Investigative Study – Introduction

In modern British society have young people lost touch with the traditional religious experience and to what extent has music, in particular rave culture, replaced it?

Music has always played a large part in culture, especially in modern times with advancements in technology and the ease with which it has become to spread and communicate music to a worldwide audience. Music has had many cultural and societal uses and meanings throughout history, and is still seen to have a euphoric atmosphere in whatever form its in today. Historically religion has always been a central focus in any culture, the Greeks had a god of music, Apollo (Encyclopaedia Mythica – http://www.pantheon.org/areas/gallery/mythology/ europe/greek/apollo.html), and Tribal cultures like Santeria revolve around music and dancing (BBC Religions – http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/santeria/ritesrituals/rituals.shtml). It still does in many of today’s cultures, however the modern western world appears to have lost touch with its religious roots and people have looked for other ‘groups’ to belong to ever since. With the rise of social activities such as music and sports, people have much more to identify with in modern society. Potentially this means many ideals we used to live by are forgotten, and have been replaced with new ones suited to ourselves as individuals.

It’s a basic human instinct to want to belong to something, to feel part of a group, or to disassociate from another group, either way we as humans need to belong (Fiske, S.T. (2004). Before the Industrial Revolution, which had a profound effect on social and cultural lifestyles in England (Wikipedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_Revolution) there was not as much choice, religion was central to peoples existence, but with the introduction of media, technology and machinery life has drastically changed, as even recognised reverends acknowledge:

‘When I asked the Reverend David Edwards, author of over thirty books on modern Christianity, for his assessment of the state of spirituality in England, he just told me bleakly that ‘The English have lost any sense of what religion is’. (Jeremy Paxman – The English 1998 – sourced from http://www.vexen.co.uk/UK/religion.html#SecularCulture)

There are new sections of society that as individuals we can fully associate ourselves with, more intricate ways to brand ourselves and unique ways to belong. I am particularly interested in the rave scene because of the society it creates around itself, all over the world people support the ‘scene’ or ‘community’, following it wherever it may go, devoting time and effort all for the love of the music and the sense of absorption in the larger experience.

Through this essay I plan to look at the way music has affected our outlook on life and social identity, the evolution of rave culture and how it has changed our perceptions of spirituality. There are definite similarities to modern music events and historic tribal behaviour, a constant thumping rhythm for people to dance to, a gathering of people all focused on a central point, dressed up in theme; all high from dancing and having a good time. It all ties back to the basic human need for socialising and belonging, raving for those who choose to participate acts as a way of fulfilling senses of spirituality and community, instincts that will always be with us in whatever we chose to believe in.

‘It was wonderful to see al these different people coming together through music, dance and psychedelics. We had some very profound group experiences’. (Gena Womack quoted in Trance Formation (2005))

Investigative Study – The Tribal Experience

For century’s traditional tribal experiences have practiced many ideals and customs still common at today’s raves. The Hopi Indians of North-Eastern Arizona still dance as a form of worship, retaining most of their original forms and the most important aspect, the significance (Encyclopaedia Britannica – http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/150714/dance/25712/Tribal-dance#ref=ref392757). Raves are just an extension of tribal spirituality at their basic, core fundamentals in a modern, digital environment.

‘I had walked into a different world…without judgement or fear…I was in a sea of six hundred radiant souls putting into practice five thousand years of religious and philosophical hypothesis. Beyond the conceptual world of ideas and dogma this was a direct experience of tribal spirituality practiced by our ancestors…my experience that night changed my life for the better’. (Fritz 1999 – Rave Culture and Religion)

But it’s not all about the intoxicated state or pounding beat, it’s the sense of community and togetherness felt only when in large groups all reaching a crescendo at the same time. A sense of belonging, of brotherhood that bonds you together with the next guy even though you’ve never met and come from completely different places, you just know that at that moment there’s no other place you’d rather be. And that sense of togetherness and community has been practiced for generations and is appreciated in full by ravers today:

