Raving News 1999

FEBRUARY 1999 NEWSI.ETTER

Happy New Year to everyone. Just dropping von a line with our first Newsletter of the year, A big shout out to the thousands that celebrated the end of 1998 & the beginning of 1999 with Helter Skelter at The Final Countdown. Selling out over two weeks in advance, this was definitely one of our best Events of the year, with everybody celebrating & welcoming in the last New Year of the 20 Century. All D.J.’s and M.C turned up & played as times advertised except for D.J. SS. who was in America. so D.J. Rap kindly took his place and M. Zone, who did not arrive in time for his Back 2 Back with Mark E.G. hut got there in time for his Technodrorne set. But we still think Mark E.G. done a fine job. If you have not checked out the Mark E.G. & M. Zone Back 2 Back set, we strongly recommend you do, as they are getting more & more popular. There was one thing that we were not happy with & that was the queuing systems on the Ins & Outs to the Venues. This was a new system that was put into operation on the night which we were not happy with, as doors were being closed when they shouldn’t have been & our Promoter. David Pratlev, spent several hours himself sorting this problem out. We do apologise & this matter will be dealt with & will not happen again. Other than that, all we have had, are letters & telephone calls of congratulations, with people saying what a great night they had. We even employed extra security for searching & getting everybody in well before Mid-Night. The main queue was in by 1040p.m. which we were well pleased with as everybody likes to be in ready for New year, with even most of us from Helter Skelter actually getting to see the Pyrotechnics & Indoor Fireworks displays that were on the Main Stages at Mid-Night. What did you think? Even the rain stopped & made it a dry clear night & a fresh New Year morning.
Now is the time to invite you all to Helter Skelters’ first designer multi-arena Event of 1999. You are cordially invited to become Lost in Music, which is to he held on Saturday 27 March. The Final Countdown has began & it’s time for all of the dance generation of today to get Lost in Music at Helter Skelters first Dance Party of the year. (See enclosed flyer). There will be a massive demand for tickets as a lot of people cottld not get tickets for our New Years Eve Event & the phones have not stopped ringing with people asking when tickets will be released for our next Event. So early ticket purchase guarantees entry, as our last three Events have all Sold Out in advance, hut you can ring us on 01295 721640 to check ticket availability right up to the day of the Event. Please make sure you only buy tickets from Outlets & Agents on the flyer. as we had people trying to get into the Final Countdown on New Years Eve with forged tickets they had bought elsewhere. If you are not sure. give us a call at the office, but be careful. Anyone trying to organise coach travel, & they cant get any reply or get through to the people on the flyer, give us a call & we may be able to help you out. We will also he doing a Spring Sale for all Merchandise - Jackets, Hoods, Bags, Tapes, etc. at the Event on the night, with special price reductions. We are getting lots of calls as to whether we will be holding an Event at the turn of the Century, 31 December 1999. Make a note in your diary’s. Yes we will he holding a Millennium Event. We do not know what the ticket price will be as of yet, as Venues. Security, Production. D.J. ‘s, & everybody are quoting outrageous amounts & we need to do a budget giving you the best possible value for money. We are also working on a few spectacular surprises for this, once in a thoasand years, Event. Tickets should be on Sale around August. Start saving & watch this space. We are getting people that look younger than 18 turn up to our Events. The Sanctuary Security have the last say on this matter & if Security think they look younger they will not be allowed entry. So, if you are attending & you do look younger that 18, please bring valid ID
That seems to be about everything that’s happening at our end. So we Thank You for your support in 1998, & we Thank You for celebrating the coming of 1999 with us and look forward to seeing everyone all through this year, moving ever forwards towards the Millennium. Hopefully see you at Lost In Music, Bye for now.

