THE ORB

W.A.U!. Mr Modo was the product of like minded music freaks and lifelong friends Youth and Dr Alex Paterson setting out to celebrate and play their part in the acid house revolution sweeping the UK in the late 80s. In the process, they became two of the most well-known and lastingly influential names to emerge from the whole movement, while the label epitomises the innocence and questing spirit of the era. When Youth played bass in apocalyptic post-punk band Killing Joke, Alex was a roadie, prone to leaping onstage and singing Stooges songs in the encores. When Youth left the Joke, the pair found their musical outlooks swivelled by tapes of New York’s dance music radio stations and their jaw-dropping mastermixes. * ‘We wanted to form a label after spending 1986-87 listening to the likes of Tony Humphries’ adds Alex. The first Orb single, recorded at KLF’s Transcentral squat HQ, was a homage to KISS FM., called The Kiss EP. Meanwhile Alex and Youth started demoing a song they called ‘Little Fluffy Clouds’ [a never-before heard version which opens this compilation]. After hooking up with former Killing Joke road manager Adam Morris [aka Mr Modo], the label became known as W.A.U!. Mr Modo.

The music started flowing freely as names including STP Twentythree [Alex and Jimmy], Insync, Paradise X and Lyndsey Holloday recorded there. ‘We set about sampling our record collections and creating new music with a new vocabulary,’ recalls Youth. ‘This extended further with the Orb and KLF, where Alex's genius was soon realised by his amazing sound collage abilities, where we practically got rid of all musicians and created entire tracks from collaging other records.’

The two CDs also feature the cream of the early W.A.U. releases; a stellar collection of half-forgotten names from the acid house archives [several featuring Alex and Youth], including STP Twentythree, Eternity, Discotec 2000, Delkom, Johnson Dean, U.N.C.L.E., Paradise X, Sun Electric, Indica All Stars, Mystic Knights, Insync, Sound Iration and Zoe, with ’Sunshine On A Rainy Day’, one of the label’s biggest hits.

The recordings here can now be considered the acid house equivalent of Alan Lomax’s field blues recordings or compilations of DIY bedroom punk; snapshots of seminal moments in musical history. In many ways, acid house was like punk rock all over again; like that movement, Youth and Alex were again in the thick of it but soon out front, leaders of the field within a very short time. This is where it all started.

To accompany this celebration of the label, this must-have, collectors package includes a fold out scrap book poster of press cuttings from the time unearthed from Paterson’s personal archive as well as iconic cover art from Jimmy Cauty.