Lords of Acid's
exaggeratedly sexual acid house dance music gained a cult following
with their 1990 album Lust
and its
club hits, "Rough Sex," "I Sit on Acid," and "I Must Increase My
Bust."
The late 1980s found Oliver Adams working in Belgium as
the DJ at the notoriously hip fetish club-cum-donut shop called der
Schwingle. This was the center of the cultural world in Europe at
the time. Throngs of socialites, punks, and homeless hobnobbed
and otherwise performed all other manners of eccentric behavior with
royalty, infantry, and members of the world's other oldest
profession. Every night was an adventure. And it was one
such night that found our future heroes thrown into the spin cycle of
life and being hung out to dry on the line en masse.
Nikkie Van Lierop, who had swelled to the rank of defining diva of the
European Court of Clubs, was holding court with several dozen members
of her inner circle who had come to der Schwingle to see a band called
"Channel X" in the belief that there would be some interesting music
and substances to be had. They were disappointed on neither
count. As the crowd picked their jaws up off the floor after the
set's first number, Nikkie noted with a sly grin that the leader of the
band, one Praga Khan, was packing.
The evening flew by in a whirl of music and ecstasy. Smiles,
laughs, grins, and hugs. And then the lights went down. The
music stopped. And the show was over. The encores had been
played, but the crowd was not having it. They would not be denied
more. However, the band had played their set, done their encores
and had nothing more to give. A chanting rose from the audience -
at first desirous, then demanding, and ultimately surly. Someone
screamed something to the effect of, "If they're not going to get us
more fucked up, then let's fuck THEM up!" Bottles were hurled,
tables were turned, and a melee ensued. (The word "melee" is of
Belgian origin, of course. And not without good reason.)
Ten ugly minutes later, Praga and Nikkie found themselves side by side
with Oliver, huddled beneath the DJ booth ducking a hail of
broken glass, liquids, and body parts. As the gendarmes broke in
and began to break up the evening's fun, Oliver, while knowing neither
of his two booth amigos personally, was kind enough to vouch for both
of them as being friends and having nothing to do with the matter at
hand. Due to Oliver being the DJ and a close family friend of the
Chief of Police, the threesome were subsequently escorted out of the
club and into Oliver's limousine. While cruising back to Antwerp
accompanied by the rising colors of the dawn, behind tinted windows,
drinking champagne out of Nikkie's pocketbook, they discovered they had
a lot in common. That lot became the Lords.
Khan would note in the late 90s: "In America we are being
seen as important musical innovators. Lords of Acid was the first
big
act on Astralwerks, the label that now houses all the major dance
acts.
And Lust was the very
first album to mix techno with guitar music."
Between their debut and their second album,
1994's Voodoo-U, the
group added industrial elements to their sound and became a more
straightforward, band-oriented group. At the time of their second
album, Lords of Acid
was led by Lady Galore (born Ruth Mcardle; vocals) and featured bassist
Lord T. Byron (born Frank Vloeberghs), keyboard player Shai de la Luna,
and drummer McGuinnes (born Kurt Liekens). Subsequent efforts include
1997's Our Little Secret
and 1999's Expand Your Head.
Farstucker
followed in early 2001, as well as a series of "stript" (their term)
re-releases that removed the vocals from the original albums.
sources:
www.lordsofacid.com/biography
Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide Dirk Houbrechts, The
Belgian Pop & Rock Archives