PENELOPE & CREW

April 1999 Newsletter

Start summer with a smile - Helter Skelter style
Hi. im just writing to update you with all the latest that’s been happening and what’s happening at Helter Skelter.
Firstly to our first event of the year, held on the 27 March 1999. Lost in Music. We would just like to thank everybody that attended a truly top night to start the year. We were so lucky with the weather, the sun shone all day long, although it was a bit chill later on in the evening. All the DJ’s and MC’s turned up and played on time, except for Andy C and Hype who swapped their sets around unbeknown to us? and unfortunately Chocci was unable to play his back to back set with Mark EG.
As you know, the clocks went forward on the night, we ran for the extra hour, up until 8.00 am but some people had to leave at 7.00 to catch their coaches and trains.
Did you also check out our new house and garage arena The Sugar Club. This arena proved to be a winner and was very busy all night.
The History of Dance, Old Skool arena will be hosted later in the year but for future events, including the next one, we will have The Rat Pack as well as both a Hardcore DJ and Drum & Bass DJ playing an Old Skool set in the main arena’s.
So once again, many thanks for the hundreds of calls and letters congratulating us for Lost in Music. Thanks for your support and as long as you carry on supporting us, we will continue to spend more on production to put on better events than any other organisation.
On to our next event it’s time to inform you of our May Bank Holiday Designer Dance Music Festival. Night Life - an institution in dance, to be held on Saturday 29 May 1999 at the prestigious Denbigh Leisure Complex, Milton Keynes, for our first summer event of the year. This is the first Bank Holiday event we have done for some time, so you can join us to party Full-On with the added bonus of no work on the following Monday.
As a special thankyou to all the party people that have attended our events, we have included 500 complimentary tickets in this mailout. So if you are lucky enough to find a ticket in this envelope, it is genuine and if you cannot make it to the event yourself, please pass the ticket on to a friend. We are also hosting the Breaking New Talent arena again for this event and would like to thank everybody who has taken the time to send in a tape. It has also been nice to hear from the previous winners, telling us how they are getting more and more DJ bookings around the country since playing at Helter Skelter.
At this event we will be holding a merchandise sale on clothing and tapes throughout the night. You will also notice that inside the Night Life flyer we are advertising a 1/2 price summer sale on all multi-pack cassettes and video’s. This offer is for a limited period only and ends on June 10 1999. So if there are any old pack missing from your collection, make sure you take advantage of this special offer. For ticket availability for Night Life, right up to the day of the event, you can call us on 01295 721640. You will be pleased to know that we have now confirmed our New Years Eve, Millennium event and have already started working on the details. Hopefully we will have more information for you in the next newsletter that you receive.
On a final note, you may have seen the hundreds of aliens wandering around in anoraks at Lost in Music, the reason for this being that they thought it was going to rain?
We will hopefully see you all on the 29 May 1999 for Night Life, have a good summer. We’re out of here.
Until next time, Forward Ever Backward Never.

