Like most things in life Bugged Out wasn’t that carefully conceived. It was hastily thrown together after Paul and I were invited by Sankeys Soap in Manchester to quickly take over a failing Friday night. Sankeys’ then manager, Andrew Spiro, had been impressed with some of the parties we had thrown in 1994 for our magazine Jockey Slut. The first was called Drinking Club that was set in a pub and featured a couple of mates who called themselves the Dust Brothers (later to be the Chemical Brothers) playing some records. A run of six parties called Discopogo followed over that summer and the weekly Bugged Out was launched at Sankeys on 24th November with LFO playing live.

Initially the club was attended by a few hundred enthusiastic techno fans but within six months this had tripled. The DJ’s and artists back then included Richie Hawtin, Daft Punk, Andrew Weatherall and Slam who are all still mining the coalface of rave. In 1998 Sankeys closed and we thought that would be the end of the night, instead we were offered a monthly all-nighter at Liverpool’s 2500 capacity Nation. With three rooms to programme we approached it as if booking a little festival every month; there were more live bands, a broader musical spectrum to truly reflect Jockey Slut’s editorial but still a dedicated techno room (the much loved courtyard). On a good night you may have caught an early live appearance by Royksopp in one room, Basement Jaxx DJ’ing in another and Justin Robertson and Dave Clarke hammering it out in the courtyard.

In 1999 we sold Jockey Slut to a London publisher and moved to the capital along with it. Fabric opened around the same time and we hooked up with the Boutique for a monthly that saw queues around the block to catch DJ sets from the Chemical Brothers and Daft Punk. One person on the dance floor for Daft Punk was Erol Alkan who launched his London residency with us in 2001. There was a brief six-month spell at Heaven later that year – with DJ Hell’s Gigolo showcase featuring Miss Kittin and the Hacker heralding a sea change in dance music. Since October 2002 London’s The End has been our home and we have witnessed memorable performances from Ivan Smagghe, JoJo De Freq, Mylo, Vitalic, Tiga, Miss Kittin and Erol amongst countless others.

We’re constantly amazed at the new talent that keeps emerging in electronic music, each year there are new tunes to cherish and new artists to champion. But, for once, we are having a look back for this, our first retrospective. Bugged Out Classics summarises some of our favourite tracks that have made Bugged Out so special. From 1993 Slam’s classic `Positive Education’, through to Green Velvet’s `Flash’ and Wink’s `Higher State of Consciousness’, to the more recent `Who’s Afraid Of Detroit’ by Claude Von Stroke, and the massive `We Are Your Friends’ by Justice Vs Simian. Bugged Out are also pleased to provide some `first to CD’ exclusive tracks courtesy of The Chemical Brothers and LFO. Here comes the music!

CD01

1. Franz Ferdinand- Do You Want To (Erol Alkan Remix)
2. Soulwax- Krack
3. Justice Vs Simian- We Are Your Friends
4. Mylo- Drop The Pressure
5. Digitalism- Pogo (On The Road To Paris Version)
6. Alter Ego- Rocker
7. Justice- Waters Of Nazareth
8. Simian Mobile Disco- Hustler
9. Tomas Andersson- Washing Up (Tiga Mix)
10. Vitalic- My Friend Dario
11. Gabriel Ananda- Ihre Personliche Glucksmelodie
12. Solid Groove- This is Sick
13. Claude Von Stroke- Who’s Afraid of Detroit
14. Ellen Allien & Apparat- Way Out
15. Lindstrom- I Feel Space

CD02

1. The Chemical Brothers- Electronic Battle Weapon 7
2. Felix Da Housecat- Silver Screen Shower Scene
3. Miss Kittin & The Hacker- Stock Exchange
4. LCD Soundsystem- Tribulations (Tiga’s Out Of The Trance Closet Mix)
5. Fischerspooner- Emerge
6. Tiga- Burning Down (London’s Burning)
7. Freeform Five- Perspex Sex (Ewan Pearson’s Hi NRG Remix)
8. Black Stobe- Inner Strings
9. Kiki Silversurfer- Wasp
10. Funk D’Void- Diabla
11. Mathew Jonson- Ultra Violet Dream
12. Nathan Fake- The Sky Was Pink (Holden Remix)
13. Justin Robertson presents Revtone- Love Movement (Ulrich Schnauss Remix)

CD03

1. Stardust- Music Sounds Better With You
2. Alan Braxe & Fred Falke- Intro
3. Hatiras- Spaced Invader
4. Christopher Just- I’m a Disco Dancer
5. Zombie Nation- Kernkraft 400 (Dave Clarke Remix)
6. Green Velvet- Flash
7. Midfield General- Coatnoise (Dave Clarke Mix)
8. Slam- Positive Education
9. I-F- Spaced Invaders Are Smoking Grass
10. Wink- Higher State of Consciousness (Orginal Tweekin Acid Funk Mix)
11. Daft Punk- Da Funk
12. LFO- Tied Up (Cheeky Monkey Slut Mix)
13. The Chemical Brothers- Chemical Beats
14. 69- Desire