from Chicago. The style is defined primarily by the squelching sounds and basslines of the Roland TB-303 electronic bass synthesizer-sequencer, an innovation attributed to Chicago artists Phuture and Sleezy D circa 1986.
"Anthem" is a song by British electronic music group N-Joi. The piano-driven track, which also served as part of their debut EP, has gone on to become one of the most famous signature songs in the act's career, as well as seeing it chart numerous times since its 1990 release.
Jollees was a live music and cabaret venue in Longton, Stoke-on-Trent, United Kingdom. The venue was re-established in March 2016, after having closed in 1992. The original venue was opened in October 1973 and was the largest capacity cabaret venue in the UK in the 1970s. It also hosted the World Professional Darts Championship from 1979 to 1985.
Shoom was a weekly all-nighter dance music event in London, England, between September 1987 and early 1990. It is widely credited with initiating the acid house movement in the UK. Shoom was founded by Danny Rampling, who was then an unknown DJ and record producer, and managed by his wife Jenni. It began at a 300-capacity basement gym on Southwark Street in South London. By May 1988, its growing popularity necessitated a move to the larger Raw venue on Tottenham Court Road, Central London, and a switch from Saturday to Thursday nights. Later relocations were to The Park Nightclub, Kensington and Busby's venue on Charing Cross Road.
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