‘There’s this sampled line — “That’s magic, that is” — that producer Andrew Weatherall [added to the remix] which captures the track’s essence,’ Richard Norris astutely tells M about The Grid’s Floatation, which turns 35 this year.
Written by Richard along with his bandmate Dave Ball (who initially found fame as one half of Soft Cell), Floatation went on to become one of The Grid’s most important creations and a bonafide Ibiza Balearic classic. At odds with their 1994 novelty banjo-led pop hit Swamp Thing, which took aim at the pomposity of intelligent techno, Floatation fused disparate influences to strike a chord with the UK rave community upon its release in 1990.
‘It was the right moment for it,’ recalls Richard. ‘[Floatation] came together quickly thanks to these great chords from Dave and is almost like a diary entry for what was happening at the time in acid house. It was a creative pinnacle for me.’
Richard and Dave first met during a studio session organised by Psychic TV’s Genesis P-Orridge, which came about following an interview Richard conducted with the esoteric musician and performance artist.
‘We talked about psychedelia and their interests in magic, art and systems of control, then Gen asked me: “Have you ever heard of acid house?”’ remembers Richard. ‘It was a lightbulb moment: the idea of psychedelic dance music was exactly what I always wanted to do.’
'Floatation was a creative pinnacle for me.'
Amid the motley crew of music creators who congregated at a Chiswick studio at the behest of Genesis was Dave Ball. ‘I was a bit nervous: he was an actual pop star with a big physical presence,’ Richard tells M. ‘I was just this young kid with more enthusiasm than anything else, but we gelled over this track we made called Meet Every Situation Head On.’
For Richard, the recording process for electronic music was a totally different world of computers and sequencers. Dave was using a sampler and drum machine while utilising the energy, enthusiasm and know-how of engineer Richard Evans.
‘Genesis had this rule that we had to make every track in one hour, and I really thought that was just how you made electronic records!’ Richard says. ‘Richard Evans was a super-fast incredible ball of energy — this is why we were able to do the tracks so quickly. We were coming up with these tape loops and feeding them into this system with about 12 people in the room.’
By the time the resulting album, Jack The Tab – Acid Tablets Volume One, was released, there was a groundswell of enthusiasm around acid house. Indeed, Richard even graced the cover of NME in July 1988 with the headline: ‘The agony and the ecstasy: the Acid truth about the new club underground’.
‘Warner Brothers were interested in the project, which was so weird considering they had Prince, Madonna and Simply Red on their roster,’ Richard explains. ‘Why would they want our strange, wolf-howling noises and the sound of Genesis and Paula P-Orridge in a bedroom? It’s such an odd record and still sounds really out-there today.’
Warners were so intrigued by the album they put together a deal for the project. But after Genesis, spooked by his previous dealings with major labels, backed out, Richard put pen to paper in October 1988 before Dave joined to form what would become The Grid.
‘I signed as a solo artist without a demo: just some ideas and the spirit of the times,’ Richard recalls. ‘It was a bold move on their part. We didn’t last very long on the label, but they allowed us to make the album we wanted to make with very little interference.’
One request the label did have was for one more song to finish their debut Electric Head. As they kicked around ideas for a closing track, Dave put forward an idea based on two chords that were favoured by the film composer and conductor John Barry. Noting its contemplative vibe, Richard added a major chord to make it sound more upbeat: ‘Suddenly, we had this sequence inspired by John Barry and a previous visit to Ibiza where I’d heard this downtempo music soundtracking the sunset at Cafe del Mar.’
A cast of collaborators — including Sacha Souter, who provided the vocals — helped finish Floatation off. But what of the song title? ‘I went in a floatation tank in St John’s Wood at the time,’ Richard explains. ‘There was something quite psychedelic and otherworldly about being immersed in this black space, which seemed to fit with the acid house times.’
‘I signed with Warners as a solo artist without a demo: just some ideas and the spirit of the times.’
The label loved it, suggesting it should be a single. Naturally, The Grid approached Andrew Weatherall to help provide a remix for that release. ‘Andrew was the obvious choice as I was hanging out with the crew from Boys Own [fanzine], which he was part of at the time,’ Richard rememebers. ‘We shared an office in west London, and it made sense for him to do it. It was the second or third remix that he’d done, and he came up with this 11-minute-long instrumental version at Battery Studios in Willesden.’
Despite the significant buzz surrounding it, Floatation failed to scale any higher than number 60 in the UK charts. ‘We were never sure what happened with it,’ Richard tells M now. ‘Selectadisc in Nottingham put a sticker on it saying it was the best record that’s ever been made, while Trax records in Soho — a big Balearic [music] shop — had a sign in the window saying: “SORRY - NO FLOATATION”. But it just never went that far. Still, it continues to get played, reissued and remixed every few years as an after-party classic.’
The Grid were subsequently dropped by Warners but continued making music together — including the aforementioned Swamp Thing, which peaked at number three in the charts in June 1994 — until Richard and Dave amicably went on hiatus in 1996.
‘We got back together in 2008 [for the album Doppelgänger] and then again in 2024. We’re looking to the future now,’ Richard tells M, adding that there are plans in place to release new music by The Grid next year.
‘It’s incredible, really. [Floatation] was such a long time ago, [but] I’m really grateful that we’re still doing it and loving it.’