‘Ravers highly value ancient, indigenous cultures, viewing them as repositories of wisdom and models for living in harmony with the earth and with spirit worlds’. (Sylvan, R. (2005) Trance Formation)

Many forms of modern dance music take influences from tribal drum patterns and riffs. Sambass (Sambass – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sambass), a sub-genre of Drum and Bass, is derived from Brazilian cultural music, and there are many forms of Tribal House around. A hardcore track from 2007, Here Come the Drums by Dougal (listen to audio on YouTube – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNiZxFzMwqs), used tribal style percussion throughout the track, and became a popular tune with both DJ’s and ravers, just going to show the influence tribal behaviour, if not most spiritual and religious backgrounds, still has on today’s raves.

‘Raves draw from a variety of different religious influences, from Hindu to Native American, Mayan to shamanic, neopagan to Christian, and combine them all together in a hodgepodge hybrid’ (Sylvan, R. (2005) Trance Formation)

Investigative Study – Decline of Christianity in England

As I’m focusing on rave culture in the England, I shall look at the history behind and decline of religion within our society. England has always been a predominantly Christian/Catholic country, which over the years has adapted to an expanding society by accommodating every church or religious movement. From the first evidence of Christianity in the late 2^nd Century AD right up to today’s modern world, we as Human Beings need to feel a sense of belonging and community to flourish.

To understand why the traditional religious experiences are becoming less widely practiced we have to look at its rise and fall from popularity. Christianity was first introduced to England during the occupation by the Romans, and although they didn’t agree with it, they granted freedom of worship. When Roman Britain collapsed, Saxons, Angles and Jutes invaded and slowly conquered England, and Christianity all but vanished, apart from Wales where it thrived, slowly spreading to Ireland then converting Scotland, forming the Celtic Church. It was a combination of the Celtic and Roman Churches that finally converted the Saxons, and by the end of the 7^th Century the majority of England was Christian (A Brief History of Christianity in England – http://www.localhistories.org/christian.html).

In 1534, when a divide between the Pope and the English monarchy erupted and finally split the Church, Henry VIII formed the Church of England (The History of the Church of England – http://www.cofe.anglican.org/about/history/). Essentially it was the same as Roman Catholicism, although English bibles and services became open to the general public, no doubt spreading its popularity further.

Throughout the 17^th Century religion caused many clashes between King and Parliament. Religion then was far more important then it is today, by law everyone had to belong to the Church. Power struggles continued until the Bill of Rights was written in 1689 (Wikipedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_of_Rights_1689) declared that no Roman Catholic could become King or Queen.

In the 19^th Century, Britain was being transformed by the Industrial Revolution, and by 1881 two thirds of the population had moved into industrial areas. In the same year (1881) a survey  shows only a third of the population attended church on a Sunday (A Brief History of Christianity in England – http://www.localhistories.org/christian.html). Although organised religion was in freefall, people didn’t stop believing in faith, they just stopped going to church. Spiritual interest is still strong today, we just experience it in new, different ways, rave culture being just one of them:

‘And lets face it, many of us have had deeper religious experiences at a full moon rave or a good night at a club than we ever had in Church’. (Gris 2000 – Rave Culture and Religion)

In a 2001 consensus, less than half the population of Britain believed in God, yet 72% said they were Christian, and 66% had no connection to a Church at all (Religion in the United Kingdom – http://www.vexen.co.uk/UK/religion.html#SecularCulture). This shows that although the general public may not choose to believe in God, they feel the need to belong still. I can understand this, I was bought up Roman Catholic, and although I don’t choose to follow it I still class myself as Roman Catholic. Below is a table that shows the decline of people belonging to a religion:

1964    1970    1983    1992   2005

Belong to a Religion         74%     71%    55%     37%   31%

Does not belong                 3%      5%     26%     31%   38%

(Source – British Social Attitudes (2006-07) Religion in the United Kingdom – http://www.vexen.co.uk/UK/religion.html#SecularCulture)