Penelope and Crew

July 1999 Newsletter

Release the power within yourself
Calling all party people who joined us for Nightlife, big shouts go out to everybody who attended our bank holiday designer dance party. We hope you all had an excellent mght and enjoyed it as much as we did. All DJ’s & MC’s performed to their usual high standards, with each of the party zone’s rocking all night. Did you see the Black Magik PA. ? Their first time performing live anywhere in the UK, these guys are going to be massive, don’t forget where you saw them first.
MC Fearless & MC MC are under contract to their record labels and were called away at the last minute to Germany and Canada, so Skibadee stepped in at the last minute and did a mighty fine job. Also DJ’s Hype and Andy C didn’t turn up. Hype informed us that is was his birthday and some of his colleagues got him extremely drunk, to the point where he was not m a fit state to get to Milton Keynes. We have left a message regarding Andy C, to find out what happened but to no avail. Both were booked and confirmed, so the next time you see them out and about, be sure to give them some gnef.
You may have noticed many film crews wandering around the event. Club@ Vision were there filming for a Helter Skelter special to be shown on ITV on the l8 June, this has now passed and if you were unfortunate enough to have missed it, it will be repeated at various times throughout the year. The BBC were also there filming for a documentary on the lives of various DJ’s & clubbers travelling around the country, this program will be shown later this year and will be called Acetate. Last but by no means least were our very own film crew, capturing the spirit of the night for our own video which is now available in the shops
This year seems to have flown by, by the time you read this newsletter, we will already be halfway through the year. The months seemed to have rolled by so quickly and the time has come to invite you to the 4 in our series of annual events from the much acclaimed and very highly rated Energy series, Energy ‘99 - A Vital Element, to be held on Saturday 7 August 1999 (see enclosed flyer).
The Energy events, always held iii mid summer hold a special place m our diaries with Energy ‘97- the carnival of dance being one of our largest and most successful events. Then 12 months later Energy ‘98 was the dance sensation that rocked the nation. Now we are really looking forward to Energy ‘99 as we continue to excel in our already high standards of dance party supremacy. For this event, Arena 4 will see the return of The History of Dance Old Skool night. We have spoken to all the DJ’s on the billed line-up and asked them to have a look through their massive record collections and pull out some classic Old Skool anthems that they have yet to play at an Old Skool night in the UK, so we will see you there if you want to relive the memories and revive the atmosphere of days gone by.
As from the 7 August, we will only be 146 days away from the historic occasion that is the turn of the century. We have now been working on the millenn.ium event for just over 6 months and it is starting to take shape mcelv. We can absolutely guarantee you that what we are planning has never been done before. Tickets should be released mid October, we still cannot tell you the pnce at the moment as we have not had all the pnces back in to ourselves, we are going to try and keep the ticket price as low as possible but it will still be more than we have charged before. So as soon as a press release is available, all the people on our mailing list will be the first to hear about the event, so if your reading this newsletter and you are not on our mailing list, give us a call at the office and sort it out.
Many thanks to everybody who dropped us a line to thank us for the half price sale on tape packs, with a lot of people saving that they had been able to complete their collections of the earlier events, you never know, they may become collectors items one day.
For ticket availability for Energy ‘99, nght up to the day of the event, call us at the office on 01295 721640, also call if you are thinking of running a coach or a minibus down to the event. As long as you are bringing more than 10 people, there are discounts available if you buy your tickets directly from us, give us a call to find out the details. Finally we’d just like to thank everybody for their valued support over the last 10 years, without it we wouldn’t be where we are today. We look forward to seeing you in the summer on Saturday 7 August 1999. So join us to release the power within yourself ‘ Energy ‘99 - A Vital Element.
Take Care

