my first holiday without my parents, ibiza 1994. booked four months in advance, which was cutting it fine in those pre t’internet days. booked-it-packed-it-fucked-off did exist via teletext but i didn’t have the time or patience for that. it was marketed to my parents as my post a-level reward. i at least remember pretending to study for my gcses on the beach with about 20 friends. i quite literally turned up for the exams this time round.
anyway, half of my college evidently pulled the same line and it became less of a holiday and more of an extended friday night out in the pub, and er, in another country. all the cliches were there – of the seven of us on holiday together, one person brought cornflakes and milk in case they didn’t sell them in spain, and one person arrived with about seventy condoms her mum insisted she pack. ten each!
i think i may well have taken every item of clothing, makeup and pair of shoes i owned and the result was a case that weighed more than i probably did at the time. i’ll never be able to say that again. i also learnt that you can’t fry chips in a pan from frozen and that hairbrushes do not make good can openers.
we did the usual £30 a pop nights out at amnesia, space and ku – you could get cheaper tickets if you befriended the girls who worked in the camera shop. es paradis was so refreshing after smoky, carpet on the walls local clubs, and i didn’t even mind falling off a podium in kaoos, as i was caught in a giant sombrero.
some of the nights out i really remember though, are the smaller, cheesier clubs in the west end. play2, night life, extasis and koppas. small, hot, full of locals and you could get pissed on a hundred pesetas. i have no idea what that is in euros. those big bottles of teichenne schnapps cost about £2 out there you know…
this was just before it blew up. it was underground but inclusive, and when i returned two years later it had changed beyond recognition. i find myself saying this a lot lately, i wouldn’t be want to be younger now, and therefore have missed it, for the world.
find out what happened in 1996 and also check out the earlier balearic years.
download here
cool jack – just come
ot quartet – hold that sucker down
blast – crayzy man
alex party – saturday night party
loveland – let the music lift you up
atlantic ocean – waterfall
livin’ joy – dreamer
floorjam – stone age
jx – son of a gun
spacemaster – jumping to the party
tall paul – rok da house
massive – heaven in mind
subliminal cuts – le voie le soleil
donna giles/klatsch – and i’m telling you
k klass – let me show you
original – i love you baby
screen ii – hey mr dj
helicopter – on ya way
alison limerick - love come down
pianoman – blurred
hed boys – girls and boys
movin’ melodies – la luna
bobby brown – two can play that game