With figures like this it’s hard to ignore the signs that traditional religious experiences are declining in British society. More than anything we choose to belong for peace of mind, so if all else goes wrong we have somewhere to turn in our time of need. But apart from that we lead experimental lives focused on exploring different lifestyle choices from a wide range of cultural diversities until we find that thing that really makes us feel part of something, as explained by Robert Webber in The Created Self:

‘Insofar as culture is important in the creation of the self, we no longer select from one setting but a mix of world cultures. Traditional moorings like religion have also broken loose. For many of us there is no longer a central religious authority in control. Instead we choose religion, if at all, like culture – a piece of this and a piece of that to sculpt our spiritual selves as we go’. (Webber, R.J. (2000) The Created Self)

Investigative Study – Introduction of Black Culture to Britain

Apart from the decline of religion in England and the impact that had on peoples need for spirituality, when looking at the emergence of Rave culture in Britain I cannot ignore the impact black culture played on the scene in its early days, mainly in terms of music and lifestyle. Without this explosion of culture from the 1950’s onwards the rave scene simply would not be the same, as without Reggae, Black music and culture, Jungle may not have been invented (Bradley, L. (2001) – Bass Culture) and that formed the basic structure of rave music as we know it today.

One of the most notable introductions was the first group of immigrants to arrive in London in 1948 aboard the MV Empire Windrush (British African-Caribbean Community – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_African-Caribbean_community). Although many only intended to stay a few years, the majority stayed. After time this was met by intolerance from certain areas of society, causing clashes and riots throughout the 1950’s. In West London, the Caribbean community created the Notting Hill carnival as a positive response to the violence, something most agreed with, as popular actress Josephine Baker states ‘Surely the day will come when colour means nothing more than the skin tone, when religion is seen uniquely as a way to speak one’s soul’ (http://ezinearticles.com/?14-Music-Quotes-for-Black-History-Month&id=457877). In 1962 Britain passed the Commonwealth Immigrations Act (Wikipedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_Immigrants_Act_1962), which restricted entry to those with work permits and parents born in the U.K, but by now Black culture had rooted in Britain.

As widespread unemployment and the recession hit the entire U.K. through the 70’s and 80’s, the black community especially were plunged into poverty, and discrimination began to rise. William Whitelaw, the Home Secretary of the time, commissioned the Scarman report (Wikipedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarman_report) to find the route of the troubles, which highlighted ‘racial discrimination and disadvantages’ and the need for change in Britain. This discrimination and racial tension still influences black, and white, music artists even today, especially within Hip Hop and Rap.

Black culture bought with it it’s own religious practices, and many chose to continue these, like Seventh Day Baptism, Pentecostalism and Rastafarianism, as well as supporting new churches which act as social centres for the surrounding community. It played a pivotal role in establishing gospel choirs like the London Community Gospel Choir, and has now spread beyond black culture into everyday British life. Music plays a large part in the Black church, and key influential figures like Martin Luther King publicly talk about its links to religion:

‘I have no pleasure in any man who despises music. It is no invention of ours: it is a gift of God. I place it next to theology. Satan hates music: he knows how it drives the evil spirit out of us’. (Martin Luther – http://www.famous-quotes-and-quotations.com/music-quote.html)

However, underneath the religious and social side of black culture a movement was stirring, and with the help of underground pirate radio stations, black music like Dancehall, Ska and Reggae began to make an impact whilst giving the community something to get involved in. They celebrated a mixture of black music, and quickly became popular in all of Britons cultural origins. One of the earliest black music artists, ‘Lord Kitchener’ (British African-Caribbean Community – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_African-Caribbean_community), from the original ‘Windrush’ generation, was immediately booked in the only West Indian Club in London and before long was performing in large show houses and music halls. Black and white musicians began working with each other, creating new, exciting jazz/calypso fusions.

