Everything Starts with an 'E'

"Everything Starts with an 'E'" is a song by E-Zee Possee featuring vocals from MC Kinky. It is considered by many to be the anthem of the acid house movement of the late 1980s,[1] with the "E" in the title widely understood to refer to the drug Ecstasy (MDMA).[2]

"Everything Starts with an 'E'"
UK CD single
Single by E-Zee Possee featuring MC Kinky
from the album The Bone Dance
Released
  • 31 July 1989
  • 5 March 1990 (re-issue)
Recorded1989
GenreAcid house
Length
  • 3:38 (single version)
  • 7:13 (12" version)
LabelMore Protein
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
E-Zee Possee singles chronology
"Everything Starts with an 'E'"
(1989)		 "Love On Love (E-Zee Possee ft. Dr. Mouthquake)"
(1990)
Music video
"Everything Starts With An 'E'" on YouTube
E-Zee Possee singles chronology
"Love On Love"
(1990)		 "Everything Starts with an 'E'"
(1990)		 "The Sun Machine"
(1990)

The song began life as an instrumental interpretation of Jeremy Healy and Simon Rogers' idea of house music after a trip to Ibiza which upon being presented to Boy George had vocals added to it by MC Kinky, Boy George and Eve Gallagher. This vocal version charted #15 on the UK Singles Chart, and although a music video was created, it was rarely broadcast due to its controversial lyrical content.

Background

E-Zee-Possee was a group compiled by Jeremy Healy of Haysi Fantayzee fame. It uses a different vocalist for each record owing to his experiences producing the Business Mix of Boy George's "Live My Life" with extra vocals with street rapper MC Cyndee.[3]

"Everything Starts with an 'E'" was initially produced as an instrumental dance record with assorted samples by Jimi Hendrix, Lost in Space and from classical music.[3] It was written by Healy immediately after his first trip to Ibiza, where the acid house movement was in full swing, as Healy's and Rogers' interpretation of house music at the time having taken heavy inspiration from the music being played there. The title, "Everything Starts with an 'E'", originated from a Ronald McDonald LP which contained the line and was subsequently sampled in the song. Healy then presented it to Boy George, who suggested they use MC Kinky,[4] a white female raggamuffin toaster who had previously featured on his song Kipsy. She then used the song to write what according to her was an anti-drug rant.[3] Boy George and Eve Gallagher both provide backing vocals for the record.[5] It was rejected by every label George went to and eventually he opted to front the money himself,[3] pressing a thousand copies with the intent to get it played in the clubs. Its first play was in the Hacienda in Manchester,[6] and after becoming a theme for many of the raves, Virgin Records surrendered and signed the band. Although BBC Radio 1 initially banned the song due to controversial lyrical content,[7] it was performed on the Sky1 show Hits International,[5] and would later chart at #15 on the UK Singles Chart,[8] remaining the flagship for George's More Protein label[3] as well as an anthem for the entire acid house movement of the late 1980s.[1] It later appeared on E-Zee Possee's album The Bone Dance alongside follow-up singles "Love On Love", "The Sun Machine" and "Breathing Is E-Zee"[9] as well as on Now That's What I Call Music! 17.[10] After the earlier ban, the song was played on BBC stations at various times in 2010 and later.[11]

Critical reception

In 1990, David Giles from Music Week wrote, "Third release of a track that's been popular in clubs but has, as yet, failed to ignite the public's imagination. Not on patch on their recent Love On Love single; it obeys the golden rules of house too closely, right down to the chants of "ecstacy" (drug references will of course be fervently denied). Already in the 40, though, so expect a big hit this time round."[12] Looking back in 2001, Simon Cantlon of AllMusic gave the song a negative review, noting that the song "had not aged well" although conceded that the track "is considered a classic by some".[13]