Penelope & Crew

SEPTEMBER 1999 NEWSLETTER

Well, What a Night! The Helter Skelter tribe came alive to the vibes of Energy 99, the fourth in the continuing Energy Dance Party Series. Energy never lets u.s down, it always seems to kick off our year in a big way with the following Events getting better and better, right through to the end of the year. There were a few alterations from the advertised D.J. Line Up. Kenny Ken was booked for Germany, so SwannE took his place. Ray Keith took another booking, for Canada, after we booked him, so swannE did his Old Skool Drum & Bass set and we found out that D.J. Markey from Brazil, was in the U.K. at the time of Energy, so he played in place of Ray Keith. If you have heard of D.J. Markey, you will know the talent and the unique mixing ability this guy has, if not, be sure to check him out the next time you have the chance, because he is the Man. Dougal and Hixxy swapped their sets round and Rat Pack came all the way back from Ibiza, just to be with us on the night. Cheers Boys. Yet again, Fearless was in Germany due to his contractual agreement to his record label. So you know what they say, third time lucky, he has been booked for the next Event and we have been assured that he will be there to perform. Did you see D.J. Seductions’ last ever Hardcore set in the sanctuary? Seduction has decided to call it a day after nine years within the Dance Scene. We wish him all the best for the future, in what ever he decides to do. What did you think of the new F7 Turbo Sound, sound system we had in Rollers? We think it was one on the best sounds we’ve ever achieved in that building. So expect better quality sound systems throughout the complete site for the next Event, the History of Dance, Old Skool Room was full and rocking all night. As it proved a huge success, we will be hosting this Arena again with special appearances by Brockie, Hype and Mickey Fm, for the next Event. All in all, Energy 99 we think was one of the best Events we have staged at the Denbeigh Leisure Complex this year without a doubt. If you want to check out the live recordings from Energy 99, as normal, there in a Hardcore 12 pack, Drum & Bass 8 pack, Technodrome 8 pack and a limited edition VHS Video Special on the night. We have recorded the History of Dance room and put the relevant music types into the corresponding packs, so if you buy any of the packs, check them out, we hope you like them. If you have been to buy an Energy 99 Technodrome 8 pack and you’ve realised there is not Mark E.G. tape in there, this was a mistake by our manufacturer and we have sent out single tapes of Mark E.G. to all the shops that stock our Techno packs. So now you can either obtain a pack with Mark E.G. in it or, if you already have one, take the pack back to the shop as proof of purchase and they will give you a free Mark E.G. tape.
This newsletter has been one of the strangest newsletters I have had to write, with mixed emotions, on behalf of us all at the office. In August of this year, 1999, the Helter Skelter Organisation have made the decision that our next two Events will be the last. We all feel that the team behind Helter Skelter have given its best to the Dance Scene for the last ten years and with what we have planned for the Millennium, the Helter Skelter legend will have then reached its Pinnacle and we all feel we want to close this legendary chapter of dance on a high, with all the memories staying in our hearts and minds for years to come. We must not be sad, but happy in the knowledge that we have all been a part of Dance Party History.
So if we were to say, Time, Odyssey, Timeless and Keeping The Fire Burning, they have one word in common — Birthday, and that’s what is coming up, on Saturday 16 October 1999, our Tenth Birthday Bash - Decadance, Ten Legendary Years 1989 — 1999. Join us with a host of celebrity D.J.’s and Artists who will help make this, the last Birthday Party, the biggest and best Helter Skelter Birthday Bash ever. See enclosed flyer. This Mail out has gone out to 50,000 of the U.K.’s discerning party goers who have supported us through thick and thin over the last ten years, which we thank you all for. There is going to be such a large demand for tickets for these last two planned Events, we urge you to buy tickets early. But you can ring us at the office on 01295 721640 to check tickets availability right up to the day of the Event.
The Millennium Jam, December 3 1 1999/2000. The worlds biggest party. Flyers will be released on the night of our Birthday Event on 16 October. Tickets will be available from Monday 25 October. Not only is it New Years Eve and the Turn of the Century, but it is the last Helter Skelter Showcase and what we have planned has never been done before and will never be repeated in Dance Party History. So on this very special night, there are other parties, but then there are other nights — make no mistake.
So once again, we would like to thank you all for supporting us and for keeping the Helter Skelter vibe alive and kicking all these years. Now lets see you down at Decadance, heads held high and enjoy our Birthday Bash as much as we will be. Take Care

PENELOPE.