But it wasn’t until the 1960’s when Jamaican music styles reached Britain did black music really start to make an impact on the British music scene. The success of Jamaican and Ska artists inspired young British Afro-Caribbean’s to add their own influences to the music, and soon new sub-genres and sound systems were being pioneered by a new generation wanting to further what their ancestors had started. The phenomenon that was Bob Marley transformed the black British music industry, and his association with Rastafarianism influenced scores of young British Afro-Caribbean’s to unearth their true roots. Although other forms of black music played their part in the development of Britain’s music scene, Reggae was the most influential.

By the mid 1980’s, British music artists were incorporating American Hip Hop and House styles, which began the shaping of Britain’s dance music culture. With technological and digital advancements, an explosion of musical styles was born, taking influence from Jamaican dancehall through to European techno. Afro-Caribbean’s were at the forefront of the Jungle and Drum and Bass scenes, with artists like Goldie and Shy FX pushing the scene and inspiring new talent, and have influenced many new forms of rave music like Hardcore and Dubstep, although all of these still take their original roots from black music culture in one way or another.

Investigative Study – Social Identities

Social Identity is a theory created to understand the psychological basis of inter-group relationships and is based around 4 main elements:

• Categorisation: we often categorise ourselves and our peers based on their beliefs, dress sense, even the way they talk.
• Identification: we also associate ourselves with groups and movements we share interests in, boosting our self-esteem.
• Comparison: we compare our groups with others, seeking out positive bias towards groups in which we belong to justify our choices.
• Psychological Distinctiveness: we desire our identities to be positively compared with and different from other groups. (Wikipedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_identity)

Social Identity involves both the sociological and psychological aspects of group behaviour, and how individuals react to one another. There are two main aspects that contribute to this, personality traits (personal identity) and traits influenced by lifestyle choices (social identity), of which rave culture utilises both and creates an environment to develop them in:

‘Far from being a mindless form of crass hedonism, as some commentators suggest, clubbing is for many both a source of extraordinary pleasure and a vital context for the development of personal and social identities’. (Malbon 1999 – Rave Culture and Religion)

Many people have multiple identities to fit in with their surrounding environment, we react differently around certain people for fear of being disliked, where as in smaller, closer social circles we can act ourselves more comfortably. This is one factor that makes raving what it is to so many people, even though there are hundreds of people gathered around you, you feel like you know everyone and there is a comforting, vibrant atmosphere which enables you to feel free and be yourself. This feeling of unification has been bought up countless times in accounts of rave experiences:

‘With the rave experience, intellectual processes are overridden as you surrender to the music and experience a sense of brotherhood and camaraderie and a feeling of unification. You become connected on a molecular level to everyone and everything. All is well with the world’. (John, G. St. (2004) – Rave Culture and Religion)

Almost every choice we make separates us into pockets of society, from what job you have to what sport you choose to follow or what music you listen to. The communities and social networks we associate ourselves with and belong too define who we are. Our sense of belonging is built up over years of inclusion, or exclusion, from certain social circles depending on choices we make. This sense of belonging and identity is essential in building character and a personality for social interaction within a community. Music is just one way of expressing individual identity:

‘She identifies how important music is in the individual’s own expressions of their identity and how central music is in the structuring of everyday contemporary life’. (Ruth Finnegan 1989 – Music, Space and Place)

Most people’s sense of belonging relates to their family and friends lifestyle choices and hobbies, most likely because it’s easier to create a bond with someone you share common interests with, and it’s through these encounters we meet new people and make new relationships. Because of this, traditional methods of belonging like religion, class and race are no longer such an issue when getting to know someone, more so the setting and environment within which you are meeting them in, and raves provide the perfect place to create this in:

‘And, last but not least, raves provide a sense of community, a cultural identity, and an alternative social structure that exists in the ‘real world’ outside of the rave’. (Sylvan, R. (2005) Trance Formation)

