A Guy Called Gerald
Heavily influenced by Chicago house and acid, Gerald Simpson's solo career has thus far failed to ignite as many predicted. Simpson, who once sold copies of the Socialist Worker on the streets of Manchester, left 808 State after complaining in the press about unpaid royalties. His most notable contribution to the dance scene was Voodoo Ray, which reached number 55 in April 1989 before re-entering at number 12 two months later. Those statistics hardly reflect the reverence with which it is regarded in the club scene. He was still working at McDonald's at the beginning of the '90s when he was offerred the chance to remix for Cabaret Voltaire and Turntable Orchestra. CBS allowed him to create his own Subscape label, but it proved impossible to recreate former glories. Simpson did, however, put together a tape to accompany a book by Trevor Miller entitled Trip City, and 1992's Juicebox featured old 808 sparring partner MC Tunes on its rap section.