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The underground rave scene in Boston was going strong in mid 90s with parties like the Primary series and Plur, Plural, and Pluralism. The Mission Control hotline, Boston Raves and NE Raves listserves, and VRAVE connected the scene.  On the club front, The Loft, a private after hours, was pretty much where it was at for underground dance music.  Their usual focus was House with Boston legend DJ Bruno as the downstairs resident but upstairs, Overload and Jason Mouse started to mix it up with early Hardcore and Jungle.

Loft membership card

Loft membership card

Around the same time, original Boston Jungle promoter Al Fougy returned to Boston from London. He had attended some of the seminal Jungle nights in the UK and came back determined to bring the sound to Boston.  In the fall of 1995 word spread that a night dedicated to Jungle was starting and flyers started showing up everywhere.

There was no social media in 1995. There was barely a worldwide web. Boston did have a thriving rave scene built on physical flyering and word of mouth, and Overload and Jason Mouse were regulars on that circuit.  DJ Timestretch was also becoming a sought after DJ for raves and nights specializing in the Jungle/DrumnBass sound, known for up front sets and exclusive dubplates acquired from his connections in the UK. There was also hype building about Jungle as it started to spread stateside from the London dancefloor and magazines like URB and XLR8R in the states picked up the charge. Most of all in Boston though, there was Al Fougy.  He could be found on Newbury Street during the day, and outside any club that was at all related at night, tirelessly handing out flyers, talking, and sometimes even shouting about Jungle and how it was gonna get “bigguh!”

Listen: Timestretch, Overload, and Goldie with MC Casper @ Jungle Roots – Part A

Listen: Timestretch, Overload, and Goldie with MC Casper @ Jungle Roots – Part B

The night started with residents Overload and Jason Mouse and later added Timestretch and Casper to the roster.  Fougy went to great lengths to bring in the absolute biggest names from the US and UK and make Jungle Roots a first-class showcase at a pivotal time when the music was evolving and changing on an almost weekly basis.

Photos from Jungle Roots

 

Jungle Roots Flyers

 

Continues…
Back in The Daze – Part 2: Lesson One
Back in the Daze – Part 3: Sessionz