It was at this point Dougans realised that the record had achieved mainstream acceptance. As Brookes's comment in Number One suggests, he was not only willing to champion Humanoid in print, he made sure to play it regularly on his prime-time Radio 1 show. It wasn't just a hit on underground dancefloors.
A promotional tape sent to DJs in September 1988 described it as "just one of the tracks from the shoomest acid album ever produced … it's twisted!" Sure enough, when Shoom DJ Colin Faver played the promo for the first time at the legendary London acid house club, "the place just exploded", Dougans recalls. Next came a deal with Westside Records, who paid Dougans £75 for an edited version to appear on a compilation designed to cash in on the fledgling acid house craze. Dougans explains that the original record was created as the result of a collaboration with video artists Stakker Communications. Now, a quarter of a century on, it seems even harder to understand.Īway from the mainstream, the track was gaining similar plaudits on the dancefloor, something that has surprised its creator, Brian Dougans (who later formed Future Sound of London with Gaz Cobain), to this day. Mention of an uncompromising, pioneering acid house record created on a shoestring budget by a completely unknown artist in the same breath as some of Britain's most established pop acts must have jarred with Number One's teenage audience. But it's thumbs down for Rick Astley – I just don't like his voice on his newie." The Humanoid Stacker single, which I've been playing exclusively on the show is MEGA, and so is George Michael's newie. "Londonbeat are well worth watching out for in the future," began the exuberant Radio 1 DJ, "but there are some other good new singles out at the mo. Regular readers may have been surprised by Bruno Brookes's recommendation in his column Tips for the Top! We start the story with the 23 November 1988 issue of Number One magazine (Smash Hits main rival at the time). It went on to reach number 17 in the UK charts as the winter of 1988 drew in.Ī harsh, uncompromising slab of raw acid house created by a Glasgow-born part-time lecturer at Salford College of Technology, the record broke down barriers between the emerging youth movement and mainstream society. With the backing of unlikely champions such as Bruno Brookes and Pete Waterman, the record – released by a mysterious artist called Humanoid – became the first truly credible UK acid house record to break into the mainstream. Twenty-five years ago this month, a record by the name of Stakker Humanoid crashed its way into mainstream UK culture.
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