NOVEMBER 1999 NEWSLETTER

THE MILLENNIUM JAM 2000
A massive thanks to each and everyone of the thousands of party people that joined us on Saturday 16th October 1999 & helped us celebrate our 10 birthday party in fine style making DecaDance, our biggest & best birthday bash ever. The phones in the office never stopped ringing in the build up to the event, with 80% of ticket outlets sold out a week in advance. We are sorry if you did not manage to obtain a ticket. Everybody turned up & played at advertised times except for Shy FX & DJ SS, who both got stuck in road-works on the Ml. The same road-works in question made Mickey Finn. Force & Styles and Brockie slightly late but other than that everything was spot on. As we said in our last newsletter, there was a new sound system installed throughout the complex & as you probably noticed, it definitely showed.
Countdown to the worlds biggest party, the Grand Finale, Millennium Eve 1999-2000 AD. You are cordially invited to join us to experience a once in a lifetime celebration. December 31 1999 will mark more than a beginning of a new millennium, it will be the biggest party the world has ever known & together we shall embark on what will be the tremendous last voyage of the dance party pioneers, Helter Skelter. We have been working all year on this event and we are really, really looking forward to the turn of the century. The Millennium Jam 2000 will go down in dance party history as one of the best dance events ever held. The reason for the ticket price being a lot higher than any of our other events is due to the fact that everybody working on that night are charging a lot more than they normally would. Lots of venues around the UK & other dance promoters are actually closing for the evening due to high expenses but we felt we had to do an event on this very special, once in a lifetime occasion and the problems we were up against, were that unless we offered people a lot more money than what they would normally get for working New Years Eve, they said they would rather go out and party themselves. For full line-ups and details see enclosed flyer. As a special Thank You to everyone for their continued support, the Millennium Jam 2000 will be an all inclusive package, with a feast of FREE Food & FREE Drink all night. Also, for every person who attends, we will be presenting them with a FREE Millennium Jam 2000 limited edition box set, which will comprise of a C.D., a Video & a special Brochure featuring the finest of a decade of Helter Skelter. (All previously unreleased material.) Remember this pack will be exclusive for all those who attend. It will never be available anywhere after the Event, so you will be able to take a piece of Dance Party History home with you. With lots of special surprises planned this will be a night packed full of new experiences, crammed with memorIes waiting to happen. Also for this very special occasion, Helter Skelter has invited two of the U.K.s best Old Skool Promoters to Co. host the History of Dance. Raindance & Flashback will recreate the spirit of yesteryear with your & our Old Skool favourites of years gone by. Revive the memories, relive the atmosphere. If you would like further information on Flashback parties or their Old Skool record finding service (Flashback Vinyl Finder) call 0121 472 0777, www.flashback96.com or check them out in the new Millennium at The Venue in Hockley, Birmingham on January 28 or at the Q. Club in Birmingham City Centre on February 26 If you normally come to our Events by coach or you are intending to travel down with one of our coach couriers on the flyer, can you please make sure you book your space nice and early, so as our coach couriers know how many coaches to run. For this Event, tickets are available directly from us at the office for the sum of £94.00 each with no booking fee but plus £3.50 p+p for up to ten tickets. Cheque/Postal Orders must be payable to M.J.C.L. & sent to the address at the top of this newsletter. Please make sure you enclose your name and address and don’t forget postage & packing. Please only buy tickets from official Outlets & Agents on the flyer. Your local Outlet should be able to offer you the chance to pay for your New Years Eve ticket by instalments. You need to put your first payment down as soon as possible to reserve your ticket, check your local Outlet for details. Beware of forgeries. If you are not sure give us a ring at the office. We expect this Event to sell out as we have been having over 100 calls a week since February, so get your ticket as early as possible. For ticket availability right up to the day of the Event call 01295 721640. Just to let you know, the offices of Helter Skelter will be open all next year for tape & merchandise sales. If there are any old packs from previous Events you feel you want to buy to complete your collection, give us a call at the office for a merchandise catalogue as we have just recently restocked ready the Christmas. If we have not had certain packs in stock previously, give us a call as we now have more or less everything at discounted prices. Also, most of the outlets on your flyer will now be stocking a selection of old packs from previous Events, check your outlet for availability, these will also be at discounted prices. The Merchandise Stall on New Years Eve will carry a large selection of tapes and videos from past Events, again available at special discounted prices for that night only.
With this being the last planned Newsletter to go out to everybody, we would like to Thank You all sincerely for the 100’s of calls and letter received, thanking us for the Party’s we have held over the last ten years, and for all the good times we have all had together. We would also like to Thank You for your unrivalled support and if it wasn’t for the 249,876 party people that have shown us a unique kind of loyalty, we would not have stood the test of time. So let the memories of wild nights within our nocturnal multi-arena festivals stay in your minds. You will always know you have been part of something special. You’ve been part of something which will not be repeated. So cherish those memories, stay in contact with the friends you have met and let the experience you have had with us. stay with you. As we close this final page in the legendary chapter of Dance, a very special thanks to everyone who has helped us rewrite the history books. Helter Skelter, the peoples party 1989 - 2000.
Take care people Love and Respect

DAVID PENELOPE FIONA BARRY

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