The year is 1999 and I am returning to Ibiza for my third season. The White Isle still retains a certain innocence, the much loved paseta was the unit of currency, there was no internet or smartphones and the UK market dominated and controlled the dance music scene on the island. The clubbing landscape was very much organic and indigenous, the so called “industry” heads were watching the infamous Ibiza Uncovered series unfold in their teenage bedrooms, rubbing their hands with glee at the prospect of commercialising this Balearic product with manufactured DJ’s and all the pretentious, fake bullshit that accompanies that scene. The hottest ticket in clubland (£45) was Manumission on Monday nights, followed up by the Space carry on the next day. Clockwork Orange, house and trance was fashionable alongside DJ’s such as Paul Oakenfold, Judge Jules and Erick Morillo. After the mainstream success of the TV show Ibiza Uncovered and Energy 52’s classic Cafe Del Mar, the island was not such a secret anymore, witnessing the growth of its tourist market as increasing numbers of party people descended on its shores, the second wave of the Space generation migrants.
It was an iconic year in the islands rich musical heritage as DC10 opened its doors, launching the first CircoLoco parties that were designed as an after party to the 22 hour Space Home sessions that went on from 8am Sunday to 6am Monday. I remember abandoned suitcases at the front door, left there by tourists who forgot to catch their flight home, a memory captured in the dancing suitcase scene in Kevin & Perry Go Large in Ibiza movie. Danny Tenaglia was playing his famous 8 hour sets on the Space terrace, supported by a young Steve Lawler and the revered Welsh figuer of progressive trance DJ, Sasha , who was at the peak of his career, riding high on the success of the classic Northern Exposure albums, releasing the Xpander EP alongside remixes for Madonna and scoring the soundtrack for Playstations Gran Turismo video game. We were spoilt for choice when it came to music and everybody wanted you to go to their party. It was the year that MTV broadcast a Dance festival from an old quarry on the West Coast, prompting a tsunami wave of complaints from neighbouring residents that resigned its outdoor experience to the history books. Doves and Mitsubishi’s were the drugs of choice and europhic trance was the main course it was served with.
The track we feature today is from B-Tribe which continues to enjoy a cult following in Ibiza. Founded by studio wizard, German Claus Zundel, it collaborated with local talent on the Ibiza scene, notably flamenco guitarist Paco Fernandez and Italian DJ Pippi who left his Balearic influenced fingerprints all over the remix of what was originally a downtempo track. The video was shot on the narrow cobbled streets of Dalt Villa, by a production crew from Warner Music in the UK, with Pippi assisting behind the scenes. It captured the free abandon of Ibiza at the time, a sun drenched, flamboyant and welcoming island, where the back streets of La Marina and Dalt Villa, were filled with colourful and flamboyant souls full of life and free expression. At that time, B-Tribe was huge on the Balearic scene, but sadly, they have disappeared off the radar. Interestingly, there are rumours that Defected Records, under its Fourth Floor label, is considering an upcoming re-release of this track and hopefully they will capture its unique essence and feel once again.
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