Investigative Study – Religious Experience of Rave

‘There’s a bunch of people dancing to a new kind of music, but it isn’t just dancing because what they’ve discovered is that they’ve learned how to make God’. (Douglas Rushkoff (2004) – Rave Culture and Religion)

Rave music started in the 1980’s and derived from early trance and jungle, and essentially mixed loud music with bright lights to create a euphoric atmosphere, more often than not contributed to by chemical substances. Nevertheless the rave scene has one important slogan ‘PLUR’, Peace, Love, Unity and Respect.

Rave became popular in Manchester in clubs like the Hacienda (The Hacienda History – http://www.factoryrecords.net/thehacienda/history.htm) and later spread to London and beyond, attracting thousands of people to every event. They were all after one thing, a new, life changing experience. Pretty soon raving was seen as anti-social behaviour and made illegal. This pushed raves out into the countryside and disused industrial buildings, and ultimately helped their popularity as it was seen to be acting against the authority, an important part of youth culture (The Independent – http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/features/unordinary-people-a-celebration-of-british-youth-culture-1668559.html).

By the mid 90’s the scene had split into many sections, causing most of the original ravers to leave the scene, and soon new, legal events like Helter Skelter began to flourish, introducing a whole new generation of ravers to a rapidly growing rave culture. The best nights quickly gathered followings, largely gained from word of mouth after partygoers experiencing such a good time.

By the end of the 90’s the rave phenomenon had spread to almost every town and area of England, and big scenes started sprouting up in London, Bristol, Birmingham and Brighton, in fact anywhere with a good base for youth culture. What made them so appealing was the stories of intense dance floor experiences and feelings of immense trance like ‘meditative’ states, induced by the continuous heavy beats with no real beginning or end, hypnotizing the ravers into hours of collective, shared rhythmic dance.

‘An exciting new study has emerged that draws on new technologies in brain imaging that have led to new research in brain science confirming the unique capacity of music to transform consciousness and induce powerful religious experiences’. (Sylvan, R. (2005) Trance Formation)

This, I’m sure, is something any raver would tell you in an instant. Hours spent in a deep trance, immersed by the music and atmosphere, dancing away, forgetting all of life’s troubles and worries for that prolonged, energetic experience that fulfils your inner need for spirituality. A basic human instinct being bought to life in a modern setting. As well as loud music and light shows, video has recently been introduced to the experience, and can play a large part in gathering energy to accompany the music or deepening the trance like states. MC’s also act to ‘hype’ the crowd, building up the crescendos and interacting directly with the audience. There is something strangely ‘preacher’ like about MC’s, they certainly have a huge influence over the crowd and how it reacts to the tunes being dropped.

Under the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, the definition of music played at a rave was given as:

‘Music includes sounds wholly or predominantly characterised by the emission of a succession of repetitive beats’ (Office for Public Sector Information – http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1994/ukpga_19940033_en_8#pt5-pb2)

I find this interesting, as one of the main, early roots of rave culture was tribal culture, something I would describe as incorporating repetitive beats in its rituals and ceremonies. So does this mean onlookers look at rave like a basic form of tribal culture or only the ravers? Either way it is certainly the repetitive, pounding music that has consistently been highlighted as one of the main benefactors in religious raving experiences.

‘Ecstasy. Not a drug, a feeling. Overpowering, almost overwhelming joy. Better than life. It is life, the love of living…a religious experience; God has come down from the heavens to give YOU a hug. Heaven is here, now and forever’. (Parsons (2004) – Rave Culture and Religion)

Ravers usually report feelings of love, ecstasy, unity and joy after an event, and this is the main goal of the rave; to create an experience to remember. Its no coincidence Ecstasy is the choice of drug for ravers, as it induces feelings of bliss, joy and happiness, feelings transformed when in the environment of a rave. It creates feelings of unity and connection between people who’ve never met, and can start life long bonds between people. All these elements working together, the music, the community, the euphoria, act to enhance the religious and spiritual journey gained from the rave experience felt by so many worldwide.