Promotion and release

"Everything Starts with an 'E'" was originally released on 31 July 1989, and peaked at #69 in the UK Singles Chart, leaving the top 75 chart after only one week.[14] However, the single was re-released less than a year later, on 5 March 1990, and climbed to #15 on the UK chart.[14] It remained in the chart for eight weeks, making it the longest chart running for the band.[14]

A music video was made for the song after the song cracked the top 20. Despite this, the band were not allowed on Top of the Pops to promote it, and the song was not broadcast at the time on music video channels.[3] It features MC Kinky rapping to the song as well as Marc Massive and George Long dancing alongside her.[5]

When the song achieved mainstream success, MC Kinky didn't have a manager or an agent, and as such received many calls to her landline requesting that she perform somewhere.[15] These performances often took place in obscure locations off the M25 motorway around London, at acid house raves with "hundreds of thousands" of attendees.[16] She recalled that she often had to curl her hair in the car and put on reflective clothing inside pub toilets, and that "when the screechy guitar on 'Everything ... ' began, the crowd would roar like a football stadium." Once she had performed, she used to start dancing inside the crowd, during which she would find herself bombarded with people claiming that she had changed their lives.[15]

Track listing

PROCD 1
  1. "Everything Starts with an 'E'" (Edit) – 3:36
  2. "Everything Starts with an 'E'" (12" Mix) – 7:10
  3. "Everything Starts with an 'E'" (Sir Frederick Leighton Remix) – 7:49
  4. "Everything Starts with an 'E'" (Beats) – 6:47

PROT112
  1. "Everything Starts with an 'E'" (Renegade Soundwave Mix) – 5:23
  2. "Everything Starts with an 'E'" (Renegade Soundwave Dub) – 3:27

PROTR112
  1. "Everything Starts with an 'E'" (New 12" Mix) – 7:13
  2. "Everything Starts with an 'E'" (Instrumental) – 5:18

Release history
Country Date Label Format Catalogue number
UK 31 July 1989 More Protein/Virgin Records compact disc PROT 1
maxi single PROCD 1

Chart positions
Year Single Chart peaks
UK UK Dance[17] US Dance AUS
1989 "Everything Starts with an 'E'" 69——120
1990 "Everything Starts with an 'E'" 15——-
1996 "Everything Starts with an 'E'" —11—-

References
  1. "LengPleng biography for MC Kinky". Lengpleng.com. Archived from the original on 9 November 2013. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
  2. "Throwback Thursdays: Hip House (25 Classic Music Videos Playlist)". Okayfuture. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
  3. "Haysi Recollections". DeadorAlive.net. Archived from the original on 28 September 2013. Retrieved 9 May 2013.
  4. "Jeremy Healy". Resident Advisor. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
  5. "Feral aka Mc Kinky". Losninos.be. Archived from the original on 17 November 2015. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
  6. "Out, Volume 4, Issues 1–5". Out Pub., Incorporated. 1995: 67. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  7. "Pump Up the Volume". YouTube. Event occurs at 85:48. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
  8. "E-ZEE POSSEE". The Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
  9. The Bone Dance (Media notes). E-Zee Possee. More Protein. 1992.CS1 maint: others (link)
  10. "Now That's What I Call Music 17". Antipathti.com. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
  11. E.g.: Dave Pearce, BBC Radio 6, 21 March 2010, "Dave Pearce Meets Boy George", BBC Radio 6, 16 July 2011, Dave Pearce, BBC Radio 2, 12 May 2012, "Dave Pearce: Dance Years, 15 June 2013". BBC. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
  12. Giles, David (24 March 1990). "Singles" (PDF). Music Week. p. 21. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  13. Simon Cantlon (13 November 2001). "Lucky for Some – Boy George | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 12 May 2014.
  14. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 175. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  15. Polly Williams (15 August 1998). "E Generation: Summer of love – Life & Style". The Independent. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
  16. "Feral sound, kinky style". The Phnom Penh Post. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
  17. "Official UK Dance Singles Chart (18 February 1996-24 February 1996)". officialcharts.com. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
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