Raver

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Raver is a word that has been used since the 1960s to describe people who are enthusiastic. For this purpose, the term is most common in the UK.

The popularity of the term has ebbed and flowed in reflection of the constant changes in youth cultures in each decade. The meaning has also altered slightly as different youth cultures have adapted the word (and related words) to suit their milieu and lifestyles.

In its original 1960s incarnation the word was a synonym for the American slang term "party animal", a gregarious fun-loving individual. In its second incarnation (from the 1980s onwards) the word has come to mean anyone who attends extended night-time music events known as "raves". In the post-1980s meaning, the essence of the word relates primarily to the type of events the person attends rather than to the personality of the individual.

A raver does not necessarily have an outwardly defining appearance; however, a raver who belongs to one of the sub-types (candy raver etc.) can.

Usage in the 1980s to present

In the 1980s, a new youth culture evolved based initially on Acid House music and all-night parties. Adapted from the earlier usage of the word, these events became known as raves and the participants at raves were invariably called ravers.

This new "rave culture" spread worldwide by the mid 1990s and soon the music played at raves evolved past the Acid House played previously into new forms of electronic music including Trance, Dance, Hardcore, Industrial, Techno, Psychedelic Trance (or Psytrance), Breakbeat, Jungle (or Drum and Bass), Electro, Dubstep and Happy Hardcore.

With the change and broadening of music played at the events so did the subtypes of "ravers". Soon there were hardcore ravers, junglists, clubbers (those who held on to the club culture even as raves shifted away from being held just at clubs), kandi kids (or candy raver), trance heads, and gravers ("gothic ravers") etc. Each subtype sometimes held to a certain clothing style and/or musical genre within or outside of the "rave scene".

In 1993, Malibu Comics published a comic mini-series called Raver by actor/writer Walter Koenig. The protagonist is a superhero, the Raver.

The raver's manifesto

A writing by an unknown person on what ravers believe in and how they should live:

Ravers believe in a simple credo, summarized by the candied bracelets that often contain the letters "P.L.U.R.R" Peace, love, unity,respect and responsibility symbolize the tenets of the rave culture. At raves, these beads are often exchanged as a unifying sign of understanding and communion in the rave experience.

In popular culture

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• The Raver is the name of an online music-biz gossip column [1] written by former Melody Maker writer Chris Welch
• The Raver was the name of Britain's first irreverent music-biz gossip column [2] published weekly in the 1960s in the consumer music weekly Melody Maker
• The Ravers is the name of an Orange County, CA - based rock group that performs with national and international acts throughout Southern California[3]
• The Ravers is the name of a group of fictional super-heroes in a 1990s comic-book series Superboy and the Ravers
• The Ravers was the original name for 1970s new wave band The Nails - which provided Jello Biafra of Dead Kennedys with his first music industry work (as a roadie)
• Ravers is the name of a song on the 1977 eponymous first album by the heavy metal band Quiet Riot
• He's A Raver is the name of a 1967 song by the 1960s pop group Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich that was covered live by The Sex Pistols [4]
• Ravers Digest is the name of a website that has documented events and aspects of the contemporary rave culture since 2000. [5]
• Crash Course For The Ravers is the title of a 1996 David Bowie tribute album featuring covers of Bowie songs by multiple indie artists [6]
• Music for Rockers, Ravers, Lovers and Sinners is the original sub-title of the 1993 CD and video compilation Purex Cult of the English rock band The Cult
• The Rave-Ups are a roots rock band best known for their appearance in the film Pretty in Pink
• Ravers is the name given to a species of spirits in the 1970s-1980s fantasy novels The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever by Stephen R. Donaldson
• The Ravers is the name of an L.A.-based 60s revivalist band who have performed at Hollywood movie premieres [7] and 60s film festivals