A Guy Called Gerald honoured with blue plaque for ‘Voodoo Ray’

A Guy Called Gerald has received a blue plaque honouring his achievements in “Producing the first acid house track in the UK,” as reported via the artist’s Instagram.

Yesterday (October 2), the acid house pioneer, AKA Gerald Simpson, posted a photograph of himself holding the commemorative sign, which reads “Breaking Beats”; it is still unknown where the plaque is located.

The post’s caption reads: “I would like to thank my ancestor and all who support my journey.”

The Mancunian producer created ‘Voodoo Ray’ in 1988, credited as the “first British acid house track” due to its use of the Roland TB303 drum machine to make a characteristic ‘squelch’ noise – first pioneered by Chicago’s DJ Pierre on his ‘Acid Tracks’.

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First recorded at home as an experiment, Simpson took the track to Moonraker Studios in Manchester where it was put to record and taken to the iconic record store Spin Inn.

“The very first pressing, we did 500 and it sold out straight away, so they went straight to re-press,” Simpson told Red Bull Music Academy in 2017.

From there, the record became an instant hit, played regularly at Machester’s The Haçienda and soundtracking the Second Summer of Love in 1989.

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It spent 18 weeks on the UK Singles Chart, eventually reaching number 12, and was awarded best-selling independent single of 1989 by Music Week and the British Phonographic Industry.

Prior to ‘Voodoo Ray’, Simpson was part of electronic music group 808 State alongside Graham Massey and Martin Price. The trio met at Manchester record shop Eastern Bloc and formed the band in 1987, releasing their hit song ‘Pacific State’ in 1989.

‘Pacific State’ is also considered an early acid house anthem, remaining in the UK Singles Chart for 11 weeks and peaking at number 10.

Read this next: A Guy Called Gerald says he hasn’t been paid for ‘Voodoo Ray’

Simpson left the group just before the track was released to embark on his solo project as A Guy Called Gerlad. Under this moniker the renowned producer moved into breakbeat production, laying the groundwork for the sounds of jungle and drum ‘n’ bass with his acclaimed independent label Juice Box Records.

In 2021, the artist released a statement via Facebook saying that he had not “made one penny from sales of Voodoo Ray or the Hot Lemonade LP which were released on Rham Records”.

He launched a fundraiser campaign that same year to fund his legal fight over the unpaid royalties, eventually raising over £20,000.

Read this next: A Guy Called Gerald launches crowdfund to fight ‘Voodoo Ray’ royalties battle

In the details to the fundraiser, Simpson explains: “As ‘Voodoo Ray’ raced to No. 12 in the charts, I had to live in a squat, work at McDonalds and give interviews out of phone boxes. Yet the guys running the label, selling my music, never paid me a single penny for my part in the label’s success.”

He goes on to say how some years later, in 2019, the former assistant at Rham! rebooted the label and uploaded his music to Spotify without permission or paying royalties.

Meena Sears is Mixmag’s Digital Intern, follow her on Instagram