The Second Summer of Love

The story of the birth of acid house and dance music and club culture in the UK - as told by the men and women who made it happen.

In 1987, four friends from London, Paul Oakenfold, Danny Rampling, Nicky Holloway and Johnny Walker, took a week-long holiday to Ibiza. What they saw there, and brought back home, would give rise to a new global music and counterculture movement.

As the eighties drew to their close, with Thatcherism holding the nation tight in its grip, something funny was happening right across the jungle of Britain's nightlife scene. People were dressing down, not up, to go to clubs. And they were dancing right through the night armed seemingly with only bottles of water. Ecstasy and acid house music had arrived on British shores, and a tribal battle between for the moral future of the nation, between the youth and the establishment, had begun.

In The Second Summer of Love, author and dance music promoter Alon Shulman uses exclusive contributions from the world's biggest DJs, including Paul Oakenfold, Carl Cox, Fatboy Slim, Moby, Faithless, Mr C, Farley & Heller, Danny Rampling and many others to faithfully recreate the story of the summers of 1988 and 1989, and chart the birth and rise of Acid House, dance music and club culture right through to the modern day where dance music has become a culturally dominant global industry.

Complete with stunning unseen photographs, this is the first authentic account of what really happened in that glorious period - from the politics and the people to the music, the drugs, the fashion and the culture - told by people who were there, as they bring to life the creation of an underground scene which inadvertently altered the course of modern global youth culture forever.

About the Author

Alon Shulman started out as a jazz and funk DJ in London's West End at the dawn of the Second Summer of Love, and has since gone on to become a multi-award-winning festival, club and live experience promoter and producer who has worked with many of the world's biggest DJs and live acts. Utilising his vision and expertise, he acts as special advisor to artists, individuals, brands and organisations. Owner of the pioneering dance music brand Universe™, Alon specializes in creating unique, entertainment-driven experiences. He lives in London with his wife and three children.