Dave Swindells partners up with IDEA books to remember the days of hedonistic rave in his new photobook, Ibiza ’89.
I think we’re all missing clubs and pubs that little bit more now that it’s rolling into the festive szn. We wanna go out, have a boogie, drink away our problems and spend half our wages on over-priced cocktails goddamit! But with coronavirus still wreaking havoc on the world and an almost radio silence from the government on the future of live music, what the hell are we supposed to do until then?
Dave Swindells and IDEA Books latest venture aims to get us out of that festival-missing funk by making us live vicariously through those coming up from the Second Summer of Love in Ibiza, at the backend of the 1980s. Rave had hit the island like a tropical storm at the time, birthing the Balearic sounds that would go on to inspire trance, happy hardcore and chilled electro beats we all know and groove to today.
Swindells was Time Out’s reigning Nightlife Editor from ‘86 right up until 2010, travelling to the sunny isle on an assignment in 1989. For one week, and one week only, the revered photographer saw the sights of Ku, Amnesia, Café del Mar and Pacha in their prime, overran by waves of hedonistic British clubbers clad in slouchy acid-wash and grinning smiley tee’s, and snapped as many pictures as humanly possible.
After originally selling a selection of these iconic photographs in the ultra-rare and out-of-print Spirit of Ibiza ‘89, Swindells and IDEA both decided the rest of his archive deserved its time in the spotlight too. Now complete with text from the original Time Out piece, a foreword from Terry Farley (Boy’s Own), and a shit-ton more pictures, the duo has structured the most comprehensive account of Ibiza’s rave history to date, and for that we are forever indebted to them. Of course this means it’s going straight to the top of our Christmas lists, and it should be on yours too!
The book launches on 18th November 2020 on the DSML E-Shop and ideanow.online