‘The connection between music, spirituality and religion is so widespread as to be nearly universal’. (Sylvan, R. (2005) Trance Formation)

Investigative Study – Conclusion

So it’s quite clear to see the traditional religious experiences practiced in Britain not more than 100 years ago have declined in popularity immensely, and although they are not dead and are still being practiced around the world, they do not bear the same significance and importance on a large section of society like they used to. New forms of media and entertainment give us exciting and innovative ways of identifying ourselves, and help us belong to communities specific to our own interests and beliefs, creating bonds and relationships between peers for life, something that has been duly noted academically:

‘As scholars of NRM’s (New Religious Movements) have recognised, modern consumer cultures are therefore ideal hosts for the formation of sects, cults and other NRM’s. This is why we are currently witnessing cultural and religious diversity and experimentation perhaps unprecedented in human history’. (John, G. St. (2004) – Rave Culture and Religion)

The introduction of rave culture has merely acted to fill a void left by modern society in peoples need for a sense of spirituality and religious fulfilment. Although there are many other modern consumer cultures that make ideal hosts for NRM’s (sports, fashion etc), rave culture is by far the one that utilises the most human senses, transforming the body and mind into an altered state of being, making it the closest to a proper religious experience. It’s certainly the one I feel could easily become a new religion, and I’m sure most ravers would tell you it already is, for many it is their primary source of spiritual experiences:

‘For thousands of ravers worldwide, raves are one of their primary sources of spirituality and the closest thing they have to a religion’. (Sylvan, R. (2005) Trance Formation)

So what is it about it that makes it so special for so many people worldwide? Is it the continuous, repetitive pounding beat, the overwhelming sense of joy and community or the intoxication of all senses, more often than not influenced by mind-altering substances? Or is it a combination of all three? As I’ve already indicated, music acts as a powerful way of inducing religious experiences, and from accounts of every raver the sense of connectedness and acceptance by the entire crowd goes a long way to making people comfortable in their surroundings. From personal experience I would definitely say the general sense of community, the meaningful spiritual experiences and the immersion in the music are the most powerful tools of a rave, and have always made me feel part of and accepted within the culture.

‘Though I find this ‘rave-as-empty-of-disappearance’ thesis both plausible and informative, it is incomplete because it ignores the poignant and meaningful spiritual experiences that ravers say they get from raves’. (Hutson (2004) – Rave Culture and Religion)

Investigative Study – Bibliography

Sylvan, R. (2005). Trance Formation. Great Britain: Routledge.

John, G. St. (2004) Rave Culture and Religion. Great Britain: Routledge.

Webber, R.J. (2000). The Created Self. United States of America: Norton.

Bradly, L. (2001). Bass Culture: When Reggae Was King. England: Clays Ltd.

Whiteley, S., Bennett, A. and Hawkins, S. (2004). Music, Space and Place: Popular Music and Cultural Identity. England: Ashgate Publishing.

Pantheon. (n.d.) Apollo. Encyclopedia Mythica. [Online] Available from:

http://www.pantheon.org/areas/gallery/mythology/europe/greek/apollo.html [Accessed 19^th November 2009]

BBC. (n.d.) Religions – Santeria. [Online] Available from:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/santeria/ritesrituals/rituals.shtml [Accessed 19^th November 2009]

Fiske, S.T. (2004). Belongingness. [Online] Wikipedia. Available from:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Need_to_belong#cite_ref-Fiske.2C_S.T._2004_0-1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Need_to_belong#cite_ref-Fiske.2C_S.T._2004_0-2 [Accessed 19^th November 2009]

Wikipedia. (n.d.) Industrial Revolution. [Online] Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_Revolution [Accessed 13th January 2010]

