When
the first Unit club opened in Hamburg in 1989, it was embraced as an
alternative to other places that ran on tighter curfews and were
often in less central locations. Unlike Front, the pioneering club
that introduced house music to Germany—and arguably continental
dance floors—, the first Unit at Talstrasse was right in the middle
of one of one of Europe’s biggest entertainment areas, notorious red
light district around Reeperbahn, and because of this its parties
could last longer.
At
first, the music at Unit was no different to what was played
elsewhere around town—a typical post-acid house boom mix. Soon
though, the resident DJs like Gary D, Tobias Lampe and Henry, and the
booked national and international guest DJs, shifted towards techno
and later trance, and Unit became a leading light in establishing and
pushing these sounds further alongside other national mainstays in
Berlin and Frankfurt.
The
first Unit space had to close in 1994 due to increased crime in the
area, but it reopened the same year as Unit II in a temporary
location also close to Reeperbahn, before Unit III settled in an old
factory space in another district. But as the club grew bigger in
size and ambition, the crowds did not follow suit, and Unit closed
for good in 1999. We asked DJ Tobias Lampe for a list of records that
made the first Unit incarnation and his and Henry’s residency,
called Pure Energy, such a lasting memory.
A
Homeboy, A Hippie & A Funki Dredd, “Total Confusion (Heavenly
Mix)” (Tam Tam Records 1990)
“This
is one of the early anthems at the club, which I think was also
already heavily played by the first Unit DJs Pari D and Double UMF.
The early years were actually very open minded. They played a mixture
of house, hip hop, techno, even downtempo beats and a style called
hip house. And it mirrors pretty much how it was working in the UK as
well, this period when nobody at the rave had bad feelings about
having 808 State, Snap, Frankie Bones, Orbital and Guru Josh all on
the same stage.”
Foremost
Poets, “Extended Sight Version (Foresight Version)” (Nu Groove
1990)
“I
guess I first heard this magic piece when Boris Dlugosch played it at
the Front club. Hard to explain why, but it certainly always created
this magical, intense atmosphere, both at Front and at Pure Energy on
Fridays, where Henry and me played this track nearly every week. Few
other tracks can capture the feeling of the time so intensely—back
then it was led by house and techno music from London, New York City,
Chicago and Detroit. Front club was immensely influential, as well as
the Friday shopping trip to the Container Records store, which
imported all the music directly. As Boris Dlugosch played less and
less techno at Front, we tried to play and represent all facets of it
at Pure Energy, and especially techno from Detroit.”
Mental
Mayhem, “Joey’s Riot” (Atmosphere Records 1990)
“Particularly
in New York City, labels like Nu Groove and others were releasing
music that sounded like both house and techno. We celebrated exactly
these hybrid sounds and in hindsight this may have been what Hamburg
was always about. Always open-minded and somehow in between. We were
obviously trying out all kinds of sounds at that time. We played
pretty hard banging techno and early trance, but at the core of what
we played was always what we called tech-house. This prime goose bump
example of the tech-house sound we loved was produced by Joey
Beltram, who for us was one of the leading New York producers in this
field.”
Format,
“Solid Session” (ESP Records 1991)
“This
Orlando Voorn one was a what we called a Voll-Brett.
Brett means plank, it’s a term used for particularly efficient
floor fillers—we adopted this language from the Frankfurt scene.
It’s a sure shot that always makes happy faces in the club. It was
one of the obvious anthems, at least for our nights.”
The
Hypnotist, “Pioneers Of The Warped Groove” (Rising High 1991)
“We
organized bus trips from Hamburg to the first Mayday festival and
Love Parades. I still remember we spent three days setting up the
first Break The Limits Rave at Kasematten/Deichtorhallen in Hamburg,
and after we were done partying, we took down everything and then
headed towards Berlin for Mayday in a bus packed with Hamburg ravers.
Henry
and I were so exhausted that we had to cancel our Pure Energy gig
there, and instead we partied on as best as we still could. And then,
at some point, The Hypnotist got on stage, and they threw hundreds of
green glow sticks into the crowd. The lights and fog did the rest.
The
scenery at Halle Weissensee was magical, and then the music came on.
It simply blew me away how many musical influences they could bring
together. Trance was not a musical term for us then, but if you apply
it to a state of mind The Hypnotist probably was the act that nailed
it down best, particularly at that gig. Of course, we couldn’t help
it, and felt the urge to celebrate these tracks at Unit, ideally from
4 a.m. onwards.”
Ramirez,
“La Musika Tremenda (La Tormenta Mix)” (DFC 1991)
“Ramirez
produced at least two masterpieces of early tech-trance (which is
what we later called this style), and this is one of them. I do not
know how to describe it precisely, but the track had this subliminal
dirty touch, and when I hear it, I will forever think of
sweat-drenched ravers, flickering strobe lights, thick fog and the
experience of walking out into broad daylight after partying. This
track was always the one to mobilize the last reserves.”
Golden
Girls, “Kinetic (Frank De Wulf Remix)” (R&S Records 1992)
“In
this list, I’m also trying to illustrate how a lot of different
scenes and circles from different parts of the world created this
magical universe of sound we enjoyed at that time. This is a perfect
example of the influence of the Belgian sound. I still think that
Belgian and Dutch music’s influence has always been under rated.
This one was a huge and surefire banger at Unit.”
Vainqueur,
“Lyot (Maurizio Mix)” (Maurizio 1992)
“This
track is emblematic of the influences of Berlin and Detroit to our
sound. The Berlin/Detroit axis was in early progress at that time,
and we took pilgrimages to Berlin to find this sound at Hard Wax and
Delirium. We partied to it at Tresor, Teknozid and Planet, but also
at Hamburg’s Front club, before the first Unit opened. For us,
Basic Channel’s discography offered the first serious releases from
Berlin, even in terms of techno. I think we also believed Maurizio
was someone from Detroit. The minimalistic, dubbed out and darker
aspects of techno, tinged with some references to EBM, played an
important role at Unit. Actually my first night at Unit was on a
Wednesday and it was called Tekkno Club, with two k, of course. It
was more dedicated to EBM, Dark Wave and Acid, and then it opened up
to the influences from over the pond, UK, Berlin and Frankfurt.
Vapourspace,
“Gravitational Arch Of 10” (Plus 8 Records 1993)
“I
cannot recall where I first heard this, but I remember how blown away
I was. Since then, I wanted to share this feeling, and it was played
at least twice a night. I also remember we played around with
switching out the lights out and blasting the fog machine before the
kick drum came in, and it always led to incredible screams from the
dance floor. Not much later, Henry and I promoted the Plus 8 night
with Vapourspace live alongside DJ sets by Richie Hawtin and John
Acquaviva. We were pretty amazed by his analogue live set
extravaganza.”
Marmion,
“Schöneberg“ (Superstition 1993)
“Henry and I were doing the Pure Energy night every Friday at Unit. We hosted probably all the relevant names at that time, from Derrick May to Sven Väth. It was such a small scene in a few German cities in those days that we all felt a bit like family. Early friends from our rave travels to Berlin, Frankfurt and Munich were, for example, Mijk van Dijk and Marcos Lopez, who gave me this Berlin production as a demo a few days after a gig at Unit. This EP and track actually became one of the milestones of Superstition Recordings, the label I just had founded three releases ago. Especially this fourth release earned the label and both producers a huge international following. And the track is what I call a perfect combination of house and techno elements; it’s a real techno house classic.
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