Crabtree, V. (2007) Religion in the United Kingdom: Diversity, Trends and Decline. [Online] Available from: http://www.vexen.co.uk/UK/religion.html#SecularCulture [Accessed 28^th November 2009]

Encyclopaedia Britannica. (n.d.) Tribal Dance. [Online] Available from: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/150714/dance/25712/Tribal-dance#ref=ref392757 [Accessed 6^th January 2010]

Wikipedia. (n.d.) Sambass. [Online] Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sambass [Accessed 13th January 2010]

YouTube. (n.d.) Dougal – Here Come the Drums. [Online] Audio available from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNiZxFzMwqs [Accessed 11^th January 2010]

Lambert, T. (n.d) A Brief History of Christianity in England. [Online] Available from: http://www.localhistories.org/christian.html [Accessed 28th November 2009]

The Church of England. (n.d.) The History of the Church of England. [Online] Available from: http://www.cofe.anglican.org/about/history/ [Accessed 13^th January 2010]

Wikipedia. (n.d.) Bill of Rights 1689. [Online] Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_of_Rights_1689 [Accessed 13th January 2010]

Wikipedia. (n.d.) Black African-Caribbean Community. [Online] Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_African-Caribbean_community [Accessed 28th November 2009]

Ezine Articles. (n.d.) 14 Music Quotes for Black History Month. [Online] Available from: http://ezinearticles.com/?14-Music-Quotes-for-Black-History-Month&id=457877 [Accessed 11^th December 2009]

Wikipedia. (n.d.) Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962. [Online] Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_Immigrants_Act_1962 [Accessed 13th January 2010]

Wikipedia. (n.d.) Scarman Report. [Online] Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarman_report [Accessed 13th January 2010]

Famous Quotes and Quotations. (n.d.) Top Ten List of Music Quotes. [Online] Available from: http://www.famous-quotes-and-quotations.com/music-quote.html [Accessed 11th December 2009]

Wikipedia (n.d.) Social Identity. [Online] Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_identity [Accessed 28th November 2009]

McCready, J. (1997) The Hacienda History. [Online] Available from: http://www.factoryrecords.net/thehacienda/history.htm [Accessed 13th January 2010]

The Independent. (2009) Unordinary People: A celebration of British youth culture. [Online] Available from: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/features/unordinary-people-a-celebration-of-british-youth-culture-1668559.html [Accessed 13th January 2010]

Office for Public Sector Information. (n.d.) Public Order: Collective Trespass or Nuisance on Land. [Online] Available from: http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1994/ukpga_19940033_en_8#pt5-pb2 [Accessed 13^th January 2010]

Investigative Study – Timeline

23rd October	Finalisation of idea.	7
30th October	Research, introduction.	7
6th November	Research, start first draft.	8
13th November	Research, work on first draft.	8
20th November	Research, hand in first draft.	8
27th November	Research, work on final draft.	7
4th December	Research, work on final draft.	7
11th December	Research, work on final draft.	7
13th December	Research, work on final draft.	7
15th December	Research, work on final draft.	8
17th December	Research, work on final draft.	8
18th December	Research, work on final draft.	8
20th December	Research, work on final draft.	7
22nd December	Research, work on final draft.	7
27th December	Research, work on final draft.	7
29th December	Research, work on final draft.	8
2nd January	Research, work on final draft.	7
3rd January	Research, work on final draft.	8
5th January	Research, work on final draft.	8
7th January	Research, finish final draft.	8
8th January	Hand in.	150

Research books

So for both the Specialist and Investigative projects I am looking at roughly the same topics, and after a good chat with our course librarian Alan Turner, I found some rather interesting books on the specific subjects that were not available in the library and so I had to buy. The do all look like a good read though:

Bass Culture: When Reggae was King by Lloyd Bradley

Rave Culture and Religion by Graham St John

Trance Formation by Robin Sylvan